COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION Written By Mark Fierro
He almost got away with it.
I
n the early morning hours of Jan. 3, 2015, psychologist Dr. Brent Dennis made a call to 911 from his Henderson home with the news that his wife, Susan Winters, was not breathing. Dennis told authorities that Susan, an attorney, had gone to bed shortly after 9 p.m. and that when he awoke, he found his wife unresponsive. Dennis said that his wife had been despondent and speculated that she may have ingested pain pills and antifreeze in order to commit suicide. After being rushed to the hospital, Susan Winters died at age 48 with a lethal amount of antifreeze and oxycodone in her system. (Full disclosure: Fierro Communications, Inc., worked on the case providing litigation support services.) After an initial cursory review of the matter that lasted approximately 88 minutes, according to Winters family attorney Tony Sgro, it appeared as if authorities had an easily closed case on their hands — a straightforward case of suicide, according to Henderson law enforcement officials. If you ever do find yourself accused of a
nefarious deed, Tony Sgro would have to be at the top of the list of attorneys you would want to contact to mount a defense. How ironic, then, that Sgro’s efforts ultimately aided the prosecution in this case. “When we first met, the family was very suspicious of the investigation that resulted in a ruling that Susan had committed suicide,” Sgro told Vegas Legal Magazine. “Susan’s parents, Avis and Danny Winters, simply did not believe that their daughter would ever commit suicide. They wanted to see an investigation that was done more thoughtfully and more thoroughly.” Sgro and his partner David Roger launched a private investigation into the death, revealing glaring inconsistencies with the story Brent Dennis was attempting to sell to the authorities. The probe drew a pinpoint focus on the search history and location data from Dennis’ cell phone. A crucial maneuver in the investigation, according to Sgro, entailed allowing Dennis to claim funds from Susan Winters’ insurance and stock holdings and subsequently suing to obtain Dennis’ cell phone records and location data. These records ultimately played a key role in the case.
