LAS VEGAS (KSNV MyNews3) -- Seven months after he brutally killed a local bartender, Tracy Kauffman was in court today to receive his sentence for the brutal death of a local bartender in November.
It was a homicide that rocked the local gay community. Now the man responsible for the death of Phil Wells took a plea deal will spend at least 28 years behind bars.
Kauffman, Wells’ jilted ex-lover, flew from Tennessee in November and shot him 24 times at his job at the Garage Bar on Flamingo and Maryland.
Kauffman's attorney said in court this was a crime of love and not hate.
Prosecutors said otherwise and said Kauffman planned this out for months.
We learned Kauffman practiced shots at head targets with Phil Wells’ name attached, with a Glock 23 semi-automatic handgun he bought and would later use in the killing.
We also found out Kauffman had been called by a mutual friend telling him of the slaying, to which the friend said Kauffman calmly replied, "thank you for letting me know," and then hung up.
Wells' mother, father and friends gave emotional statements.
A barely emotional Kauffman gave his own, apologizing to his and Wells' family.
