Family of Tourist Slain in Vegas Had Worried About Trip

Heather Vitarelli’s family was concerned that Las Vegas might not be the safest place. But the tourist decided to come here anyway with a group of friends to celebrate their birthdays.

On Friday morning, Vitarelli, a college student from Napa, Calif., who grew up in Maui, was shot and killed by a stray bullet while standing near the casino cage at Harrah’s on the Las Vegas Strip.

“I was so mad when we were told because I don’t like Las Vegas to begin with,” said Naoka Vitarelli, a resident of Hawaii and Heather’s aunt.

Las Vegas Police Lt. Wayne Petersen said Vitarelli was standing yards from a struggle between Harrah’s security officers and a theft suspect when the suspect pulled out a gun and fired several shots at 1:20 a.m. Friday. Vitarelli, 29, was struck in the back by a stray bullet and died at the scene.

One of the security officers involved in the struggle, Frank Harris, 43, of Las Vegas, was shot in the stomach. He was in fair condition Saturday at University Medical Center.

Naoka Vitarelli said her family was worried about Heather’s trip. But when Heather told her family she was going to celebrate her birthday and the birthdays of at least two of her friends at a lake near Las Vegas--presumably Lake Mead--the Vitarelli family was relieved.

“I don’t like the gambling--Las Vegas doesn’t fit our lifestyle,” Naoka Vitarelli said. “When she told us she had big plans to go to the lake near Las Vegas, we thought, ‘Well, that’s OK, she doesn’t actually have to be in Las Vegas. That is better than going into Las Vegas.’ ”

Stephen Mullen, 32, and Michael Frimmel, 31, were arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder. Police said Mullen was the gunman.

The gun was stolen in Virginia and both men have prior arrest records in other states involving thefts and drugs, Petersen said. Both men had been staying in a small Strip hotel north of the Stratosphere for about a month, though police aren’t sure of their hometowns or whether the names under which they were arrested are their true identities.