{"id":165920,"date":"2021-03-01T19:44:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T03:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=165920"},"modified":"2021-03-01T19:44:20","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T03:44:20","slug":"las-vegas-man-granted-1-35m-in-wrongful-murder-conviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-man-granted-1-35m-in-wrongful-murder-conviction\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Man Granted $1.35M in Wrongful Murder Conviction\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Las Vegas man wrongfully convicted of murdering a Circus Circus Hotel and Casino entertainer has been awarded a settlement of more than $1.35 million.<\/p>\n

\"Fred
Fred Steese poses for a photographer in an outdoor setting in 2017. A Las Vegas judge on Monday awarded the trucker a financial settlement in a wrongful murder conviction. (Image: Death Penalty Information Center<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Frederick Lee Steese, 57, was convicted March 1, 1995, of murdering Gerard Soules, an entertainer at Circus Circus on the Las Vegas Strip. A former trapeze artist, Soules at the time was a dog trainer who performed a circus act at the casino with costumed poodles.<\/p>\n

Lisa Rasmussen, a criminal defense attorney, worked with Steese in winning his freedom in 2013, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/i>. In 2017, the Nevada Board of Pardons Commissioners granted him an unconditional pardon, clearing him of\u00a0 murder.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

District Judge Jasmin Lilly-Spells on Monday approved the financial compensation and a certificate of innocence.<\/p>\n

Rasmussen has helped Steese, a long-haul trucker and handyman, adjust outside prison walls.<\/p>\n

\n

It\u2019s just an incredible relief that I\u2019ve been able to accomplish this for him,\u201d Rasmussen told the newspaper.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Steese is set to receive $75,000 for each of the 18 years he was in prison in the wrongful conviction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Murder Scene<\/h2>\n

Soules grew up in Michigan and left at 16 to join the circus. After being injured in his 20s, he transitioned from working as a trapeze artist to becoming the \u201cringmaster of a pack of well-dressed poodles,\u201d according to Vanity Fair <\/i>magazine. Soules became known as the Poodle King. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1992, Soules began performing the poodle act at Circus Circus. The act included 14 poodles, one in a poncho and sombrero, one in a Moulin Rouge-style can-can outfit, and others wearing three-foot-tall hats or hoopskirts, the magazine reported. Soules made the costumes himself.<\/p>\n

At one point, the 55-year-old Soules spotted Steese along the road with a \u201cWill Work for Food\u201d sign. Soules took Steese back to the North Las Vegas R.V. park where the entertainer was living with his poodles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The two began a friendship, but Steese moved on, the magazine reported.<\/p>\n

\n

After Soules did not show up for work one day, his boss went to the trailer. The dogs usually were quiet,\u00a0 <\/span>but this time they began barking. Soules\u2019 boss alerted authorities. Detectives found Soules’ body in the trailer. He was naked, with an orange towel over his face, the magazine reported.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

According to Vanity Fair<\/i>, \u201cSoules\u2019s throat had been slashed, and he\u2019d been stabbed so many times that the coroner stopped counting at 35.\u201d<\/p>\n

When detectives contacted Steese by phone, he drove nearly 30 hours straight from Wisconsin to Nevada, according to Vanity Fair<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>After almost five hours of interrogation, Steese signed a confession, his sixth version of events, the magazine reported.<\/p>\n

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Steese was in Idaho at the time of Soules\u2019s death and provided alibi witnesses. Rasmussen said Steese\u2019s confession was coerced.<\/p>\n

Casino Circus Acts<\/h2>\n

Circus Circus opened in 1968 on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip near Sahara Avenue. Circus performers conduct various acts above the gaming floor.<\/p>\n

In late 2019, the Nevada Gaming Commission approved MGM Resorts International\u2019s sale of Circus Circus<\/a> to billionaire Phil Ruffin.<\/p>\n

In the 1970s, Tony Spilotro, a mobster overseeing Las Vegas for the Chicago Outfit, operated a gift shop in Circus Circus. In the 1995 movie Casino<\/em><\/a>, actor Joe Pesci portrayed a character based on Spilotro. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Las Vegas man wrongfully convicted of murdering a Circus Circus Hotel and Casino entertainer has been awarded a settlement of more than $1.35 million. Frederick Lee Steese, 57, was convicted March 1, 1995, of murdering Gerard Soules, an entertainer at Circus Circus on the Las Vegas Strip. A former trapeze artist, Soules at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":165921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLas Vegas Man Granted $1.35M in Wrongful Murder Conviction\u00a0 - Casino.org Las Vegas Man Granted $1.35M in Wrongful Murder Conviction\u00a0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Las Vegas man wrongfully convicted of murdering a Circus Circus Hotel and Casino entertainer has been awarded a settlement of more than $1.35 million. Fred Steese, a long-haul trucker, received a financial settlement of $1.35 million a wrongful murder conviction dating back to 1995.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Las Vegas Man Granted $1.35M in Wrongful Murder Conviction\u00a0 - Casino.org Las Vegas Man Granted $1.35M in Wrongful Murder Conviction\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Las Vegas man wrongfully convicted of murdering a Circus Circus Hotel and Casino entertainer has been awarded a settlement of more than $1.35 million. 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