Las Vegas Murder: Couple Kills Man After Luring Him For Sex Using Dating Ad
The victim in the alleged dating ad murder case that took place in Las Vegas on March 27 was identified by the Clark County Coroner's office on Monday.
The victim, identified as Hector Mendez-Hernandez, was found shot to death in his home on the 2200 block of North Colebrook Street. Las Vegas police arrived at the victim's residence after they received a tip from a caller on March 27, stating that her friend and boyfriend killed a man and were planning to hide the body in a refrigerator.
The caller, later identified as Paige Ferguson, told police that her friend had sent her photos of the victim's dead body. The police rushed to the scene and after a quick search inside the house found Mendez-Hernandez dead in the bathroom.
The officers immediately set up surveillance around the house of the alleged killer pair.
The accused, Jacob Berkovitz, 24, and his girlfriend Tonya Dillard, 27, were taken into custody for suspected homicide.
On questioning, Berkovitz admitted to the killing and told police where the body was.
"Berkovitz immediately made a spontaneous utterance stating that the decedent's body was in the bathroom area of the residence," the police said in a report.
He told police that he grabbed a gun and shot Mendez-Hernandez four times, at least twice in the head and stabbed him at least 25 times before beating him with a dumbbell to confirm that he wasn't moving.
He told police that he did so because the victim tried kissing his girlfriend. But when police interrogated Dillard, she confessed that the murder was pre-planned.
She and Berkovitz had planned to lure the victim via a dating app, called Craigslist, promising sex. They would then kill him, take his car and go live a happy life in the woods.
Police confirmed that Mendez-Hernandez fell prey to the plan and picked up the pair on March 27. He then drove them to his home, where he was allegedly robbed and killed by the pair.
The couple was arrested on the charges of murder with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery.