Teen Slaying Suspect Awaits Extradition : Crime: Two Nevada detectives arrive to collect evidence and question 14-year-old Peter Quinn Elvik of Tustin. The victim’s widow speaks out.

As investigators from Nevada arrived in Orange County on Saturday to interview 14-year-old murder suspect Peter Quinn Elvik, the widow of the man he is suspected of killing lashed out.

“This is so meaningless,” said June Gibson, whose 63-year-old husband was found shot to death early Thursday morning. “There was no reason for it. Bill was very mild-mannered and wouldn’t have been starting any trouble.”

Elvik remained in Orange County Juvenile Hall on Saturday, awaiting extradition to Nevada. Two Carson City Sheriff’s Department detectives have begun collecting evidence from the car that the youth is suspected of stealing from the victim, William Leon Gibson, and driving to California, said Carson City Sgt. Steve Schuette.

Detectives revealed no new details Saturday about the slaying of Gibson, who was found shot to death on a rifle range on a desolate stretch of highway Thursday morning. His 1987 Dodge Daytona and handguns were missing.

Elvik, who had been living with his paternal grandparents in Douglas County, Nev., was arrested near his mother’s home in Tustin on Friday evening after eluding police for 17 hours during an intense countywide search.

The man’s slaying was linked to Elvik when a police officer on routine patrol spotted Gibson’s car parked outside the Sea Lark Motor Hotel in Costa Mesa early Friday morning. The officer, checking the parking lot for stolen vehicles, ran a check on the license plate and found that it had been reported stolen from a slaying victim in Nevada.

Before police could get to Elvik, who had checked into a room at the motel with a 14-year-old girlfriend, he jumped from a second-story landing and fled, remaining at large for most of the day after a motel clerk alerted him that police were on their way.

The teen-ager’s 71-year-old grandfather, Ralph Elvik, had reported his grandson missing on Wednesday. The youth reportedly wanted to move back in with his mother in Tustin.

“He was troubled,” the grandfather said tearfully Saturday. “We did what we could for him. But it wasn’t enough.”

June Gibson said that when her husband did not return home from the rifle range Thursday morning, she immediately sensed trouble.

“I felt something was very wrong,” she said. “Bill was so dependable, and when he didn’t come home, I called one of my granddaughters and had her drive me out there. When I saw they had closed off the road and saw the yellow tape, I knew it was him.”

The couple, who met while living in the same apartment building in San Francisco, had been married for 26 years. They adopted a daughter, Melissa, 13 years ago, and had been enjoying their retirement in Nevada for the last seven years. Bill Gibson had two sons from a previous marriage and four grandchildren.

“Bill would spend a lot of time working on our swimming pool, keeping it clean, and he had just planted a cherry tree and an apricot tree on our grounds,” the widow said.

Schuette said he did not know how long the Carson City detectives would be in Orange County or how long it would take for Elvik to be returned to Nevada.

First, a detention hearing must be held before a Juvenile Court judge, and if the suspect fights extradition, the process could take up to 30 days, he said.