Attorney Louis Schneider says his client, John Powell Morgan III, was carrying a loaded Glock handgun and brass knuckles in a fanny pack when arrested Saturday because he fears for his life. "He has had so many death threats," Schneider said. "People have come up and put signs on his house. He gets anonymous death threats... and he's scared."
Morgan, 40, was arrested at a Henderson car dealership on a murder warrant in the May 2021 shooting death of Scott Dingman, 40, outside Morgan's Boulder City home. Police initially ruled the shooting self-defense after Morgan said Dingman pointed a gun at him following a night of heavy drinking, but investigators recently received a witness account stating Morgan removed the magazine from Dingman's handgun before the shooting. A blood spatter expert also found evidence contradicting Morgan's account, and police say two minutes of surveillance video from that night are missing.
The weapons found Saturday led to new charges in Henderson and a motion by prosecutor Chase Christensen to revoke Morgan's $19,000 bail in a separate drug case. That case stems from cocaine allegedly found during a 2025 search warrant served in the homicide investigation. Morgan has posted bonds totaling over $1 million across the three pending cases.
Schneider contends authorities are stacking charges to keep Morgan jailed and undermine a pending civil lawsuit filed by Dingman's family against Boulder City. "It's not paranoia if people are actually out to get you," Schneider said. "They are stacking this deck so high." Morgan is due in court Monday for a plea in the weapons case and Tuesday for a bail revocation hearing in Boulder City.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: Las Vegas Review-Journal →
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