Shelby Joanette

Murdered May 8, 2007

~Age 36
~Hometown: Fernley, NV

On May 5, 2007 Shelby Hagedorn Joanette, 36, was driving from her parents' Fernley, NV home to the place her horses were boarded when her truck broke down. She called her father on her cell phone to come get her. He arrived about five minutes later to find his daughter barely alive, with two gun shots to the head. Transported to the hospital, Joanette survived until May 8th when she passed away.

Her estranged husband was apprehended the day of the shooting and held on suspicion of attempted murder. He is 35-year-old Michael Fixer Newcastle of Las Vegas. He also goes by the alias Michael Christopher Young. Charges against him were upgraded to 1st-degree murder in light of Joanette's death. Police have not said if he has a criminal record.

A witness saw Newcastle's car leaving the scene of the shooting. A 9mm gun was found in his car. Ballistics tests are pending to determine if the gun was used to shoot Joanette, but 9mm shell casing were found on the scene. There is some speculation that Newcastle may have been stalking Joanette since she was shot so quickly after her car broke down, but the exact details have not been released.

Joanette and Newcastle were married in the summer of 2005. He used his alias (Michael Young) on the marriage license. Joanette was not aware this was not her husband's name. The couple was in the process of a divorce, described as bitter, when Joanette was killed. She had moved out of their Las Vegas home and was living with her parents in Fernley, NV.

The couple owned a business together in Las Vegas. (The type of business was not detailed in published reports.) They did not have any children.

Joanette was a Junior Horseman in high school and was elected Rodeo Queen the year of her graduation. She had competed in barrel racing and worked as a horse trainer. One news report said Joanette was a regular on the rodeo and barrel racing circuit, where she sold jewelry as a vendor. A friend indicated Joanette was to have attended a barrel race the weekend of her death, but did not because her horse was injured.

Joanette's father, who is is a retired California Highway Patrol officer, said she was outgoing and lived each day to the fullest. He described her as "more fun than a barrel of monkeys."


Shelby Joanette (high school photo); Michael Newcastle

Sources
Tip: Dezert Diva [blog], May 9, 2007
Nevada Appeal, May 6, 2007
Nevada Appeal, May 8, 2007
Lahontan Valley News, May 9, 2007
Reno Gazette Journal, May 9, 2007
Reno Gazette Journal, May 9, 2007
Lahontan Valley News, May 10, 2007
Reno Gazette Journal, May 16, 2007
Reno Gazette Journal, May 23, 2007
Note: Some reports list Newcastle's age as 36.

Memorial website with quest book here

~Posted May 10, 1007
~Updated May 16, 2007 (added memorial scholarship info, work details from obit)
~Updated May 23, 2007 (added link to memorial website, more work details)


UPDATE: Mike Fixer Newcastle was sentenced in November 2008 to life with the option of parole after 20 years in the murder of Shelby Joanette. Ten years, to be served consecutively, were added to the sentence for use of a deadly weapon. Newcastle, who originally pled innocent to the murder, changed his plea to guilty one week before the trial was to start in August, as part of a plea agreement. Newcastle is serving his sentence in Nevada State Prison.

In court, Newcastle was described as a gambler who had various aliases. It appears he was having financial problems around the time of his separation with Joanette, perhaps in part because he no longer had control of her money like he did during their marriage. He refused to sign divorce papers and began to send Joanette disturbing letters and text messages.

An investigation revealed the gas tanks of both of the vehicles Joanette used contained bleaching agents, which likely caused the car she was driving to break down the day Newcastle shot her. Newcastle was not specifically implicated in the gas tank tampering, but keys to Joanette’s locked gas tanks were found in Newcastle’s possession.

At the sentencing hearing, Newcastle said, "I don't have the command of the English language to express how sorry I am. There is no apology acceptable, no rest worthy, no music or painting I could create, to express the shame and regret that I will carry as long as I live.”

Source
Reno Gazette-Journal, Nov 12, 2008 [cached]

~Update posted January 18, 2009

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The family has started a scholarship fund in Joanette's name. Donations to the Shelby Hagedorn Joanette Scholarship Fund may be made at Bank of America, under the name of Curt and Donna Hagedorn. [Source/Obit]