Posted on Sep 30, 2015
"Man convicted in slaying of Nellis airman"
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From: Las Vegas Review Journal
A Las Vegas man was convicted Friday in the slaying of Nellis airman Nathan Paet.
A Clark County jury of six men and six women took a little more than an hour to find Michael Rodriguez guilty of three charges: first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon.
The same jury is expected to decide next week whether Rodriguez, 36, should be sentenced to death.
Paet, an Air Force staff sergeant, was gunned down in the garage of his southwest valley home as he left for work on the night of Dec. 1, 2010. Prosecutors said his wife, Michelle Paet, had a fleeting affair with Rodriguez and the two devised a plan to have Nathan Paet killed so they could collect $600,000 from his life insurance.
Nathan Paet was the assistant non-commissioned officer-in-charge for the Strike Aircraft Maintenance Supply section of the 757th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base.
He was born in 1982 in Tamuning, Guam. He and Michelle were high school sweethearts. After graduation, Nathan joined the Air Force in April 2002, and the two married in 2006.
Family members who attended the trial said he worked a graveyard shift to provide for his family and regularly drove his four children, who were ages 2 through 9, to and from school.
His mother, Carmenita Paet, called him "an island boy" who enjoyed all types of outdoor activities, "from the ocean to the snow."
He was good to his children and taught them to respect their elders, she said.
Nathan Paet also was unaware of his wife's infidelity and never spoke of any suspicions with his relatives, they said.
The first of five shots struck Nathan Paet in the neck as he put on his shoes in the garage, prosecutors said. As gunfire continued, he stumbled back inside the home, blood soaking his camouflage fatigues, and collapsed in front of his children while Michelle Paet was inside the home.
Prosecutors said Rodriguez and Michelle Paet planned the murder over the course of six months, while Rodriguez thoroughly studied Nathan Paet's life insurance policy. They determined Rodriguez would get $150,000 for orchestrating the slaying.
Rodriguez, who admitted to being at the scene of the crime, is the first of four defendants, along with Michelle Paet, alleged gunman Corry Hawkins and alleged accomplice Jessica Austin, to face trial in the killing.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/man-convicted-slaying-nellis-airman
A Las Vegas man was convicted Friday in the slaying of Nellis airman Nathan Paet.
A Clark County jury of six men and six women took a little more than an hour to find Michael Rodriguez guilty of three charges: first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon.
The same jury is expected to decide next week whether Rodriguez, 36, should be sentenced to death.
Paet, an Air Force staff sergeant, was gunned down in the garage of his southwest valley home as he left for work on the night of Dec. 1, 2010. Prosecutors said his wife, Michelle Paet, had a fleeting affair with Rodriguez and the two devised a plan to have Nathan Paet killed so they could collect $600,000 from his life insurance.
Nathan Paet was the assistant non-commissioned officer-in-charge for the Strike Aircraft Maintenance Supply section of the 757th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base.
He was born in 1982 in Tamuning, Guam. He and Michelle were high school sweethearts. After graduation, Nathan joined the Air Force in April 2002, and the two married in 2006.
Family members who attended the trial said he worked a graveyard shift to provide for his family and regularly drove his four children, who were ages 2 through 9, to and from school.
His mother, Carmenita Paet, called him "an island boy" who enjoyed all types of outdoor activities, "from the ocean to the snow."
He was good to his children and taught them to respect their elders, she said.
Nathan Paet also was unaware of his wife's infidelity and never spoke of any suspicions with his relatives, they said.
The first of five shots struck Nathan Paet in the neck as he put on his shoes in the garage, prosecutors said. As gunfire continued, he stumbled back inside the home, blood soaking his camouflage fatigues, and collapsed in front of his children while Michelle Paet was inside the home.
Prosecutors said Rodriguez and Michelle Paet planned the murder over the course of six months, while Rodriguez thoroughly studied Nathan Paet's life insurance policy. They determined Rodriguez would get $150,000 for orchestrating the slaying.
Rodriguez, who admitted to being at the scene of the crime, is the first of four defendants, along with Michelle Paet, alleged gunman Corry Hawkins and alleged accomplice Jessica Austin, to face trial in the killing.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/man-convicted-slaying-nellis-airman
Air Force
Crime
Justice
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 13
There is no hole deep enough for these people. I don't know who is worse, the wife or Rodriguez. To take away the doting father of these children....let alone the kids watching their father die right in front of them....adding to the fact that at some point they will learn the truth that their mom helped in them losing their dad.....no hole deep enough for these killers.
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I feel awful for the children growing up with a mother in prison for the rest of her life and their father gunned down in cold blood. I'll be praying for the children
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