Man who hired ‘doggie hit’ given three years’ probation

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Thursday, May 27, 2004 | 9:41 a.m.

A man accused of hiring a hit man to kill a dog was sentenced to three years' probation on Wednesday.

Ryan Schiestel, 25, entered a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting in the attempt to maim, kill or poison another person's animal in the botched Dec. 5 killing-for-hire of the dog in the back yard of a Summerlin home.

Under terms of District Judge Jennifer Togliatti's sentence, if Schiestel fails to successfully complete probation he would have to serve between 12 and 32 months in prison.

Schiestel's lawyer, Michael Villani, said the sentence was fair, although he believes his client was over-prosecuted.

"My client obviously had no evil intent here, just poor judgment," Villani said. "This was just something that got out of hand. I assured Judge Togliatti that she would never see my client back in court on these charges again. I don't think anyone will ever see this happen again."

Villani found it troubling that because a gun was involved the case was prosecuted by the major violator unit of the district attorney's office.

"The major violator unit is for serial robbers and bad murder cases, and then this gets thrown in there," Villani said. "The unit is for repeat offenders; this crime will never be repeated, at least never by my client."

Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Rutledge said the case was sent to the major violator unit because of its "unusual nature."

"This has never happened in the state of Nevada before, never been a case of a doggie hit-man," Rutledge said. "I did turn up a case out of Missouri from five years ago, but not here."

Authorities said Schiestel hired Melvin Gilchrist, 26, to kill or harm the dog, which had killed an Italian greyhound in the same neighborhood a day earlier.

Both men allegedly confessed to their roles in the crime, according to the court record. Police said Schiestel told them he hired Gilchrist, whom he met earlier that day, to go to the house on the 1800 block of Glen View Drive in Summerlin to harm the dog.

Gilchrist corroborated Schiestel's story, telling police that Schiestel offered to buy him an airplane ticket if he would go with him to a house and "beat up" a dog.

The plan fell apart, however, when police apprehended Gilchrist in the back yard of the home. A police officer shot Gilchrist in the thigh when he allegedly charged at the officer with a baseball bat and a butcher knife. Gilchrist has since recovered, and the dog was never hurt.

Schiestel denied knowing the family who owns the greyhound that was killed by the Rottweiler and the family denied knowing Schiestel, Rutledge said.

Melvin Gilchrist, 26, received a suspended sentence of 13 to 32 months for a reduced charge of resisting a public officer.