Recently in Murder / Homicide Category

The police are officially calling the deaths of two people found in a burning Paradise Valley home a possible homicide and arson case, reports The Arizona Republic.

Although they have not officially confirmed the identities of the bodies, many believe the victims to be Lawrence and Glenna Shapiro. Family members reportedly released a statement saying they were “shocked and saddened at the loss of our parents who were so loved by their family and community,” according to The Republic.

Longtime radio personality and “legendary morning man” Bill Heywood and his wife, Susan, were found dead in a motel near Scottsdale with gunshot wounds to the head Tuesday night. Evidence before the incident and at the scene depict what may have been an orchestrated suicide pact between the couple, reports The Arizona Republic.

Family and friends reportedly found instructions for funeral arrangements and other details at the couple’s northeast Phoenix home, according to Scottsdale police. A housekeeper also reportedly found a suicide note on the door of their motel bedroom stating there were two suicides inside, Sgt. Mark Clark told The Republic. When police arrived, they found two handguns near the bodies.

Although police are calling the case a death investigation until the medical examiner’s preliminary report is released in a few days, Clark said it was “pretty clear something was planned.”

It has been more than a year since 17-year-old Alen Belford was struck and killed in the crossfire of an alleged gang shooting outside a Phoenix strip mall. Now, another teenager has been arrested in connection with Belford's death and faces second-degree murder charges, reports KPHO.

Eighteen-year-old Devonte Mitchell was booked into jail at the end of November on suspicion of murder, aggravated assault, discharging a firearm at a structure, and threatening and intimidating.

The arrest was a result of over-a-year's worth of investigation by Phoenix police officers, collecting witness statements and physical evidence. Another suspect may also be arrested in the near future, according to police.

In a bizarre case of too many hired helpers, a Tucson man allegedly hired hitmen to kill a 15-year-old girl’s parents and then put a hit on the hitmen when they later refused, reports the Arizona Daily Star.

Ronald Olea Zebal is currently being held in the Pima County jail on four counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

If suspected of a criminal conspiracy, a person may be charged with and convicted of both the conspiracy to commit the crime as well as the underlying crime itself. In addition, taking the time to find and hire hitmen to do the deed shows premeditation, which likely led to the conspiracy to commit first-degree murder charge.

Despite no body and little physical evidence, Chandler resident Rick Valentini was found guilty of second-degree murder and fraud in the case of missing girlfriend Jaime Laiaddee, reports The Arizona Republic.

The jury announced the verdict on Wednesday after nearly four hours of deliberation.

Laiaddee was last seen in March 2010 but was not reported missing until May. At the time of her disappearance, her boyfriend claimed that she had moved to Colorado to find a new job. Since March, however, she has not made any phone calls or bank transactions and has not sent any texts or emails.

Many young women know what it’s like to have an overprotective father. And many young men know what it’s like to be dating women with those overprotective fathers. For 47-year-old Kingman father Michael Anthony Rivera, however, it probably wasn’t a case of over-protectiveness that made him run over his daughter’s boyfriend, instantly killing him.

Rivera was charged with first-degree murder on Monday after police say he ran over and killed 21-year-old Nickolaus A. Gerencser Jr., according to the Daily Miner. Gerencser was reportedly hit so hard that one of his shoes flew off more than 30 feet away.

A little more than two years after three people died from suffocating in a sweat lodge during a "Spiritual Warrior" retreat, the retreat's leader, James Ray, has been sentenced to prison for his role in the sweat lodge deaths, reports The Arizona Republic.

Ray, who was found guilty on three counts of negligent homicide in June, was given two-year sentences in prison for each count. However, the two-year sentences will be served concurrently. Yavapai County Superior Court Judge Warren Darrow told the courtroom that he thought probation should not be awarded given "the aggravating circumstances of emotional harm," according to The Republic.

After a week of deliberation, the jury in the Baseline Killer case decided Mark Goudeau was the man who terrorized Phoenix women in 2005 and 2006 and found him guilty of first-degree murder, reports The Arizona Republic.

The jury reportedly found him guilty on 67 different counts, including nine counts of murder, sexual assault and sexual abuse, child molestation and armed robbery. He was originally charged with 74 felony counts, some of which were thrown out before they went to the jury for lack of sufficient evidence. The jury found Goudeau not guilty on just four of the counts involving kidnapping, armed robbery and attempted robbery.

Last week, nearly a decade after the gruesome murder of a Valley woman, a member of the Mesa Hells Angels pleaded guilty to second degree murder, reports The Arizona Republic.

Kevin J. Augustiniak was originally indicted in 2003 on suspicion of murdering Cynthia Garcia in October 2001. Fifteen others were also implicated in the 43-count indictment. Garcia's body was found badly beaten and stabbed near Usery Pass in the southeast Valley.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s office is pursuing a retrial against Johnathan Doody, the man sentenced for the Buddhist temple murders in 1991, after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review an appellate court’s decision to throw out his confession, reports azfamily.com.

Doody was sentenced to 281 years in prison for the death of six priests, a nun and two helpers during a robbery at the Wat Promkunaram temple near Phoenix. Since his sentence began in 1994, his attorneys have argued that his confession was coerced, and Doody was given inadequate Miranda warnings.