Two Cities, Four Murders, One Cause

Episode #68 Jessica Russo

He had already taken a life—and the system let him walk free. Less than a year after his release, Mark Michael Ford murdered again, leaving two families shattered and a community searching for answers. Domestic violence and intimate partner violence don’t just stay behind closed doors—they ripple through entire communities with devastating consequences. From Las Vegas to Reno, four lives were lost to the same underlying cause.

[Shaun] 

This week we’re going to narrow the focus a little bit from Domestic Violence and describe two recent tragic cases of intimate partner violence. IPV is what it’s called when violence occurs between couples who are dating or married, while DV can encompass any violence in a household, such as a parent abusing a child.

[John] 

Our first case started as intimate partner violence and spun out into what was essentially a murder spree, one that destroyed the lives of two families. What makes this case so frustrating is that this wasn't the first time this murderer had taken a life.

(Music - Pause for 8 seconds)

[Shaun] 

Hi and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I’m your host, Shaun. 

[John] 

And I’m your cohost John. 

[Shaun] 

As we mentioned the cases we’re covering this week are focused on intimate partner violence, which is a subset of domestic violence. All IPV is DV, but not all DV is IPV. It's important to understand that if you or someone you know is experiencing intimate partner violence, all of the same resources are available to that person, and as always we have links in our show notes to the national domestic violence hotline. We want to remind you up front here that you can get in touch with them 24/7/365 by

• Calling 1.800.799.SAFE (7233)
• Visiting www.thehotline.org
• Texting START to 88788

A recent addition to the hotline is an AI chatbot that can offer informed and compassionate advice. You can visit ruth.thehotline.org at any time.

Do you want to get us started on this week’s first case?

[John] 

Sure. As we mentioned we have 3 victims in our first case, but we’ll start with Jessica Russo. In February of 2024, Jessica was 36 years old and was a mom to two daughters, ages 11 and 7. She was living with Mark Michael Ford who she had a long-standing relationship with going back to High School in the early 2000’s

She was very close to her mom, Laura, and her niece Giana, and all of them lived here in Las Vegas, but they’re originally from New York, specifically Staten Island.

Jessica worked at a location of Dotty’s, a local chain of gaming bars that are ubiquitous around the Vegas and Henderson area with dozens of locations much like PT’s.

Jessica worked at the location on Elkhorn and Hualapai which is in the far northwest part of the Las Vegas Valley, in Centennial Hills. She previously worked at Lefty’s Pizza in that same area, which has since closed.

Her mom said that she was “spicy” and “beautiful”, and that she was a wonderful and generous person who would do anything for anyone. She was a devoted mom, and Laura considered her to be her best friend. 

Several people wrote on her GoFundMe page about how much they enjoyed chatting with Jessica at Dotty’s. They remarked how friendly and sweet she was, and some of the comments referred to her as a “hot ticket” and “little pistol” which indicates to me that she was a sassy, no-nonsense person. 

On Tuesday, February 20th, 2024, Jessica didn't pick up her daughters at school and no one had heard from her. 

All of that was very out of the ordinary, so her mother her niece Gianna, and her mom’s boyfriend headed over to her South Las Vegas home on Andorra St. to check on her

When they got there, knocked, rang the doorbell, and no one answered, Laura had her boyfriend kick in the door. They went in frantically searching for her, and Laura found her on the floor of her bedroom. She’d been shot and was unresponsive.

Gianna later wrote on her aunt’s GoFundMe page that the whole thing felt like a nightmare and that with the guidance of the 911 operator, Laura tried in vain to resuscitate Jessica, her only daughter in this horrifying scene.

At first, the police had few leads and there were a lot of news stories where Laura was on television pleading with the community for anyone who knew what happened to come forward. 

[Shaun] 

5 days later, on Sunday, February 25th, 44-year-old John Dorotiak (Duh-roh-shak) was working the late shift at the same Dotty’s where Jessica worked, up on Elkhorn and Hualapai. 

As he left work around midnight, he headed to his car which was parked right in front. Before he got to his car, he was confronted by an assailant and was shot 6 times. First responders got there quickly and he was transported to a local hospital.

His family was called, including his wife, his niece, and his nephew, who arrived at the hospital around 1 am in a panic. 

After several hours, a trauma doctor came out and had to inform them of the heartbreaking news that John didn't make it.

I want to say a little bit about what we learned about John Dototiak in our research. John was born November 4th, 1979 in Palos Heights Illinois, and moved to the Las Vegas area when he was 4. 

His family moved to Pahrump where he went to Pahrump Valley High and was a standout football player. He met his wife Roxanna while working at Verrazano Pizza, and was later a part owner in Lefty’s Pizza (where he met Jessica and became friends with her)

After that, he worked at Dotty’s for nearly 16 years where he easily made friends because of his outgoing and likable personality. He loved luxury cars and animals, he was intelligent, was passionate about politics, and loved the Chicago Bears

He was a beloved brother, husband, uncle, and father. His family told reporters about how he had an unmatched work ethic, often holding down two jobs to support his wife Roxanna, who had recently come through a battle with cancer, and their 16-month-old daughter.

He was very very close with his nephew Cameron and his niece Nicole. Cameron told a story about how he would visit his uncle at Lefty’s Pizza when he was working there, and you really get a sense of what a loving man John was.

His niece Nicole was very close to John in age, and mentioned that she thought of him as a big brother more than an uncle, someone she idolized and looked up to.  

I also wanted to mention that Nicole, agreed to be the surrogate for John and Roxanna, and gave birth to their daughter in 2022, which is an amazing gift to give her favorite uncle and his wife.

She has so much to say about him, but here are a few things that stuck out to us

“He was the cool guy in the family… at 44 years old, still cool”

“He was a very caring person who was always looking out for others”

“If you knew him you loved him” and 

“He was so excited to be a new dad”

[John] 

So, did you catch that Jessica and John worked at the same places and that they were murdered 5 days apart, both having been shot? Well, Las Vegas Metro Police did and quickly identified a suspect in both killings.

You might have guessed already, but that suspect was Mark Michael Ford, Jessica's live-in boyfriend. Ford became a suspect very quickly after the second murder for a very good reason. This was not the first murder he had been involved in.

When Mark Michael Ford was just 15 years old in February of 2003, he broke into the home of his neighbor in Peccole Ranch, a 56-year-old man named Vincent Gomes, who shared the home with his ex-wife Roberta.

Vincent had called 911 and told the dispatcher that someone had broken into his house, and then called 911 again a few minutes later telling them that the person stabbed him just before he lost consciousness. He’d been stabbed in the neck with a pry bar that was about 12” long, and he died on the scene.

When she saw the booking photos, Roberta immediately recognized  Ford and told investigators that they had known him since he was 10 years old. 

Ford was put on trial for murder, all the while claiming he never meant to hurt Gomes, but within a year, a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder

The Judge sentenced Ford to TWO life terms with the possibility of parole .. one for the second-degree murder and one for the deadly weapon enhancement.

Gomes’ wife spoke at his sentencing and said, “You aren't going to get away with it… you might be punished in prison but the dear Lord is not done with you yet. You will get yours again sometime” 

You might be wondering how it is that he could reasonably have been paroled for a brutal crime like this and was allowed to leave prison, his debt to society repaid.

[Shaun] 

As we said he was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. One for 2nd-degree murder, and the other for the deadly weapon enhancement. He was also convicted of burglary with a firearm. 

Each of the life sentences had a minimum sentence of 10 years, and the burglary charge had a minimum sentence of 22 months. 

Ford applied for parole twice, once in 2012, and once again in 2022. When he applied in 2012 after having served the minimum on the first life sentence, it was impossible for him to be released because he still had to serve at least 10 years on the second life sentence.

During the time he was incarcerated, two laws were passed in Nevada that would end up forcing the state to release Ford. In 2009, under Governor Jim Gibbons, the legislature passed Assembly Bill 474 which retroactively granted offenders under 16 mandatory parole when eligible if they completed requirements like job training and education.

After that, three US Supreme Court decisions also impacted life sentences given to juveniles.

In 2010 in Graham vs Florida, The Court ruled that sentencing juveniles to life without parole for non-homicide offenses violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

The second, in 2012, Miller vs Alabama applies directly. In that decision, the Court held that sentences of mandatory life without parole for juveniles, even in homicide cases, are unconstitutional. The ruling didn't ban life without parole for juveniles outright but required state courts to consider the circumstances of each juvenile offender on a case-by-case basis before imposing a sentence like that

Then in 2016, Montgomery v Louisiana made the Miller vs Alabama decision retroactive.

[John] 

Back in Nevada, in 2015 under Governor Brian Sandoval, the Nevada Legislature passed Assembly Bill 267, which granted offenders under 18 mandatory parole after serving 20 years in crimes resulting in death. 

That bill in particular really built on the Supreme Court decisions and squarely affected Ford who was sentenced to life with parole as a juvenile and was eligible for parole after a total of 20 years.

So, when he applied for parole in 2022 it was very much a formality. The parole board legally had no choice but to grant him parole. They evaluated him as being “low risk” due to things like having completed his GED in prison, his age when incarcerated, and his lack of disciplinary problems recently in prison.

They cited a “positive institutional record” and how he participated in “programs specific to addressing behavior that led to his incarceration”, such as anger management classes.

Ford told the parole board in his videotaped parole hearing that he had “had 20 years to reflect on his actions that day” and said “I’m definitely asking for forgiveness and a second chance in life,”

So, there it was. He was paroled 20 years to the day that he had murdered Vincent Gomes. He was released in February of 2023 at the age of 35.

One year after that, Ford was the primary suspect in two murders.

[Shaun] 

From what Nicole, John Dorotiak’s niece told reporters, although John and Jessica were just good friends at work, obviously Ford had some sort of jealousy about that which drove him to murder them both leaving two families mourning and broken.

On the day Ford murdered John, Police announced he was a suspect, and incredibly, that same day, Sunday, Ford shot another man in the head, a man who was described as “a friend of Ford’s” outside of his home.

That man survived, and his name hasn't been released publicly. 

Later in the day, they found Ford in a car outside of a home in the south Valley, not far from where he lived with Jessica near Las Vegas Blvd and St Rose. He’d died by suicide, having shot himself in the chest. They found a gun under his sweater.

[John] 

Jessica’s family has a GoFundMe to pay for her final expenses. They earned enough there to pay to transport her back to Staten Island where she was laid to rest. Her 11-year-old daughter said in an interview with Channel 13 news 

“We have to go to New York to bury my mom. We have to say goodbye to her, unfortunately” “That was my mom. That was my best friend. That was my whole life.”

We’ll share the link the the family’s GoFundMe page in our show notes because they still have expenses they haven't been able to pay.

We do have a couple of bright notes here in a very tragic story. 

Laura, Jessica’s mom is actively working to adopt her grandchildren which we think is amazing. As she said, there is no replacing a mother, but we think it's great she's doing that.

John and Roxanna Duroshak’s daughter has lost her loving dad, but she has her mom, and a very large extended family to help her as she grows up which we’re thankful to know. 

Our thoughts are with the families affected by this horrible tragedy.

[Shaun] 

The second case we wanted to talk about another case occurred in August of 2024 in Northern Nevada near Reno, around Lake Tahoe. 

This one happened fairly recently so for now we’ll focus on what happened and provide some background on the victim. 

On Sunday, August 11th, 2024, Reno Police were called to a residential neighborhood the 1300 Block of Keystone Avenue in the northwest part of Reno NV because of reports of gunshots. 

When they arrived they found William Andrews, 68 years old, had been shot in the head and murdered, and his red Chevy Blazer was missing.

The news reporting said barely anything about Bill, but we found a beautiful description of him, his family and his life, and we wanted to share that.

Bill Andrews went to high school in California where he was a varsity letterman athlete in both football and baseball, and moved to Reno with his brother Scott in 1976, who he was very close with. 

Bill was known for his humor and his outgoing personality. There is a quote in his memorial that says “Bill never met a stranger. Everyone he encountered quickly became a friend”

His personality also carried over to his work, where his excellent customer service earned him lasting relationships with anyone he came into contact with.

He loved classic rock bands like Lynard Skynard, Tesla, Credence Clearwater Revival, and U2, and was an avid concertgoer. He also loved Harley Davidsons and was “an all-weather barbequer”. He loved the outdoors and especially loved caring for his beloved pets, especially his dogs.

He left behind a large extended family including his partner Cheryl, her daughter, his own daughter, a grandchild, his beloved best friend and brother Scott, his brother Cameron and his husband, and many more.

He was loved by so many and he will be missed.

[John] 

Two days before the murder, on the 9th, 48 year old Patricia Portella-Wright was reported missing after she didn't show up at work at The Eadington Gallery in Tahoe City (she had a second job at Karma Tahoe in Incline Village as well (Incline Village and Tahoe City are both towns  around Lake Tahoe.) 

Patricia loved her job and was passionate about the gallery especially because she was a talented artist and photographer, so her not showing up raised serious red flags with her friend and boss. 

According to police, the last known contact was a few days earlier than that, on August 3rd or 4th

Police knew she lived with her boyfriend, 55-year-old Brent Clifford in Kings Beach, so they started searching for him. 

When Bill Andrews was murdered on the 11th, they found out that he was also a friend of Brent Clifford, so they intensified the search, asking for the public’s assistance in finding both Clifford and the missing Chevy Blazer. 

Within just a few days, Clifford was a person of interest in the homicide, and they assumed he had taken the Blazer. It was seen on security camera footage near the Circus Circus Casino in Downtown Reno, and then It was spotted heading west on I70, North of Reno, headed toward Portola.

Police located Clifford in Portola on August 14th, and they located the Blazer nearby. They initially charged him with identity theft because he had been using a credit card of Trish’s. 

According to court documents Clifford was accused of fraud and identity theft, since he had stolen Patricia’s personal information and used her cards, obviously without her consent. Police stated the total value of what he had stolen exceeded $950, making it a felony. 

The next day, August 15th, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office received information that led them to search north of Reno on the Mt Rose Highway. Using a drone, they located and recovered Trish’s body from a deep embankment off the highway. 

Her death was ruled a homicide due to “multiple sharp force injuries”

[Shaun] 

Clifford has been charged with murder and identity theft, but his case is ongoing. We’ll bring you updates on this case as they happen.

In the aftermath of Trish’s murder in September of 2024, Incline Village held a tribute event in her honor titled “Stop the Violence”

The event, organized by Sabrina Gentner, was intended to commemorate Trish’s life. It featured guest speakers and benefited the Siera Community House, a local organization that helps victims of domestic violence 

The executive director of Sierra Community House Teresa Cremmens said “Domestic violence has a ripple effect throughout our community,” “It’s about exerting power and control over another person, and it can look a lot of different ways. Domestic violence thrives in silence, secrecy, and isolation.”

A memorial service for Trish was held in Texas on September 21st in her hometown.

We found out a bit about Trish by looking at her Instagram, her Facebook, and her website. She was a talented artist and photographer and was a beloved daughter, sister, and mom to two girls, and a friend to many in her community. 

Her friends said that she would do anything for anyone, and was an amazing person

Trish’s family has a GoFundMe to help pay for her final expenses, and we’ll share that in our show notes.

Although her website is no longer online we looked through previous versions and there’s a great quote from her we’d like to share.

Trish writes

“Im just a girl with a camera”

“Im inspired by the world around me. The places I explore and the faces I meet make life worth living. I love a good story. I love a good song.”

“I dance like crazy, sing, hike, swim, run, laugh, scream, and lose myself along the way.”

“Life is about immersion. Living it, loving it, and most of all trusting it.”

“I like to take chances and risks. life is unpredictable at best. “

“It's in life's trials that I have grown. I'm a good mother, a supportive wife, a loving daughter and granddaughter, and a fabulous friend.”

“I've found over the years that it's not how much you have that makes you happy, but the people you have around you who make the days golden and the years memorable.”

[John]

We think it's great that her life was celebrated, and echo the sentiment that there is no place for this violence, and we very much hope that justice can be served to the murderer who took Trish away from her family far too soon.

For decades, activists and advocates have been stressing that domestic violence is not just a private family matter. We can’t treat it as a secret because, as Theresa Clemmens said, intimate partner violence and domestic violence thrive in secrecy. The violence shouldn’t need to spill out into the community for us to take notice and take action. 

As always, you can find resources and links to organizations near you where you can donate, volunteer, or get more information on domestic violence, so we as a community can keep working towards prevention and solutions. 

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And we remind you what happens here happens everywhere.