San Diego Suspect Identified in Slaying of Boy, 7, in Nevada
Howard Lee Haupt, a 37-year-old San Diego computer programmer, was being held Saturday in San Diego County Jail in connection with the abduction and slaying last year of a 7-year-old boy from a Nevada casino.
Haupt was arrested Friday night at his Clairemont home on a federal warrant for investigation of interstate flight to avoid prosecution, according to FBI special agent Jim Bolenbach.
Haupt was being held in the case of Alexander Harris of Mountain View, Calif. The boy disappeared Nov. 27 from a video arcade at Whiskey Pete’s in Stateline, Nev., and his body was found Dec. 30 under a trailer near the casino.
Las Vegas detectives said witnesses reported seeing the boy leaving the arcade with a man in his 30s. After the abduction, Las Vegas officials issued a description of the suspect’s truck and in January forwarded that description to California authorities.
Haupt was taken into custody shortly after 9 p.m. at his home in the 3800 block of Ecochee Avenue. A white 1982 Datsun pickup truck was taken from the residence and impounded.
Bolenbach said steps are being taken to return Haupt to Nevada.
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