No Connection Found In Murders

Sheriff’s detectives from Elko County, Nev., say they have decided there is no link between a May 4 homicide near Jackpot and four people held in the Cassia County Jail in connection with an Idaho slaying.

Elko County Sheriff Neil Harris said Wednesday there appears to be nothing to link the four jail inmates with the May 6 slaying of Gail Ann Thompson, 57, Middleton.

She was found in a ditch near a Jackpot casino, killed by a head blow and her throat was cut. Because of similarities in the two crimes, Harris traveled to Burley to interview the inmates.

“We were not able to make a connection,” the sheriff said. “We believe there was no involvement in this Jackpot death.”

Harris said the three people interviewed all had good alibis.

Corey Hood, 21; Shannah Reeves, 19; Brian Mack, 19; and Matthew Mines, 18, are being held in connection with the slaying of Wendy Hunter, 17.

Hood on Monday pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in connection with the Hunter slaying. Reeves is charged with accessory to the death. Mack and Mines are charged with first-degree murder.

Mack also is charged with first-degree murder in the April 23 slaying of Heyburn resident Mae Hood, who was Corey Hood’s grandmother.

Corey Hood has agreed to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter in that killing.