LAS VEGAS — A prosecutor told a judge a man accused of killing a woman with a sledgehammer spoke to police about “smashing people” and said the woman asked him to hit her.

Prosecutor Peter Thunell said Friday that police are investigating whether 36-year-old Clinton Earl Taylor attacked others before the pre-dawn slaying Thursday at a Las Vegas laundromat.

Officer Larry Hadfield says detectives haven’t identified any similar attacks.

Authorities have not identified the woman, who police say told a 911 dispatcher of a man with a sledgehammer before she was heard screaming and the line disconnected.

Arriving officers found Taylor covered with blood, carrying a sledgehammer.

Taylor’s court-appointed lawyer, Marissa Pensabene (pens-ah-BEHN’-ee), sought his release on bail but Judge Ann Zimmerman ordered him to remain in jail pending a Wednesday court date.

The Associated Press