Accused Las Vegas serial killer tracked victims with GPS in loan fraud scheme, previously asked for forgiveness: police
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — An accused serial killer who Las Vegas police suspect worked as a hit man as part of a government loan fraud scheme allegedly tracked his four victims with GPS and took pictures of them, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained.
Prosecutors filed three new open murder charges against Michael Coleman, 40, on Tuesday, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported. Officers arrested Coleman in
May 2023 for what detectives said was his fourth and final murder in the series.
Carl Chester, Jr., 41, who himself was murdered in May, ordered Coleman to commit the murders in retaliation for not receiving his cut of PPP fraud money, police said. The Paycheck Protection Program was intended to help companies pay and retain employees during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.
Chester, a known gang leader, ordered each hit for money owed to him, LVMPD Lt. Jason Johansson said.
Michael Coleman, 40, appears in Las Vegas Justice Court on Sept. 18, 2024. (KLAS)
“As this fraudulent money that was obtained by Carl Chester and his associates was disbursed to individuals, Chester would typically receive his cut of the money for the work that he did, or how they got the lead to get the loan,” Johansson said. “After tracking the victims, Michael Coleman would wait and ambush them, shooting all the victims multiple times,” police said in documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained.
From May 2021 until February 2023, Coleman allegedly killed three men and one woman. He was also accused of injuring a bystander in one of the shootings.
May 30, 2021: Benjamin McCarty, Jr.
Benjamin McCarty, Jr., 49, was shot and killed while working on his car in a parking lot on Charleston Boulevard near Interstate 11. Police said Coleman parked near McCarty, ran up to McCarty and shot him.
Detectives identified Arlanders Gibson as the getaway driver and arrested him. Police learned Gibson and Coleman communicated before McCarty’s murder, documents said. Surveillance video also showed Gibson picking up Coleman 15 minutes before the murder.
Benjamin McCarty, Jr., 49, was shot while working on his car in a parking lot in the 3900 block of Charleston Boulevard. (KLAS)
A photo on Coleman’s phone also showed McCarthy in the parking lot minutes before the murder, police said.
Gibson later took a plea deal.
McCarty’s murder was the only murder out of the four that had no connection to Chester, Johannson said Tuesday. Police said that McCarty, Gibson and Coleman were all part of a gang and police believe the motive behind the murder was internal strife.
Nov. 23, 2021: Marcus Larry
Marcus Larry, 39, was shot multiple times inside the Teriyaki Madness on Charleston Boulevard near Town Center Drive. An employee at the restaurant was also shot several times and survived.
Police initially identified and arrested Oscar Richardson, Jr., Larry’s cousin, as the suspect but he was later released once police obtained evidence that he was innocent. A week after Larry’s murder, two people told police they believed Richardson paid Chester to have Larry killed, documents said. In 2023, prosecutors exonerated Richardson.
Marcus Larry, 39, was shot multiple times inside the Teriyaki Madness restaurant on Charleston Boulevard near Town Center Drive on Nov. 23, 2021. (KLAS)
A day after the Teriyaki Madness murder, officers towed a car that was found running and blocking a parking lot at the Red Rock Resort. DNA from the car and its keys matched Coleman. Detectives also learned several people associated with Chester placed GPS trackers on Larry’s car.
Nov. 26, 2022: William Hill
William Hill Jr., 54, was shot and killed outside his home while working on a car near Martin Luther King, Jr. and Lake Mead boulevards.
William Hill was outside and standing in the street when a man walked toward him and shot him, documents said. The shooter then pointed the gun at another man but did not shoot.
William Hill Jr., 54, was shot and killed outside his home while working on his car near Martin Luther King, Jr. and Lake Mead boulevards. (KLAS)
William Hill’s wife told police that she learned her husband was possibly targeted as part of an ongoing gang feud involving the PPP money. Hill’s son, Shavonte Hill, received more than $42,000 in federal money, lying on an application that he owned a barbershop when he did not, federal documents said. In January, Shavonte Hill pleaded guilty to federal charges and was serving a 30-month sentence.
Hill’s wife told police her husband may have been killed because Shavonte Hill was in custody, documents said. A day after the murder, a person contacted police and implicated Chester for the murder, saying Chester paid Coleman to have William Hill killed, documents said.
Police obtained video surveillance of a car they suspected to be involved in the murder, linking it to Coleman’s mother, documents said.
In January 2023, William Hill’s daughter contacted police, alleging the murder was over a debt involving her uncle and PPP money, documents said. William Hill’s daughter said her uncle received $75,000 in government money and did not split the money with Chester.
She also told police a second man, Demarcus Banks, was hired to kill her father, documents said. Police suspect Banks drove Coleman to William Hill’s house to kill him. Banks died in August 2023 during an attempted home invasion.
Feb. 27, 2023: Kidada Stewart
Kidada Stewart, 48, was shot and killed outside of a home near Fort Apache Road and Mountains Edge Way in the southwest valley.
Video from the area showed a car matching the earlier murders parked next to Stewart’s home before her death. When Stewart came home, a person in the car fired several shots toward her, killing her.
Kidada Stewart, 48, was shot and killed outside of a home near Fort Apache Road and Mountains Edge Way in the southwest valley. (KLAS)
Police tracked Coleman to Stewart’s murder from a traffic stop in Arizona 12 hours after the shooting. The Arizona trooper released Stewart on a warning. Officers arrested him in May 2023 after a standoff.
On March 2, 2023, police stopped a woman who was driving the car. The next day and after obtaining a search warrant, detectives found a ghost gun – one assembled at home and made without a serial number – in the engine compartment, they said.
Police arrested Coleman for Stewart’s murder on May 4, 2023. He initially refused to leave his home and surrender, prompting a barricade.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for Coleman’s phone, finding several email accounts on it. One account had multiple messages from a Las Vegas-area phone number about William Hill and his brother and their addresses, documents said.
“Detectives reviewed the conversation and believed they were discussing what ultimately would be the murder of William Hill,” documents said. “Michael Coleman discussed watching [Hill’s house] … where William Hill was murdered, and being cautious so they would not get caught.”
Detectives believe this photo shows Michael Coleman, 40, during the November 2021 murder at Teriyaki Madness. (KLAS)
Police later identified Chester as the person Coleman was communicating with, they said.
In July 2023, a gun found in the engine compartment matched cartridge casings found from Larry’s murder.
Police suspect Coleman may be involved in an attempted murder from January 2021.
Chester was shot and killed on May 18, police said.
In court Wednesday, Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Rebecca Saxe denied setting bail in Coleman’s new criminal case. Coleman has remained in custody on $250,000 bail since his arrest for Stewart’s murder in 2023. In addition to the three added murder charges, Coleman faces charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported.
Chester, Coleman and Gibson all served time in federal custody on gang-related charges. Gibson admitted he was the leader of the Rolling 60s Crips in West Las Vegas, documents said. Coleman shot a man in 2003 in North Las Vegas after the man “disrespected him.”
In 2006, a federal judge sentenced Coleman to 12 years in prison. Coleman wrote a letter before sentencing, asking for a second chance and saying he wanted to “apologize to the various communities of Las Vegas and the state of Nevada.”
After his release from prison in the 2010s, Coleman violated terms of his release and was ordered back to prison for six months. He was last released in 2017, records said.
