Bid for new trial in killing fails

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2000 | 10:35 a.m.

A Las Vegas man who hired an inept hitman will have to spend at least 47 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole in a murder conspiracy gone awry.

District Judge Sally Loehrer not only rejected defense attorneys' efforts Tuesday to get Keith Shanley a new trial, but she also rejected the notion he should be treated less harshly than the actual shooter.

Prosecutors believe Shanley was so enraged that his girlfriend left him for another man that he hired two friends to kill the new boyfriend, Steve Conley.

However, the accused gunman, Steve Acosta, mistakenly shot and killed George Veit, a co-worker of Conley's and a father of four.

Shanley, 30, was convicted of murder despite defense attorneys' attempts to convince the jurors that although he may have said he wanted Conley dead, he was only talking.

They argued Shanley should not be held responsible for the actions of Acosta or the getaway driver, Kurt Johnson, because he was on the other side of town, working.

Deputy Special Public Defenders Daren Richards and Dayvid Figler used the same arguments with Loehrer in the hopes of getting her to grant Shanley a new trial.

The defense attorneys pointed out that because prosecutors decided to cut a deal with Acosta midway through his trial -- which was held after Shanley's -- he only faces a two to 10 year sentence even though he's the one who actually pulled the trigger.

Had it not been for Acosta, Veit would be alive, Richards argued.

"Jealousy occurs, breakups occur, happen every day. (They) cause people every day to say, 'I hate that guy, I wish that guy were dead.'" He also said, "There's a lot of people that have lost lovers, that have felt that jealousy and pain and rage, but lucky for us there's not that many that will say, 'How much, what will you pay me?'" Richards said Tuesday.

Loehrer, however, said the plot started and could have finished with Shanley. She pointed out that not only did he conspire with Acosta and Johnson about Conley's death, but a few months earlier committed a drive-by shooting on Conley's home.

"I find you to be a gutless wonder," Loehrer told Shanley.

The judge sentenced Shanley to two, 20 years to life terms. She also sentenced him to five other prison terms that, running together, add up to seven to 32 years.