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Las Vegas Performer Strangled and Cut Off Dancer's Legs Before Burying Her in Cement
A tip that "investigators hope for and pray for" led police to Las Vegas showgirl Deborah Flores Narvaez's brutal killer.
Deborah “Debbie” Flores Narvaez was “a ball of fire,” her close friend told Oxygen's Sin City Murders. “She loved to dance.”
So much so that she’d left a finance career to pursue being a Las Vegas showgirl, CBS News reported. By the end of 2010, she’d appeared in the chorus of a couple productions.
But on December 13 of that year, a show producer called the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to report that Flores Narvaez missed a midnight rehearsal for Fantasy at the Luxor. She’d developed a special segment for the show with pop singer Sisqó, the Las Vegas Journal-Review reported.
“This was supposed to be her debut,” Michelle Fleck, Chief Deputy District Attorney with the Clark County DA's office, told Sin City Murders. “It was a really important night for her.”
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Deborah “Debbie” Flores Narvaez goes missing
Flores Narvaez’s roommate filed a missing persons report to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department 48 hours after the dancer disappeared.
There was no sign of foul play at the residence, said Glenn Brook, a now-retired LVMPD officer. “The roommate had relayed to us that Flores Narvaez had gone to her ex-boyfriend Jason Griffith’s house.”
Griffith, aka “Blu,” was a dancer at the Cirque du Soleil show Love at the Mirage hotel. He told police that Flores Narvaez stopped by around 6:30 p.m. and they had a short conversation, according to Marc DiGiacomo, Chief Deputy District Attorney, Clark County DA.
Griffith told police that Flores Narvaez “might be suicidal,” Brook told Sin City Murders. Investigators interviewed her inner circle and found no evidence to support Griffith’s claim.
Debbie Flores Narvaez case points to foul play
Detectives obtained surveillance footage from Flores Narvaez’s residence. The video showed her leaving in her car at 6 p.m. She was wearing black boots. A BOLO (be on the lookout) alert was issued for the vehicle.
Police focused on Flores Narvaez’s phone, social media and financial activity. “Flores Narvaez’s activity ceased the night of December 12,” said Dean Raetz, a now-retired LVMPD homicide detective. Foul play seemed likely.
Investigators considered that Flores Narvaez’s shot to break out of the chorus may have sparked envy. This avenue ended up being a dead end.
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As the case caught the attention of the media, detectives turned back to Griffith. “He appears to be concerned, he appears as though he is attempting to help with the investigation,” Fleck recalled.
But the deeper dive into Griffith’s history raised concerns. “Jason had been arrested previously for a domestic violence incident involving Deborah Flores,” said Brook.
At the same time, the case turned in a different direction. Flores Narvaez’s sister informed police that her sibling had broken up with another man in 2009.
“The two of them were going to pursue dance together but they also had a very tumultuous relationship,” said Flores Narvaez’s friend Devan Corbitt.
“It was a relationship that involved violence to the point that Flores Narvaez had ended up with scars,” said Fleck. “She was able to sue and she got an award of $250,000.”
But investigators determined that this ex-boyfriend was in Baltimore when the victim vanished. He was cleared.
Investigators focus on Jason “Blu” Griffith
On December 15, investigators found Flores Narvaez’s car. Black boots like the ones she was seen wearing in the surveillance video were in it. Otherwise, the vehicle provided no evidence to advance the case.
Ten days into the investigation, police asked Griffith to speak with them. Because of the media attention around the case, he brought his lawyer.
He told police that he had a casual friendship with Flores Narvaez, whom he claimed wanted more from him, and said that he was seeing someone else. He maintained that he last saw Flores Narvaez as she was driving away in her car.
Police searched Griffith’s residence for DNA to tie him to Flores Narvaez. "There was no blood, nothing that would make us discern that there was a crime that occurred in his residence,” said Raetz.
Detectives interviewed Griffith’s roommate, Louis Colombo, and his girlfriend. Both said they knew nothing about the case.
On December 21, the Missing Persons Unit held a press conference to request help from the public. As tips came in, investigators learned that a female body fitting Flores Narvaez’s description had been found across the Arizona border near Lake Mead.
But the victim, who had been burned, was identified as being a local madam from a Las Vegas brothel, according to investigators.
Police turned to Griffith’s new girlfriend, who was also a dancer and in a show at the time Flores Narvaez went missing.
Griffith was seeing both women on the sly at the same time. That led to an incident in which Flores Narvaez had been pushed to the ground and Griffith was busted for domestic violence.
Suspicions deepen about Jason "Blu" Griffith
On January 5, 2011, another one of Griffith’s former girlfriends informed police that he’d tried to store a large plastic bin at her home on December 15.
He and Colombo came in a U-Haul. When she asked him what was in the tub, he said, “You don’t want to know,” according to Brook. She told him no way. She waited three weeks to report it out of fear of being hurt herself.
Surveillance footage confirmed that Griffith had rented a U-Haul on December 14 and returned it two days later.
“It was one of those tips investigators hope for and pray for,” said Raetz, adding that authorities, at that point, believed that Flores Narvaez was dead. “Whatever they ultimately did with the body happened in that two-day time frame.”
Detectives questioned Colombo. He confirmed the tipster’s account.
What happened to Deborah “Debbie” Flores Narvaez?
On the evening of December 12, Griffith and Flores Narvaez had a violent argument.
“Louis told the police he saw that her arms were out to the side and that she had a plastic bag over her head,” said Fleck. “Jason told him that he put the bag over her head in order to see if she was still alive.”
Colombo hid the victim’s car. Then Jason insisted that they needed to get rid of her body. “He told us that he helped Jason fold her up, tape her up, and put her in this big plastic tub,” investigators said.
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Griffith bought concrete mix at a hardware store and buried Flores Narvaez in cement in the tub. He got keys to another ex-girlfriend’s home downtown that was vacant. As he and Colombo unloaded the crate from the U-Haul, it cracked. They got more cement and more tubs.
“They were able to break down the concrete and they then mutilated Flores Narvaez's body,” said Fleck. “They put her torso into one tub. They put her legs into the other tub.”
Colombo brought police to the residence where the body was stashed. “It’s horrible,” said Raetz.
The body was separated from the cement and confirmed to be Flores Narvaez. The medical examiner determined that she’d been strangled, said DiGiacomo.
Jason "Blu" Griffith arrested
Griffith was arrested. On May 5, 2004, Griffith’s trial began. Colombo avoided being charged by agreeing to testify, according to Sin City Murders.
Griffith was convicted of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years to life. In 2020, his appeal for parole was denied. He remains behind bars.
“It was just crazy,” Deon Ridley, a friend of the victim, told Sin City Murders. “The fact that Flores Narvaez's passion was dance, and the guy cut her legs off.”
For more on the case, featured on the show's "Vanishing of a Showgirl" episode, watch Sin City Murders, airing on Oxygen on Sundays at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
