Justin Medof California law student beats girlfriend, Stephanie Duarte to death at Las Vegas hotel room. Claims he woke up to find her non responsive.
A California man is facing murder charges for allegedly beating his Orange, Ca. girlfriend to death in a Las Vegas hotel room last week according to reports.
Police responded to the Home2Suites on July 12 where they found Justin Medof, 31, giving first aid to Stephanie Duarte, 30. Medof claimed having gotten into an argument with Duarte the night before only to wake up the following morning to find her ‘beaten, bloody, and unconscious,’ according to KLAS.
Responding police found Medof attempting CPR to the non responsive woman upon arriving. A police report stated Duarte appeared to having died of blunt force trauma hours before.
Duarte reportedly suffered fatal head trauma, while Medof had undisclosed injuries to his body. Medof was observed covered in a variety of abrasion, scrapes and bruises–which would appear to be consistent with defensive wounds.
Medof told police that he had gotten into an argument the night before with Duarte while on Fremont Street and had left her there.
Couple had dated short period before traveling to Las Vegas
Video surveillance obtained from the hotel showed Medof arriving at the hotel around 2:12 a.m. Duarte, arrived around 2:25 a.m.
The motel clerk told police that Duarte asked if Medof had been looking for her and seemed nervous.
When asked whether he had inflicted trauma on Duarte, Medof declined to answer detectives’ questions and requested an attorney.
The slain woman’s family told KLAS that she had been dating Medof, a law school student at Chapman Fowler School, for a short period of time when they planned the weekend vacation in Vegas.
Guests in an adjacent room reported hearing noises consistent with an altercation and furniture being moved around in Medof and Duarte’s room between 2 and 3am.
Medof told officers that their hotel room was covered in blood and that he tried to bathe Duarte to wake her up, KVVU reported.
According to KNTV, Duarte’s body was already in rigor mortis by the time police arrived, suggesting the woman had been dead for several hours.
Medof remains held at Clark County Detention Center without bail. The man is due back in court on August 2.
