A man convicted for the 2007 murder at the Luxor Hotel & Casino is back behind bars after escaping last Friday from a Nevada prison. Porfirio Duarte-Herrera was caught on Wednesday night in Las Vegas and on Thursday officials released some details on his capture.
Porfirio Duarte-Herrera’s image was included in this flyer distributed by local officials. The escaped prisoner was captured on Wednesday in Las Vegas about to board a bus. (Image: Twitter)
Duarte-Herrera, 42, was about to board a bus to Tijuana, Mexico. At about 10 pm Wednesday, he was stopped by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) officers at North Eastern Avenue near Searles Avenue in Las Vegas.
Officers cautiously approached the escaped inmate. One told him, “Don’t be stupid, don’t be stupid. Put your hands back.”
Then a Metro officer asked him where he was heading. “Tijuana,” Duarte-Herrera replied.
Tijuana is some 348 miles south of Las Vegas. It would take at least five hours to reach that city by bus from Las Vegas.
He appeared to cooperate with authorities and was placed in a LVMPD vehicle.
Duarte-Herrera was then driven to the Clark County Detention Center where he remained on Friday. Since he was sentenced to life in prison, he will be held without bond.
Since 2010, he was incarcerated in the Southern Desert Correctional Center in Indian Springs, Nev., up until last week’s brazen escape.
It took corrections officials four days to realize Duarte-Herrera had escaped.
Once aware of his flight, numerous investigative agencies launched an all-out investigation.
The incident “ultimately ended well,” Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said during a press conference on Thursday.
Lombardo credited the efforts by the agencies and the media for publicizing and distributing the suspect’s photo.
Alert Bus Station Worker Praised
Lombardo added that a bus station employee notified Metro police after recognizing the fugitive. He had seen his photo.
One of the things we were concerned about specifically was him escaping the state or the country, so we wanted to flag all the transportation hubs in the valley, specifically bus depots,” LVMPD Capt. Brandon Clarkson explained at the press conference.
It appears Duarte-Herrera got a ride from an unnamed person, as well as money. He was dropped off near the intersection of Bonanza Road and Nellis Boulevard in Las Vegas on Monday night.
He kept a low profile to avoid being recognized by police or members of the public, police said.
The one employee who called police after recognizing the fugitive is likely to get some or all of the $30,000 reward offered for Duarte-Herrera’s capture, officials said.
Guards’ Actions Under Review
Meanwhile, the Inspector General for the Nevada Department of Corrections will review the actions by prison guards in connection with the inmate’s escape.
Failures …will be addressed,” Lombardo said.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, who is Lombardo’s opponent in the state’s upcoming gubernatorial election, was livid about the prisoner’s escape.
Duarte-Herrera was convicted for the murder of Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio at the Luxor casino. Antonio was killed after a pipe bomb exploded on the casino parking garage’s roof.
Duarte-Herrera and a second defendant, Omar Rueda-Denvers, were convicted of murder by use of a deadly weapon and attempted murder by use of a deadly weapon in connection with the incident.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty for the two defendants. But both got life sentences without any chance of parole.
In 2019, a federal judge granted Rueda-Denvers a new trial because of improper court procedures. In a retrial last year, he was convicted of murder, attempted murder, and other charges.
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