Friday, Dec. 10, 2010 | 12:47 p.m.
A picture of Nathan Paet is displayed Tuesday afternoon at a memorial service held at Nellis chapel. Paet was shot and killed Dec. 1 outside of his home as he was preparing to go to work.
Sun archives
Metro Police said no other arrests are expected in the death of a Nellis airman whose wife is accused of helping to plan the man's death.
“We have all the players that were involved in this case,” Police Lt. Lew Roberts said Friday.
Roberts said Staff Sgt. Nathan Paet likely didn’t know any of the people – other than his wife – who were arrested in connection with his murder.
Paet, 28, was shot and killed Dec. 1 after he opened his garage door to leave for work. He went back inside the home after the shooting, in the 9200 block of Alta Monte Court, where he collapsed. Michael Rudolph Rodriguez, 31; Corry A. Hawkins, 33; and Jessica Austin, 23, were arrested in Nathan Paet’s death earlier this week.
His wife, 29-year-old Michelle Paet, was arrested Thursday and allegedly confessed to helping plan the murder, according to an arrest report.
“I’m sure the victim didn’t think they had marital problems,” Roberts said Friday. “She just wanted a better life, I guess, and wanted money.”
According to the arrest report, Michelle Paet and Rodriguez had been texting before the shooting occurred. A text from Michelle Paet about five minutes before the shooting said, “Can't go back to sleep right now. Got woken up from a man screaming I'm late. He's rushing to get out the door. Lol.”
When police contacted Rodriguez, he told investigators he was “having sex with an ex-porn star” during the time of the shooting, the arrest report said. The unidentified woman was supposed to receive 5 percent of what Rodriguez would earn from the murder, police said.
“We are looking at her involvement with the case,” Roberts said Friday. “She was supposed to be an alibi.”
Michelle Paet allegedly told police she helped plan the shooting to collect money on her husband’s life insurance policy. She allegedly also told police she helped plan the shooting because she and Rodriguez wanted to pursue a romantic relationship, authorities said.
The Paets had four children together, police said.
Paet, from Guam, was an F-15 supply section technician assigned to the 757th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. He had been stationed at Nellis Air Force Base since 2007.
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