Police: Slayings of forensic psychiatrist, pair linked

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The shooting death of a forensic psychiatrist who assisted in high-profile murder cases including serial killings in Phoenix is connected to the killing of two paralegals, said authorities, who were investigating Saturday whether a fourth homicide was also related.

Scottsdale police said the slayings Friday of Veleria Sharp, 48, and Laura Anderson, 49, were related to the fatal shooting a day earlier of Dr. Steven Pitt.

Scottsdale police spokesman, Sgt. Ben Hoster said investigators are trying to determine what linked the three victims.

Witnesses heard a loud argument and gunfire Thursday outside Pitt’s Scottsdale office. Phoenix police have said they had no information on whether the killing was related to Pitt’s work.

Sharp and Anderson were shot inside a law office Friday afternoon. According to Scottsdale police, one of the women managed to walk to an intersection for help despite suffering a gunshot wound to the head. She died at a hospital. Officers followed a blood trail to the business and found the other woman. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Scottsdale police received a call early Saturday about a man found fatally shot inside a business.

Pitt, 59, assisted in the investigation into the 1996 death of 6-yearold JonBenet Ramsey, who was found dead at her home in Boulder, Colorado. A decade later, he helped Phoenix police in the Baseline Killer investigation as they sought a man who was later convicted of killing nine people.