WEEK IN REVIEW: Top News

In a tale of greed, lust and violence, Air Force Staff Sgt. Nathan Paet was killed in a plot involving his wife and three others, including her new boyfriend, police said.

Michelle Paet, 29, was arrested on murder charges Thursday and booked into the Clark County jail, where she was on suicide watch.

She and her boyfriend, Michael Rodriguez, 31, devised a plot to kill her husband and split the $600,000 she would receive in military benefits and insurance money upon his death, authorities said.

Corry Hawkins, 33, and Jessica Austin, 23, also face murder charges in the plot in which they expected a share of the money, police said.

Paet confessed to plotting her husband's death during questioning on Tuesday, the day of his memorial service at Nellis Air Force Base.

MONDAY

Sins of the father

Alexus Postorino, 15, died in a home invasion because of her father's ties to drug dealers, police said.

Norman David Belcher, who was looking to settle a drug debt with her father, burst into her southwest valley home and shot Alexus to death. Another resident was critically wounded.

In the aftermath, lawyers and judges questioned whether they could fairly represent Belcher or hear his case because of Alexus' close ties to federal public defender Franny Forsman.

TUESDAY

Inquest changes ok'd

Families of those killed by local police will be allowed independent counsel at coroner's inquests under reforms endorsed by Clark County commissioners.

Commissioners gave preliminary approval to this and other reforms on a 4-2 vote despite officers saying they would refuse to testify under what they called an adversarial arrangement.

WEDNESDAY

Pee Wee goes to jail

Police arrested a 17-year-old suspected of spray-painting graffiti over prehistoric artwork at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The teen, known by the nickname "Pee Wee," was arrested after hiding from authorities for several days.

Investigators linked him to the vandalism, which defaced rock art panels the Bureau of Land Management estimates are 1,000 years old.

THURSDAY

DOJ targets HOA's

Justice Department prosecutors from Washington have taken over the investigation into allegations of fraud within Las Vegas-area homeowners associations.

Attorneys with the Criminal Division's Fraud and Public Integrity Sections, which prosecutes political corruption cases nationwide, have been in Las Vegas about a month, federal prosecutors confirmed.

Sources said investigators complained about delays by the local office, which went public in 2008 when FBI agents executed a series of search warrants at law offices and businesses that dealt with several HOAs.

FRIDAY

Christmas in Las Vegas

The stripper mobile made its return, this time with a flash of holiday spirit.

Instead of hauling scantily clad dancers along the Strip, it made a charitable run to a toy drop-off on Sahara Avenue. Inside the large Plexiglas box was a bearded Saint Nick, female Santa helpers and a load of gifts. The "girls" were appropriately dressed, and there was no pole dancing.

Déjà Vu's stripper mobile will be seen in its more revealing form around town from time to time, as an advertising vehicle parked at promotional events, but the company that operates it has no plans to invite more controversy by rolling down the Strip anytime soon.