Suspect pleads not guilty in murder-for-hire plot

Bill Gang

Friday, May 21, 1999 | 11:36 a.m.

The man alleged to have funded a murder-for-hire plot that was bungled when the wrong man was shot to death at an auto repair business has pleaded not guilty.

District Judge Sally Loehrer set a July 19 trial date for Keith Joseph Shanley, who invoked his right to a speedy trial at his District Court arraignment Thursday.

Shanley and the alleged triggerman, 29-year-old Steven Acosta, are charged with murder, attempted murder and conspiracy in the Feb. 3, 1998, shooting death of the manager at Best Auto Repair, 1266 N. Nellis Blvd.

But Metro homicide detectives say 42-year-old George Veit wasn't the intended target, but was mistaken for a co-worker who was supposed to die because of his ongoing relationship with Shanley's ex-girlfriend.

That man, Stephen Conley, was standing next to Veit when the three fatal bullets were fired from a gun that a Clark County Grand Jury indictment alleges was provided to Acosta by Shanley.

The May 12 indictment alleges that Best Auto was called before the murder to determine that Conley was working, but when the hitman arrived, he mistakenly targeted Veit.

In addition to Acosta, Shanley is also charged with hiring 44-year-old Kurt William Johnson as the lookout and getaway driver. Johnson, however, wasn't named in the indictment in part because he had been cooperating with prosecutors and testified before the grand jury.

Deputy District Attorney David Wall said Johnson is going to plead guilty to being an accessory to the murder and also to narcotics charges in an unrelated case involving a methamphetamine lab.

Acosta, 33, is scheduled to be arraigned May 27.

Along with the murder-related charges, Shanley also is charged with shooting into a home on Oct. 28, 1997 that was occupied by Conley and Cary Renda, Shanley's former girlfriend.

Detectives originally thought Veit may have been shot by an angry customer, but developments in the case led investigators to conclude he simply was mistaken for Conley.