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 News from Around Banderas Bay | June 2006 
Darren Mack Update - From PV Resort to Reno Court
 AP
Darren Mack was in court for initial appearance earlier this week to hear the charges against him. Instead, his attorney, Scott Freeman asked for more time to research the case and that the District Attorney's office be recused from the case. Mack will be back in court this Thursday at 10am to hear the charges against him. For now, Mack is being held without bail.
Mack's lawyers hope prosecutors will give him a break since he surrendered to police late last week after spending 11 days on the run in Mexico.
Mack disappeared June 12, the day his estranged wife was found stabbed to death and the Family Court Judge handling the couple's bitter divorce was shot through a courthouse window.
Thursday night, he turned himself into the American Consulate in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Mack has a team of lawyers from Reno and Las Vegas working on his case.
An 11 day, international manhunt is now over. Darren Mack is in custody, being held on charges of murdering his estranged wife, Charla Mack, and for the sniper shooting of Family Court Judge Chuck Weller.
His arrest involved police in two states, as well as Mexican authorities and the FBI. Mack was apprehended in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Thursday night.
Reno police will not say how they think Mack got to Mexico, but sightings of him had been reported in many of the towns on the western coast.
Reno Police Chief Michael Poehlman said Mack had been reported using public transportation in Mexico and probably realized his options were becoming limited.
"He was aware, if you will, that things were tightening around him with these checkpoints that the Mexican authorities were running, with their aggressively checking public transpotation. He was becoming aware of that and he obviously was follwing the media and your coverage that we thought he was in the area," said Poehlman.
After attorney's hired by the Mack family negotiated with Reno authorities, Mack surrendered in the lobby at a Puerto Vallarta resort around 10:00 PM Thursday, Nevada time.
Mack was flown Friday morning to Dallas, Fort Worth where he was arrested upon arrival by airport police. If he does not fight extradition, he will eventually be flown back to Reno.
Mack will be held on murder charges for stabbing his wife, and attempted murder charges for shooting Judge Weller. It is possible Mack could face the death penalty if found guilty of murdering his wife.
The family of Mack's estranged wife Charla Mack are very relieved to hear about Mack's capture. Her brother, Christopher Broughton, who is now the family's spokesperson, says he is looking forward to justice being served in this case that has torn his family apart.
"Nothing will bring my sister back, we are still in mourning, but we don't have to look over our shoulders the rest of our lives," said Broughton.
"I think there's relief not only in this office but in the community because certainly people were concered as long as Darren Mack was not in custody what he might do. We were certainly concerned about that and people in the community were concerned about that" said Poehlman.
Washoe County District Attorney Dick Gammick, who has been a life long friend on Mack's, will not be prosecuting this case to prevent the appearance of impropriety. A deputy in the District Attorney's office will handle the case.
Judge Weller recently released a statement about the search. He has no plans to speak publicly this weekend, but may do so next week.
Weller has been recovering under police protection. He said he had been harrassed a number of time in the days leading up to the shooting.
"We commend local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and District Attorney Dick Gammick and his staff for their work," said Weller. "It is our greatest hope that no further bloodshed occur in this matter. The Mack family, and in particular Darren Mack's mother and children, along with the family members of Charla Mack, have suffered enough loss and grief in this tragic episode. We sincerely hope that law enforcement is successful in bringing this matter to a peaceful conclusion."
Family court judges are often criticized because their cases deal with personal issues like money and custody. Police believe Mack was behind an online smear campaign against Judge Weller.
A man wanted in the slaying of his estranged wife and the shooting of the judge handling their divorce is in custody in a Texas jail. Authorities say Darren Mack was arrested Thursday night in Puerto Vallarta and was flown to Dallas early Friday morning.
Reno police say arrangements have not yet been made to return Mack to Reno. Mack is facing murder charges for the killing for the June 12th stabbing death of his wife, Charla, and shooting of Family Court Judge Chuck Weller.
Thursday, authorities said Mack was believed to be on Mexico's west coast and had been spotted previously in Cabo San Lucas and La Paz in Baja California.
He had arranged to surrender yesterday morning at the U.S. consulate in Puerto Vallarta, but never showed up. Police say he turned himself in at a Puerto Vallarta resort at around 10:30 Thursday night.
A press conference was held in Reno Thursday after police received new leads in the manhunt for Darren Mack. According to Reno Police Chief Mike Poehlman, Mack was supposed to turn himself in to the US Consulate in Mexico at 8:30 Thursday morning.
Authorities say Mack contacted Washoe County District Attorney Dick Gammick in Monday saying that he wanted to surrender; the FBI and other law enforcement agents are now searching for Mack along the western coast in Mexico.
There have been several Mack sightings in Mexico since he went missing June 12. Areas of these sightings include Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and La Paz. Authorities believe he has been using aliases, including Darren Stone and John Smith.
Poehlman said authorities now have enough evidence to arrest him on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with the June 12 sniper-style shooting of Family Court Judge Chuck Weller. There is also a warrant out for his arrest in the murder of his estranged wife, Charla Mack. She was found June 12, stabbed to death in the garage of the couple's town home.
Police say there are some "significant developments" in the manhunt for Darren Mack, the ex-pawn shop owner missing since he allegedly killed his wife and shot the judge handling their pending divorce 10 days ago.
Reno Police spokesman Steve Frady told The Associated Press there are more than one development in the case but he said he cannot discuss any details before a news conference scheduled for 11:30 this morning at police headquarters.
The FBI added Mack to its list of "Most Wanted" fugitives on Tuesday, the same day his estranged wife, Charla Mack, was buried at a Reno cemetery. The FBI says Mack is considered armed and dangerous, "with access to all types of weapons."
Investigators have been unable to find the silver Ford Explorer with California license plates that they believe Mack was driving after the sniper attack June 12th on Family Court Judge Chuck Weller.
Weller was hit in the chest from three football fields away while standing next to the window in his third-floor office at the Washoe County courthouse complex. He was released from the hospital last week and is recovering at an undisclosed location under guard. |
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