Arizona man kills six people in 96-hour murder spree

WASHINGTON: An Arizona man who committed suicide Monday evening after being tracked down by police officers is suspected of killing six people linked to his contentious divorce.

Investigators established that Dwight Jones, 56, had a link to his victims as a result of divorce proceedings almost a decade ago.

The first murder, committed Thursday afternoon, saw a prominent psychiatrist and legal expert named Steven Pitt shot in front of his Phoenix office.

Pitt, a world-renowned forensic psychiatrist, had been charged with carrying out a psychological evaluation of Jones, Scottsdale police chief Richard Slavin told a press conference Monday.

The doctor had also worked on a number of high-profile cases, including the murder of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey in 1996, and the Columbine school shooting in 1999.

On Friday, police were called to a law office where two employees in their 50s — Valeria Sharp and Laura Anderson — had been shot dead.

They found the same gun had been used in all three killings.

Dwight’s ex-wife had been represented by one of the firm’s lawyers, who was not in the office that day.

The following night, marriage counsellor Marshall Levine’s body was discovered. Authorities established that Jones’ son had seen a specialist who shared Levine’s office for a consultation. — AFP