Las Vegas- A local strip club is at the center of what police are calling a murder for hire. On May 19, a man’s body was found lying in the middle of the road near Lake Mead. Now, four people are in custody, including a brother and sister who’s family owns the Palomino club.
Detectives wondered if this murder was a case of road rage, but as they followed the evidence, two words kept coming up … Palomino club. It’s where the victim used to work, and ultimately where the investigation ended.
It’s a business that comes alive after sundown, but now yellow police tape is all you’ll find at the Palomino club. Local police and the FBI executed a search warrant, looking for evidence in the execution slaying of Timothy Hadland, shot dead near Lake Mead.
“We actually ran into some pretty good luck.” Lt. Tom Monahan says almost immediately two suspects were identified, 24-year-old Deangelo Carroll and 29-year-old Kenneth Counts, but according to police the gunmen were simply following orders. Police say they were hired by Anabel Espindola and her brother, Luis Hidalgo III. Their family owns the Palomino.
“At one point our victim worked at the Palomino club. He had since been terminated and the information we have is there may have been some business dealings that caused bad blood between the Hidalgo family and Hadland that caused them to want him to be dead.”
Along with the club, police also searched another Hidalgo family business, an auto repair shop near McCarran Airport. Although officers won’t say exactly what they found. We do know the murder weapon is still missing. Even so, all four suspects are now charged with murder … the two accused of carrying it out, and the two accused of planning it.
“They’re the ones that hired the people and solicited the killers so they are ultimately responsible for whatever happens.” Police won’t elaborate on the bad blood or the business dealings that may have gotten Hadland killed, but they say this conspiracy was a very intricate web.
Police say one of the accused hit men also worked at the Palomino. He knew Hadland, and may have known exactly where to find him Friday at the lake.