Penrose murder victim’s family shares their side and what they know about the suspect

If you go by the arrest affidavit, it was a case of a roommate who overextended his welcome with deadly results. Now, the family of a Penrose murder victim tells us their side of the story.

The family of Scott ‘Slim’ Nash describes him as a loving and funny family man who cared for everyone. His widow Deanna Nash and step-daughter Breanna Smallwood say he was a real-life cowboy.

“He was a one of kind,” Deanna says, “We spent a lot of our life together working ranches.”

Helping those less fortunate when he could and tending to his animals which he loved.

It was in May when Nash had to temporarily move out of Deanna’s home because of issues with the landlord. Being a charismatic character, he met a man who offered him a place to stay. The same man police say stabbed Nash three times killing him.

Deanna says she met Donald Laub a few times and each time she felt uncomfortable to be around him.

“He would go into this hysterical laugh for no reason and it wasn’t like laughing it was like a devilish grueling kind of laugh,” she describes.

The last conversation Deanna had with her husband was the same day Nash was set to move out of Laub’s home. It was the same day Nash was murdered. “He says, ‘I’ll see you when you get here.’ But he didn’t sound distraught or mad or scared.”

Despite court documents reporting Laub told police two people were living with him and they refused to leave, Deanna says that’s just not true. Deanna still lived at her house and visited Nash. On the day of the incident, Deanna says they finally found a place they could both live together again.

“All of his stuff was packed and sitting by the door waiting for me to go pick him up,” Deanna says.

When she drove to Laub’s home to pick Nash up, she could see the area was blocked off with caution tape.

“Right then I knew something bad had happened but I didn’t think my husband was dead.”

Now, dealing with the loss of their beloved husband and step-father, both attend every court hearing having to see the man charged with killing him.

“It’s really tough cause you just want to get up and scream, ‘Why! Why did you do this?’,” says Breanna Smallwood, Nash’s step-daughter, “And you just can’t because you are not allowed to come anymore.”

Both say they want justice, but even if Laub were to get the death penalty, Deanna says it won’t be enough to fill the immeasurable hole in her heart.

“My life will never be the same ever. They’ll never be another man like him. I was so lucky to be married to him and that was taken away from me.”

A funeral will be held Friday for Nash. If you wish to help the family, click here.