The Nye County District Attorney's Office has filed a criminal complaint charging 57-year-old Marco Torres with 1st-degree murder of a vulnerable person and 5 other felonies in the wake of his arrest for fatally strangling Jonathan Piper in Pahrump this past weekend.
"Mr. Piper was already suffering from stage four (terminal) cancer and was unable to resist, and so he suffers the final agony of a violent, brutal end at the hands of his caretaker," District Attorney Chris Arabia said. "It's tragic and outrageous, and we will get justice for Mr. Piper. Serious justice."
The complaint charges Torres with the following: 1st-degree murder of a vulnerable person, open murder (1st- or 2nd-degree), and habitual criminal, all category A felonies; home invasion (room), a category B felony; battery by strangulation and abuse of a vulnerable person, both category C felonies; and interruption of telephone message and injury to property, both gross misdemeanors.
A preliminary hearing was set for 9 a.m. June 4 during an arraignment hearing on Thursday.
