An Almost Perfect Murder

by Gary C. King

  Higgs, a former bodybuilder, quickly saw the opportunity he had with Kathy, and the two began dating in what turned out to be a whirlwind relationship. Attracted by his rugged good looks, Kathy couldn’t seem to see enough of Higgs. Three weeks after Charles had died, Kathy and Chaz ran off to Hawaii, and got married in what was termed an unplanned event. There were no family members or friends present at their wedding—just the two of them and the reverend.

  No one, not even family members, had known about the marriage until afterward, when Higgs showed up at a social gathering with Kathy in which she was being bestowed the honor of having been selected Italian-American of the Year by the Augustus Society. The award was presented at the Augustus Society’s Annual Columbus Day Ball on Saturday, October 11, 2003, at the Venetian Hotel Casino, in Las Vegas. Each year, the organization selects an individual or family to receive the award, and Kathy was selected for her dedication to public service, her history of community involvement, and her contributions to the advancement of Italian-Americans, particularly because she “embodies the spirit of the award and the society by promoting a positive image of Italian-Americans.”

  “Being selected for this award is a true honor,” Kathy told those in attendance. “I have always had strong ties to my heritage and the Italian-American community. Receiving this award provides me with the opportunity to recognize the rich Italian-American culture in this state.”

  Relatives and friends had simply thought that Higgs had been her date for the evening. However, to the shock and surprise of many people who were present, it was at that time that she had announced their marriage to her family and friends. Both husband and wife were criticized by their friends and relatives for their hastiness, but they didn’t care. All that mattered to them was their love for each other—as far as they were concerned, the rest of the world, with regard to their marriage, could go to hell.

  The following year, in January 2004, officials at the White House informed Kathy that she had become a finalist for treasurer of the United States. By then, some said, her marriage to Chaz Higgs was already on the rocks.

  Chapter 4

  When Chaz Higgs married Kathy Augustine, he purportedly was not aware of her stature as a politician. He hadn’t realized that her job virtually consumed her life and defined who she was, nor had he cared. Kathy made him happy—in fact, he let it be known that during this period in his life, at least at first, was the happiest he had ever been. His happy-go-lucky demeanor and joyous sense of humor, however, would soon change as he began to realize just how seriously Kathy had taken her political career.

  Kathy’s position as Nevada state controller was a powerful one to be in. Brandishing authority and influence at the uppermost ranks of state administration, Kathy’s job allowed her to rub elbows with powerful, influential people all over the country. But in reality, when the ingredients of her position were boiled down to the bottom of the pan, she was little more than a glorified bill collector for the state. Her office routinely collected money owed to the state and, in conjunction with the state treasurer, paid the state’s bills. Anyone in that post, male or female, could not be soft and would have to shake a big stick in order to be successful at the job, particularly if they hoped to be reelected. There was no doubt that Kathy was good at what she did—she collected millions of dollars in bad debt for the state of Nevada during her first term in office, a regular female “Guido” of sorts who always seemed to be waiting around the next corner to grab money from whomever whenever it was owed.

  Her seriousness did not mean, however, that she did not have a sense of humor. When Kathy was in the mood to laugh, she would laugh loudly. A number of state employees recalled that Kathy’s laughter could sometimes be heard resounding through the foyers and reception area near her office. At other times, however, her personality could suddenly take an unexpected and rapid turn of 180 degrees, whereby state workers could hear her pounding on her desk and screaming at her employees, scolding them for work that she considered below her standards. Never mind if an employee’s quality of work met the state’s standards set for any given position—if it didn’t meet or exceed Kathy’s expectations, people would hear about it. She was known as a perfectionist, and she demanded the best from everyone—not just the best that any given person could give, but what she considered the best that a person could do. Her perfectionism often led to uncomfortable conditions.

  One of Kathy’s former aides said that Kathy, on one occasion, had instructed her to destroy her cat, which was diabetic.

  What had been Kathy’s reason for wanting the cat dead? She purportedly had said that the cat had become too much of a diversion at the office, and kept her assistant from doing her work. The office controversy over the unhealthy cat being brought into the office may have spelled the beginning of the end for Kathy’s political career, the straw that broke the camel’s back. The cat belonged to former executive assistant Jennifer Normington who, along with another state employee, former assistant controller Jeannine Coward, had had enough of Kathy’s alleged outrageous tirades. They decided to do something about it. As it turned out, their actions resulted in the first impeachment of a state official in Nevada’s 140-year history. Normington and Coward both alleged that Kathy had committed violations of the state’s ethics laws.

  Specifically, the two women charged that Kathy had created a fearful work environment and in the process demanded that a state employee be used to work on her reelection campaign in 2002, on state time.

  “She’s a screamer and a yeller and a pounder on the desk,” Coward told state ethics investigators. “And, you know, you tried to avoid any unpleasant situations with her.”

  In a nutshell, Kathy was being accused of misdemeanors or malfeasance in office that pertained to her having her employees “organize campaign fund-raiser events, give campaign speeches, compile and maintain donor lists, format and mail requests for contributions, design fund-raiser invitations, prepare contribution reports for submission to the secretary of state, and maintain a database of Kathy Augustine’s campaign contributions,” all on state time.

  She was also charged with causing computer equipment owned by the state of Nevada to be used for “creating, maintaining, storing, and printing documents” related to her reelection campaign, and for “causing equipment and facilities, provided by the state of Nevada for use by the office of the state controller, to be used for business and purposes related to her 2002 reelection campaign.” All three of the alleged infringements were violations of Nevada Revised Statutes 281.481(7), and convictions could result in her removal from office.

  In an apparent effort to try and ward off serious legal actions, Kathy promptly admitted to the three counts of “willful” violations. In her admission, she claimed that she had not directed anyone to perform campaign work for her on state time, but stipulated that she should have known that such work was being done. The state ethics commission almost immediately imposed a fine of $15,000 against her, the largest such fine ever levied against a politician in the state’s history. However, according to Nevada law, the admission to the violations automatically activated an obligation for the ethics commission to forward the case to the state assembly to decide whether to impeach her or not. After deciding that the charges warranted a trial, the assembly voted for impeachment in September 2004.

  Specifically, the Nevada Constitution stipulates: “A public officer or employee, other than a member of the legislature, shall not use government time, property, equipment, or other facilities to benefit his personal or financial interest.”

  Following the public announcement of impeachment, Kathy was temporarily removed from office by the governor. Although suspended, Kathy’s $80,000 annual salary would continue, pending the outcome of her trial. The governor appointed Chief Deputy Controller Kim Huys, who had been in that position for three years, as the interim controller. If found guilty, Kathy could be permanently removed from office and be required to repay the state of Nevad
a a hefty portion of the money that was spent on her impeachment.

  Apparently, Kathy’s accusers provided sufficient evidence to prompt Governor Kenny Guinn to call the Nevada Legislature into special session to begin impeachment proceedings against Kathy Augustine. Guinn, as well as several other high-ranking Nevada Republicans, including U.S. senator John Ensign and U.S. representative Jim Gibbons, had asked Kathy to resign, to spare herself the embarrassment of a trial and to spare the state the expense of calling a special session. However, she refused and vowed to defend herself.

  “I think that both sides of the story have to be told,” Kathy said in response to the requests that she resign. “Resigning was not an answer.”

  In October 2004, Kathy sent a letter to the Las Vegas Review-Journal in which she stated that she had always believed in maintaining the public trust, and insisted that I will not stand silently and have my integrity dragged through the mud.

  Although it had been suggested that Guinn should wait until the regular legislative session began at the beginning of the coming year, he decided that the special session was more appropriate, because he did not want an impeachment trial to detract from the normal business that needed to be considered during the regular session. He insisted that the regular session was going to be much too busy dealing with more important issues, such as water allocations, property taxes, and general tax increases.

  On November 9, 2004, forty-two members of the Nevada Assembly met in committee and listened to the testimonies of a number of witnesses. Afterward, the vote for impeachment was unanimous, and the three alleged violations, referred to as articles of impeachment, were forwarded to the state senate for trial. The senate appropriated $250,000 for the trial expenses, estimating that it would cost at least $15,000 per day. The trial began on November 29, 2004, the Monday after Thanksgiving, and would require a two-thirds majority of the twenty-one members of the senate for conviction.

  Kathy publicly maintained her composure and style, but behind the scenes she was, of course, furious over the allegations and the impending impeachment proceedings. Suddenly the issues surrounding her private life, particularly her speedy marriage to Chaz Higgs, took a backseat to the impeachment proceedings. She retained attorneys John Arrascada and Dominic Gentile to defend her. Gentile was quick to caution the lawmakers that Kathy’s impeachment, if carried out, might be at their own detriment.

  “The assembly and senate are really trying themselves here,” Gentile told a reporter for the Boston Globe. “Some of them have aspirations for higher political office. All of them have people who work for them who work on their campaigns. If they want to make a sacrificial lamb out of her, fine, but every one of them has disgruntled employees and every one of them will face ethics complaints filed by them if they find that this action is worthy of being expelled from office.”

  Nevada state senator Dina Titus, Democrat minority leader, shot back at Gentile’s suggestion by basically stating that it wasn’t a valid argument because of the fact that the legislature only meets for 120 days each year, and therefore most lawmakers do not have full-time staffs to strike back and settle scores.

  “If she wants to drag other people through the mud,” Titus said, “I suggest they let her do that, because it won’t be me or anyone I know.”

  Titus also made it clear that people were not happy about Kathy’s suggestion that her assistant have her diabetic cat killed.

  “That was enough for me, ’cause I got a cat,” Titus told reporters. “A lot of people who don’t like Kathy Augustine think if this (impeachment) is gonna happen, it couldn’t happen to a less nice person.”

  Kathy’s lawyer responded by saying that Kathy had only made the suggestion out of compassion for the sick animal, as many people prefer to put their pets out of their misery rather than seeing them suffer. Gentile said that Kathy was the target of spiteful and vindictive state employees.

  Titus and a number of other Democrats suddenly saw Kathy’s impeachment as an opportunity to settle old scores. Many people began recalling the issue of Kathy’s allegedly racist political mailer years earlier, as well as her ascent to the senate by beating Jewish lawmaker Lori Lipman Brown by saying that Brown refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. A number of Democrats took the opportunity to renew the scandals. The question of whether Kathy was a bigot, however, remained unanswered despite the fact that she had claimed that she was not.

  As the impeachment proceedings continued to heat up, Kathy similarly refused to temper her own feelings about the issue. She offended the governor, who had been an ally of hers for many years, by refusing to meet with him privately at his suggestion. Instead, she told him that she would only meet with him behind closed doors if her attorney was present. She also requested that a special independent prosecutor be selected for her impeachment because she believed that the prosecutor that had been named by the senate, Daniel Greco, the Washoe County chief deputy district attorney, was biased against her. It clearly wasn’t the time to be making new enemies—she already had plenty. But Kathy insisted that she would win this battle, just as she had won most of the battles in her career.

  If anyone else had been called onto the carpet for Kathy’s alleged wrongdoing, especially in Nevada, it would likely have been viewed as simply yet another typical political scandal, one to be added to the state’s history of political and/or judicial wrongdoing, alleged or otherwise. However, because Kathy was so disliked by so many people, it became a ripe opportunity for her opponents to try and pull the carpet out from under her.

  “I don’t expect anybody to embrace Kathy Augustine and say, ‘Hey, Kathy, what you did here was good,’” Gentile said to reporters at one of several news conferences. “But they should say, ‘Hey, Kathy, the fact that you admitted you should have known about this is good.’ This is not the stuff you remove people from office for. It’s what we fine them for. If they approach it with an open mind, Kathy Augustine wins.”

  Chapter 5

  As Kathy Augustine’s impeachment trial drew nearer, the political mudslinging intensified in Carson City and throughout Nevada. A columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal had earlier written, when news of the allegations against Kathy had come to the forefront, that State Controller Kathy Augustine is finally going to get hers. The columnist Jane Ann Morrison indicated that the two female politicians that Kathy had unseated in two separate elections, using unscrupulous campaign tactics against them, had waited for more than ten years to see Kathy Augustine finally get what was coming to her. Some called it Karma.

  “It’s hard to wish anyone badly, once you yourself have moved on,” said Lori Lipman Brown. “But anytime anyone has done something wrong, you hope justice is done.”

  Brown admitted that she was gloating over Kathy’s legal problems, but not much, except with her husband. Based on those types of comments, it was clear that Kathy had few friends, at least politically, in Nevada.

  By the middle of November 2004, although she had already apologized to the people of Nevada for her legal problems, she appeared in an exclusive interview with investigative reporter George Knapp on Las Vegas’s CBS News affiliate channel 8. She apologized once again for the mistakes that she had made that led to her impeachment. Knapp’s interview with Kathy Augustine was the first television interview that she had granted since her ethics problems began, and it had been granted with the understanding that she would not be asked any direct questions about the impeachment case.

  “It’s very upsetting as an elected official and a constitutional officer that this would have occurred,” she told Knapp. “Yes, it’s embarrassing as well.”

  She was adamant, however, that her mistakes did not justify her being removed from office. She explained how she had admitted that she should have known that more time was being spent on her campaign work than there should have been.

  “That’s what I admitted to,” she said. “But I don’t believe that’s cause for removal from office. I believe, again, that I
will receive a fair trial and will not be convicted in the senate.”

  As Knapp explained that a number of people had described her as a tough boss and had used the “B” word to describe her character and personality, Kathy explained that in her position it was tough to have many friends, particularly in the workplace. She conceded that she was not well-liked, particularly in Carson City, in part because of the manner in which she ran her office.

  “After all, I’m the watchdog for the state’s finances and it’s my duty,” she said. “I won’t have a lot of friends when I’m watching how the taxpayer dollars are spent.... I’m very independent and I make decisions based on what I believe is best, not only for my office but for the people of the state of Nevada, especially concerning taxpayer dollars. It’s another reason this is upsetting to me. I hate that we’re spending taxpayer dollars on these proceedings. But I know with due process that you have to go through it.”

  She explained how she had accepted full responsibility for what had occurred, and that she was paying the $15,000 fine, which had been levied against her, in monthly payments.

  “That was a huge fine,” she said. “I’m paying it back personally, writing personal checks to the ethics commission. The first of every month, I send them five hundred dollars. That’s in the stipulation. It’s quite a chunk.”

  As part of her apology, Kathy agreed that the people of the state were disappointed in her, but she stressed that she wanted to continue as controller. She said that she was “willing and able, and would like to finish the job” that the people elected her to do.

  One of Kathy’s attorneys, Dominic Gentile, stated that two of the primary witnesses against his client lacked credibility, and suggested that other state politicians might get dragged through the mud if things turned particularly ugly. He said that Kathy’s admission that she should have been aware that her employees were working on her campaign during normal work hours was not the same as giving them orders to do the work on state time.