Roy Jaggers, 27, of Las Vegas was allegedly physically beat, tortured, stripped of his clothing, and shot multiple times in Cathedral Canyon on August 1
Prosecutors are considering the death penalty for at least one of three people accused of torturing and murdering their neighbor in a remote part of the Nevada desert outside of Las Vegas.
Roy Jaggers, 27, was tortured for hours with a blowtorch, knives, a baton, and an axe before being stripped and forced to walk off a cliff, prosecutors say. The victim was then shot multiple times.
Heather Pate, 27; her boyfriend Kevin Dent, 36; and her former boyfriend, Brad Mehn, 37, are being held without bail over the brutal killing.
Nye County Sheriffs allege that Pate and Dent lured neighbor Jaggers to her Las Vegas home on August 1 after believing he had harmed her son.
Jaggers occasionally babysat Pate’s children, the victim’s mother previously told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. She said her son would never have harmed the young boy.
‘I know exactly what he was like, what he’s capable of, what he’s not capable of,’ his mother said.
A criminal complaint report alleges that Jaggers was beaten in her home, before being handcuffed and put into Pate’s car.
Pate and Dent then allegedly drove Jaggers the unincorporated town of Pahrump, where they met up with Mehn, according to the Sheriff’s office, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports.
Jaggers was then allegedly taken into the desert and tortured for hours, before the trio drove him 25 miles to Cathedral Canyon.
The then allegedly stripped him of his clothes and forced him to walk off a cliff.
Jaggers was then shot multiple times, police say.
Pate (pictured) allegedly thought Jaggers – who occasionally babysat her children – had hurt one of them
Kevin Dent (left), and Brad Mehn (right) are being held by police without bail
Nye County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that Jaggers (pictured) was tortured for several hours with a blowtorch, knives, a baton, and an axe by his neighbor Heather Pate, 27, and Kevin Dent, 36, both of Las Vegas, for allegedly hurting one of her children
A 911 call was made at 6.20am on August 1 by an unknown caller reporting a body between Mountain Springs and Pahrump off of State Route 160.
Nye County’s Captain David Boruchowitz confirmed in a video statement that police received a phone call about a body found in a desolate part of the canyon.
The sheriff’s department arrived at the scene at 6.45am and confirmed they found a body of a young adult male and were able to identify him by his fingerprints.
Pate was the last person that Jaggers was seen alive with, and she was arrested after police obtained a search warrant for her home.
Police later arrested Dent in his home and Mehn as he was driving on Route 160 to Pahrump.
A 911 call was made at 6.20am from an unidentified caller who discovered a body in Cathedral Canyon (pictured). After arresting the Mehn, he showed police where the murder weapon was
The father of Pate’s children is now seeking full custody, saying that the children witnessed part of the beating on Jaggers.
‘There are video recordings of the crimes being committed, and as disturbing as that is, it is much more disturbing that in one video recording, the children are seen entering the room while the defendant/mother and her criminal co-defendants were committing various physical, criminal acts against the deceased of the criminal action,’ the father states in court filings, according to the Review Journal.
Thomas Gibson, Mehn’s court-appointed attorney, told the Review Journal that prosecutors are considering the death penalty for his client.
Mehn is accused of shooting Jaggers multiple times – his ultimate cause of death – after he was forced to walk off Cathedral Canyon.
Police say they took evidence from Dent’s and Mehn’s residences. Mehn was not home when the police obtain the warrant to search his house.
After being arrested on the side of Route 160, Police say Mehn took them to the murder weapon and additional evidence was taken there.
Outside of a dismissed trespassing charge, Jaggers did not have any criminal history in Clark County and his parents insisted he was a kind man who would not hurt anyone.
The Review-Journal reported that Mehn had no prior criminal history outside of a traffic violation.
Pate had a misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia charge that was dismissed and Dent was released from prison in January for resisting a public officer with a firearm, child abuse and battery constituting domestic violence.’
All three of them are currently being held by police without bail on suspicion of murder.