US Journalist Killed, Body Found In Container, Suspect Dies In Car Crash
A Las Vegas freelance journalist was allegedly killed and his body was packed in a container by his flatmate, police said. Days after Matthew Kelemen's body was discovered at a downtown establishment after police checked into a foul odour, his suspected murderer, Joseph Del Rivo, was also killed in a car crash in Utah.
The Las Vegas Metro police found Kelemen's remains on Tuesday after receiving a report of a stench at a store on North 3rd Street in Downtown Las Vegas, roughly a week after the murder.
Police said Del Rivo, 63, was killed in a high-speed pursuit which had nothing to do with the investigation.
On Monday, Del Rivo himself dropped off the container, saying he or someone would pick it up in about a week.
The following day, he allegedly hired a logistics firm to retrieve the container. Employees noticed a bad smell when the package was taken out and informed the authorities.
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According to the Las Vegas coroner's office, the reason and cause for Kelemen's death are still under investigation. Detectives reportedly believe Kelemen most likely died from blunt force injuries.
According to multiple accounts, Kelemen was a freelance journalist who contributed to Las Vegas Magazine. Mikki Zaferatos, Kelemen's sister, described the dramatic events unfolding "like horror-movie stuff."
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Ms Zaferatos told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that her brother was preparing to vacate the room he rented in a house where the suspect, Del Rivo, also resided.
According to her, Kelemen had only been there for roughly six months, but "he kept telling, my brother, what a strange guy this was."
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Kelemen reportedly claimed that living there made him extremely uncomfortable. "The guy was a disgusting slob,' were his words," she added.
Ms Zaferatos said she received a call from the Clark County coroner's office from her home in Apopka, Florida, at approximately 3 pm Eastern time on Wednesday.
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Two days after discovering her brother's horrific murder, she told the publication, "I could not process what was going through my brain."
According to Kelemen's Muck Rack page, his work has been published in magazines like The Daily Beast, Las Vegas Sun, and Las Vegas Weekly. He reviewed Janet Jackson's residency in his most recent piece, published after his death. He worked as a staff writer for the now-defunct publications City Life and 944 for several years.
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Kelemen, who was unmarried, is survived by his older brothers, Steven and Vincent, and his younger sister, Mikki. The entire collection of Kelemen's writing from Las Vegas, which dates back to 2003, is preserved by the family.
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