A Las Vegas Couple Was Murdered Days Before Christmas in 2017. Six Years Later, Police Are Still Hunting for Their Killer.
Just three days shy of Christmas day in 2017, two people were murdered inside a Las Vegas home. Six years later, police are still asking for help finding their killer.
On Dec. 22, 2017 around 10:40 a.m. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department dispatched its officers to the Paradise neighborhood and 4200 block of Vader Avenue concerning the suspicious deaths of two people.
Las Vegas police got the call when a caregiver arrived at the home, but got no response at the door. Sensing the oddity of the silence, the caregiver looked through the windows and found a person lying on the floor, police said.
When emergency responders went into the home, investigators found two bodies, a man and a woman in their 50s. They both had been shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.
Police identified them as Renee Simmons and Tom Dufault.
Who murdered Renee and Tom? This is still an open-ended question years after the homicide the police are still trying to solve.
Paradise is a neighborhood of subdivisions that some residents have indicated its degenerating status from a once high-brow middle-class suburb to a crime-infested neighborhood, with cars broken into constantly and the homeless population growing exponentially.
The coroner contacted Eddie Katz, the brother of Renee, who resides in Lakewood, California, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Though he hadn’t spoken to Renee for several years, Katz stated he couldn’t imagine who would do this to his sister since she doesn’t have many valuables and even was wearing some jewelry when she was murdered, but it wasn’t stolen.
Investigators never found a forced entry to the residence and the murder weapon. No suspects have been identified and the motive is undetermined.
Police are seeking the help of the public to solve this homicide. They are asking if anyone is a witness or has any information regarding the homicide, they should please call Las Vegas police's Homicide Section at (702) 828-3521.
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