Vengeance in Vegas | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] Las Vegas is the adult Disneyland of the world people come here to play adults
come here to play the other side of that is there is a community here that services that Glitz and
glamour that go to work 9 to5 run the banks run the police department run the fire department and have just steady
jobs that's George you know an all-around great guy to hang out with he and help you get the job done just a
very very kind generous and giving person and that's the George T I [Music] know well Sean was so young at heart and
she was so fun and she always made me laugh she looks like Barbie you know blunt
beautiful always had the long hair you know just looked perfect like a little china
doll while George and Shauna met in the casino environment he saw this blonde person whizzing past him all the time
she was such a hard worker that he really admired that she was his world that was his his life and then when
their daughter came around they're just the the cutest Trio ever at the beach okay's first time at the beach turning
everybody around turning us around Maddie was just the light of her life it was really her number one
priority she was just all in you know 100% there and then a baby they were like a little cocoon George was so
protective he waited on them hand and foot he really did in the early morning hours on September
29th 2012 Shauna TF would have gotten off work from being a cocktail waitress at a local casino she went
home parked her car in the garage entered her house a killer snuck up behind her and
beat her to death with a hammer inside her own living room were you worried that someone was
targeting Casino women yes we were all so scared that you know this person was still out there was
somebody stalking her was somebody obsessed with her maybe they're going to you know come
after one of us I'm Peter vanand tonight on 48 Hours Vengeance in Vegas [Music] [Music]
Shauna Tia loved to laugh and sing with her daughter when she was with Maddie it was
like nothing else was going on around her so dedicated and so concerned Shauna's murder has been a
devastating loss for her sister Paula Stokes Richards and her husband John she just laughed at life you know she had
this innocence it's sad because I just miss her and for something like this to happen to her is just it's
unimaginable [Music] Shauna TFA a Mormon born in Salt Lake City was 28 when she moved here to Las
Vegas but to Shauna Vegas was more than one big glitzy party it was a city of opportunity and it wasn't long before
she got a glamorous job as a cocktail waitress at one of the hottest casinos in [Music]
town she loved the Palms I think she really felt like the Palms was a a family environment which might sound contrary
to what you would think but I think the the people that worked there were really
like family and they looked after each other I never hardly saw like shaa with a frown or anything she's just so bubbly
and laughing at everything Cindy Randy and Sienna all worked alongside shaa for about 10 years she love her job though
mhm she loved cocktailing and customers love Shauna she made close to $100,000 a
year in salary and tips often paid in casino chips which in Vegas is the same as money in 2002 Shauna hit the jackpot
when she met George Tif at the Palms George was a star athlete and homecoming King at his California high school just
to look at him he's very handsome very charismatic what more could you ask for in fact George is a West Point graduate
who served in the Army Corps of Engineers Maria and bernardet are George's sisters he likes to serve
people that's what attracted him to being a fireman and George is so handsome he was
even featured in this firefighter pinup calendar the old American Boy sounds like yes he was he looked like it he
acted like it he was that guy his sisters also say George is a devoted family man who sent money home to help
their mom care for their disabled younger sister if you need a helping hand there he is George and shaa started
dating George was in love oh yeah Head Over Heels yeah yeah she was his world that was his life and life only got
better for George and Shauna just one year into their relationship Maddie was born hey there's
daddy there's Daddy and Mama and little baby that's all of us 3 years later they were married in
Hawaii Mama and Dad just got married there's shaa Castleton now she's TF look at that
dress on Mama woo what a smoking body they really suited each other it was really nice they're both hardworking
people they're both good-look people they made a lovely couple but looks as they say can be deceiving after two
happy years of marriage things started to change when George lost money in the housing market crash Shauna told friends
he had become jealous controlling and critical of her he would tell her that she dressed like a when she would
get dressed for work in front of Maddie which of course would tear Shauna apart you know for her little girl to hear
these things shaa also complained when George brought a homeless man into their lives who he paid to do odd jobs around
the house her friend Stephanie Vargas she would call him creepy God he's so creepy why is he around my house but
George's friend from West Point Rock riter says he was as kind-hearted as he was handsome and befriending the
Homeless was something he had done for years every Thanksgiving he he'd be serving soup to the homeless people just
a very very kind generous and giving person but even though he had a gracious heart the strains continued in the
marriage and after nearly 10 years of being together she had enough and moved into this townhouse they shared custody
of Maddie but Shauna was reluctant to file for a divorce she was sad her family was breaking up and this
isn't something that she wanted she wanted the picket fence and the husband and the
daughter she wanted the fairy tale and the fairy tale was falling [Music] apart determined to save their marriage
shaa and George both agreed to start seeing a marriage counselor I think Shauna was an eternal optimist you know
she just kept hoping that things were going to get better then weeks before her murder
Shauna's townhouse was burglarized her wedding ring was missing strangely a pair of her bathing
suit bottoms were taken and strangest of all the robber left something behind a pair of boxer shorts size small
this Burg did it shake her up it did but I just don't think that in her mind she
ever thought that any harm would come to her but in an ominous twist of fate just
3 weeks later someone was back in her house this time waiting for her it is now the early morning hours of
September 29th 2012 this is Shauna seen on Casino surveillance video clocking out at 3:01
a.m. these are the last images of her life after a 30-minute Drive shaa arrives home letting herself in through
the garage she enters in the a hallway it's dark there's no light Dan long and Terry Miller are investigators with the
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department she moves towards the stairway to go upstairs to her bedroom when
suddenly shaa was attacked by someone wielding a hammer her hands were up at some point uh to protect her head in her
face her fingers were broken and she was savagely beaten with this metal head of
that hammer until she was dead at approximately 9:00 a.m. George and Maddie arrived to pick something up
when they walked in and he discovered Shauna's badly bludgeon body George immediately called 911 911
emergency I think I need to report a Breakin and a murder my wife my wife is uh on the floor
bloody stiff not moving naturally George is going to be our number one suspect a
woman that he's separated from he finds dead inside of an apartment detective Miller interviewed George in a police
car at the scene she was lying on the floor she was covered in blood I just want to die and she was surprised with
what he told her what shift did you work yesterday a 24-hour shift he said he was
on call at the firehouse before he picked mty up Maddie had spent the night at her grandmother's house while Shauna
went to work he had an alibi and what did that tell you he's not our [Music] [Music]
killer it's not just Dan and I you want a full mag in the weapon yeah we had our entire
team with this muzzle Down lead detectives Terry Miller and Dan Long of the Las Vegas
Metro Police had their work cut out for them the obvious initial suspect in a case like this is the husband but George
TFA had that airtight Alibi they learned right away that he was at work at the fire station and was
not the man that killed Shauna Shauna's murder was brutal and chilling I remember thinking do we have
a sexual predator and you got to be wondering to yourselves do we have some sort of monster out there on the streets
yes uh we're like who who are we looking for are we looking for a male are we looking for a
female but 48 hours into the investigation detectives get a crucial tip from an unlikely Source William penx
known as Big will I've been trying to live a straight life under the hands of the
Lord big will had lived in Las Vegas for years working as a maintenance man at an
apartment complex he got an urgent call from friend he said uh big will I need to
talk to you the friend came to see him and dropped a bombshell he just murdered a
woman when he told you that he had killed this woman what was the expression on his face he was happy
happy like he just completed a mission a mission to where he's going to get paid
a lot of money he's going to leave town and live a happy life like that did he tell you how he killed this woman yeah
yeah he told me that he was laughing when he said it he said uh I hit this woman with a hammer over
and over and over and over until a hammer broke the man who called Big will was nicknamed Greyhound because he was
lean and fast and lived in a tent in the Foothills far from the glittering lights
of downtown Greyhound was an excon and big will was helping him straighten his life out but after the two men spoke big
Will's Mission became bringing Greyhound to Justice this is a damn tragedy I said so if I hear this on the
news tomorrow morning the best thing I can do is follow his tracks try to hunt him
down so that I can try to bring some kind of closure to This Woman's family a gorgeous cocktail waitress a mother
brutally murdered in her own home that was it a woman murdered and big will knew exactly what he had to do he called
police at first detectives long and Miller were skeptical initially I was thinking to myself you've got to be
kidding me he is giving the story about this man who lives up in the mountains in a tent who is homeless and it's kind
of a crazy story crazy but cops felt they had to check it out big will told them
Greyhound often walks miles from his desert tent to this Albertson's grocery store where he'd been spotted before
stealing food so right away they went with big will to look for him I got out of the vehicle and went into to talk to
the Albertson's employees in hopes that they would know who somebody named Greyhound that matches this description
is Big will knew Greyhound sometimes sold drugs at the Chevron station right next door then a stroke of luck I see
Greyhound he says Hey Big will what you doing over here so I said wait one minute I'll be right back big will then
Whispers into my ear and goes that's Grayhound we got lucky to the grace of God he was there I'm like this can't be
happening I walk outside I want to get as close as I can to him before he identifies me as a police officer cops
identified themselves and immediately find drugs in Greyhound's possession so they take him to Police Headquarters and
he's volunteered to come to our office and help us with their investigation Greyhound's real name is n Stevens he
denies he has anything to do with Shauna tfa's murder I have nothing to do with it's not me you have the wrong guy he
tells us that he does live in the desert he has a tent all right meet you there all right while Greyhound is held on
drug charges a massive police searches launched to find his campsite Terry and I walked it that
fence we had to climb through that fence that was tough this case came down to shoe
leather we ran it all down right on top of that little Hill was where his tent was it was out here in these Rocky
Desert Foothills about 8 miles from the Vegas Strip which is behind me the detectives making their way through this
treacherous landscape discovered some important evidence we brought a helicopter with us and a bunch of people
to search and we searched every one of these Hills remote remote yes I walked past a small shrub and rolled up
underneath the shrub was a pair of pants and looked out of place detective Sam Smith had found a crucial piece of
evidence near the campsite a pair of Stevens pants they were bloody police tested them on the spot and what did you
learn later about the blood on those jeans whose blood was it uh that was uh Shauna tfa's
blood back at headquarters police confronted no Stevens with what they had found then they used an old trick to pry
more information out of him a lot of people don't know this investigators are allowed I'll use this word to mislead a
suspect no we're allowed to lie they bluffed Greyhound saying someone fingered him for the
murder Steven stuns the detectives by admitting he killed Shauna TFA but why more clues were found when police
examined nol Stevens's cell phone what kind of numbers do you find on that phone we find a guy by the name of
George in his cell phone and when we ask him who's George he says that's my friend the
firefighter George was George Tia Shauna's husband and nol Stevens was that Homeless handyman who had caused
friction in the TFA marriage we looked at each other and bing bing bing bing bing you hit this is
Vegas you just hit the all sevens right yes exactly [Music] we [Music] there's mama she looking hot with the
shades on as soon as she heard about the tragic murder of her beautiful sister Paula Richards and her husband John
immediately had one suspect in mind look at everybody we all thought that George was
involved but we couldn't figure out how he did it so they decided to call George who was still standing outside
Shauna's townhouse with police so I thought we need to record this hello George yes' this this is
Paula can you tell me what's going on son passed away and what did they do to her I don't no she's laying on the floor
with blood on her head how is she still is Shauna's body still there yes I think
so there's Daddy and Mama George then hands his cell phone to a grief counselor no one else can hear what I'm
saying correct correct Paula then makes a startling accusation I have my suspicions that her
husband may be involved in this based on you know many many conversations I've had with my sister um I I highly suspect
that he may be involved the day after the murder the couple caught the first flight to Las
Vegas from Nashville when we landed on the flight out to Las Vegas we had both shifted into this investigator mode
while John and Paula were conducting their amateur investigation detectives Miller and long
were continuing their professional one you see the telephone poles right along there armed with a good luck charm a
casino chip that belonged to Shauna and I said I want you to hold on to this because this has allowed me to feel like
Shauna is near us and uh you can give it back to me when you get an arrest soon into their investig ation detectives had
discovered dozens of phone calls between no and George before the murder you said 87 calls that's that's
correct 87 phone calls in one month that's more than IAL to my husband TFA and Stevens met years
earlier when both were living on this middle class Street NL at his sister's house this house right here is the
sister's house which where NL was living and the tifas down the block right down
here yes n got to know George asked him if he could do yard work for George cops
soon learned from NL Stevens their relationship was complicated NL idolized George he genuinely thought that he and
George were very very close and would never turn on one another but detectives believed George was manipulating his
friend who may have suffered from mental illness he he has a pawn he has an Implement a tool in in the in N Stevens
and he's going to use that tool big will told detectives that George gave nol Stevens $600 in cash to kill Shauna with
the promise of thousands more to come he said well uh he gave me a key to get in this lady's house and I
murdered her and my heart dropped and I said what I said you just signed yourself a death
warrant you don't know if this man is going to try to kill you or what when cops were scouring nol Stevens's desert
campsite another intriguing clue they found was a barcode tag they scanned it it matched the style of hammer used to
kill Shauna we figure out that low sells those hammers that launched investigators on a tedious Mission
reviewing hundreds of hours of video surveillance tape finally they hit Pay Dirt when they
spotted George and nol Stevens shopping together for hammers we have our definite connection
between null and George Stevens was singing to Cops like a canary so he gave you a road map and you're following it
and you're finding exactly what he said you'd find absolutely even leading them to where he had buried
the murder weapon this Hammer which broke in two during the brutal attack and um there
was blood on it they also discover a possible motive for murder money new floors new carpet new bathtub
new sink new dish Bo Mama's happy about that huh Shauna liked to spend it and George
liked to save it there's some Financial transactions that appear like he's trying to hide money uh through his mom
with the news tightening on George TFA detectives meet with his family 9 days after Shauna's murder so at the end of
the interview I tell mom and sister that George is involved in killing Shauna how
do they react to that it's traumatic to them no no no they're crying they're telling us that we are absolutely 100%
wrong minutes after that conversation police who had George under surveillance and were monitoring his phone calls
overhear his sister calling them suddenly George jumped back into his truck and took off quote unquote like a
bat out of heal George weaves erratically through City traffic and onto the Summerland
Parkway he accelerates to 90 mph and smashes his head on into a barrier cops believe it was a suicide
attempt he's trying to end his life right now because he can't face the fact of what's going to come amazingly George
survived the crash because cops say he was wearing a seat belt he was rushed to a local hospital where detectives later
arrested him and I said George you're under arrest for the murder of your wife Shauna TFA and his reaction was simply
to look up from his hospital bed and say okay that's when police also charged NL
Stevens with Shauna's murder oh look at this there's shaa Castleton B now she's TF wow she it was um a feeling of relief
um all we wanted was Justice for Shauna are we ready to arrain Mr TF detectives believe George Tif was
just one step away from getting away with it all commit the murder and then do away with null if he can get that
done in the right way he's going to commit the perfect crime but George is steadfastly maintaining his innocence n
Stevens and prosecutors are worried about their key Witness n Stevens he's at the heart of the murder
conspiracy right he is a very important factor in the case he he's mentally ill right he has a violent criminal history
and he's your star witness you know the defense wants him to be our star Witness
[Music] George tfa's defense attorney Robert Langford knows how to take command whether is an actor in front of a live
theater audience man or before a jury in a Sin City courtroom there's circumstantial
evidence and there's direct evidence and now Langford is front and center in a case that even a playright would find
difficult to imagine it's a good story it's real interesting but it's not evidence yet in the case who is
responsible for the murder of Shauna Tia n Stevens n stev says he is n Stevens beat her to death with a hammer
was he hired by George TFA to do that there's no evidence of that it's been three years since the murder and
Shauna's family and friends like Lacy Green are apprehensive I'm not confident it's very scary not knowing what's going
to happen I fear that he will be found innocent at no point during the communication with the police does
George TFA ever mention n Stevens in his opening statement prosecutor Mark dejo knows he has to make NL Stevens and
George TF partners in crime he calls n Stevens 87 times in the month of September the prosecutor's biggest
challenge will be getting a jury to believe George TFA is capable of murder you're going up against an All-American
boy that's a tough challenge it is as a prosecutor it's highly unusual to have the resume of George TFA and then him be
a murder suspect I think George TFA is someone who had numerous successes in his life Pam weckerly assistant Clark
County DA has scrutinized what she thinks makes TFA tick and what may have driven him to murder when his marriage
is crumbling I think that's something that he just can't cope with the idea that he wouldn't have complete control
over his daughter and shaa ultimately unraveling the complicated tale of George tfa's intertwined relationship
with n Stevens is left to prosecution witnesses big will panx remembers exactly what Stevens told him the day
Shauna was killed he said I got something to tell you and I said well what is it he said uh I just uh murdered
a woman and right then and there I said you got to be a damn fool did you believe everything that no Stevens
Greyhound told you uh it depends on the the day yet pennx admits under defense questioning that trusting what Stevens
has to say is a dubious Prospect at best at a scale of 1 to 10 I would put him at
a scale of maybe one and a half 10 being very honest and zero one and a half million not honest at all that's
correct and prosecutors admit that Honesty may be the least of NL Stevens's problems he's an alcoholic he's told the
tunnel lie before and no and he's a multiple Time Felon on top of it despite all that the courtroom Falls silent as a
very different looking n Stevens perhaps the most unlikely star prosecution witness in Clark County History takes
the stand he looks like a maniac I I literally felt like my heart dropped into my stomach when I saw him walk
through that door Stevens who pleaded guilty in 2013 to Shauna's murder a agreed to testify against TFA once
prosecutors in a pre-trial deal promised not to seek the death penalty against him where did you grow
up all California when you get nervous do you have sometimes a little trouble speaking
I better and you guys are you thinking to each other are we nuts yes I don't know we're thinking it to each other
we're we're saying it to each how did you meet Geor stens soon settles in and proed by djo recites details of his
relationship with TFA are you just doing work for him or is they're friends what
kind of things have you done together we worked out stuff like that he recounts breaking into Shauna's townhouse 3 weeks
before her murder and admits he's the one who left behind those size small boxers who told you to make it look like
a Rober George and without a hint of remorse Stevens coldly describes how he killed Shauna
with that hammer I hit her in the hand what happens when you come out that door and you're holding that hammer she tells
me why I'm doing this she says why are you doing this yes who told you to kill shaa
George he is a zombie parrot in that he had a response which was always George George did it George told
me George itching to cross examine Stevens Langford rips right into him getting the state star witness to admit
he not only hears voices but has Visions cuz I hallucinate what kind of hallucinations I see uh sh sometimes
sometimes yes you see other people sometimes do You Hear Voices yes no Stevens is the craziest person I've ever
seen take the stand what is reasonable doubt if not NL Stevens I think the more NL talks uh the more believable he is it
seemed impossible to me that he could have fabricated this notion of a conspiracy with that level of detail uh
unless it really happened Pro computers replace some of the most damning evidence that footage
of George TFA and NL Stevens buying hammers knives and other items you have this defendant buying two hammers in
five days TFA himself sits calmly through the trial showing no emotion he never takes the stand Rel they have to
prove the case Beyond A Reasonable Doubt and they didn't so there's no reason to
put George on the stand the only defense witness tfa's sister Maria and all the years that you've known
George Have you ever known him to be a violent person never ever ever I've no fur the questions along
with tfa's family friends from his childhood and West Point days are in court to show their support I'm here
because I'm willing to stand behind and defend George's character George is not the person that is being depicted by the
prosecutor after a week-long trial hearing from some 40 Witnesses and with 400 exhibits in evidence 12 jurors will
now decide the fate of George Tif juror Roy Wright had questions were they just buying these things for n to be a
handyman with or were they bind him for a murder my fear is that that the defense is able to discredit know enough
that it causes Reasonable [Music] Doubt so cute oh look you can get good girl it has been 3 years since Shauna
Tia was found brutally murdered and today her family hopes their long ganizing weight will end
Injustice I'm just on pins and needles you know my stomach has been in knots for days and I don't think I've ever
been so nervous a jury will decide if George TFA was The Mastermind behind his wife's murder George TFA is the evil one
on one side of the courtroom sits Shauna's family some are dressed in her favorite color pink on the other side
sit George's supporters his sister bernardet takes a moment to pray he's been called a
monster people call him a monster it's just ridiculous and shocking after three long
days finally a verdict the clerk will read the verdict defendant will rise we the jury in the ab title case find the
defendant George mtfa as follows count one conspiracy commit murder guiltyy guilty of conspiracy to commit
murder and first-degree murder seven counts in all George stands silent with the same emotionless stare he has had
throughout the entire trial guilty of robbery with a deadly his family is simply devastated murder with in your
opinion was an injustice done here yes because I believe that the evidence showed Reasonable Doubt Paula who knew
from day one that George was behind her sister's murder is humbled it was almost
3 years ago that Shauna was brutally murdered and we're so happy that Justice was served prosecutor Mark tacamo says
he never lost sight of his good luck charm that casino chip that belonged to Shauna and given to him by her family
and for you what did that chip represent it represented their hope of justice and
you know it sat on my computer for 3 years and uh when I walked over for the verdict I put it in my pocket
everyone deserves Mercy at his sentencing a jury must decide George's fate life in prison or life with the
possibility of Parole in as soon as 20 years we hope he gets the maximum penalty George is a controller
manipulator and I think the worst hell for him will be staying in prison the rest of his life and not being able to
control anything Paul takes the stand to remind the jurors of her loss Shauna's greatest joy in this world was being a
mother I remember her always running her fingers through Maddie's ponytail and she would call her a little monkey I
would call a George's family and friends also speak hoping their words will persuade the jury to show Mercy George
is one of the best of us he's hardworking compassionate you will not find a better firefighter on the job
than than George I'm George's brother that's pretty much who I am how did you feel about that that's
proud clerk will read the decision the sentence impose a sentence of life without the possibility of parole George
Tia will spend the rest of his life in prison next one juror Roy Wright says that while NL
Stevens is troubled they never doubted his story I think the general consensus was he wasn't really smart enough to
make up a elaborate story that would fit the timeline so perfectly and the jury also believed
this witness I said praise the Lord justice has been served big will who jumpstarted the
investigation is big will a hero in this case to you he is and he doesn't believe
in being an individual who turns a friend in uh but when he heard the story from null he felt the moral conviction
to make the phone call and for that you know he is a hero with the trial behind them Paula
and John Richards worry about Shauna's daughter Maddie who is now 11 years old she has lost both of her parents Maddie
lives with George's mom but Paula and John visit her often I'm sure she was hoping her daddy would come home but
when she's old enough I'll explain to her why that's not the case and why it shouldn't be the case oh
f this is her first big dress she's sometimes when we're talking about shaa with Maddie I can tell when Maddie's
reflecting in her face that she laughed a lot with her mom I can't explain it but I know that Maddie found a lot of
laughter you know with shaa you're so pretty what a pretty [Music] girl [Music]

A beautiful mom is brutally murdered while her West Point grad husband was at work. Was someone stalking women in Las Vegas? "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant investigates. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

Brief Summary

Shauna TFA was murdered in Las Vegas; her husband George was convicted of conspiracy and murder after a complex investigation.

Key points

Shauna's Murder. Shauna TFA was brutally murdered in her own home, shocking her family and community.
George's Alibi. George TFA had an airtight alibi during the time of Shauna's murder, complicating the investigation.
The Shocking Confession. Nol Stevens, a homeless handyman, confessed to killing Shauna, revealing a twisted connection to George.
The Fatal Crash. George attempted suicide after being implicated in Shauna's murder, leading to his arrest.
Family's Emotional Reaction. Shauna's family expresses devastation after the verdict is read.
George TFA Found Guilty. George TFA is convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree murder.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Shauna loved to laugh and sing with her daughter.

Describing Shauna's relationship with her daughter Maddie.

3:22WatchApr 2, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from 48 Hours

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.