5 key details about Nathan Paet's murder

Season 14, episode 8 of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered on Oxygen will cover the 2010 murder of Iraq War Veteran Nathan Paet.

The news of Paet's death was shocking for his family and friends as he was a respected man who had no detractors. However, as the detectives dug deeper into the case, they discovered that he was murdered by someone very close to him.

The Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode that will cover this case is titled Part of the Plan. It airs on Oxygen on December 25 at 8:00 PM ET. The logline for the same reads,

"A U.S. Air Force Airman is shot; clues lead Las Vegas detectives to a secret love affair."

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5 key details about Nathan Paet's murder ahead of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered on Oxygen

1) Nathan Paet was shot 5 times

As reported by the Las Vegas Sun, Staff Sergeant Nathan Paet was shot five times, on December 1, 2010. He was on his way to work, and as soon as he opened his garage door to leave, bullets were fired at him.

As per CBS News, after being shot, “he stumbled back into his home and died.” CBS News, in an article dated December 9, 2010, had reported that the victim was a staff sergeant, who worked at Nellis Air Force Base. At the time of the murder, his wife and children were sleeping inside the house. The neighbors who witnessed the tragedy saw one man flee after firing shots at the sergeant.

After Nathan Paet was shot and his wife was notified, she called 911 to report the incident. According to Oxygen True Crime, she sounded afraid on the phone and said in a frantic tone:

“My husband—he just walked in the garage. He’s bleeding. Oh my God.”

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2) Nathan Paet's wife Michelle Antwanette Paet plotted his murder

Nathan Paet’s wife, and the mother of their four children Michelle Antwanette Paet plotted his murder. As reported by Las Vegas Sun, the wife Michelle plotted the murder with her ex-boyfriend Michael Rudolph Rodriguez.

She confessed the same in court and asked for forgiveness from her family and kids.

"I'm sorry. I love you guys. I love my kids," she said in her statement in court.

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3) Michael Rudolph Rodriguez and Michelle Antwanette Paet got life sentences

Michelle Paet, the wife of the victim (Staff Sergeant Nathan Paet) was behind his death and pleaded guilty as mentioned above. As per Las Vegas Sun, Michelle pleaded guilty to “conspiracy and murder with a deadly weapon," and avoided a trial. After entering the plea deal, she did not get the death penalty but was sentenced to life without chances of parole.

Meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend Michael Rudolph Rodriguez, who was also part of the murder conspiracy, and was arrested, got life in prison without parole with charges of murder, weapon possession, and more.

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4) The murder was committed for financial gain

Michelle Antwanette Paet admitted that she conspired to kill her husband so that she could collect $650,000 in life insurance, from her husband's military insurance life policy, as reported by Las Vegas Sun and Oxygen True Crime.

Before the actual motive behind the murder was discovered, investigators alleged that the victim had other secrets that led to his murder. However, now-retired Det. Laura Anderson told Dateline reporter Keith Morrison that:

"The only thing we could find was that he was a dedicated family man, loved his family, and there was nothing but pictures of his wife and kids on his phone. He was just a good guy. He was just a good man.”

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5) Michelle Antwanette Paet alerted the killer

Prosecutors revealed that on December 1, 2010, when Nathan Paet was leaving for work, Michael Rudolph Rodriguez was armed outside the house and ready to kill him. Just when he was leaving, Michelle Paet alerted Rodriguez about the same as her husband made his way to the garage to go out.

A text message that surfaced better between Michelle and Rodriguez reads:

"He's rushing to get out the door. Lol."

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To learn specifics about Nathan Paet's death, watch season 14, episode 8 of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered on Oxygen.