By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Two teenage murder suspects are fighting extradition
from Utah to Nevada, where they are wanted in a
butcher-knife wielding crime that left a 3-year-old girl
dead and her 10-year-old sister paralyzed.
Beau Santino Maestas, 19, and his 16-year-old sister,
Monique Maestas, were picked up on Interstate-15 near Nephi
on Wednesday.
"They (UHP troopers) were actually out there on the
interstate watching for this possible subject to come
through and sure enough there it was," Utah Highway Patrol
spokesman Doug McCleve said.
The three occupants of the vehicle were arrested and
taken to Juab County Jail where they were held for the
hearings on Friday.
The Maestas's both refused extradition during their
separate hearings in 4th District Court on Friday in
Nephi.
The sibling suspects, who police say stabbed two girls
inside their Mesquite, Nev., mobile home, killing one and
wounding the other, are fighting extradition from Utah.
Both suspects are scheduled to be back in court on
Feb. 21 for a hearing before 4th District Judge Donald J.
Eyre Jr.
The brother and sister were charged as adults by the
Clark County Nevada District Attorney's Office Thursday on a
fugitive warrant. Under Nevada law, a person charged with
murder is automatically certified as an adult.
Each faces charges in Nevada of murder, attempted
murder, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon and
conspiracy to commit robbery, all felonies. Additionally,
both were charged with conspiracy to commit burglary, a
gross misdemeanor.
Judge Eyre ordered the Maestas's held in the Juab
County jail but suggested Monique Maestas be taken to a
juvenile detention facility in Provo since she is 16 and the
facility there would better accommodate her age.
A third person, Sabrina Bantam, 18, girlfriend of Beau
Maestas, was released Thursday.
Security Friday in the Fourth District Courtroom in
the Juab County Center was tight. Both suspects wore
bulletproof vests over orange jail jumpsuits and were
flanked by court officers, including Juab County Sheriff
Orme.
Police investigating the stabbing murder of Kristyana
Cowen have recovered two knives and bloody articles of
clothing from an abandoned gas station in Millard County
near I-15 suspected to be linked to a Wednesday morning
attack in Mesquite that left Cowen dead of multiple stab
wounds and critically injured her 10-year-old sister,
Brittney Bergeron.
An attempt to locate the trio was broadcast to law
enforcement officers around the state Wednesday morning.
Troopers were told to look for an individual wanted for
murder out of Mesquite driving a white Honda Accord, Nevada
license plate 099-NBR.
The broadcast stated the male was believed to be
traveling with his sister to the Magna or Murray area.
After hearing the vehicle and suspect description, UHP
troopers Kory Wright and Greg Kelsey parked their vehicles
on the side of the freeway watching for any cars matching
the description given by Mesquite authorities.
"The system worked flawlessly in this case," said
McCleve.
The troopers took all three individuals into custody
without incident at approximately 7:45 a.m., McCleve
said.
Lt. Matt Alberto and another detective both of the
Nevada Department of Public Safety's Division of
Investigations traveled to Nephi and interviewed Beau
Maestas in connection with the slaying.
More details of the attack were revealed Friday in an
arrest warrant affidavit filed by the Clark County, Nev.,
district attorney.
According to the six-page document, Beau Santino
Maestas implicated himself and his teenage sister in the
crimes. In his statement, he blamed the attack on an
argument over money spent on drugs in a deal gone wrong.
The children were stabbed about 1:55 a.m. in the
trailer at the Casa Blanca casino-resort RV park, while
Bergeron, who is unemployed, and her boyfriend were inside
the casino.
The suspect pounded on the door to the family's
trailer, yelling that the girl's mother had been hurt,
according to the affidavit.
The attack occurred after the 10-year-old opened the
door.
The suspect fled Mesquite northward with his teenage
sister and an 18 year-old girlfriend, police said. The
suspect had lived in the Salt Lake City area, but recently
moved to Mesquite to live with his grandmother.
Beau Maestas tried to take the blame for the
stabbings, at one point telling police "he had both knives
and used both knives to stab both of the girls," the
affidavit stated.
He also told police he "did not intend to hurt the
girls but that they were screaming very loudly and wouldn't
stop."
Maestas borrowed a set of kitchen knives from his
girlfriend's father. He told his girlfriend "he was going to
make right getting jacked around on the narcotics deal," the
affidavit stated.
Maestas' girlfriend stayed in the car as Beau Maestas
and his sister went to the trailer where the couple live,
according to the affidavit.
When they returned, both had blood on their hands and
clothes and were "extremely excited and yelling," the
affidavit stated. They also told the girlfriend they had
"killed two little girls."
According to the affidavit, the three went to the
house where the Maestas's' grandmother lived. Beau Maestas
took a shower and he and his sister changed their clothes.
After washing the bloody knives, they wrapped them up in
their discarded clothes and towels.
After calling some friends in West Valley City, Beau
Maestas, his sister and girlfriend left Mesquite and headed
north on I-15.
Nevada law requires at least one aggravating
circumstance to accompany a murder for the case to become
eligible for a death penalty prosecution. Prosecutors claim
three aggravating circumstances: A murder occurred during
the commission of a burglary, a murder occurred during the
commission of a robbery, and the victim was younger than
14.
Evidence will be examined at the Las Vegas Metro
Police Department's Criminalistics Lab. Maestas' white Honda
Accord was also transported via tow truck from a holding
facility in Juab County to the same lab.
"The car remained sealed and received a Utah Highway
Patrol escort to the Utah border, where Nevada authorities
took custody of the vehicle," said McCleve.
Maestas was a Utah resident but was living in Mesquite
at the time of the murder. He was a junior at Cyprus High
School in the Granite School District but records show he
transferred out in December 2000.
Maestas has no known history of violence but does have
a history of drug charges out of California.
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