Murder trial called case of jealousy, greed

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2000 | 11:11 a.m.

The trial of a Las Vegas man who is accused of arranging a hit that went awry and cost an innocent man his life began Tuesday.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Wall told jurors the Keith Shanley case is one of "jealousy, greed and a false sense of power."

And while Shanley may have an solid alibi for the day George Veit was shot and killed, he is responsible for his death just the same, Wall said.

Wall told jurors that Shanley wanted Steven Conley dead because his girlfriend, Cary Renda, had left him for Conley.

Unfortunately, prosecutors said, the man Shanley hired to kill Conley, Steven Acosta, walked into the transmission shop where Conley worked and shot the wrong man to death. Acosta is awaiting trial.

Wall said Shanley made sure he was at work when the shooting took place, but he was implicated in Veit's death when the getaway car driver, Kurt Johnson, was arrested nearly a year later on a drug charge.

Johnson, Wall said, is awaiting sentencing on an accessory to murder charge and will take the stand against Shanley.

Deputy Special Public Defender Dayvid Figler urged jurors to play close attention to Johnson and the state's other witnesses. Many, he argued, have motives for testifying against Shanley.

After his arrest on drug charges, Johnson was "literally a rat in a cage, anxious to get out by any means necessary," Figler said.

While Shanley is a passionate and vocal man who threatened Conley's life repeatedly, they were "idle threats," Figler said.

"There was no meeting. There was no plan. There were no order from this man. There was no legal agreement under the law. There was no conspiracy," Figler said.

Shanley did not pay Acosta and Johnson for their services, Figler said. Acosta and Johnson blackmailed Shanley because they knew of the animosity between Shanley and Conley and how that would look to police.