Michelle Paet: Murder Plot, Guilty Plea, and Life Sentence

Michelle Paet is a former Las Vegas resident serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for orchestrating the December 2010 murder of her husband, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Nathan Paet, with her lover and two accomplices in a scheme to collect roughly $650,000 in life insurance. She pleaded guilty in October 2015 to first-degree murder with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit murder, and was sentenced in March 2016 by Clark County District Court Judge Douglas Herndon.¹ Her most recent appeal was rejected by the Nevada Supreme Court in June 2024.²

Nathan and Michelle were high school sweethearts from Guam who married in February 2006 and had four children together: Daynon, Nyarah, Dracyn, and Davyn. The family had moved into a home in the Mountain’s Edge community of southwest Las Vegas just months before the killing.³ Nathan, an Iraq War veteran, was assigned to Nellis Air Force Base.⁴

The Murder Plot

Michelle began an affair with Michael Rodriguez, a convicted felon she met at a Las Vegas telemarketing company.⁵ By her own admissions to detectives, she complained to Rodriguez that Nathan’s paychecks were not enough to cover the family’s needs, and the two began discussing how to “get rid” of him and collect on his life insurance. The combined policies were worth roughly $650,000, made up of $400,000 in military benefits and a $250,000 private policy, with Michelle listed as the beneficiary.⁶

Police said the plot took shape in October 2010, about two months before it was carried out.⁷ Rodriguez brought in Corry Hawkins, another convicted felon, to help carry out the killing. A fourth participant, Jessica Austin, bought supplies for the crime, including blue latex gloves and air freshener, and later helped destroy evidence.⁸

The Night Nathan Was Killed

On the night of December 1, 2010, Nathan was preparing to leave for his graveyard shift at Nellis. At about 11:30 p.m., as he opened the garage door of the family’s home on Alta Monte Court, he was shot multiple times, once in the stomach and twice in the back. Investigators later determined the shooters had been lying in wait across the street near two vacant homes.⁸⁹

Michelle’s role was to signal the gunmen. She sent Rodriguez text messages alerting him that Nathan was leaving, and she unlocked the garage door so Rodriguez and Hawkins could get access.⁵ After being shot, Nathan staggered back inside the house, where he collapsed. Michelle was inside with their four children. He was taken to University Medical Center and died there.¹⁰ Hours later, Michelle texted a smiley face to Rodriguez.¹¹

How the Case Unraveled

Neighbors called 911 after hearing gunshots. Witnesses reported a man in a brown or tan hooded sweatshirt running from the scene and getting into a black car. Nathan’s wallet, keys, and cell phone were untouched, and detectives quickly concluded he had been specifically targeted rather than robbed.¹⁰

The case broke open within days. An unidentified female associate of the suspects came forward with details of the conspiracy. Search warrants at Austin and Hawkins’ apartment produced the latex gloves, the air freshener, and evidence that clothing had been burned in a fireplace. Text messages between Michelle and Rodriguez, including references to “getting rid of” Nathan, filled in the rest. The suspects destroyed their cell phones the day after the killing, but police already had what they needed.⁸

Rodriguez, Hawkins, and Austin were arrested first. Michelle was arrested and booked into jail on December 9, 2010.¹² A Clark County grand jury indicted all four on charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and burglary; Rodriguez and Hawkins also faced firearm charges as ex-felons. Both Michelle and Rodriguez gave full confessions.⁷ In January 2011, prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty against Michelle, Rodriguez, and Hawkins.¹³

Guilty Plea and Life Sentence

Michelle never went to trial. On October 1, 2015, she pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit murder, and prosecutors dropped the death penalty in exchange.¹⁴¹⁵

At sentencing on March 3, 2016, Judge Herndon called the crime “incomprehensible” and “unfathomable” and told Michelle, “You were much more involved than you’re willing to admit.” He imposed life without the possibility of parole.¹¹

Michelle addressed the court, saying, “I made a huge mistake and a really bad choice and I’m truly sorry. I hope and pray that one day each and every one of them will find it in their hearts to truly forgive me.” She called Nathan “a wonderful man with a loving soul.” Nathan’s mother, Carmelita Paet, told her, “As a woman of faith, I forgive you, because your soul clearly needs forgiveness,” but asked for the maximum sentence. Nathan’s sister-in-law, Veronica Paet, told her, “I don’t hate you. I just don’t believe you ever deserve to see a free day ever again for what you have done to my family.”¹ Michelle’s own mother, Constance Quintanilla, asked the judge for the possibility of parole so the four children might someday “hear from their mother the things a mother needs to say.”¹¹

What Happened to the Co-Conspirators

Rodriguez went to trial in September 2015. A Clark County jury convicted him of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon after roughly an hour of deliberation. To avoid a death penalty phase, he agreed to life without parole and waived his appeals.¹⁶¹⁷

Hawkins, identified by prosecutors as the triggerman, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and burglary to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced on September 20, 2016, also to life without parole. Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Fleck said of him, “If you were to hire someone to kill someone, Corry Hawkins is exactly the man you would hire.”¹⁸¹⁹ Jessica Austin pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and cooperated with authorities.⁵

Appeals and Where She Is Now

Michelle’s conviction was first reviewed by the Nevada Supreme Court on direct appeal in December 2016. The court affirmed the judgment, finding no abuse of the district court’s sentencing discretion.¹⁵

On May 29, 2018, she filed a postconviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus, arguing her guilty plea was invalid. She claimed her trial attorney had been ineffective, that she did not fully understand the consequences of the plea, and that she had entered it under duress. She alleged her lawyer was unprepared for trial, failed to communicate with her, and frightened her by referencing a woman executed in another state for a similar crime. The Eighth Judicial District Court held an evidentiary hearing and denied the petition, finding she had failed to show prejudice. The Nevada Supreme Court affirmed the denial on June 11, 2024, holding that the record from the plea hearing directly contradicted her coercion claims, that her attorney had communicated effectively and was prepared for trial, and that she had not shown she would have insisted on going to trial absent the alleged errors.²

Michelle Paet remains in Nevada state prison serving life without the possibility of parole.²

Dateline Coverage

The case was the subject of a Dateline NBC episode titled “Part of the Plan,” reported by Keith Morrison.²⁰ The broadcast followed the investigation by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police detectives Tod Williams and Laura Andersen and walked through the coded text messages between Michelle and Rodriguez, along with the false alibi Rodriguez tried to build after the killing.⁵

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News3LV. Michelle Paet Sentenced for Conspiring to Kill Her U.S. Air Force Husband
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FindLaw. Paet v. State, No. 87058
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Post Guam. Paet’s Murder in Las Vegas Still a Puzzle
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Las Vegas Sun. Friends, Family Remember Nellis Airman Gunned Down
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Oxygen. Nathan Paet Killed by Wife Michelle Paet, Michael Rodriguez
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Las Vegas Sun. Four Plead Not Guilty in Murder-for-Hire of Nellis Airman
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Las Vegas Review-Journal. Wife, Three Others Indicted in Nellis Airman’s Death
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Las Vegas Sun. Report Outlines Wife’s Role in Airman’s Murder
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Post Guam. Police: Paet Killed for Insurance
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Las Vegas Review-Journal. Fatally Shot Nellis Airman May Have Been Targeted
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NJ Herald. No Parole for Wife in Slaying of Air Force Husband
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CBS News. Wife of Murdered Iraq War Vet Arrested in Las Vegas Shooting Death
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Las Vegas Review-Journal. Wife, Two Others to Face Death Penalty in Airman’s Slaying
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Las Vegas Sun. Wife Pleads Guilty in Slaying of U.S. Airman From Guam
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Casemine. Paet v. State, No. 70037
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Las Vegas Review-Journal. Man Convicted in Slaying of Nellis Airman
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Las Vegas Review-Journal. Man Agrees to Life Without Parole in Slaying of Nellis Airman
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Las Vegas Review-Journal. Man Gets Life in Prison Without Parole for Slaying of Nellis Airman
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Las Vegas Sun. No Parole for Defendant in Murder-for-Hire Death of Airman
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NBC News. Watch Dateline Episode Part of the Plan Now