Mob Suspected in Torching of Columnist’s Car

LAS VEGAS — A newspaper columnist whose car was torched by an arsonist Tuesday in the parking lot of his apartment complex said the job could have been a message from organized crime figures whom he has written about.

Ned Day, a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, said he had received no recent threats but had heard that associates of murdered mobster Tony Spilotro were unhappy about a column that he wrote on Spilotro after his death.

“I wrote a goodby column to Tony Spilotro that I understand his friends didn’t like,” Day said. Spilotro, the reputed Las Vegas head of the Chicago mob, was killed last month along with his brother in an apparent mob slaying.

Day also wrote about possible successors to Spilotro in a recent column, which he said could have prompted the torching.

Las Vegas police and fire investigators probed the blaze that destroyed Day’s 1983 Volvo.

“We’re very concerned because Ned Day has made some potential enemies in his position as a columnist,” Deputy Police Chief John Sullivan said. “We’re going to monitor the investigation to see that he’s not in jeopardy.

A security guard at Day’s apartment complex alerted authorities about the fire about 3:40 a.m. Tuesday. Firemen quickly quelled the blaze but not before it destroyed Day’s car.

Police first said it had been firebombed, but Clark County Fire Department Arson Investigator Mike Patterson said it appears that someone poured a flammable liquid around the car, then set it on fire.

It was not the first time that Day and his car have been in the news.

Shortly after he purchased the vehicle, Day said he was threatened by two associates of Spilotro. A few days later, someone pounded several large dents in the car.