Man Sought in Wife’s Death Surrenders at Nevada Casino

A Palmdale man suspected in the stabbing death of his estranged wife in the Angeles National Forest turned himself in to authorities Saturday in Laughlin, Nev., officials said.

Richard James Poynton, 48, of Palmdale was questioned Saturday afternoon by Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide detectives in Laughlin, said Deputy Angie Prewett.

Poynton surrendered to security guards at the Riverside Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, saying he had killed his wife somewhere in Palmdale, according to hotel officials and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

Poynton approached hotel security officers shortly after 6:45 a.m. and told them he had arrived in town on a Greyhound bus, said Kenneth Fox, a security supervisor at the Riverside Hotel.

“I think it was just fate,” Fox said, noting the Greyhound station is next door to the hotel. “He just walked in the first place he got to when he came into town.”

Deputies were searching for Poynton after the Friday slaying of Marie Poynton, 44, of Palmdale, Prewett said.

Authorities found her body on a dirt shoulder off a remote section of the Angeles Forest Highway on Friday afternoon.

Witnesses said a man screamed obscenities at Marie Poynton before stabbing her with a knife several times. They said the woman had been forced off the highway by another car.

The attack, at about 2:40 p.m. Friday, was witnessed by at least two sets of people who were traveling the rural two-lane highway between Glendale and Palmdale. Two witnesses called 911 from a nearby restaurant pay phone.

The Poyntons were separated and in the process of a divorce, police said. Richard Poynton also had been served with a restraining order last December.

Poynton was booked at the Tucker Holding Facility in Laughlin, police said, and must face an extradition hearing in Nevada before being brought to California to face charges.

Manzano is a Times staff writer and Fox is a correspondent.