He couldn't face months of agonizing pain.

Although Cybulski researched poisoning himself, he didn't want to commit suicide.

So he came up with another plan.

In August, Cybulski paid his next-door neighbor, Jeremy Miello, $5,000 to arrange a hit -- with himself as the target.

On Aug. 22, Cybulski was to be shot twice in the head as he lay in his bed.

That's the police version of events.

The two men arrested after Cybulski was shot -- Miello, 29, and 35-year-old Waymond Jeter -- say it was a mercy killing.

Family members call it a cold-blooded murder, and say Cybulski wasn't the one who put the wheels in motion. He had a lot to live for, they say, and wasn't suicidal.

Authorities might not share that view, but they do agree on one point:

"These two defendants committed murder," said county prosecutor Ravi Bawa.

"They're obviously going to have reasons for doing what they did. It doesn't mean it's a legal excuse."

Relatives and friends say that Cybulski wasn't suffering from a fatal illness.

He had business and personal plans, including marrying his longtime girlfriend.

He was going to attend a friend's wedding in New York in the fall.

"Does this sound like a guy planning to kill himself?" asked Jim Cybulski, the victim's father.

The plan

Cybulski's roommate, Joseph Durham, arrived home on Aug. 25 after a trip to California. The television and lights were on in the house.

Durham thought Cybulski was asleep in his room, so he went to bed, too.

The next day Cybulski's fiancée, Jennifer Frangos, concerned that he didn't meet her in New York as planned, asked a friend to stop by and check up on Cybulski.

The friend and Durham found him in his room, dead with two gunshot wounds in his head.

When detectives searched Cybulski's home computer, they found extensive research on cancers, leukemia, poisons and assisted suicide.

They also found an online document titled, "Will I go to hell if I kill myself," according to a police report.

Police also interviewed Miello, the next-door neighbor who had known Cybulski for several years. Miello told police he didn't know anything about Cybulski's death.

Police continued looking into the case, but didn't arrest anyone.

A few months later, on Nov. 8, police questioned Miello again at a police station.

Miello's story changed.

According to the police report, he told police Cybulski approached him a few days before the killing.

Miello said Cybulski had told him that he had a "friend" who was dying, possibly from a brain tumor.

The friend was throwing up blood, had vision problems and only had a few months to live.

Cybulski said his friend was offering $5,000 to help him commit suicide and "it would be doing the community a favor," the report said.

Cybulski added that the victim's insurance money would help pay funeral costs and some bills.

Miello later talked with Cybulski about the job. This time, Cybulski admitted that he was the one who wanted to end his life. He was dying and wanted a quick way out.

Miello told police he tried to persuade Cybulski not to go through with it.

Cybulski couldn't be swayed. So they hatched a plan, according to police. Cybulski wanted a hit man to kill him on Aug. 22, because his roommate would be out of town. Cybulski didn't want Durham to be blamed.

Cybulski asked to be shot twice while he was asleep. But he wanted an open casket funeral, so he asked that the triggerman not shoot too closely to his head.

Miello talked to Jeter about the plan, according to police.

Jeter was a friend of Miello's and agreed to be the triggerman for $5,000, Miello told police.

On Aug. 22, Miello went to Cybulski's house. They smoked some marijuana. Cybulski drank some beer and swallowed some Benadryl to make him sleepy. He then went to bed.

Miello left the house and returned with Jeter, police said.

By about 2 a.m. on Aug. 23, Cybulski was dead.

Good spirits, perfect health

A few days before his death, Cybulski spoke to his father, Jim, who lives near Buffalo, N.Y.

Jim Cybulski said his son was in good spirits and never let on that he might be suicidal or sick. He was planning trips to California and New York.

About a week before the killing, Jim received a birthday card from his son.

"He wrote, 'See you in September,'" Jim said.

William Cybulski was born outside Buffalo, N.Y., was raised Catholic and attended high school in the area.

Friends and family said he was a brilliant kid with a restless intellect.

He played the saxophone wonderfully and also loved scuba and sky diving.

His father said he had an IQ between 160 and 170.

Cybulski earned a degree in microbiology from the University of Rochester in the early 1990s.

He met Frangos at the college, and they had been together ever since.

Cybulski was a near genius but was impatient, his father said. He didn't want to slowly work his way up a job ladder.

Jim Cybulski said his son moved to Las Vegas because he wanted to be a professional poker player.

Joe Dada, a professional poker player, said he met Cybulski a few years ago while playing cards. He was immediately struck by Cybulski's intelligence and honesty.

Dada recalled that he once loaned Cybulski a few hundred dollars during a poker game. He didn't expect to see the money or Cybulski again. But Cybulski tracked Dada down and repaid the loan.

When Dada started a business, New Town Mortgage, in Las Vegas, he hired Cybulski even though he had never worked in the mortgage industry.

Dada would explain to Cybulski complicated financial dealings, and Cybulski instantly understood them.

Dada said Cybulski was taking advanced calculus classes at the College of Southern Nevada just to keep his mind sharp.

They often talked about their future business plans. Dada said Cybulski never looked sick and didn't appear to be suffering from any psychological problems.

"I have a hard time believing he would hire someone to shoot him in the head twice. It doesn't make sense," Dada said.

Family members believe Cybulski was killed in a robbery attempt.

Police found cancer research on Cybulski's computer because he has a friend who was diagnosed with leukemia, relatives said. A friend's father died from a brain tumor, they said.

After Cybulski's death, Jim had an autopsy performed on his son's body. He asked medical examiners to look for any evidence of serious illness.

"He was in perfect health," Jim Cybulski said about his son's autopsy results.

The last days

In mid-November, police interviewed Miello and Jeter, and both stuck to the story that Cybulski was killed because he wanted to commit suicide.

Both had minor criminal histories but nothing to indicate they were assassins.

When police interviewed Jeter, he told them that he feared a jury wouldn't look at the nuances of the case, and simply conclude it was murder.

"I know this (is) not your ordinary robbery. I know it's not your ordinary burglary. I know it's not your ordinary carjack. It's not that," he said, according to a police report.

Authorities said there isn't evidence of robbery.

Miello and Jeter are currently behind bars.

An evidentiary hearing set for last week was postponed.

Miello's attorney, Dayvid Figler, wouldn't comment at length about the case.

"There are some very compelling facts that don't make this a typical case," Figler said.

Jeter's attorney, Jennifer Bolton, refused to comment.

When police interviewed Miello, he knew certain things that only Cybulski could have told him, according to the arrest report.

Miello knew about the last hours of Cybulski's life, including that the victim took Benadryl. He knew that one of Cybulski's friends was supposed to come by the house after the killing to feed his cats.

And Miello knew about a $500,000 life insurance policy Cybulski took out months before. Most insurance companies would not pay such a claim after a suicide.

On a copy of the insurance policy filed in District Court, Cybulski wrote out his last will and testament.

Dated July 2, 2007, Cybulski wrote that about $140,000 should be given to his mother and stepfather and the rest should go to Frangos.

He wrote that he wanted her to give his cats to his mother if Frangos couldn't take care of them.

He also wrote that he loved Frangos with all his heart.

"I love you. I always have from the first time we kissed. Never doubt that," he wrote.

Frangos refused to comment.

Only one state, Oregon, has a "death with dignity" act. The law allows terminally ill Oregonians to take lethal doses of drugs prescribed by a doctor to end a life.

One leader in the death with dignity movement, Derek Humphry, said Cybulski's death doesn't fit with their idea of a "good death."

The hiring of killers is "odious," Humphry said.

He said once money exchanges hands, assisted suicide becomes something else: "sleazy."

Jim Cybulski said his son's faith wouldn't have allowed him to take his own life.

He also taught his son to always persevere through hardship, no matter how tough life got.

But Jim Cybulski too is left with questions. He said he has scoured his memories for any "warning signs" that Cybulski was sick or wanted to end his life. He couldn't find any.

"The only person who knows the truth is Bill," Jim Cybulski said.

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara @reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.