A Las Vegas Woman Believed a Babysitter Harmed Her Child. So She Had Him Kidnapped, Tortured and Shot.

A Nevada women believed a neighbor who babysat for her harmed one of her children, so she plotted to have the man kidnapped, tortured and killed, officials said.

On Aug. 1, 2021, the body of Roy Jaggers was recovered from the bottom of Cathedral Canyon, an area of the desert outside Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Journal-Review reported.

Nye County District Attorney Brian Kunzi told the outlet Heather Pate, 29, and her boyfriend, Kevin Dent, 38, “initiated the chain of events.”

Pate, with Dent’s help, was accused of luring the victim to her apartment. According to prosecutors, the couple then kidnapped Jaggers and met up with Brad Mehn, Pate’s 39-year-old ex-boyfriend, in Nye County to torture Jaggers with a belt, baton, bayonet, stapler, pistol, axe, blowtorch and shotgun that Mehn brought with him.

At one point, prosecutors said, Jaggers was forced off a cliff at the canyon and Mehn then shot and killed him.

Prosecutors alleged Mehn believed “without any evidence” what Pate claimed happened to her child, and police never found any evidence to support Pate’s claims against Jaggers.

In April, Pate and Dent each took a plea deal in the case in exchange for their testimony against Mehn during trial the following month.

According to the Journal Review, Dent pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, while his girlfriend pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as well as first-degree kidnapping.

Mehn was convicted on charges of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon and kidnapping with a deadly weapon and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The Nye County district attorney said Pate received a sentence on July 20 of life behind bars with the possibility of parole in 15 years. Her boyfriend, Dent, was sentenced to life in prison. He will be eligible for parole in 10 years.

“While two of the participants in this appalling set of events may be eligible for parole, I agree with the judge’s assessment that they should expect to be in prison for a considerable period of time,” Nye County District Attorney Brian Kunzi said, the Review-Journal reported.