Suspect in 6 Arizona slayings kills himself
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A hunch from a retired detective helped lead police to a man suspected of shooting six people to death in the Phoenix area, some of whom were connected to his divorce, authorities said Monday after the assailant killed himself with officers closing in.
An investigation that began late last week led police Monday to an extended-stay hotel in suburban Scottsdale where 56-year-old Dwight Lamon Jones was staying. As officers approached, they heard gunfire and found his body.
“This is not a success story, but it’s a story that has closure,” Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said.
Jones’ victims were a wellknown forensic psychiatrist who testified against him in court in 2010, two paralegals who worked for the law office that represented the suspect’s wife, a marriage-and-divorce counselor who was apparently targeted in a case of mistaken identity and another man and woman who have not been identified, authorities said.
The slayings began Thursday with the fatal shooting of Dr. Steven Pitt, a psychiatrist who evaluated Jones during divorce proceedings and testified against him in September 2010.
Pitt, who also assisted in high-profile cases including the JonBenet Ramsey disappearance in Colorado, told a court that Jones had anxiety and mood disorders and the features of a paranoid personality, according to court records. Pitt was found dead near Scottsdale after witnesses reported hearing a loud argument and gunfire outside his office.
Veleria Sharp, 48, and Laura Anderson, 49, both paralegals who were killed Friday, worked for the law firm that represented Jones’ wife during the divorce. Police believe Jones may have been targeting the attorney, but she was not present Friday when Jones went to the office in downtown Scottsdale.
Sharp was shot in the head but ran out of the office to get help before collapsing on the street, police said. She was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Officers followed a blood trail back to the office and found Anderson. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Monday’s raid came as police identified the fourth victim, Marshall Levine, a 72-year-old counselor and life coach. He was found Saturday in an office park that houses mostly therapists and counselors.
Police said it appeared that Levine was mistaken for someone who once occupied the same office. At one time, the space was used by a counselor who saw Jones’ son as part of the divorce.
Police would not speculate on why Jones tracked down people connected to his divorce so long after it happened.
The suspect’s ex-wife, Connie Jones, said in a statement that her ex-husband was a “very emotionally disturbed person.”
Jones was arrested in May 2009 at his family’s Scottsdale home on a domestic violence charge after his wife said he backed her against a wall, hit her in the face and threatened to kill her, according to court records. The arrest was cited by his then-wife when she filed for divorce.
Her current husband, a retired police detective, made the connection between her divorce and the crime scenes and notified police of his suspicion Saturday night, she said.
“We started to see that Mr. Jones was visiting them in an effort to right some wrong based on what we could see,” said Rich Slavin, assistant police chief in Scottsdale.
Information for this article was contributed Jacques Billeaud and Anita Snow of The Associated Press.