Man linked to multiple Las Vegas murders to appear in court on Monday

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Michael Coleman, 40, the man accused of committing a series of murders in 2021 and 2022, will appear in court Monday morning.

Coleman appeared in court last Wednesday to face three additional murder charges, in addition to those he already faces for the murder of a woman last year.

The Clark County District Attorney's Office filed seven additional charges against him: three counts each of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and one count of attempted murder.

Investigators concluded that Coleman did not act alone, but was working with Carl Chester, who was killed in retaliation for a murder committed by Coleman.

Lt. Jason Johansson of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said, “When individuals did not pay Chester his share of the loan, he typically resorted to threats of violence or violence himself to get his share of the money.”

Police have also linked Coleman to another shooting in the northwest valley in 2021. Although investigators have not yet released details about that case, they said the victim survived and believe that person was also targeted through Chester.

Police arrested Coleman last year for the murder of Kidada Stewart. According to an arrest report, after Coleman's arrest, investigators reviewed email accounts found on his phone and found what they believe to be conversations about the William Hill murder.

They matched one of the email accounts Coleman had spoken to to Chester and concluded that it was active surveillance of the victims.

A weapons examination of a handgun found in Coleman's car also matched a shell casing found at the scene of Marcus Larry's murder, the report said. Investigators determined that a tracking device had been placed on Larry's car before the murder, and they reviewed forensic and video evidence from the crime scene. This led them to identify Coleman as the suspected shooter.

In the Benjamin McCarty case, police wrote that they checked Coleman's phone and found a photo showing McCarty working on his truck just minutes before he was shot.

They also found “screenshots of Google Earth images” showing a street view of William Hill’s house.

“Shortly before the murders, photographs of the victims' vehicles and homes were found on Michael Coleman's phone,” the report states. “After tracking down the victims, Michael Coleman waited for them, ambushed them, and shot each of the victims multiple times.”