Report: Fatal bullet from man’s gun

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A bullet taken from the skull of a woman whose body was discovered in northern Arizona was fired from a rifle owned by an Air Force airman charged in her death, authorities said Wednesday.

Mark Gooch has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in the death of Sasha Krause, a 27-year-old who disappeared from the Mennonite community where she lived near Farmington on Jan. 18.

Her body was found off a forest road north of Flagstaff more than a month later. An autopsy determined Krause, who previously was a schoolteacher in Texas, died of a gunshot wound to the head and had suffered blunt force trauma.

Results from state crime lab testing indicate the bullet matches a .22-caliber rifle that belonged to Gooch, the Coconino County Sheriff ’s Office said.

Testing of the duct tape that bound Krause’s hands did not detect any human DNA, according to sheriff ’s records. Analysts also weren’t able to reveal any fingerprints from the tape that could be compared against others.

Results are pending on DNA taken from underneath Krause’s fingernails and her neck.

The sheriff ’s office said it will not release the results of a sexual assault exam kit to protect

Krause’s privacy and that of her family. The autopsy noted no definitive evidence of injury to Krause’s genital area. She was not wearing underwear when she was found.

Gooch’s older brother, Samuel, was arrested in the Phoenix area in early May after he flew to Arizona from Wisconsin to pick up what he thought was the rifle used in the killing, authorities said. A grand jury in Coconino County later indicted him on a single felony charge of attempting to hinder prosecution, according to the sheriff ’s office.

Samuel Gooch is not in custody.

It’s unclear whether he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.