According to a local police report, on Tuesday (June 27), a Las Vegas man was arrested after being accused of murdering his grandmother and her boyfriend in their apartment and then living with their bodies for several days before killing a maintenance worker performing a welfare check.
After a brief foot chase, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers were able to apprehend Spencer McDonald, 30.
McDonald is accused of killing Dina Vail and her boyfriend, Andrew Garden, in addition to the maintenance worker Chris Brassard at a Las Vegas apartment complex.
Concerns first arose when McDonald’s grandmother, Vail, with whom he lived for two years, failed to attend a Monday night ballet class she was supposed to teach.
On Thursday (June 29), local news station KTNV reported that a friend went to pick up Vail, as he usually did. However, she didn’t answer the door. At first, the friend felt indifferent, assuming that someone else had driven her.
When Vail did not show up at the studio, she contacted one of her family members, who also explained they had lost touch with her.
According to the arrest report, McDonald admitted he had killed his grandmother a few days earlier.
He allegedly stabbed and beat her to death in bed before waiting for Vail’s boyfriend, Graden, to arrive before murdering him as well.
McDonnell then moved the body into the master bedroom and continued to live on the property.
After Vail’s friend and family raised welfare concerns, maintenance staff entered the apartment using a master key to conduct an inspection when they saw blood on the walls. Brassard, one of the maintenance workers, was allegedly attacked and fatally wounded by McDonald, who came out of the spare bedroom. Another maintenance worker managed to escape before reporting the incident to the police.
Officers then raided the residence, finding a sword and a chef’s knife covered in blood, with Brassard bleeding out.
Officers arrested McDonald, who confessed to killing Vail and Graden, saying he “didn’t get around to disposing the body.”
Police have not uncovered a motive for the crimes.
McDonald is being held at the Clark County Detention Center, where he will face three counts of open murder with a deadly weapon in addition to one count of attempted murder with a deadly weapon.
He is expected to appear in court again on July 3.
