Widow of Alberta man fatally stabbed in Las Vegas rampage haunted by unprovoked attack

The wife of a 47-year-old Alberta man fatally stabbed on a sidewalk along the Las Vegas Strip says her life was shattered during the daytime attack.

Brent Hallett, from Ponoka, Alta., was vacationing with his wife, Carmelita, when he was killed during a stabbing rampage on Oct. 6.

A 32-year-old man has been charged in the unprovoked attack that left two people dead and six injured.

The Halletts had married in Las Vegas in 1999 at the Little White Wedding Chapel. They had returned to the city dozens of times since their elopement.

After 28 years together, it sometimes felt like they were the same person, Carmelita Hallett said in an interview with CBC News.

"We were together so long that half of my brain is Brent and the other half is Carmelita. I can't separate us, we are the same," she said.

"We were together for most of our life."

Hallett said the isolation of the pandemic had inspired the couple to cherish their time together and travel the world as much as possible.

They were spending four months in Las Vegas before deciding whether they would go to Australia or south east Asia.

Hallett said she and her husband had visited the Nevada resort city dozens of times over the years but she will never return. 

She said the happy memories she and her husband made there are now tainted. 

"I want to get rid of all the pictures from there, but then that would be half of our memories. I'm never setting foot in that place again," she said.

The accused in the stabbing rampage has been charged with two counts of murder with the use of a deadly weapon and six counts of attempted murder.

He remains in custody. CBC News is not naming the accused.

Accused asked showgirls to pose for photo

Authorities said the man asked sidewalk showgirls to pose with him for a photo before wielding a large chef's knife to fatally stab Brent Hallett and Maris DiGiovanni, 30, outside the Wynn Las Vegas resort.

DiGiovanni was part of the Best Showgirls In Vegas modelling and talent agency.

Two other women dressed as showgirls were among the six people injured in the midday attack. 

The accused did it to "let the anger out," according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department arrest report.

Recalling the events, Carmelita Hallett said a man ran by her husband and bumped into him. It wasn't until Brent grabbed at his back that she realized something had happened. 

"It was over in probably a minute, so live every moment like it's your last because you don't know what's going to happen," she said.

Hallett said two men rushed to help. They took off their shirts to attend to Brent's wound, but it was too late, she said.

"I wish I knew who they were because I want to say 'Thank you' to them," she said. "I was screaming for help and nobody would come."

In court on Tuesday, the accused stood in shackles during his brief arraignment.

He spoke only to say he understood he was being charged with two counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder. He was not immediately asked to enter a plea.

A Las Vegas justice of the peace set a Jan. 12 hearing to determine if the accused will face trial in state court on charges that could have him confronting a possible death penalty, and ordered him to remain jailed without bail. A grand jury could indict him before that time.

Clark County district attorney Steve Wolfson said prosecutors will decide in the coming weeks whether to seek the death penalty.

Hallett told CBC News she would not speak about the man accused in her husband's death.

"He doesn't deserve a second of our time," Hallett said.

She said she is trying to cope with her grief by taking comfort from her large extended family and throwing her support into the causes her husband was most passionate about.

"In our will, if we had both died together, our money was going to different charities," she said.

"But I am still here, so I am putting that toward animals because I can't even express how much he loved animals.

"Every second of my time is for the animals, because that's all Brent wanted."