Las Vegas police have arrested a man they say encouraged a friend to livestream himself killing another man so he could watch.
A warrant was issued for Stefan Jakubov earlier this month on charges of destroying or concealing evidence, harboring, concealing or aiding a felony offender, and conspiracy to commit battery resulting in substantial bodily harm, KLAS reported. Two weeks later, the Clark County District Attorney’s Office added open murder and robbery to the charge list.
The charges relate to the August 2023 murder of Aaron Chavez. Another man, 30-year-old Gino Julian, was arrested on August 13 after two tow truck drivers found him sleeping in his car in the California desert 10 feet from Chavez’s partially burned body. Julian himself had called for the tow truck when his car got stuck in the sand.
Investigators concluded that Chavez, 30, was beaten to death in Las Vegas, and Julian was indicted by a Nevada grand jury.
Investigators said Chavez and Julian argued via text before the murder and that in one of them, Julian threatened to kill Chavez.
Jakubov’s charges indicate he was also texting Julian. In one, Julian asked him “Where should I put on the show?” and “Is there bleach or chlorine?”
In another, Jakubov tells Julian to ““Break his face,” and “Delete our convos,” Las Vegas Metro police said.
A video clip shows what appears to be Chavez’s lifeless body inside a home, while others show Julian pouring gasoline on the body in the desert.
“What does it feel like to be disrespected? It sucks, right?” Julian said in the video. “I almost feel sorry for him. What else did you think was gonna happen, you know?”
Julian reportedly told police that Chavez made a lot of money in a Ponzi scheme. Some victims of the scheme spoke with KLAS and said they’d given him money to invest, and that money disappeared.
It’s unclear if Jakubov or Julian were victims of the alleged scheme.
Jakubov is being held on a $500,000 bond and must surrender his passport if he’s released. A preliminary hearing is set for April 25.
Julian is being held without bond and goes on trial in May.
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[Featured image: Stefan Jakubov and Gino Julian/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department]
