Prosecutors are considering the death penalty for at least one in three people charged with a gruesome crime this month in a remote gorge near Pahrump, where a Las Vegas man was tortured, thrown off a cliff and shot for several hours, such as Show records.
Heather, 27; her boyfriend, Kevin Dent, 36; and her former boyfriend, 37-year-old Brad Mehn, were accused of torturing and killing Father’s neighbor, 27-year-old Roy Jaggers, the Nye County Sheriff’s Office said. His body was found in early August in Cathedral Canyon, a former street attraction from the 1970s and 1980s that has since fallen into disrepair in the Nye County’s desert.
While police continue to provide details of the investigation to the man’s mother, Kassy Robinson, and his father, Jerry Jaggers, the two struggle to recover their son’s heinous murder.
“How can you do this to another person?” Jerry Jaggers said in a recent interview with the Review Journal.
MPs arrested Pate, Dent and Mehn within 36 hours of the first 911 call reporting Roy Jaggers’ body, the sheriff’s office said. According to a criminal complaint, Jaggers was tortured with a blowtorch, knives, baton and ax, then stripped of his clothes and forced to walk off a cliff. At the bottom of the ravine, he was repeatedly shot with a shotgun, according to the complaint.
Godfather and her boyfriend are accused of luring Roy Jaggers to Father’s house because they thought he injured Father’s child, the sheriff’s office said.
Thomas Gibson, Mehn’s appointed defense attorney, said on Wednesday prosecutors are considering the death penalty for his client. Mehn is accused of shooting Roy Jaggers after jumping off the cliff. The cause of death of Jaggers were multiple gunshot wounds, said the sheriff’s office.
Jaggers’ mother told the Review Journal that she didn’t know Godfather well, but said her son occasionally babysat Goddy’s children or watched their dogs. His parents declined to go into the details of the case, but both said their son was a kind man who would not hurt anyone.
“I know exactly what he was like, what he is capable of, what he is not capable of,” said his mother.
Roy Jaggers had experience as a contractor and electrician but had to rely on side work to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic. He eventually found work in a grocery store and lived at home to take care of his mother.
Other than a trespassing charge in 2019, which was later dismissed, he had no previous convictions in Clark County, court records show.
He was an accomplished martial artist who studied Tai Chi and Kung Fu at Create, Develop and Flow Martial Arts Academy from the age of 15, said his teacher Jack Soderberg. Over the years he has won dozens of competitive medals and trophies. One of his crowning achievements was to earn a “black sash” in kung fu four years ago.
He had recently started helping Soderberg teach martial arts to other students. His goal was to earn the title “Sifu”, which means master, and Soderberg said he could have done it with more time.
“He was a kid who valued the things in life,” said Soderberg. “He was really excited. He loved things, he loved people. “
He was also passionate about anime, hiking, and political activism for democratic campaigns, his father said. And he was a talented musician, playing the saxophone since childhood and performing in the marching band of Bonanza High School.
“He always came into my room and sat on the edge of the bed and we sat together for hours and talked,” said his mother. “And I miss that so much.”
A remote crime scene
The last time his parents heard from him was July 31st. His mother wasn’t home, but Roy Jaggers called his father to talk about his day. It was a normal conversation and ended like any phone call – he told his father that he loved him.
Jerry Jaggers said he was lured to Father’s house about two hours later.
Family court files reveal that Godfather was involved in a controversial custody battle with the father of their three-year-old and four-year-old sons. According to court files filed by the boys’ father after Pat’s arrest, the children witnessed some of the crime.
“There are video recordings of the crimes committed, and as disturbing as that is, it is far more disturbing that in a videotape, the children enter the room while the defendant / mother and her criminal co-defendants commit various physical, criminal acts against the deceased of the offense “, Says the court file in which the father advocated sole custody of the boys.
After Jaggers was lured to Father’s house, he was handcuffed and forced into her car, according to the criminal complaint included in the family court petitions. Godfather and Dent drove Jaggers to the Bell Vista rifle range in Pahrump and then met with Mehn, whom the police referred to as Godfather’s “friend and former lover”.
The three later drove Jaggers to Cathedral Canyon about 25 miles away, where he was “shot dead by Mehn more than once after Jaggers was tortured and / or beaten in multiple locations by or in the presence of all three defendants,” the criminal complaint said.
Just after 6:20 a.m. on August 1, someone called 911 to report a body found in the gorge between Mountain Springs and Pahrump, a few miles along a bumpy, barely-paved road off State Route 160 became. Police identified Jaggers with his fingerprints, the sheriff’s office said.
It remains unclear who reported his body to the police. The nearest buildings are more than a mile away, though makeshift fire pits and rubbish showed evidence of camping in the area.
“That will be the hardest part”
Roy Jaggers’ parents intend to travel to Nye County for any trial in this case. His mother said she wanted to “make sure that justice is done”.
“It’s going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” said Jerry Jaggers, adding that he “will close my eyes and try not to listen”.
He will be able to breathe a sigh of relief when the trial is over, he said.
After police identified Roy Jaggers’ body, they went to the house he shared with his mother, near Sahara Avenue and Nellis Boulevard. She and her neighbors told MPs that her son was last seen at Pate’s house, where Pate was arrested after police issued a search warrant.
Police later arrested Dent at his home on the 7000 block on Twain Harte Street, near Windmill Lane and Decatur Boulevard. Officials then identified Mehn as a suspect and ransacked his home in Pahrump.
Mehn was arrested on State Route 160 while driving to Pahrump, officials said.
Godfather was arrested in Clark County in 2012, but her drug possession misdemeanor was later released. Mehn had no criminal history in Clark County other than a traffic charge.
Dent was released from prison in January after pleading guilty in May 2019 to defying an officer with a firearm, child abuse and battery that constituted domestic violence, prison records show. He previously pleaded guilty to committing a battery charge for a misdemeanor in 2017, and in 2018 he pleaded not to appeal a separate battery charge for a misdemeanor, court records show.
The three remain in the Nye County Detention Center without bail. A preliminary hearing on the case is scheduled to begin on September 2nd.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knowberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.
