A Pennsylvania man, who was once the target of a murder-for-hire plot, was arrested at a Las Vegas casino Tuesday after his 26-year-old girlfriend was found dead at their home — as officials believe he was prepared to flee the US.
Arthur Eugene Guty Jr. faces charges of criminal homicide and aggravated assault in connection to the death of his wife Franyerlys Nicold “Nicole” Zambrano Briceno, who died from a “gunshot wound to a vital part of the body,” according to WTAE.
Zambrano’s Nemacolin Woodlands Resort coworkers reported her missing on Dec. 24 in Farmington, PA, when the housekeeper failed to show up for work for several days, the outlet added.
Uniontown police were unable to make contact with her during a welfare check at her home last Friday and opened an investigation into Zambrano’s disappearance.
“Through the course of the investigation, we received more tips, followed up on all of those,” Uniontown Police Lt. Thomas Kolencik said. “With the help of some forensic evidence and some technology, we were able to ascertain a search warrant for the home (Monday), where we found our victim deceased.”
Zambrano was found in a bedroom at the house she shared with Guty on Monday and police recovered a .357 magnum revolver in a separate room.
Guty was named the case’s first, and only, suspect, as investigators were wary of him after their conversation with the man and issued an arrest warrant on Monday.
“He couldn’t explain the whereabouts of his wife, when he did give us information it wasn’t accurate,” Kolencik added.
Guty had left the Pennsylvania town days before his wife was reported missing, telling neighbors he and Zambrano were on a cross-country road trip.
“Three days before Christmas and he disappeared and I don’t know where he went or what he was doing,” Bob Luick told WTAE, with the neighbor remembering a phone call he had with the suspected killer.
“I said ‘Art where are you?’ but we didn’t know about Nicole yet, and he said ‘I’m in Kansas and we’re going up to Grand Canyon.’ he said we’re going up to Grand Canyon,” Luick recalled.
Police captured Guty while he ate breakfast at the Mardi Gras Hotel and Casino on Tuesday.
Guty carried approximately $100,000 in cash on him when he was arrested as officials believed he was preparing to leave the US.
“It’s an obvious homicide. And he was clearly not willing to come in to speak to us,” said Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele told KDKA-TV. “He was on his way, we believe, out of the country, with a significant amount of cash and was going to try to avoid any responsibility for what happened here. So, I would say there’s absolutely a level of callousness here.
A photo taken by police in Las Vegas captured Guty sitting outside, handcuffed with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth following his arrest at the casino.
Zambrano was Guty’s second marriage after his now ex-wife attempted to hire a hitman to kill him in 2019.
Roxanne Guty was arrested in 2019 after offering the hitman a split of a $50,000 life insurance policy to kill her husband, who she co-owned a Marathon Gas Station with, WTAE reported at the time.
She was sentenced to lesser charges and is being held at Fayette County Prison, according to the outlet.
Guty is scheduled to make an appearance in front of a fugitive judge on Thursday morning, according to court records.
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