Chaz Higgs, Kathy Augustine's husband, attempts suicide (NV Controller's death being investigated)

Just three days after Kathy Augustine's death, her husband is in the hospital recovering from a suicide attempt. Police say Chaz Higgs tried to kill himself Friday morning at his Las Vegas home.

Police and emergency personnel responded to Kathy Augustine's home near Maryland Parkway and Charleston at around 11 Friday morning after a man slit his wrists and tried to kill himself. Neighbors say that man was Chaz Higgs, Kathy Augustine's husband.

He was taken by ambulance to UMC and is in stable condition. His wife died Tuesday after suffering a heart attack over the weekend. She was 50 years old and had no history of medical problems.

Reno police are investigating Augustine's exact cause of death. Police have said they don't suspect foul play and that it is a routine investigation. News 3 spoke to the officer leading the investigation. He tells us the results from Kathy Augustine's autopsy won't be released for another four to eight weeks.

Brother appeals to public for help in probe of Augustine's death

SCOTT SONNER Associated Press Writer July 19, 2006

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RENO - The brother of the late state Controller Kathy Augustine appealed to the public Tuesday to come forward with any information that may help answer questions about her death and her husband's attempted suicide.

"There have been many rumors and suspicions raised about the circumstances of Kathy's death," Philip Alfano told reporters at a news conference.

"While our family hopes and prays she died of natural causes, we are extremely grateful an investigation has been launched," he said.

"Our family requests that anyone with any information that could assist investigators with this task, please come forward."

Alfano, 41, a high school principal from Turlock, Calif., said on Monday he was suspicious about the cause of his sister's death.

Investigators are focusing on Augustine's activities before a 911 call from her husband, Chaz Higgs, on July 8, who said he found her unconscious in the bedroom of their Reno home. Augustine, 50, died four days later without regaining consciousness.

Higgs, 42, a critical care nurse, said Augustine suffered a massive heart attack, although Reno Police Deputy Chief Jim Johns has said preliminary "indications" showed no evidence of long-term heart disease. Greg Augustine, a stepson, said family members were told the same thing.

Higgs slashed his wrists in an apparent suicide attempt at the couple's home in Las Vegas last Friday.

Higgs said at the time of her death his wife, a former flight attendant who was a divisive public figure while serving in the Legislature and as state controller, suffered a heart attack brought on by the stress of an uphill campaign for treasurer.

Augustine first was elected to office in 1992 as a Republican state assemblywoman and later was elected to the state Senate. She became state controller in 1999.

Allegations of official misconduct arose in 2003. She was impeached by the Assembly and convicted by the Senate for using state equipment on her 2002 campaign. She was censured but not removed from office.

Alfano said Tuesday the family has been searching for "some measure of good in all of the senselessness." He said the family has grown stronger and more appreciated of one another since her death.

"In addition, the people of Nevada who did not know Kathy are also hearing and reading about the Kathy Augustine we all knew - the fun-loving, warm and caring person we were fortunate to share our lives with," he said.

"Yes, Kathy could be demanding, tough and outspoken. These are the characteristics of any great leader," he said.

"But Kathy was not the false caricature created by a handful of disgruntled employees and opportunists during the impeachment trial and the weeks leading up to it," said Alfano, who declined to take any questions after reading a statement to reporters.

Reno Police spokesman Steve Frady said the FBI's lab in Quantico, Va., was handling the autopsy and the results were not expected before next week.

Greg Augustine said Monday that he has "many lingering questions" but is confident "the truth will be exposed" by police.

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20060719/ELECTIONS/107190081

Update!

Late Nevada controller's husband charged with her murder

By SCOTT SONNER
Associated Press Writer

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- The husband of the late Nevada Controller Kathy Augustine was arrested in Virginia on Friday on a charge of killing her with an apparent injection of a paralyzing drug.

Chaz Higgs, 42, was arrested in Hampton, Va., on a warrant issued in Reno charging him with first-degree murder, Reno police spokesman Steve Frady said. Higgs apparently was driving there to visit his father and stepmother, who live there, investigators said.

The warrant was issued Wednesday afternoon, just hours after a coroner's autopsy and results of FBI toxicology tests showed evidence of the drug succinylcholine in Augustine's system. Police described the drug as a "very powerful paralytic."

The warrant and test results had been kept secret until Reno police announced Higgs' arrest Friday afternoon.

"It had become a criminal investigation at that point and everything was sealed," Frady told The Associated Press.

Augustine, 50, died at Washoe Medical Center in Reno on July 11, three days after Higgs, a critical care nurse at Carson-Tahoe Regional Medical Center, said he found her unconscious in their Reno home.

A police affidavit filed in court on Friday states that Higgs had access to the drug and to syringes at his job, and had told another nurse - the day before he called authorities to say that his wife was unconscious - that he would use the drug if he wanted to kill someone because it was undetectable.

According to the affidavit, the coworker said Higgs also stated he was having marital troubles and "intended on ending his relationship" with Augustine.

Higgs told the media that Augustine died of a massive heart attack. But the affidavit says an initial examination "had not revealed evidence of heart disease that would have typically been associated with a sudden and unexpected heart attack."

The document also says a doctor who conducted an autopsy found "a suspicious needle injection injury on Ms. Augustine's buttock."

Three days after Augustine's death, Higgs tried to commit suicide. He was released from a hospital later that day, and didn't attend his wife's funeral the following day.

Augustine's brother, Phil Alfano, said family members had been suspicious of Higgs all along.

"We're saddened but we're not surprised," Alfano said Friday in commenting on Higgs' arrest.

"There were a lot of things that we saw in terms of his behavior during her hospitalization and obviously during the funeral and afterward that made us very suspicious," he told AP.

"At this point we just hope that he does the right thing and cooperates with the police and spares us any additional grief," he said.

"I hope that he rots," Augustine's daughter, Dallas, told AP. She had called authorities to help Higgs after finding him following his suicide attempt.

"I found him and at that point was standing by my belief of innocent until proven guilty," she said, adding, "But now we have conclusive evidence to go on."

"It's like losing my mother a second time," she said. "I'm very angry at the fact that she could be standing here with us today if this had not happened."

Higgs had been the nurse for Augustine's previous husband, Charles Augustine, who died three years ago in Las Vegas. His death certificate says he died of complications from a stroke. Three weeks after her husband's death, Kathy Augustine married Higgs in Hawaii.

Greg Augustine, Kathy Augustine's adult stepson, had said he wanted his father's remains exhumed and an autopsy conducted if the FBI determined Kathy Augustine didn't die of natural causes.

On Friday, Greg Augustine told KVBC-TV, Las Vegas, "It would be irresponsible if I didn't look into my father's death." He added that news of Higgs' arrest "reopened a wound" for his family.

Frady said it would be up to Las Vegas Metro police to reopen the Charles Augustine case. A Metro spokesman had no immediate comment on Friday.

"That would be something our homicide detectives along with detectives from Reno would handle," said Jose Montoya, the department's public information officer.

Frady said a media briefing would be held Monday in Reno to discuss Higgs' arrest. He added that Higgs had been on the East Coast off and on since his wife's funeral.

"The investigators were aware of his locations. That is one of the reasons we moved when we did," he told AP.

FBI agents pulled Higgs over while he was in a vehicle in Hampton on Friday then waited for Hampton police to arrive on scene, Frady said.

"They confirmed the warrant and Hampton police made the arrest. The FBI has been involved for some time. It was a good cooperative effort," Frady said.

Hampton Police Cpl. Allison Good confirmed they arrested Higgs about 6 p.m. She said the FBI had told them he was in the area and described his vehicle. She said she did not know if Higgs was driving or was a passenger or if he was visiting relatives.

Nevada authorities were interviewing Higgs Friday evening, she said.

Higgs has vehemently denied having anything to do with his wife's death. The night before attempting suicide, he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he welcomed the police investigation.

"My wife was a healthy 50-year-old woman who dropped dead. I want to find out what happened," Higgs said at the time. "People don't know what went on in our home. She was frazzled and stressed out."

Investigators said that medical experts told them that the drug found in Augustine's system - pronounced SUCK-suh-COH-leen - paralyzes muscles in the body within several minutes, including the muscles used for breathing. The drug is used in hospital operating rooms, emergency rooms and intensive care units to facilitate placement of breathing tubes in patients, they said.

"It's normally either injected or ingested but the information we have on how she received it has not been made public," Frady said.

Augustine was still alive when Higgs' coworker tipped police to his comments about the drug, according to the affidavit.

Detectives then worked with the Washoe County Coroner's Office and Washoe Medical Center personnel to ensure that biological samples would be available for toxicology testing in the event of her death, Frady said.

Augustine was first elected in 1992 as a Republican state assemblywoman. She became state controller in 1999.

She was impeached by the Assembly and convicted by the Senate for using state equipment on her 2002 campaign, and was censured but not removed from office. Political leaders including Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn called for her to step down, but she refused.

She was running for state treasurer when she died. Elections officials didn't have time to remove her name from last month's primary ballot, creating a potentially embarrassing situation for the state had she won, but Republican voters chose Las Vegas businessman Mark DeStefano.

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