Man arrested on murder charge claimed fatal shooting was ‘an accident’

A man booked on a murder charge told a witness “I swear to god it was an accident” moments after fatally shooting the victim in his home, according to an arrest report released Wednesday.

Jonathan Maynes, 33, is charged with open murder in the killing of Timothy Shaefer, 50, of Las Vegas.

The arrest report did not provide specifics about what led to the shooting, but police said Maynes and two others were at Shaefer’s residence, on the 6400 block of Casada Way, when it occurred in the early hours of Oct. 24.

Police were called to the area and found Shaefer, who had been shot in the pelvis area. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to a witness, Maynes said “I swear to god it was an accident,” after the gunshots. Another witness said Maynes “was paranoid that Shaefer was a cop and was questioning him.”

Police heard from an “unidentified citizen” that Maynes was involved in Shaefer’s murder, which led them to investigate him. During the investigation, he was arrested on an unrelated robbery charge.

He told police that another man, Marquece Knickberbocker, had shot Shaefer, but other witnesses identified Maynes as the gunman.

Maynes has a court appearance scheduled for Jan. 31.

Contact Jonah Dylan at jdylan@reviewjournal.com. Follow @TheJonahDylan on Twitter.