Las Vegas grand jury indicts accused hit man on 3 murder charges

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Clark County grand jury voted last week to indict an accused hit man on three murder charges, records said. In all, Michael Coleman, 40, is accused of committing four murders since 2021 as part of a PPP fraud scheme.

Prosecutors filed three open murder charges against Coleman in September, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported. Officers arrested Coleman in May 2023 for what detectives believe was his fourth and final murder in the series. That murder, which involved the death of Kidada Stewart, 48, was part of a different criminal case.

Coleman has remained in custody at the Clark County Detention Center since that arrest. The indictment means Coleman will bypass a preliminary hearing scheduled for Monday.

The charges in the new criminal case are for the homicides of Benjamin McCarty, 49; Marcus Lary, 39; and William Hill Jr., 54. Each involved Coleman allegedly killing each victim in retaliation for failing to pay a known gang leader in a PPP loan scam.

Carl Chester, who defrauded the government of millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, would take a cut of the money for his work and help others defraud the system, police said. Chester, who himself was murdered last spring, hired Coleman to kill those who shorted Chester of his money. If Coleman could not get to the targeted person, he would go after family members, police said.

In addition to the three charges of murder with the use of a deadly weapon, Coleman was indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, burglary and ownership of a firearm by a prohibited person.’

Chester and Coleman served time in federal custody on gang-related charges connected to 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. Before sentencing, Coleman wrote a letter asking for a second chance and saying he wanted to “apologize to the various communities of Las Vegas and the state of Nevada,” the 8 News Now Investigators first reported.

Coleman was due to be arraigned in Clark County District Court on Oct. 9. A trial in the Stewart murder case was scheduled for Oct. 14. It was unclear Monday if prosecutors would combine the two cases.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.