Luxor Casino Bomber Escapes from Custody

43-year-old Porfirio Duarte-Herrera was given a life sentence in 2009 for killing Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio, a former employee at Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs eatery at the Luxor Hotel & Casino on the Vegas Strip. As prosecutors on the case managed to prove, Duarte-Herrera used Omar Rueda-Denvers as an accomplice. Dorantes was Rueda-Denvers’ ex-girlfriend’s new partner. The duo planned and executed the hit with the help of a pipe bomb. The incident took place on the parking garage roof at Luxor Casino. At the moment, Duarte-Herrera is being searched by the Metropolitan Police Department in Vegas and the US Marshal’s Service. 

Duarte-Herrera Escaped From the Southern Desert Correctional Center 

At the time the inmate made his escape, he was serving his life sentence at the Southern Desert Correctional Center located in Indian Springs, Nevada. Indian Springs is 45 miles northwest of Vegas. The prison has a medium level of security that Duarte-Hererra managed to pass by after spending the last 12 years there. 

Prison guards noticed his absence at 7 in the morning on Tuesday during their regular check, according to data from the Nevada Department of Corrections. Within the following hour, the prison’s corrections personnel initiated all the necessary procedures to begin the search for the missing inmate. 

A few hours later, at approximately 1 p.m. the Department of Corrections gave an official statement regarding the incident. It is not yet known how Duarte-Herrera managed to make his escape. According to the statement issued by the prison, the inmate has brown hair and brown eyes, weighs 135 pounds and measures 5 feet and 4 inches in height. 

Convicted of Murder and Attempted Murder 

Duarte-Herrera together with his accomplice were both convicted of murder with the use of a deadly weapon, as well as attempted murder on Antonio’s girlfriends who was also at the scene. The duo placed a pipe bomb with a trigger activated by motion in a coffee cup. The cup was placed on top of Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio’s car. When Antonio picked up the cup, the bomb exploded, causing him a severe injury to his hand. At the same time, a metal piece was ingrained in his skull. Antonio had just ended his shift at Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs eatery and was about to enter his car when the incident occurred. Caren Chali, his then-girlfriend and also Rueda-Denvers’ ex-girlfriend was not injured during the explosion, despite the fact that she was near the vehicle at the time the incident occurred.

Chali and Rueda-Denvers had a daughter together, and the latter was allegedly jealous of her new relationship, according to information provided by prosecutors during the trial. Originally, prosecutors attempted to obtain the death penalty for both defendants. However, they received life sentences with zero chance of parole.

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