Las Vegas murders caught on surveillance camera, report says

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Two murders at a Las Vegas home near Wetlands Park were captured on surveillance camera inside, according to an arrest report obtained by 8 News Now.

On Wednesday, June 5 at around 9:40 p.m., a man called 911 to report that two bodies had been found in his neighbor’s house on the 4900 block of Droubay Drive, near Wetlands Park.

Arriving officers found two people, later identified as Melinda Smith and Ronald Racine, on the floor of the upstairs master bedroom. Officers saw what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the back of the victims’ heads, according to the report.

The neighbor who called 911 told police that the owner of the home where the murders took place left town June 1 to work out of state for the summer. The owner rented his home to Melinda, Ronald and a third man who was not named, according to the report.

The anonymous tenant called the neighbor asking for help checking on Ronald and Melinda because he hadn’t heard from them in a few days, but he could hear Ronald’s dog barking from inside the house. Ronald’s room.

On June 5 around 3 p.m., the two men, joined by a friend, opened the door to Ronald’s bedroom and discovered the bodies of Ronald and Melinda. After discussing what they should do, the anonymous tenant packed a few bags from his room and the group left. The neighbor returned home and, for some unknown reason, did not call 911 until around 10 p.m.

Detectives found a surveillance camera on top of a dresser in the bedroom, where the bodies were found facing the entrance to the room. A video shows two people, later identified as Dianelys Fernandez, 33, and Guillermo Ramirez Lastre, 54, entering the room around 2 a.m., the day before the bodies were discovered.

In the video, Fernandez and Ramirez Lastre argued with Ronald over a vehicle and money the suspects owed Ronald. About 15 minutes after Fernandez and Ramirez Lastre entered the room, Ramirez Lastre pulled out a gun and shot Ronald in the back of the head.

As Ramirez Lastre and Fernandez began to leave the room, Melinda entered the room from her bedroom, at which point Ramirez Lastre told her that Ronald had committed suicide, according to the report. The surveillance video clip then ends.

The next camera video clip police found was 17 seconds later and showed Ramirez Lastre still armed with the gun, but Melinda is no longer visible. The area where her body was found was just off camera, but was in the same location where Melinda was last seen on video, the report states.

Ramírez Lastre and Fernandez then left the room. No one else enters the room until the tenant and the unnamed neighbor enter the next day.

Using Ronald’s cell phone records, police were able to identify Ramirez Lastre. According to messages exchanged between the two men, Ramirez Lastre owed Ronald $4,500 for a vehicle and he was visiting the victim the night of the homicides to allegedly pay off his debt.

While police searched Ramirez Lastre’s home, Fernandez was also present and police identified her as the second person on the surveillance video. Police took the two men into custody on June 11.

When police questioned Fernandez, she told police she stayed in the car while Ramirez Lastre went into the house. When confronted with the surveillance video, she changed her story and told police that inside the bedroom she heard a loud gunshot and saw Ronald fall to the ground.

She told police she thought Ronald had passed out and that she did not see blood or see Ramirez Lastre with a gun, according to the report.

Ramírez Lastre told police he was never armed while in the house, although he was shown surveillance video showing a person he identified as himself holding a gun, according to the report. Ramirez Lastre had also bleached and cut his hair, which police said was consistent with someone’s attempt to change their appearance after a crime.

Ramirez Lastre and Fernandez were charged with two counts of open murder with use of a deadly weapon, robbery with use of a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Both are being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center. Their next court appearance is scheduled for June 17.