The Firefighter’s Deadly Deception: The Murder of Shauna Tiaffay
In today’s episode, we’re back in Las Vegas, a city that never sleeps with anything and everything happening all hours of the day and night, home to over half a million people, one of which was Shauna Ann Castleton. Shauna had grown up in a Mormon family in Salt Lake City, and in 1994, at the age of 28, she decided to make the big move to Las Vegas, 500 miles away. For a while, she worked selling cosmetics at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, but Shauna loved the fun, glitz, and glamour of Vegas nightlife and saw a lot of opportunity for herself in this environment. She started working as a cocktail waitress at the Fiesta before moving to one of the most popular and prestigious casinos in the area, the Palms Hotel Casino. She settled in quickly; her colleagues became a second family for her, her customers loved her, and Shauna adored her job. Those that knew her said she was always laughing and living in the moment. Her friend said, “She had an innocence about her; she was a free spirit and always had a positive outlook on things, no matter the situation.”
In 2002, Shauna met George Tiaffay at the Palms. George would go there a lot, and he said, “He was quick to notice Shauna because of how hard she worked.” She was always busy running around and keeping guests happy. George was a star athlete and homecoming king at his school, and his family say he was charismatic, funny, and charming, always wanting to lend a hand to those that needed it. He had trained at the United States Military Academy, also known as West Point, and was now working as a firefighter. The attraction was instant and the pair hit it off straight away, becoming inseparable immediately. George told his sisters that “Shauna was his whole world,” and a year later, their world got a little bigger when they welcomed a baby girl whom they called Madison. Friends said George was very protective of his new family, and Shauna was besotted with her little girl. A couple of years later, George and Shauna married in a beautiful beach wedding in Hawaii. Two more years would pass by all accounts with everything staying the same as it had always been; that was until George suffered a huge setback with his finances. He lost a lot of money in the housing market crash, making Shauna the main earner for the family, and the financial stress began to impact the couple.
Shauna eventually confided in people that George had become quite jealous and resentful, and it wasn’t long before his behavior escalated and became more controlling. On one occasion, George said, “She looked like a whore on her way to work one day,” made all the worse, she said, because her little girl had heard it. She told friends things got even more strange when he befriended a homeless man, getting him to do odd jobs around the house and garden. Shauna said, “She found the man creepy, and whenever he was around, it really unsettled her.” Tensions continued to mount in the relationship, and with so much financial strain coupled with George’s sudden and spiteful change in personality, Shauna moved out and into her own townhouse apartment in Summerlin. The pair started sharing custody of Maddie as well as seeing a marriage counsellor. Shauna was devastated at the breakdown of the relationship, and although she was hopeful they might one day make things work, she also knew divorce was a strong possibility. She would send George a text that read, “Once we live separate, I don’t think there’s any going back.” George was also upset and told people that “the complications divorce would bring wasn’t something he wanted to go through.”
After living apart for a while, Shauna was beginning to find a new routine. She was still working long hours and was always busy, but the love she had for her job meant she didn’t mind. After one late shift, Shauna returned home to find her apartment had been broken into and everything was a mess. Several precious and sentimental valuables, including her engagement ring, had been stolen. One item that had been taken that struck everyone as odd were her bikini bottoms; whoever had broken in had also left some boxer briefs inside. Shauna was frightened and on edge but did her best to put the incident behind her. Shauna clocked off and left work as normal just after 3 am. She lived about a 30-minute drive away from her apartment and arrived home at around 3:30 am. She parked up outside and went inside via the door in her garage. George had just finished a long shift at the fire department and picked up eight-year-old Maddie from her grandmother’s. They both drove over to Shauna’s to collect some of Maddie’s belongings. They entered Shauna’s home to find that it had been totally ransacked. Shauna Tiaffay was lying dead on the floor.
“I think I need to report a break-in and a murder. I—my wife, my wife—uh, on the floor, bloody, stiff, not moving. I have my daughter with me. I—I want to take her to my, okay, mom’s, mom’s house.” “Stay right there a minute, okay?” “Okay. Do you know what the address is and you don’t live there, correct?” “No, my—my wife and I—uh, live in separate places.” “Okay, when’s the last time you saw her?” “All—I—I’m a fireman. I was at work yesterday, so I saw her about 36 hours ago, I guess. I’m not sure.” “Okay, a day and a half ago, I’m thinking something like that.” “Okay, how old’s your daughter?” “She’s eight, and she’s with you or where’s she at?” “She’s right here with me.” “Okay, what’s your name, sir?” “My name is George Tiaffay.” “Okay, do you see anything suspicious around here? Any weapons, any knife, guns?” “No. I had to get my daughter out of there. We came over, and the garage door was open, and it’s never open, and so we went into grab some stuff for my daughter. My—my wife sleeps during the day because she works at night, right? And she was in the—on—on the floor when we walked in, the desk.” “Where are you at right now?” “I’m at the garage right now.” “Okay, we do have an officer on the way, so just stay right outside, and we’ll get somebody out there for you, okay?” “Oh God, I—I didn’t touch the body to check for a pulse.” “That’s okay, we’ll have medical on the way as well, okay?” “Okay, thank you.”
It was clear from the position of the blood and Shauna’s body that she had been attacked as she had gone upstairs. The injuries to her body indicated the murder weapon was likely a hammer, and she had suffered horrendously in her last moments. Her skull was crushed and her fingers were broken from trying to protect herself. There was a hole in the side of her head that was so deep, at first, paramedics believed she had been shot. A neighbor reported to the police that they had heard a thudding sound coming from the apartment between 3:30 and 4 am, but as she normally arrived home at this time, it didn’t seem out of the ordinary. A little while later, another neighbor contacted police after finding Shauna’s phone, health card, and some of her makeup along the side of a road nearby. As is common with most cases, her estranged husband, George, would be the first to be interviewed. George was at the fire station the day before and had worked a 24-hour shift. After confirming this with his colleagues, detectives were happy with his alibi, but this left police baffled and confused as to where to start looking. They didn’t know if the burglary three weeks earlier was linked or was a scary coincidence, but as Shauna’s belongings were found outside of her home, it was entirely possible that the same person had come back to take more things and, not realizing Shauna would be up and awake, killed her and fled the scene. They also didn’t know if Shauna was a completely random target or if she was targeted for a specific reason. This left Shauna’s casino colleagues fearful too, with all of them working similar shift patterns; could one of them be next, they wondered? But Shauna’s sister, Paula, and her husband, however, believed there was a lot more to this than a random robbery gone wrong. Despite George’s alibi, they still wanted to ask him some questions. Paula decided to give George a call and find out what was going on.
“Hello, George, this is Paula. Can you tell me what’s going on?” George then passed the phone over to a grief counsellor who was at the scene, and Paula just said exactly what she was thinking: “I have my suspicions that her husband may be involved in this, based on, you know, many, many conversations I’ve had with my sister. Um, I—I highly suspect that he may be involved.” After this, Paula and her husband hung up and booked the first flight out to Vegas, their minds going a million miles an hour. Paula said she would forever be haunted by the way in which her sister died. She said, “the excruciating pain she must have endured and the terror and realization that she was going to die.” Just 24 hours after Shauna’s body was found, police received a tip-off that would blow the case wide open. A man that went by the name of Big Will told detectives he had a homeless friend that he knew only as Greyhound. Greyhound told him he had killed a woman with a hammer. Big Will recalled, “He wasn’t scared, he wasn’t upset or traumatized; he was laughing and happy, as if he’d just completed a mission.” Big Will told Greyhound that the second he saw anyone on the news that had been killed in the way he had told him, he would have to report him, and as word spread that Shauna had been murdered, this confirmed to Big Will that Greyhound had been telling the truth. He went straight to the police. Greyhound was homeless and currently living in a tent on the outskirts of the city. Big Will said he would frequently go to a store called Albertsons to steal food and sell drugs in the gas station across the road. Authorities teamed up with Big Will and drove to these locations, believing this would be the best place to find him. They didn’t have to wait long before they spotted him.
When officers approached Greyhound, they found he had drugs on him and were able to pull him up on drugs charges while they looked into Big Will’s claims. Greyhound’s real name was Noel Stevens. He was actually well known to police already for various reasons, including theft and drugs-related charges. While he admitted to selling drugs, he vehemently denied having anything to do with Shauna’s death. Noel was a low-level criminal, and it was definitely a surprise that he would have traveled so far to commit such a huge crime without really leaving with anything. He could have sold something; wasn’t making sense to the interviewing officers. There also didn’t seem to be any connection between Noel and Shauna. Police managed to find out where he was sleeping, and when he was in custody, began searching the area near his tent. The area was remote and very secluded, way up into the desert away from everyone and everything. Officers worried that because the area was so vast, they could be searching for any potential evidence for weeks, but Noel had not dumped anything far away, and just a short walk away from his tent, they found a pair of his trousers covered in blood, a price tag belonging to a hammer, and a bloody pair of underwear. Back at the station, detectives were checking through his phone, and they soon found a single contact that seemed to tie everything together for them: George. When asked who George was, Noel said, “That’s my friend, the firefighter.”
Noel Stevens was the man George Tiaffay had befriended, the same man Shauna had been wary about since the moment she met him. Police used the barcode for the hammer to find out where sold that particular make, and from this, they got hold of some CCTV that left them shocked. The camera inside the store clearly showed George Tiaffay and Noel Stevens shopping together and buying the hammer that would ultimately be used to kill Shauna. Officers now felt very strongly that George was at the center of what had happened to Shauna. Back at the station, officers presented Noel with all the evidence. Finally, Noel admitted to being Shauna’s killer, but just as police already suspected, Noel said it was her estranged husband, George, that wanted her dead and he had paid him $600 to carry out the crime on his behalf. Noel claimed that he and George had spent ages planning it. George had gotten a key cut for Noel, paid for some dark clothing for him, and had asked him to stage a robbery weeks before she was killed, almost like a practice run. Noel said that on September 29th, after he broke in, he hid in her closet for a while. He then moved into the living room and waited for her there as he heard her pulling up. Shauna was on her way up the stairs; Noel followed her up and began his attack there. He said, “She cried and begged for her life, screaming ‘Why are you doing this?’ over and over as he struck her a total of 17 times.” He then said the hammer broke and he continued to hit her with the hammerhead until she stopped moving. After retelling the shocking story, he offered to take detectives to where he had buried the hammerhead in the desert, and finally, they had the murder weapon.
It had now been nine days since Shauna was discovered that early September morning, and on October 8th, detectives informed George’s mother and sister that he was now being investigated in relation to her death. They were horrified and adamant that he had nothing to do with it. A matter of minutes later, George’s sister called her brother and told him. George jumped straight into his truck and set off on a fast and dangerous drive around Vegas. This would end in George going head-on into a concrete wall at the end of Summerlin Parkway and the Las Vegas Beltway. He was going more than 80 miles per hour. Authorities noted that there were no marks on the road showing he hadn’t tried to break and stop the car, and this was an intentional crash and an attempt to take his own life. George survived thanks only to his seatbelts and was treated for his injuries at University Medical Center. Two days later, officers arrived at George’s hospital bed and informed him he was now under arrest. George’s reply was simply, “Okay.” He then asked if he could call his attorney, take a shower, and brush his teeth. Authorities felt they had a strong case and enough to bring charges forward against both men. Just three months later, Noel Stevens would plead guilty in exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table and said he would also testify for the prosecution as their star witness. He was sentenced to 42 years to life in prison. In August 2015, George, who was still pleading not guilty, entered the courtroom ready to begin his trial.
“He hides in that bathroom area. He comes out of that bathroom area when Shauna walks in the residence, and he hits her over the head with the hammer several times, and he does break the hammer.” Opening statements began Tuesday in the trial of George Tiaffay, a former Las Vegas firefighter accused of hiring a homeless man to kill his wife, Shauna Tiaffay, who was beaten to death with a hammer after returning home from work at the Palms in September of 2012. During the first day of testimony, the prosecution played the recording of the 911 call. Shauna’s family were there for every single day, wearing her favorite colour, pink. Her family gave lead prosecutor Mark Di Giacomo Shauna’s lucky poker chip, which he kept with him as a good luck charm. George would never take the stand himself, but an array of witnesses, including his sisters and close friends, would testify about the man they said they really knew—a man they said was kind, compassionate, and hard-working and would have no parts in such a heinous crime. The prosecution felt their case was exceptionally strong. Alongside the CCTV and everything Noel had told them, they also had numerous phone records that showed that George had called Noel 87 times in the month of September 2012 and five times the night before the murder—an unbelievable amount of times for someone that just occasionally did the odd job here and there. The defense would argue, however, that the CCTV proved nothing; they were simply buying tools so Noel could continue to do work around the house. The star witness, Noel, took to the stand and told the court the same story in all its detail that he had told the police several years prior.
“How did you meet George?” “I was sitting one day in out in the front yard smoking cigarette and drinking, and—uh, he’s walking his dog and that’s how I met him.” “When you first met him, describe what kind of communication you would have with them, what kind of relationship, for lack of a better word, did you have with him?” “Uh, I told him that I do yards and stuff like that.” “And did he give you any work?” “Yes.” “Can you give the ladies and gentlemen the jury how any idea how long you’ve known George?” “A few years.” “Years. Describe your relationship with George at this point. What do you mean?” “Well, are you just doing work for them or is there something, what kind of things have you done together?” “It worked out stuff like that.” “When you go over there, what’s his relationship with Shauna like? Good, bad? What—um, what are you doing, what are they arguing about?” “All kinds of stuff.” “Did George ever tell you about any specific complaints he had about Shauna?” “Yeah, she spent too much money.” “Does there come a point in time where you have to, or—or you are asked to do something at that second house related to the divorce?” “Yeah.” “And when George first says to you something about killing Shauna, did you believe him?” “No.” “Describe for us the best you can what it is—uh, the nature of the conversation. What happens?” “He—uh, offers me a thousand dollars. I—I tell him, ‘Nah.'” “You told him no?” “Yes.” “Why do you tell him no?” “Because I don’t really believe him. I think he’s—think he’s…” “What?” “Blowing hard, smoking man.” “You think he’s just blowing off some steam?” “Yeah.” “Is there some thing that changes at some point? What do you mean? At some point do you—does he say something to you that causes you to believe them?” “Yeah.” “Okay, what do you raise the price up to?” “Five grand.” “Uh, was he gonna hand you five thousand dollars as soon as it was done or was there some plan on how to pay you?” “Uh, he was gonna pay me—uh, when—when he got the money for—uh, for insurance.” “He said.”
Alongside the $600 cash from George, he also made some more money off of Shauna’s engagement ring, which he stole and then pawned. Noel also claimed that he was actually promised tens of thousands by George after the murder was carried out, and detectives believe Noel called George from the gas station phone the day after, which was possibly to arrange for the rest of the payment. This meeting, however, would never happen because that’s the day the detectives made contact with Noel and he was taken in. Noel also testified that George had told him to use a fiberglass hammer because a wooden hammer might break during the attack. He said he took both hammers to the house but ended up using the wooden one, which did in fact break.
“You do, as she comes through the garage, I went until she walks by the door. When she walks by the door, then I come out.” “And what are you holding, which—when you, when she comes out?” “A hammer.” “Okay, now the hammer that you’re using—uh, why that hammer?” “Because I didn’t want to go and buy another one.” “Okay, let me ask you this, that hammer, do you—where did you get that hammer from?” “Lowe’s.” “Right. And but that day, I mean, where was it between the time you bought it at Lowe’s until the time you used it to kill Shauna?” “At my first camp.” “And why didn’t you use that hammer? You bought it before you bought some of the other hammers. Why not keep that hammer and use it every time you tried?” “Because it’s wood.” “And what was the problem with wood? Who told you that?” “George.” “Okay, so now you have the wood hammer in your hand because you were cheap. What happens?” “I know that you probably don’t want to do this, but you’re going to have to describe for ladies and gentlemen, a jury, what happens when you come out that door and you’re holding that hammer?” “She—she tells me, ‘Why are you doing this?’ She says, ‘Why are you doing this?'” “Yes. Now are you covered up in such a way that she shouldn’t know who you are?” “Yeah, I have a mask on.” “Do you say anything to her?” “No.” “What do you do?” “I hit her in the head.” “When you hit her in the head, what happens?” “She hits the floor.” “And after she hits the floor, what do you do?” “I jump on top of her.” “If you jump on top of her, what do you do?” “Keep on hitting with the hammer.” “Yes.” “What happens to the hammer while this is happening?” “It breaks.” “So after the hammer breaks, what do you do?” “I throw the piece of wood away and grab the metal piece. Keep on hitting.”
Although the prosecution argued that everything Noel had said could be backed up by CCTV, phone records, and the time frame of events, while he was being cross-examined, Noel admitted to often having auditory and visual hallucinations. In the defense’s eyes, this gave them enough reason to put forward the idea that Noel could have simply made the whole thing up. They weren’t disputing that he killed Shauna, but the idea that George was involved was a lie. Robert Langford, George’s attorney, said, “It was a good story, but nothing more than that. If you put it all together just the right way, that’s what you get. But there’s a lot of reason not to put it together that way.” He said it was said that Noel adored George, seeing him as a close friend and looking up to him in many ways, and the prosecution said that’s all it took to be able to manipulate him very easily. They said George was the only one with a reason to want Shauna dead. They also believed that George may have been intending to kill Noel as he had recently purchased a gun. If Noel had been killed, George would likely have got away with the crime completely. They, along with Shauna’s family, felt George was someone that was so used to getting everything he wanted all his life and having vast amounts of success; after the couple’s marriage began to spiral and he was losing control over this as well as his finances, it was all too much for him to handle.
Both teams finished presenting all their evidence, and the jury would spend three long days deliberating. As they announced they had come to a verdict, it was extremely tense in the courtroom, and no one could be sure which way things would go. Before they went in, Mark Di Giacomo said he put Shauna’s lucky poker chip in his pocket.
“The clerk will read the verdict. The defendant will rise.” “District Court, Clark County, Nevada, the State of Nevada, Plaintiff, versus George M. Tiaffay, Defendant, Case Number C286317, Department Number 20.” “Verdict: We, the jury, in the involvement title case, find the defendant, George M. Tiaffay, as follows: Count One, Conspiracy to Commit Murder, Guilty.”
George Tiaffay, the former Las Vegas firefighter, was convicted Thursday of paying a homeless man to kill his wife. After five days of testimony and about three hours of closing arguments, a jury of seven men and five women took 15 hours to find George Tiaffay guilty of first-degree murder and six other counts. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, are these your verdict says read? So say you one? So say you all?” And we begin with that breaking news: former Las Vegas firefighter George Tiaffay, accused of hiring a homeless man to kill his wife, stands guilty on all counts. Action News anchor, he showed no emotion as the verdict was read out. The jury then had to decide whether or not he should receive any parole eligibility. Local firefighter George Tiaffay will now spend the rest of his life behind bars. After just four hours of deliberation, the jury decided to sentence Tiaffay to life without the possibility of parole. Action News reporter, Marissa Kenniston, was in court today. She joins us live with more. Right now, Marissa, the jury had three decisions: life without the possibility of parole, 20 years to life, and 20 to 50 years. Take a listen as they read their decision.
“Having found the defendant, George M. Tiaffay, guilty of Count Seven, First-Degree Murder with use of a deadly weapon, impose a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.” He was also given an additional 81 years for the convictions of conspiracy, burglary, and robbery. The judge said in part, “My sentence today is not based upon holding you to a higher standard. My sentence is based upon the fact that this was just pure evil.” Shauna’s sister, Paula, was happy with the results, saying, “George is a controlling manipulator, and I think the worst hell for him would be standing in prison for the rest of his life and not being able to control anything. We just want to thank the Clark County DA’s office, Mark Di Giacomo and Pam Weckerly, and everybody involved—homicide detectives. It was almost three years ago that Shauna was brutally murdered, and we’re so happy that justice was served. We started this fight for her, and this is—we’ve got so many supporters here in Las Vegas, so many people love Shauna, and we’re just happy that we can finally put this past us and move forward and find whatever our normal is, you know, without Shauna in our lives. But we just—we’re just so happy and satisfied that the jurors saw the truth.”
George decided he wanted to appeal the verdict. His 107-page appeal included handwritten notes from George himself. He wrote about himself in the third person, saying in part, “The prescriptions altered his mind and removed his ability to know right from wrong, to the point that he thought God directed him to perpetrate a crime to protect his child.” It appeared that for the first time, he was now admitting to orchestrating the crime but said it was because he was under the effects of prescription medication. An online fundraiser was set up to try and garner money to fund George’s appeal, but his appeal was lost and his conviction upheld. George then claimed his lawyer, Robert Langford, was ineffective, ignored his mental health issues, and failed to request a psychiatric evaluation. He said he had suffered an injury years ago and took various painkillers and medications, including prescribed hormones and Adderall. Robert Langford said, “He never indicated any kind of psychosis or any kind of abnormal behavior that led me to believe he was anything other than competent and able to assist in his defense.” He has since withdrawn from the case.
Shauna’s family went on to found “Justice for Shauna,” a group that raises awareness about domestic violence and abusive relationships. Her family would also later move her grave from Las Vegas back to her home state of Utah so she could be next to her father. Maddie is now living with Shauna’s mother and spends a lot of time with her aunt, Paula. Paula says whenever she talks about her mother, “she smiles a lot, and it’s clear that their relationship was always full of laughter and fun.” Paula said the loss of her sister profoundly affected so many people, but the biggest tragedy is how her daughter will grow up without a mom that was so devoted to her. The judge that sentenced George said, “Why you, of all people, would do something that you know would be so cruel to so many people beyond just Shauna?” It is said that Shauna’s biggest and purest joy in life was being a mother, and Paula would say, “I have no doubt she was thinking of sweet little Madison as she took her last breath.”
