A woman who authorities say ran down a salon worker trying to stop her from skipping out on a $35 manicure pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder and other charges and lost a bid to be freed from jail pending trial.
A judge in Las Vegas told Krystal Whipple, standing in shackles, that "proof is evident and the presumption is great" that she was involved in a homicide.
Clark County District Court Judge Douglas Herndon said he believed Whipple fled "to avoid any apprehension or prosecution in this case."
Krystal Whipple, who is charged in the death of nail salon manager Ngoc Q. Nguyen appears in court during her bail hearing at the Regional Justice Center on Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in Las Vegas. Whipple’s attorney is asking a judge to set bail at $100,000 and allow house arrest pending trial on murder, robbery and other felony charges in the death last December of Nguyen. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)
Police said Whipple tried to pay for her Dec. 29, 2018, manicure with a fraudulent credit card before telling Ngoc Quynh Nhu Nguyen that she was going to her car to get cash.
Nguyen, 51, followed her to the parking lot and was run over and killed by the car, which police later said had been stolen from a rental agency. The vehicle was later found abandoned.
Prosecutor Michael Schwartzer said that after video of the incident was widely shown, Whipple fled first to neighboring Boulder City, Nevada, then to Los Angeles, and was headed to North Carolina when she surrendered to authorities in Arizona almost two weeks after Nguyen's death.
Krystal Whipple, who is charged in the death of nail salon manager Ngoc Q. Nguyen appears in court during her bail hearing at the Regional Justice Center on Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in Las Vegas. Whipple’s attorney is asking a judge to set bail at $100,000 and allow house arrest pending trial on murder, robbery and other felony charges in the death last December of Nguyen. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)
Whipple's attorney, Timothy Treffinger, had asked that she be released on $100,000 bail and house arrest until trial next April.
"This is a matter of a young person who panicked," Treffinger said, adding that Whipple surrendered to police in Glendale, Arizona.
Whipple, 21, could face life in prison if she's convicted, but won't face the death penalty, Schwartzer said. She faces murder, robbery, burglary and stolen vehicle charges.
Whipple has a criminal record in Las Vegas including a conviction in 2017 for attempted possession of a stolen vehicle. Court records show she was sentenced to four months in jail for violating probation in that case.
TOKYO (AP) — The American envoy to the United Nations called Friday for countries armed with atomic weapons to pursue nuclear disarmament as she visited the atomic bomb museum in Nagasaki, Japan.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who became the first U.S. cabinet member to visit Nagasaki, stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy amid a growing nuclear threat in the region.
“We must continue to work together to create an environment for nuclear disarmament. We must continue to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in every corner of the world,” she said after a tour of the atomic bomb museum.
“For those of us who already have those weapons, we must pursue arms control. We can and must work to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place to ever experience the horror of nuclear weapons,” she added, standing in front of colorful hanging origami cranes, a symbol of peace.
The United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. A second attack three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.
Nagasaki Gov. Kengo Oishi said in a statement that he believed Thomas-Greenfield's visit and her first-person experience at the museum “will be a strong message in promoting momentum of nuclear disarmament for the international society at a time the world faces a severe environment surrounding atomic weapons.”
Oishi said he conveyed to the ambassador the increasingly important role of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in emphasizing the need of nuclear disarmament.
Thomas-Greenfield's visit to Japan comes on the heels of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit to the United States last week and is aimed at deepening Washington's trilateral ties with Tokyo and Seoul. During her visit to South Korea earlier this week, she held talks with South Korean officials, met with defectors from North Korea and visited the demilitarized zone.
The ambassador said the United States is looking into setting up a new mechanism for monitoring North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have thwarted U.S.-led efforts to step up U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile testing since 2022, underscoring a deepening divide between permanent Security Council members over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
She said it would be “optimal” to launch the new system next month, though it is uncertain if that is possible.
The U.N. Security Council established a committee to monitor sanctions, and the mandate for its panel of experts to investigate violations had been renewed for 14 years until last month, when Russia vetoed another renewal.
In its most recent report, the panel of experts said it is investigating 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks between 2017 and 2023 valued at approximately $3 billion, with the money reportedly being used to help fund its weapons development.
The United States, Japan and South Korea have been deepening security ties amid growing tension in the region from North Korea and China.
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, right, speaks to Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, second right, as they wait for a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, right, walk to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, talk prior to a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, prepare to talk during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
