A man accused of the murder of a manager at Dotty’s Casino, had earlier targeted a customer who had won several slot machine jackpots totaling about $30,000 during the day.
Accused targeted woman who had won $30,000 that day
Court documents obtained by local press have revealed that the suspect, Samuel Schmid, 28, had been tipped off about the customer’s multiple jackpot wins by a coconspirator who was in the casino.
According to police reports, Schmid had entered the casino and gambled at a slot machine for a few minutes before snatching the jackpot winner’s purse.
Alicia Gibellina, a manager at the casino, chased Schmid to a stolen SUV which he had parked at the front entrance. Security footage from the front of the casino shows Schmid pull a gun on Gibellina who then backed away towards the rear of the car. Schmid then struck Gibellina with the car before making his escape.
A phone that was dropped when the purse was snatched was identified as Schmid’s. It contained details of who the jackpot-winning customer was sent to Schmid by someone in the casino. The stolen SUV was also recovered and is believed to contain evidence pertinent to the case against Schmid and his coconspirator. As a result of this evidence, a second suspect has been arrested, however, the suspect’s name was redacted in court documents.
Court records show that Schmid had been accused of stealing a car on March 17th of this year. In that case, Schmid was facing charges of possessing a stolen vehicle, drug possession, and carrying a loaded shotgun or rifle. During the first hearing of that case, the judge stated that they did not hear “arguments from the prosecution and defense counsel regarding custody of the defendant”. As there were no bail arguments made in court at that time, Schmid was released by the judge pending a later hearing and told to stay out of trouble.
Schmid is now being held without bail.
Image credit: Larry & Teddy Page / CC BY 2.0
An experienced iGaming commentator and analyst based in New York City - Jenny reports on regulation and gambling industry news and events.