Pittsburgh police have arrested three men in connection with a foiled contract killing that targeted a local professional boxer.
The men, all of whom have criminal records, hatched the plot against 29-year-old Rayco Saunders while rooming at the ARC House, a drug and alcohol treatment facility on the North Side, according to police affidavits. Saunders was unaware of the plot.
City narcotics detectives unknowingly disrupted the scheme when they arrested the suspected triggerman, Jason Korey, on Jan. 24 on unrelated drug and firearms charges.
Earlier that day, according to police, Korey had waited outside Saunders' Beltzhoover home with an assault-style rifle. But he didn't carry out the killing because Saunders never left the house, the affidavit said.
Police said the conspiracy was spawned by jealousy over a woman. Keilan Walls, who was charged with hiring Korey to kill Saunders, was angry about a relationship he thought his girlfriend was having with the boxer, police said.
"She liked Rayco, and the guy got jealous," said Saunders' promoter, James Cvetic, a retired Allegheny County detective. "That's how he decided he had to handle his anger and hurt."
Korey, 21, of Baldwin Borough, faces charges of attempted homicide, criminal conspiracy, theft and a firearms violation.
Walls, 27, of Arlington, faces charges of criminal solicitation to commit homicide and criminal conspiracy.
Police identified the third suspect as Shawn Davis, 23, of Beltzhoover, who lives close to Saunders. He was charged with conspiracy to plan to commit homicide and a firearms violation.
On Feb. 3, Pittsburgh homicide detectives got their first inkling of the conspiracy from a confidential informant who was with Korey during the aborted attempt to kill Saunders, according to the affidavit supporting Davis' arrest.
On Jan. 24, the informant and Korey drove to Davis' house on Climax Street. Korey returned to the car with a .223-caliber rifle. Then Korey directed the informant to drive to Saunders' house, where he planned to kill the boxer.
After Saunders failed to come out, Korey and the informant returned to Davis' home. The informant said Korey gave back the rifle in return for two bricks of heroin, according to the affidavit.
Later that day, undercover narcotics detectives arrested Korey in a car in Mount Washington. He had 100 stamp bags of heroin on him, and a 9 mm handgun was found at his feet, an affidavit said. Police lodged drug and gun charges against him.
Ten days later, homicide detectives Steve Hitchings and Dale Canofari learned of Korey's alleged involvement in the plot. They and detectives Harold Bolin and George Satler put the case together.
Cvetic and Saunders first learned of the scheme last week from the homicide detectives. Cvetic said he was shocked, but described Saunders as stoic.
"He sat there and asked the detectives what was going on," Cvetic recalled. "He didn't have any idea why."
Saunders declined to be interviewed for this story. A cruiserweight who stands 6-feet-1 and 185 pounds, Saunders fights under the nickname "War." He has a 9-2-1 record and was a Golden Gloves state champion several years ago, Cvetic said.
Saunders has his own troubled history, having been arrested six times between 1994 and 1996. In 1997, he was sentenced to prison for shooting at a Pittsburgh police officer.
Since then, Cvetic said, Saunders has kept out of trouble and tries to give back to the community by mentoring up-and-coming boxers.
Korey, as well, has had run-ins with the law. Much to the consternation of police and prosecutors, he has beaten two homicide charges.
In November 2000, Common Pleas Judge Robert E. Colville found Korey and a co-defendant not guilty in the July 1999 contract slaying of a drug dealer, William J. Kuhn III, 24, of the West End.
Deputy Pittsburgh Police Chief William Mullen said he was "puzzled and dismayed" by Colville's decision. During the trial, police contended that Korey had confessed. On the witness stand, Korey said he had made up the story.
In January 1999, a jury acquitted Korey of the February 1998 killing of Joseph Brucker, 17, of Whitehall.
In addition to the current charges against Korey by city police, he is being held on a federal detainer by the U.S. Marshals Service. Last week, a federal grand jury indicted Korey on charges of violating federal firearms laws.
According to the indictment, Korey used and carried a gun while trafficking in drugs in July 1999. He also was charged with possessing an unregistered silencer, two counts of possessing stolen handguns and possessing a firearm while addicted to, or using, illegal drugs.
Davis, who was arrested Thursday and arraigned yesterday, was held in lieu of $160,000 straight bond. He has pleaded guilty in recent years to drug possession and receiving stolen property. He also pleaded no contest to statutory rape and corruption of minors.
Walls has had seven cases in Common Pleas Court, mostly involving arrests for simple assault, disorderly conduct and underage drinking. Last year, he pleaded guilty to firearms violations and criminal conspiracy.
First Published: February 14, 2004, 5:00 a.m.
