Pair admit to killings in Mesa, Scottsdale
By Christian Richardson, Tribune
August 4, 2006
Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris addresses the media Friday. Two men arrested Thursday in connection with a 14-month-long series of shootings in the Valley admitted using a shotgun to kill two young women, one in Mesa last week and another in Scottsdale in May, court records released late Friday say.
Samuel John Dieteman, 30, and Dale S. Hausner, 33, made brief court appearances Friday evening, chained at the ankles and wearing black and white striped jail garb. They have each been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and 14 counts of attempted murder.
A three-page "probable cause" statement filed by Phoenix police laying out the case said the men used a .410-gauge shotgun in the shooting spree, including the killings of 22-year-old Robin Blasnek on Sunday night in Mesa and Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz, 20, who was shot as she was walking in the 6100 block of East Thomas Road in Scottsdale on May 2.
The same gauge shotgun pellets were recovered from some shooting victims and a .410-gauge shotgun was seized when police searched the men's Mesa apartment early Friday morning, the statement said. Blasnek was killed as she walked on Gilbert Road near Grandview about 11:15 p.m. "Dieteman admitted that he was in the passenger side window and Hausner, who was operating the light-colored Camry, pointed a shotgun out the passenger window and shot the victim," prosecutors wrote in the court statement.
In the Scottsdale shooting, Gutierrez-Cruz had just gotten off a bus and was walking west on Thomas Road. "Hausner pulled alongside in the curb lane and Dieteman fired one shot from a shotgun at the victim," the statement said.
Police allege Hausner, an airport janitor and professional photographer with a violent past, and Dieteman, a convict and deadbeat dad, targeted transients in Phoenix, at least at first. Authorities have linked the men to 36 shootings of humans and animals in the Valley since May 2005, including six murders. Prosecutors said Friday more charges are anticipated.
Hausner and Dieteman recounted details of a number of shootings to police and acknowledged they took turns driving and shooting, according to the probable cause statement.
Police were tipped to the men when an acquaintance of Dieteman told a detective that he knew one of the primary suspects in the Serial Shooter case. The man told the detective Dieteman "would drive through the cities selecting random targets which he referred to as 'RV' Random Recreational Violence,' " the statement said.
The statement does not say when police learned the suspects' identities. On Friday, police also refused to say when they were first tipped off.
Authorities were uncertain late Friday why the two took to the streets with weapons, or why they targeted certain victims.
“We have found no obvious evidence that they are related to any group or have any specific type of motive in mind,” said Phoenix assistant police chief Bill Louis.
“That’s what anybody would think — what would drive somebody to do this? Are they a hate group or do they belong to something that would drive them to do it? Nothing obvious right now,” Louis said.
According to the probable cause statement, the two men slowed in areas of "vagrant activity." Dieteman would shoot from an angle then drive slowly away, the statement said.
Police put the pair under surveillance after the citizen came forward and watched them drive a silver Toyota Camry through an area where previous attacks had occurred. At one point, the officers saw the men take what appeared to be a weapon wrapped in a towel out of the car.
Dieteman threw a black plastic trash bag in a dumpster and when an undercover officer removed it, he found a map with red and blue dots representing attack locations. The trash also contained an expended .410 shotgun shell. Police arrested the men late Thursday night outside their apartment at 550 E. McKellips Road and then searched the apartment. Evidence seized in the search included a .410-gauge single shotgun altered at the stock, .410 shotgun shells, other guns and long rifles, two maps, an America's Most Wanted videotape, news articles and clippings, and maps identifying routes and possible locations of previous shootings, according to the probable cause statement.
At the initial appearance hearing, both men were held without bail. Each said he can't afford an attorney.
Hausner, bearded and with brownish-red hair, slouched as he appeared before Commissioner Kathleen Mead, and frequently stared at the floor. He answered brief questions but showed no real emotion.
Dieteman, with black hair, a brown goatee and a skull tattooed on his right forearm, stood straight before the judge and answered her questions quietly. Arraignment was set for Aug. 14 for each.
Hausner had been living in the Windscape Apartments at 550 E. McKellips Road since last year, but neighbors said Dieteman had moved in with him only recently.
Hausner and Dieteman also have been implicated in two arsons set June 8 at Wal-Mart stores in Glendale, and fire investigators later realized the men might be connected to the Serial Shooter case.
It took investigators more than a week to clean up surveillance footage from inside one of the stores and the parking lot, but once it was released to the public on June 19 a “barrage of phone calls” came in with tips, Glendale Fire Chief Mark Burdick said.
One of those tips identified one of the arson suspects, said Thomas G. Mangan, a senior special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. He would not disclose which one was identified.
"When you identify someone, obviously, you investigate every aspect of his life," Mangan said. Some of the details the ATF uncovered, including what car the suspects drive, matched information from the Serial Shooter case.
The arrests carried the element of surprise. The tactical units of the Mesa and Phoenix police had the apartment staked out and when Dieteman went out to empty the garbage around 11:45 p.m., "we had a surprise for him," Louis said. Hausner came out later and was also taken into custody.
Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris said police didn’t try to make a forced entry, knowing that Hausner’s 2-year-old daughter was inside. ‘‘The child was not involved, was not harmed and was returned to the mother,’’ Harris said.
Staff writers Mike Branom, Paul Giblin, Ryan Gabrielson, Gary Grado, Garin Groff and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Christian Richardson by email, or phone (480) 898-6446
Suspects are being held without bail; formal charges pending
Michael Kiefer
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 5, 2006 12:00 AM
After a night and a day of questioning by Phoenix police, serial-shooting suspects Dale Hausner and Samuel John Dieteman were led, bleary-eyed and disheveled, into the Fourth Avenue Jail for booking.
Hausner came first at 5 p.m.; Dieteman an hour later at 6.
Hausner, a slight man with a scruffy blond beard, was still bare-chested and barefoot, wearing only a pair of gym shorts. Dieteman, who is tall and burly, sported a large tattoo of a skull on his right forearm.
And they appeared separately before Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Kathleen Mead, each booked on suspicion of two counts of first-degree murder and 14 counts of attempted first-degree murder. They were denied bail, and the commissioner said she would have attorneys appointed to them.
Within 48 hours, the County Attorney's Office will file a direct or "holding" complaint, which could include other charges: They are suspected of committing as many as six murders and injuring 17 other people, not to mention killing or wounding several animals. The charges of the direct complaint will not necessarily be exactly the same as the final formal charges, but it will allow Hausner and Dieteman to be held until they are indicted.
Deputy County Attorneys Vince Imbordino and Robert Shutts have been assigned to prosecute the case.
Mead set preliminary court hearings for both of them on Aug. 14 so that a judge can determine whether there is probable cause to go forward with a trial. That hearing, by law, must take place within 10 days of the initial appearance.
But more likely, the county attorney will bring the case before a grand jury in the interim to get an indictment.
Then, within the next 10 days, Hausner and Dieteman will be arraigned, that is, the formal charges against them will be read to them in court and they will enter guilty or not guilty pleas.
Shutts and Imbordino will bring the case to the County Attorney's Office capital review committee, which will recommend whether or not to seek the death penalty. County Attorney Andrew Thomas will make the final decision.
Then, if prosecutors do not file intent to seek the death penalty, the two men must be tried within 150 days of arraignment. If they do seek the death penalty, it could take 18 months for a trial to begin.
Valley residents breathe a sigh of relief
Sarah Muench, Lars Jacoby and Ruth Liao
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 5, 2006 12:00 AM
Residents across the Valley voiced relief Friday when they learned that police were saying that two serial shooters terrorizing their neighborhood were off the streets.
For many residents who thought twice about walking outside at night or riding their bicycles for fear of being shot, the arrests of Dale Hausner and Samuel John Dieteman quelled at least half of their fears. But they still worry with the "Baseline Killer" still on the loose.
But for those who suffered at the hands of the shooters and lived, the arrests brought some comfort.
On the same day as the visitation for 22-year-old Robin Blasnek, police announced they had caught the men suspected of killing her.
"It's a great sigh of relief (the capture). It would have been greater had they been caught a week ago and prevented Robin's death," said Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Bishop Paul Rowley, speaking on behalf of the Blasnek family.
"I could tell from the police that they have been working round-the-clock to catch them, so the relief comes knowing that there will be no more victims and the next random shooting they were going to do won't occur now. So, in that respect, we're grateful for that."
Police said authorities identified the pair on Monday, the day after Blasnek was shot and killed.
A funeral service for Blasnek will be held today at 10 a.m. at the church at 1455 N. Harris Drive in Mesa.
Others around the Valley were happy to hear of the arrests of the men, who Phoenix police say are "the right guys" after a yearlong search.
Phoenix resident Daryl Davies stayed up until 6 a.m. Friday morning to watch the breaking news in the case.
Davies was one of the surviving victims of the shooters. He was shot in the torso May 31 while walking along Camelback and 86th Avenue in west Phoenix.
Since the attack, Davies mostly stayed at home. But after he heard about the arrests, he said he felt brave enough to venture outside and walk around Friday morning, though now he is more aware of his surroundings.
He was sprayed with shotgun pellets in the torso and arm. He stayed in the hospital for two weeks and has since been recovering at home. Dozens of pellets remain lodged in his body.
"If it's them, they're going to get what they have coming to them," he said. "I'm going to have front-row seats for the execution. I'm going to bring a bag of popcorn."
Residents of Windscape Apartments watched multiple agencies descend early Friday on their complex on McKellips Road near Mesa Drive where the two suspects lived together.
Krista Sarant was among residents of the sprawling complex of 314 apartments who tried to carry on their normal routines after being awakened by a convergence of police.
Sarant said residents had been notified that the apartment would be inspected Tuesday and Wednesday but didn't know if it had anything to do with the investigation that led to the arrests.
"I feel very nervous, so shook up," she said. "You don't know what's going on anymore. But I'm glad they caught them."
Mesa is a big city now with big city problems, longtime residents say, but the recent pair of shootings shattered any last fantasy of a sleepy town still clinging to a laid-back pace of life.
"There was a loss of innocence there," said Vice Mayor Claudia Walters, who likes to say that Mesa is the West's most Midwestern town. "We seemed so removed from that, but it was a Valley-wide issue."
In Scottsdale, the feeling mirrored others in the Valley, as the men believed to be the killers of 20-year-old Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz were captured, police said.
Gutierrez-Cruz moved to the Valley months ago from Puebla, Mexico. She worked at Barcelona restaurant in Scottsdale,and was walking home to her east Phoenix apartment from a bus stop on Scottsdale Road when she was shot on May 2.
For at least the last month, after the crime was linked to the serial shooters, people who live near the shooting locations and residents across the Valley changed their daily lives.
Melissa Kennedy, 27, works in an office building at 58th Street and Thomas Road, just three blocks west of where Gutierrez-Cruz worked and changed her habits after hearing of her death.
"I don't walk anywhere without my boyfriend," Kennedy said.
Although the arrests late Thursday night provided some relief, many residents are still concerned with the ongoing search for the Baseline Killer, who has murdered eight and committed 15 other sexual assaults and robberies, and some still think there could be others linked to the Serial Shooter case.
"There could be others out there, not to sound paranoid," said Blasnek family friend Chuck Cooper, the assistant principal at Poston Junior High in Mesa, who lives just a few blocks from where Robin was shot.
Reporters Michael Ferraresi, Michelle Park, Senta Scarborough, JJ Hensley, Justin Juozapavicius, Carol Sowers and Art Thomason contributed to this article.
A history of grief, a record of anger
Robert Anglen
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 5, 2006 12:00 AM
Divorce, violence, tragedy and death plagued Dale Hausner's life before police say he went on a yearlong shooting and killing spree in the Valley.
From a fatal car crash that claimed the lives of his two boys 12 years ago to accusations of drug abuse and domestic rage, the 33-year-old Mesa resident seemed to teeter between grief and anger.
"For the last 10 years, I have lived with extreme guilt and battled serious depression and many other things," Hausner wrote in a 2004 letter to friends and co-workers. "I now have a chance to do things right this time around." advertisement
Those same friends and co-workers expressed horror Friday after police named Hausner and his roommate, Samuel John Dieteman, as the suspects accused in the series of 36 random shootings that left six people dead and 18 wounded.
"We're still in shock," friend Chris McLennan said. "We kept looking at each other and going, 'Our Dale? Dale?' We just thought it was somebody with the same name, but we're freaked out."
They described Hausner as good-natured and decent. He is an amateur sports photographer who took on a slew of menial jobs while honing his photo skills at local boxing matches. But court and criminal records tell a different story.
"(He) took me to Wickenburg in a deserted place and had a shotgun and said he was going to kill me," Hausner's second wife, Karen Hausner, wrote in a 2001 divorce filing. "Dale appears to be unstable emotionally, and I'm afraid he would do harm to myself or people I care about as retribution for me leaving him."
In a chilling postscript, she warned, "He has several guns."
Hausner grew up in Phoenix and, in 1990, earned a high school equivalency diploma from Maryvale High School. He had two sons by the time he was 21.
The boys - Jeremiah, 2, and Donovan Spiker, 3 - died in a 1994 car accident in Texas when Karen fell asleep at the wheel and drove into a creek.
"My boys drowned in a filthy, freezing cold body of water," Hausner wrote in the 2004 letter on the 10-year anniversary of the boys' deaths. "I tried to get them out, but the current was awful and the water was freezing and I almost died trying to get them out."
After he and Karen divorced, Hausner fought to turn his life around, meeting a new girlfriend and celebrating the birth of a daughter.
"This year, I was blessed with a beautiful baby girl. She is my little sweetie, and I love her with all of my heart," he wrote in 2004. "Please take the time to tell the people in your life that you love them and please cherish each moment that you have with them."
But the bliss he found was apparently short-lived. His daughter, Rebecca, became terminally ill.
The photo work he was doing for Ringmaster, a boxing magazine with a Web site, dried up, and a new photographer was brought in to replace him. His relationship with his girlfriend, Linda Swaney of Chandler, soured. And last month, she petitioned the court for an order of protection asking that Hausner's visits with his daughter be supervised.
Swaney claimed Hausner failed to take care of Rebecca, whose medical disorder causes her to have dangerously low blood sugar. It's unclear what that disorder is. Swaney said in one case Hausner was caring for their daughter and forgot to feed her, causing her blood sugar to plummet.
She wrote that he was "obviously putting her at risk for coma and death."
Court records show Swaney wanted Hausner to undergo regular drug tests because she claimed he had a history of abusing methamphetamines.
Swaney's petition came days after a judge denied her an order of protection, saying she failed to show any evidence of domestic violence. The judge, however, ordered Hausner to attend a parenting class.
Rebecca was with Hausner in his apartment when police arrested him.
Hausner's family would not talk about Dale on Friday. Hausner's older brother, Randy, a popular local comedian who is featured in photos on his brother's Web site, was too shaken to say much after police announced that his brother had been arrested.
"I just went down to find out if it was true, and they said they booked him," Randy Hausner said in a voice choked with emotion.
Friends of the Hausner's said he was "the last person in the world we would ever imagine to be this person."
But they also said Hausner had virtually vanished from their lives over the past year.
McLennan, owner of Trash City Entertainment, which organized several shows Randy performed in, said the younger Hausner just stopped coming around even after they finished developing a new Web site for him to show off his pictures.
She described Hausner as very supportive of the comedy community, taking photographs of the comedians and donating stacks of tickets to boxing events at Glendale Arena as prizes for contests.
"He's just friendly, funny, easy to get along with."
Young boxer Martin Vierra, 19, of northwest Phoenix, said Hausner was "well-known in the boxing community" and was a regular fixture at fights in the Valley.
But about a year ago, Hausner stopped going to fights and no one seemed to know what happened to him, Vierra said.
"All of a sudden, he disappeared," he said. "You'd see him at every fight and then never again. We never heard anything about him until now."
Vierra said Hausner seemed obsessed about his sick daughter.
"There was no sign of anything," Vierra said. "He just wanted to talk about what was happening with his daughter."
While Hausner's friends said he had seemingly fallen off the radar, he was working steadily for Phoenix as a custodian at Sky Harbor International Airport.
But he had problems there, too, including a series of reprimands for failing to show up at work in the past two years.
Employees in Terminal 2, where Hausner worked, refused to say anything about him Friday.
City officials, who expressed anger that one of the shooters could possibly be a city employee, said Hausner was served termination papers Friday. He signed them in jail.
For trainer Clement Vierra, who owns the Hard Knocks Gym in west Phoenix, the news of Hausner's arrest came like a punch to the gut.
"I was totally shocked," Clement Vierra said. "He was always an upbeat guy and a really nice guy. He never seemed like the kind of guy who'd go out and shoot people."
Vierra, 46, of northwest Phoenix, said Hausner was a regular at Valley boxing matches, photographing nearly every fight on the docket.
He often attended the weigh-ins with his toddler daughter and elderly mother.
Hausner dropped out of the fight scene about a year ago, Vierra said, after faithfully attending bouts and weigh-ins for many years.
Reporters Matt Dempsey, Maura Halpern, Bob Golfen, Michael Kiefer, Corrine Purtill, Ginger Richardson, Anne Ryman and Senta Scarborough contributed to this article.
6 deaths linked to shooting spree
Judi Villa, William Hermann and Michael Kiefer
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 5, 2006 12:00 AM
Two men accused in a notorious string of serial killings drove through cities selecting random targets that one referred to as "random recreational violence," according to court documents released late Friday.
Dale Hausner, 33, father of a terminally ill toddler, and Samuel John Dieteman, 30, a former electrician, alternated between driving and shooting, targeting with a .410-gauge single-shot shotgun victims who looked to be transient, then keeping news clips of the crimes and maps identifying routes, the documents say.
Hausner and Dieteman, who were roommates at a gated apartment community in Mesa, were arrested late Thursday after one left their apartment to dump the trash and the other followed to see what was taking so long. Police say the two are the attackers they have been calling the Serial Shooter.
Their arrests marked the end of a series of seemingly random shootings that began in May 2005 and subsequently struck a chord of fear across wide swaths of the metropolitan area as the violence swept from the West Valley to the East, eventually claiming six lives. An additional 17 people were wounded in the 36 shootings that targeted people walking, biking or otherwise outside alone late at night.
Both are accused of two counts of first-degree murder and 14 counts of attempted first-degree murder. They are being held without bond.
"These are the two monsters we have been hunting," Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said.
The Serial Shooter case is one of two serial-attacker cases being investigated in the Valley. The "Baseline Killer" has shot eight people to death in the past year and is believed to be linked to a series of sexual assaults and robberies.
Police still are asking for the public's help identifying that predator, and officials said detectives who have been assigned to a task force looking for the Serial Shooter will be shifted to the task force looking for the Baseline Killer.
The arrests of Hausner and Dieteman came after police received a crucial tip about Dieteman's identity and linked the pair to a couple of arson fires where images of the suspects were caught on surveillance tape. It was two weeks after Dieteman was cited and released for shoplifting in Mesa and too late to spare the life of the last victim, who was gunned down Sunday night.
Police say they are certain they have the right men in custody. But Friday, as information about the suspects' lives began to emerge, Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris said he still couldn't answer what everybody really wants to know: Why someone would do such terrible things.
"Unfortunately," Harris said, "some people get personal enjoyment out of being evil."
Sifting through tips, clues
For the past eight months, Phoenix police, joined by detectives from law enforcement agencies across the Valley, have been sifting through thousands of tips and potential clues. Despite three dozen shootings, no suspect description of the Serial Shooter ever emerged, and the possible vehicle description was vague.
Then, on June 8, two men lit fires 45 minutes apart in the plastic-flower aisles in two 24-hour Wal-Marts in Glendale. Their images were caught on surveillance tape, as was their silver Toyota Camry.
About 30 minutes after the last arson, a 45-year-old man was shot in the side as he walked along a west Phoenix street. That shooting had been attributed to the Serial Shooter.
At first, though, no link was made between the arsons and the serial shootings.
Authorities released images from the Wal-Mart surveillance tapes, and at the end of last week, police got a big break: A tip gave them the first name of Samuel. Officials also said a tip suggested Dieteman was the Serial Shooter.
By Monday night, police figured out who Hausner and Dieteman were and where they lived. They also tied a silver Camry to Dieteman and realized the Camry was identical to one described by a victim of the Serial Shooter.
"You have two separate investigations where you have that fractured information, and it comes together," said Tom Mangan, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
It wasn't soon enough, though, to prevent the last killing. Robin Blasnek, 22, was shot to death Sunday night as she walked in her pajamas and slippers to a friend's house.
Hausner and Dieteman were placed under surveillance after they were identified. Court records say police watched them remove what looked to be a long weapon wrapped in a towel from the trunk of the car and place it in the back seat. Dieteman also was seen throwing away a trash bag that contained a map with red and blue dots representing attack locations and an expended shotgun shell.
Hausner and Dieteman didn't resist arrest when they were surrounded by tactical officers. Hausner's 2-year-old daughter was removed from the apartment and returned to her mother.
Officers later towed away a silver Toyota Camry.
Police also seized what appeared to be several rifles in clear plastic bags, shotgun shells, maps and newspaper clippings about the Serial Shooter and the Baseline Killer.
Daryl Davies, 44, said after the arrests that he finally felt brave enough to go outside for a morning walk. Davies was shot in the torso on May 31 while walking in west Phoenix. Dozens of shotgun pellets remain lodged in his body.
He said hearing about the arrests was surreal.
"I kind of felt it wasn't over until they were sure," Davies said. "I just couldn't believe someone like that could do that and get away with it.
'Incriminating statements'
Both men "made statements incriminating themselves," Assistant Chief Bill Louis said. Physical and forensic evidence also link them to the shootings.
"I'm absolutely certain these are the guys," Louis said.
Hausner and Dieteman each had previous brushes with the law. Dieteman had 37 contacts with Minnesota police, mostly for petty offenses. Hausner's past offenses include shoplifting and disorderly contact.
Police actually had Dieteman in their hands on July 21, after Dieteman was caught shoplifting four bottles of vodka, a stud finder and windshield wipers from a Wal-Mart store in Mesa.
Dieteman told police he wasn't sure why he took the merchandise except that he needed windshield wipers for his car, records show. He was cited and released.
About six hours later, Dieteman and Hausner shot and wounded a man riding a bike in Mesa, police said.
Since January 1999, Hausner had worked as a janitor at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, where his background check apparently didn't turn up any red flags.
His personnel file shows problems until April 2005 with excessive unexcused absences. Hausner was fired Friday when officials learned of his arrest.
Hausner's brother, Randy, was reached by telephone at his Phoenix home shortly after the arrests were announced.
"I just went down to find out if it was true and they said they booked him," Randy said in a voice choked with emotion.
Martin Vierra, 19, a boxer from northwest Phoenix, said Hausner, who was also a photographer, was a regular at fights across the Valley until about a year ago when "all of a sudden, he disappeared."
Before that, though, Vierra said, "there was no sign of anything. He just wanted to talk about what was happening with his daughter."
Steven Pitt, a nationally known forensic psychiatrist based in Scottsdale, said serial killers often are so successful because they blend seamlessly into society and appear by all outward appearances to have "everything going on."
And although no motivation is apparent right now, Pitt said, "I have yet to see an offense in which there wasn't some type of motive."
Motivations can run the gamut from anger to retaliation to crime concealment to revenge to thrill seeking to copy cat, Pitt said.
"There is a reason," he said. "These people had an agenda and they had a motive. We just don't know it yet, and we won't know for some time. But I guarantee it, you will find out."
Reporters Senta Scarborough, Ruth Liao, Corrine Purtill, Ginger D. Richardson, Bob Golfen and Mike Clancy contributed to this article.
Aug 5, 4:44 PM EDT
Friends of Phoenix suspect shocked
By CHRIS KAHN
Associated Press Writer
'Two Monsters' Behind Bars in Arizona
PHOENIX (AP) -- He was always polite to friends, never rude. A lover of boxing who decorated his room with drawings of his favorite athletes. A father to a 2-year-old girl, and two young sons who died in a tragic car accident.
To people who know him, Dale S. Hausner simply is too sweet, too timid, to have terrorized city residents in a rash of late night shootings as police said Friday.
"He doesn't even look like he would know which end of the (gun) barrel the bullet would come out of," said Mary Ann Owen, a Las Vegas photographer who knew Hausner since 1999.
Hausner and his alleged accomplice, Samuel John Dieteman, have each been booked on two counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted first-degree murder for a series of attacks since May 2005.
Police arrested Hausner, 33, and Dieteman, 30, on Thursday after keeping both under tight surveillance for four days. Authorities say the two are clearly the men sought in the city's so-called Serial Shooter case.
An unidentified person told police that Dieteman would drive through cities selecting random targets that he called "RV" - Random Recreational Violence.
Investigators later searched the Mesa apartment that the men shared, finding shotgun cartridges, shotguns and long rifles.
The two men also apparently kept close tabs on what people were saying about the shootings, which included the killings of six people.
Police searching through their trash found a map with red and blue dots representing the locations of the attacks. The bag also contained an Americas Most Wanted video and news clippings of the shootings and other attacks linked to another serial assailant dubbed the Baseline Killer.
The men are being investigated in 36 shootings, including some involving animals. They're also suspected of committing two arsons. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Aug. 14.
"We are confident these are the individuals involved," Assistant Police Chief Kevin Robinson said.
Hausner's daughter was in the apartment when he and Dieteman were arrested outside, police said. She was returned to her mother, police said.
Friends remembered Hausner having sad moments, recalling the loss of his sons.
"He told me he lost a whole family to a car accident," Owen said. According to a 1994 report in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Hausner's sons, ages 2 and 3, drowned in a creek after a car crash. The story said Hausner's then wife, Karen, was driving the car and fell asleep.
At the gated complex where Hausner and Dieteman shared an apartment, the news of Hausner's arrest came as a shock to Jill O'Donnell.
"It makes me wonder what kind of background checks they do," O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell, 20, said she spent a considerable amount of time chatting with Hausner, and he was always "really nice."
Hausner, who worked at Sky Harbor International Airport, talked to a reporter for The Arizona Republic about the airport's plans to demolish Terminal 2. The old building was a place where everybody knew each other, he said.
"It's like one of those small towns in Texas - without the accent," he said.
Still, O'Donnell said, during the past month Hausner "gave off a vibe of someone you didn't want to be too social with."
"He wouldn't say 'Hi.'" she said. "He wouldn't wave when I passed him. Little things like that."
Another friend, Clement Vierra, agreed that something had changed with Hausner.
Vierra, owner of the Hard Knocks Gym in Phoenix, said he met Hausner about two years ago and would talk to him at boxing events, where Hausner would take pictures. But about a year ago, Hausner stopped showing up at the fights.
"It was pretty strange because he was really involved with the boxing," Vierra said.
"He just stopped. Nobody knew where he was. He wouldn't return any calls that we left for him," Vierra said.
About three weeks ago, an Oregon police officer who runs a Web site for women boxers said she got a call from Hausner, who was almost breathless with excitement. He said he needed help with a law enforcement question.
"Dale Hausner has done some (freelance photo) coverage for us in 2003," Sue TL Fox said in a telephone interview. "I kind of terminated him back then, so the call was out of the blue."
"He was excited. He said 'Hey Sue, is the news all over the place about the shootings in Phoenix? I said, no, I haven't been paying attention to that. He said OK. I won't bother you anymore."
Fox said she called Phoenix police about Hausner's call. Like many others who knew Hausner, she's mystified about the charges against him, or how he got mixed up with Dieteman.
Court records show that Dieteman had traffic cases against him in Arizona as early as June 2001, though it wasn't clear whether he was living in the state at the time.
"I'm still really rattled about this," Hausner's brother, Randy, said Saturday.
Dieteman, he said, "was a friend of his that he'd met a while back. I didn't even know they were staying together. And Dale hasn't even known him that long. They met through my other brother."
O'Donnell said she met Dieteman once while inside their apartment. He just drank a beer and said nothing.
Still, Owen said, Hausner is "a really sweet guy."
"I would like to know why. My husband and I are sitting scratching our heads. It's unbelievable."
Associated Press writer Terry Tang contributed to this story.
Inquiry, arrests hit home for E.V. neighborhood
By Christian Richardson, Tribune
August 4, 2006
Residents of Windscape Apartments on McKellips Road and Mesa Drive describe the community as quiet and safe — the last place they would expect a couple of serial killers to live.
They like the manicured lawns, large playgrounds, crystal-clear pools and crime-free housing signs posted next to the gates meant to control access to the complex's parking lots.
"This is a nice place, the neighbors are nice," said resident Duke Allen. "You feel protected in the courtyards here."
But that comfort was shaken early Friday morning as police officers flooded those courtyards and investigators arrested two roommates now accused of a 14-month killing spree. One suspect, Dale Hausner, 33, was known as a friendly, outgoing neighbor who seemed a little goofy while his roommate, Samuel Dieteman, 31, was quiet, even standoffish. But those who knew them were surprised to hear that the men could be responsible for 36 shootings, as police allege.
"It's just crazy, they looked perfectly normal," said neighbor Adrian Thompson. "They didn't look like people that'd be shooting people to me."
Cindy McGillivray lives next door to the men's apartment. Hausner photographed her family for Easter two years ago and she remembers warning them about his unusual behavior.
On Friday, she was struck by the fact that Hausner, she said, asked her just last week if she'd heard anything about the serial killers.
Dieteman, who neighbors said moved in only recently, rarely had much to say.
Neighbor Jill O'Donnell said she and a former roommate hung out with Hausner and Dietman a handful of times in the past month and a half.
"We were there about 45 minutes and he didn't say a word," O'Donnell said of the last time she and her roommate met Hausner and Dieteman for drinks.
McGillivray said she woke up about 2 a.m. Friday to find nearly 50 police officers in the courtyard in front of her building. One of the officers told her: "We're doing an investigation, you're in safe hands."
Police searched her home and took her husband's rifles and investigators returned several times looking for bullet casings from Hausner's guns, McGillivray said.
She and other neighbors were ordered to stay inside their apartments until at least 7 a.m., O'Donnell said.
And it wasn't until after 1 p.m., when police began leaving the scene, that residents began venturing outside their homes.
"Is that the apartment?" asked resident John Shuman. "It's just eerie that it's this close."
O'Donnell, who moved into her apartment with her fiance five and a half months ago, said she's thinking twice before renewing her lease later this month.
Contact Christian Richardson by email, or phone (480) 898-6446
Hausner has a history of failed marriages
By Mark Flatten and Matthew Bunk
Tribune
August 5, 2006
One of Dale Hausner’s stormy marriages unraveled after he threatened to kill his wife with a shotgun, court records say. Another was darkened when his 2-year-old son died after a car in which he was riding plunged into a creek in Texas.
His relationship with a third woman, the mother of his 2-year-old daughter, is riddled with charges that he neglects the child, who needs special medical attention, and the suspicion that he may be using methamphetamine.
Of the two people arrested Thursday night in Mesa in connection with a yearlong series of shootings in the Valley, Hausner, 33, was described by his neighbors in a Mesa apartment complex as being the nice one.
But court records and interviews with people who knew Hausner portray him as abusive and violent.
“Dale appears to be unstable emotionally,” said ex-wife Karen Hausner in asking for an order of protection in February 2002. “I am afraid he would do harm to myself or other people I care about as retribution for me leaving him, and he owns several guns.”
In the same document, Karen Hausner described a September 2001 incident in which she says her husband, armed with a shotgun, drove her to a deserted spot near Wickenburg and “said he was going to kill me.”
None of the women in the volatile relationships with Hausner responded to requests for interviews.
People who knew Hausner said they saw his dark side, but they also knew him as a comical, goodnatured guy, a boxing fan and bartender who sometimes let his quirky side show through.
Harwood Hamilton, trainer at Central Boxing Gym in Phoenix, has known Hausner for the past three years. The last time they saw each other was in May at a Boxing Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Phoenix for former pro boxer Michael Carbajal.
Hausner’s Web site featured photos of himself alongside the likes of boxing legends Mike Tyson and Bernard Hopkins. The site was taken down Friday after his arrest.
Hausner sometimes let an “alter ego” show through, Hamilton said. He said Hausner acted up at times and made onlookers wonder if he was “working with all of his screws.”
Hamilton described one incident earlier this spring when Hausner was taping a cable access television show about the local boxing scene. Before the show, Hausner appeared to stage a mock argument with himself. One of his personalities was friendly and outgoing and the other was “abrasive, short and obnoxious.”
“It was a night-and-day difference,” Hamilton said.
Police would not release background information on Hausner or second shooting suspect Samuel Dieteman. But public records and other documents show that Hausner has lived a troubled life of tragedy and instability.
Hausner made his living as a freelance photographer, bartender and custodian at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. He was fired from his city job Friday.
He is believed to be from Omaha, Neb., and by 1989 had moved to Arizona, where he obtained a Social Security number. Beginning in 1991, records show, he had lived at different addresses from west Phoenix to central Mesa.
In May 1992, Hausner married Tracie Spiker, according to court records. The marriage lasted about two years and produced one child, Jeremiah, who was born three months later. The marriage ended in divorce on April 28, 1994. The next day, Hausner married Karen Ann Shaw. Later that year, they lived in Pasadena, Texas.
Both wives were linked in the same tragedy in November 1994, according to news accounts and public records.
Karen Hausner was driving on a remote road between Dallas and Pasadena, Dale riding beside her. Also in the car were Jeremiah, Dale’s 2-year-old son with Tracie, and Tracie’s other son Donovan Spiker, 3.
The car struck a guard rail and plunged into a creek on Interstate 45 near Corsicana. Both children washed away. Their bodies were discovered a short time later. Dale and Karen Hausner were slightly injured.
Their marriage lasted until October 2001, when they divorced, then almost immediately remarried. By the end of the month, Karen Hausner had filed to have the second marriage annulled when she says he became physically abusive.
He continued to harass her even after the annulment, repeatedly making unwanted calls to her workplace, according to court records. Records indicate Hausner moved frequently after the divorce. He also racked up several traffic citations.
There are also indications he had developed cancer by 2004. The managing editor of Ringsports.com wrote in a column in 2004 that Hausner, one of the magazine’s photojournalists, was “having problems with cancer.”
About that same time, Hausner had another child, Rebecca, with Linda Swaney of Chandler, according to court records.
But, like the others, that relationship turned ugly. By July 2005, he had moved out and was living at the apartment complex on 550 E. McKellips Road in Mesa, where he was arrested Thursday night.
The first homicide attributed to the Serial Shooter occurred in Phoenix on May 24, 2005.
Last month, Swaney filed for an order of protection, citing several instances in which Hausner neglected to properly care for Rebecca when she was staying with him. Rebecca has a rare condition that makes her prone to extremely low blood sugar, according to court records. On several occasions she became very ill — and on one occasion was nearly comatose — because he failed to properly care for her, Swaney said.
In a separate petition for custody filed last week, Swaney asked that Hausner be drug tested regularly, especially for meth.
Tribune writer Gary Grado contributed to this report. Contact Mark Flatten by email, or phone (602) 542-5813. Contact Matthew Bunk by email, or phone (480) 898-6514.
Troubled past follows Dieteman
By Garin Groff, Tribune
August 4, 2006
Before Samuel John Dieteman became a suspect in a nationally known shooting spree, he'd been arrested for things as petty as theft and property damage. Along with shoplifting. Driving while drunk. Marijuana possession. Assault. Failing to appear in court. The list includes 37 encounters with police — and that's in Mankato, Minn., alone.
The 30-year-old tried to leave his troubles behind by moving to Arizona in his early 20s, said Melissa Dieteman, a half-sister who lives in nearby Crystal Lake, Minn. Melissa's father visited Samuel Dieteman in October and saw that his son had a job at a bar. The younger Dieteman gave the impression that he had moved beyond a stage in his life marred by drug abuse and physical violence, Melissa said.
"He must have put on a good show," Melissa Dieteman said Friday after hearing of her brother's arrest.
Samuel Dieteman married a girl he dated in high school in Minnesota and they had at least one child, Melissa said.
They divorced after moving to Phoenix. Court records show he has owed $1,382 in child support since March 2002.
Dieteman wasn't close to his family, by his own choice. His father, Scott Dieteman, traveled to Arizona for his son's birthday in October but Melissa Dieteman said her brother made it difficult for family to keep in touch.
"I think he thought my dad didn't love him," Melissa Dieteman said. "My dad cares about him."
The 22-year-old Melissa last saw Samuel Dieteman in December 1997. A few years later, she wanted her brother to come to Minnesota for her high school graduation. He didn't go.
Until his arrest, Melissa was eager she might finally see him in September, when a sister is getting married.
"I though it would be nice because I haven't seen him in a long time," she said.
Dieteman's criminal past includes disorderly conduct, drunken driving and check forgery while he lived in south central Minnesota for most of the 1990s. One home was in Mankato, a city of 31,000. The other was just to the north, St. Peter, a town of 9,700 that boasts being the home of five former Minnesota governors.
In Arizona, he was convicted of shoplifting in Glendale earlier this year. He failed to pay a fine and has had a warrant for his arrest since May 17.
Much less is known about Dieteman than the outgoing Dale Hausner, the other suspect in a serial shooting that's left six dead and 18 wounded since May 2005.
Dieteman moved into Hausner's Mesa apartment in the last couple months but neighbors could say little about him. They frequently spotted him outside in the middle of the night, smoking. One resident said she often saw him standing on the porch, as if he were keeping watch.
- Tribune writer Christian Richardson contributed to this report.
Contact Garin Groff by email, or phone (480) 898-5938
A sigh of relief from 17-year-old victim
By Mike Sakal, Tribune
August 4, 2006
Serial shooting victim Kibili Tambadu of east Phoenix said he was watching television news about world events at 2:18 a.m. Friday when a local newscaster broke in with a special bulletin.
Interrupting reports on Mideast fighting, the newscaster announced the capture of two men authorities believe are responsible for a spree of shootings and killings throughout the Valley, including Tambadu's brush with death earlier this summer.
"I was like, man, get those bastards!" Tambadu said. "What those guys did wasn't right."
At 10:05 p.m. on May 2, Tambadu, 17, was walking south in the 400 block of North 44th Street in Phoenix after purchasing a gallon of milk and some groceries for his family when he was hit in the back with a shotgun blast. Large scars still can be seen on his right elbow and back, and two fingers on his right hand are paralyzed.
"I'm relieved they caught them," Tambadu said. "Now, I can take a breath of fresh air."
Tambadu moved with his mother and three older siblings to Phoenix in 1999 after living in a refugee camp in Gambia for six years. His family had fled the war-torn region of Sierra Leone in West Africa, where his father was shot and killed when he was 2, he said.
The 5-foot 11-inch, 220-pound Tambadu said he wasn't knocked down by the shot, but saw a car speed away as he stood frozen in shock, unable to move. "I had blood all over myself, and my body was shaking from shock," he said Friday afternoon, as he clutched and shook the back of the couch in the living room of his family's small apartment in Roosevelt Plaza in east Phoenix.
Tambadu said he walked to a nearby hotel where he told workers he had been shot, and they called an ambulance. He spent two days in Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix.
As his mother rode in the police car following the ambulance, she heard about a shooting in Scottsdale minutes later that night.
Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz, 20, of Phoenix was shot as she was walking in the 6100 block of East Thomas Road in Scottsdale about 10:28 p.m. She died about three hours later.
"After I was shot, I was scared with the world," Tambadu said. "Whenever I'd walk somewhere, I'd think, 'Am I going to get shot right now?’”
Contact Mike Sakal by telephone at (480) 970-2324
Baseline Killer remains at large
By Mike Branom, Tribune
August 4, 2006
Sketch of the Baseline Killer
Relieved but weary Valley police know their job is only half over — another menace is still on the loose. Sunday marks the first anniversary of the Baseline Killer’s initial attack, the sexual assault of two teenagers in south Phoenix.
Since then, authorities say he is responsible for six homicides and 14 other rapes and robberies.
The Baseline Killer is almost as prolific and just as dangerous as those in the Serial Shooter attacks. The two men arrested Friday in Mesa are accused of six slayings and 36 shootings since May 2005.
Law enforcement agencies from across the Valley committed scores of investigators toward ending these two crime waves. Their attention soon will focus solely on the Baseline Killer.
“Now we’ll have 250 officers on that investigation,” said Phoenix assistant police chief Kevin Robinson.
At Arizona State University, news of the Baseline Killer and Serial Shooter had boosted requests for personal safety courses, Cmdr. Jim Hardina said Friday. ASU offers free courses to students and others in the community.
With the Baseline Killer still at large, police will pass out fliers with information about the case when students return to classes later this month. They’ll also meet with any groups that request information about safety and self-defense.
The Baseline Killer is described as a dark-skinned male, 25 to 30 years old, 5-foot-10, 170 pounds with a thin to medium build. He styles his hair in various ways, wears a long-sleeved shirt and different types of hats, including ball caps, possibly turned backward, or a beanie-type cap.
Anyone with information regarding the Baseline Killer or the attacks is asked to call (480)-948-6377 or (800) 343-8477.
Contact Mike Branom by email, or phone (480) 898-6536
Police: Arizona men accused of serial shootings sought 'recreational violence'
Updated 8/5/2006 11:19 AM ET E-mail .
By Judi Villa, William Hermann and Michael Kiefer, The Arizona Republic
PHOENIX — Two men accused in a notorious string of serial murders drove through cities picking targets for shootings described by one suspect as "random recreational violence," according to court documents released late Friday. Dale Hausner, 33, father of a terminally ill toddler, and Samuel John Dieteman, 30, a former electrician, alternated between driving and shooting, targeting with a .410-gauge single-shot shotgun victims who looked to be transient, then keeping news clips of the crimes and maps identifying routes, the documents say.
Hausner and Dieteman, who were roommates at a gated apartment community in Mesa, were arrested late Thursday after one left their apartment to dump the trash and the other followed to see what was taking so long. Police say the pair carried out the so-called "Serial Shooter" attacks.
Police believe the arrests mark the end of a series of seemingly random shootings that began in May 2005 and subsequently struck a chord of fear across wide swaths of the metropolitan area as the violence swept through the Phoenix area, eventually claiming six lives. An additional 17 people were wounded in the 36 shootings that targeted people walking, biking or otherwise outside alone late at night.
Both men are accused of two counts of first-degree murder and 14 counts of attempted first-degree murder. They are being held without bond.
"These are the two monsters we have been hunting," Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said.
The Serial Shooter case is one of two serial-attacker cases being investigated in the Valley. The "Baseline Killer" has shot eight people to death in the past year and is believed to be linked to a series of sexual assaults and robberies.
Police still are asking for the public's help identifying that predator, and officials said detectives who were assigned to a task force looking for the Serial Shooter will be shifted to a group looking for the Baseline Killer.
The arrests of Hausner and Dieteman came after police received a crucial tip about Dieteman's identity and linked the pair to a couple of arson fires where images of the suspects were caught on surveillance tape. It was two weeks after Dieteman was cited and released for shoplifting in Mesa and too late to spare the life of the last victim, who was gunned down Sunday night.
Police say they are certain they have the right men in custody. But as information about the suspects' lives began to emerge Friday, Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris said he still couldn't answer what everybody really wants to know: Why someone would do such terrible things.
"Unfortunately," Harris said, "some people get personal enjoyment out of being evil."
Sifting through tips, clues
For the past eight months, Phoenix police, joined by detectives from law enforcement agencies from surrounding communities, have been sifting through thousands of tips and potential clues. Despite three dozen shootings, no suspect description of the Serial Shooter ever emerged and the possible vehicle description was vague.
Then, on June 8, two men lit fires 45 minutes apart in the plastic-flower aisles in two 24-hour Wal-Marts in Glendale. Their images were caught on surveillance tape, as was their silver Toyota Camry.
About 30 minutes after the last arson, a 45-year-old man was shot in the side as he walked along a west Phoenix street. That shooting had been attributed to the Serial Shooter.
At first, though, no link was made between the arsons and the serial shootings.
Authorities released images from the Wal-Mart surveillance tapes, and at the end of last week, police got a big break: A tip gave them the first name of Samuel. Officials also said a tip suggested Dieteman was the Serial Shooter.
By Monday night, police figured out who Hausner and Dieteman were and where they lived. They also tied a silver Camry to Dieteman and realized the Camry was identical to one described by a victim of the Serial Shooter.
"You have two separate investigations where you have that fractured information, and it comes together," said Tom Mangan, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
It wasn't soon enough, though, to prevent the last killing. Robin Blasnek, 22, was shot to death Sunday night as she walked in her pajamas and slippers to a friend's house.
Hausner and Dieteman were placed under surveillance after they were identified. Court records say police watched them remove what looked to be a long weapon wrapped in a towel from the trunk of the car and place it in the back seat. Dieteman also was seen throwing away a trash bag that contained a map with red and blue dots representing attack locations and an expended shotgun shell.
Hausner and Dieteman didn't resist arrest when they were surrounded by tactical officers. Hausner's 2-year-old daughter was removed from the apartment and returned to her mother.
Officers later towed away a silver Toyota Camry.
Police also seized what appeared to be several rifles in clear plastic bags, shotgun shells, maps and newspaper clippings about the Serial Shooter and the Baseline Killer.
Daryl Davies, 44, said after the arrests that he finally felt brave enough to go outside for a morning walk. Davies was shot in the torso on May 31 while walking in west Phoenix. Dozens of shotgun pellets remain lodged in his body.
He said hearing about the arrests was surreal.
"I kind of felt it wasn't over until they were sure," Davies said. "I just couldn't believe someone like that could do that and get away with it."
'Incriminating statements'
Both men "made statements incriminating themselves," Assistant Chief Bill Louis said. Physical and forensic evidence also link them to the shootings.
"I'm absolutely certain these are the guys," Louis said.
Hausner and Dieteman each had previous brushes with the law. Dieteman had 37 contacts with Minnesota police, mostly for petty offenses. Hausner's past offenses include shoplifting and disorderly contact.
Police actually had Dieteman in their hands on July 21, after Dieteman was caught shoplifting four bottles of vodka, a stud finder and windshield wipers from a Wal-Mart store in Mesa.
Dieteman told police he wasn't sure why he took the merchandise except that he needed windshield wipers for his car, records show. He was cited and released.
About six hours later, Dieteman and Hausner shot and wounded a man riding a bike in Mesa, police said.
Since January 1999, Hausner had worked as a janitor at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, where his background check apparently didn't turn up any red flags.
His personnel file shows problems until April 2005 with excessive unexcused absences. Hausner was fired Friday when officials learned of his arrest.
Hausner's brother, Randy, was reached by telephone at his Phoenix home shortly after the arrests were announced.
"I just went down to find out if it was true and they said they booked him," Randy said in a voice choked with emotion.
Martin Vierra, 19, a boxer from northwest Phoenix, said Hausner, who was also a photographer, was a regular at fights across the Valley until about a year ago when "all of a sudden, he disappeared."
Before that, though, Vierra said, "there was no sign of anything. He just wanted to talk about what was happening with his daughter."
Steven Pitt, a nationally known forensic psychiatrist based in Scottsdale, said serial killers often are so successful because they blend seamlessly into society and appear by all outward appearances to have "everything going on."
And although no motivation is apparent right now, Pitt said, "I have yet to see an offense in which there wasn't some type of motive."
Motivations can run the gamut from anger to retaliation to crime concealment to revenge to thrill seeking to copy cat, Pitt said.
"There is a reason," he said. "These people had an agenda and they had a motive. We just don't know it yet, and we won't know for some time. But I guarantee it, you will find out."
Contributing: Arizona Republic reporters Senta Scarborough, Ruth Liao, Corrine Purtill, Ginger D. Richardson, Bob Golfen and Mike Clancy
Arizona Police Arrest Two in Serial Shooter Case
By REUTERS
Published: August 5, 2006
Filed at 6:28 a.m. ET
PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona police have arrested two suspected serial killers blamed for a string of fatal shootings that terrified Phoenix-area residents, officials said on Friday.
Officers arrested Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman at an apartment complex in Mesa, Arizona, 15 miles east of Phoenix, late on Thursday following a tip, Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris told a news conference.
Investigators say the men shot and killed six people in a crime spree that began in May 2005. Eighteen others were wounded in the apparently random attacks carried out at night and in the early morning, which targeted walkers and cyclists.
``These are the two monsters that we have been hunting,'' Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said.
Harris said police had weapons and incriminating statements linking the two men to the shootings. He did not speculate on motives for the attacks.
The gunmen last struck on Sunday, when a woman was shot and killed as she walked near her home in the city.
Harris said Hausner, 33, and Dieteman, 30, also shot several dogs and horses in the area.
The Arizona Republic and local television stations reported that Hausner worked as a custodian at the city's Sky Harbor International Airport, and took photographs for a boxing Web site.
Dieteman had a history of petty crimes and only recently returned to the Phoenix area after living in Minnesota, the media reports added.
Residents across the sprawling metropolitan area of 3.7 million people, who had lived in fear since the attacks, expressed relief on Friday.
``It's been a worry for months,'' said coffee shop worker Francis Charfauros as he served customers at a busy cafe. ''Let's just hope that they got the right guys so it doesn't continue.''
Police said they had kept a round-the-clock watch on the two suspects since they identified them four days ago.
The investigation also linked Hausner and Dieteman to arson attacks on two Wal-Mart stores in early June, which were carried out within 45 minutes of each other.
SECOND SERIAL KILLER SOUGHT
Police are also searching for a man wanted in connection with a series of murders, armed robberies and sexual assaults in the Baseline Road area of the city.
The ``Baseline Killer'' is believed to have shot eight people and sexually assaulted 11 women since August 2005.
Investigators believe the man responsible for the crimes is black or Hispanic, aged 25 to 40. Some witnesses have described the attacker as a bald man, while others say he wears dreadlocks.
Police have set up a tip hot line and are offering a reward of up to $100,000 in both the Serial Shooter and Baseline Killer cases.
It was not immediately clear if anyone would receive a reward following the arrests in the Serial Shooter case.
Manhunt began with suspect's name
A mid-July tip identified Dieteman as a lead in the 'Serial Shooter' case
Judi Villa
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 6, 2006 12:00 AM
Phoenix police had the name in mid-July: Samuel Dieteman.
But it would take another two weeks and another tip to actually find him.
Would he be the "Serial Shooter" who had been roaming the streets of the Valley for more than a year, taking random shots at people outside alone at night? In mid-July, Dieteman's name was just a lead, among many others, that needed to be followed, police say.
For the next two weeks, they "tried everything" to find Dieteman, but he eluded them, Sgt. Andy Hill said Saturday.
"He was hard to find," Hill said. "He was hiding himself. He wasn't telling people where he was."
Finally, police learned where Dieteman hung out socially. But by the time they found him there Tuesday and put him under surveillance, another bicyclist had been shot and wounded and a woman walking to a friend's house in pajamas and slippers was killed. Robin Blasnek, 22, was the sixth and last victim in the Serial Shooter case to die.
"She did not deserve this," said Stela Merlenbrach, 18, a friend of Blasnek's since high school. "She was minding her own business."
Dieteman, 30, and his roommate, Dale Hausner, 33, were arrested late Thursday and accused of a series of shooting attacks from Tolleson to east Mesa that began in May 2005. Court documents say Dieteman called their spree "random recreational violence."
It had a hefty toll: 36 shootings. Six dead. Seventeen wounded.
It begins
Reginald Remillard, 56, was sleeping at a central Phoenix bus stop when he was shot with a small-caliber weapon. It was 12:30 a.m. on May 24, 2005. The bullet tore into the left side of his neck, perforating his carotid artery and hitting his spine. Remillard died six days later.
Police didn't know it then, but this would be the first case linked to the Serial Shooter.
Dieteman and Hausner would drive through cities selecting their targets randomly, choosing victims who looked like they were transient and then firing, court documents say. The attacks were stealthy, and afterward, the men would slowly drive away from the area, leaving little evidence and no witnesses.
In the year that the Valley was terrorized by the random shootings, a second serial killer also began preying on Valley residents. The "Baseline Killer" first struck a year ago today and now is blamed for eight murders and a string of sexual assaults and robberies. He remains on the loose.
June 29, 2005, 3:32 a.m.
David Estrada, 20, was standing on a road in Tolleson when the bullet ripped into his chest. It slammed into his ribs and then into his right lung, killing him. Estrada's family said he was an "all-star" in sports and graduated from St. Mary's High School in Phoenix.
The night Estrada was shot, windows of a Phoenix Burger King were shot out and a horse was also found shot to death a few miles away.
It was all part of the pattern that would become much more clear as the months passed. Many of the shootings occurred in clusters and generally within a few miles of each other. All were between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.
In the month after Estrada's death, dogs, horses and even a burro were shot, mostly in the West Valley. Then, in August, the shootings stopped.
Dec. 29, 2005, 11:39 p.m.
Tim Tordai had just finished working his 2 to 10:30 p.m. shift at a cafeteria and was heading to his home, a sober-living complex for people getting back on their feet. He got off the bus at Ninth Avenue and Van Buren Street and heard a pop. He collapsed to the ground.
"I knew right away I was shot," Tordai said. At first, he couldn't move and was bleeding profusely. But, somehow, he managed to get up and stumble to his home at the end of the block. He had been shot in the upper back, the bullet narrowly missing his spine and a major artery.
"I feel very lucky this morning to be alive," Tordai said 12 hours later from his hospital bed. "I'm counting my blessings, bro."
Two other men weren't so lucky. Police investigating Tordai's shooting found Marco Carrillo, 28, and Jose Ortis, 44, shot to death a couple of blocks away. Carrillo had been shot twice from a distance, the bullets tearing through his heart. Ortis had been shot in the chest.
Police said all three shootings involved the same small-caliber weapon. Within an hour, four dogs were also shot by a person using the same caliber weapon. All the shootings were within a few miles of one another.
Nobody saw a suspect, but the vehicle was reported to be a four-door, possibly a Toyota, with dark tinted windows.
Less than a month later, Phoenix police announced to the public that a series of 16 random shootings of people and animals could be related. The known toll was three people dead and two wounded. Three horses and four dogs also had been killed.
The shootings stopped until March 10, when a man was shot from behind while riding his bike. From then on, all the victims would be people.
May 2, 10 p.m.
Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz, 20, had moved to the Valley with her sister about eight months before to "earn a lot of money" for their parents and seven brothers and sisters in Puebla, southeast of Mexico City.
On May 2, Gutierrez-Cruz had finished her shift at a north Scottsdale restaurant. She couldn't catch a ride with any of her co-workers, so she took a bus down Scottsdale Road to Thomas Road, where she usually switched buses to go west into Phoenix. But the transfer wasn't available because it was too late. She began walking on Thomas Road. She made it a couple of miles before a shotgun blast tore into her torso. "Ayuda me," she murmured as she crawled toward the middle of the road. "Help me."
About five minutes later, a 17-year-old was shot in the back in east Phoenix while walking.
Court records now say Hausner was driving the vehicle and Dieteman fired.
Gutierrez-Cruz's death wasn't linked to the Serial Shooter until July. But three days later, police added six more cases to the growing tally of random shootings. Among them was the Remillard case.
Yet, police had little to go on. The shooter apparently had switched from a small-caliber weapon to a shotgun. Targets appeared to be chosen randomly. There was no description of the shooter, and the vehicle description was vague.
A police task force pored through cases looking for a common thread. Crime lab technicians also worked to find a link. No pattern emerged.
Police said they were seeking the Serial Shooter and the Baseline Killer with a "sense of urgency." More than 120 officers were assigned to two task forces. The Silent Witness reward for information was bumped in July to a record $100,000.
At the same time, the Serial Shooter apparently dabbled in arson, setting two fires about 45 minutes apart at Wal-Marts in Glendale on June 8. Surveillance tapes captured images of two men and a silver Toyota Camry. One of the men was later identified as Dieteman, officials said.
About 30 minutes after the last arson, a man was shot walking down a west Phoenix street.
Between Gutierrez-Cruz's death and the end of July, 13 more people would be shot and wounded by the Serial Shooter.
July 30, 11:17 p.m.
Robin Blasnek, 22, left her parents' Mesa home to walk to a friend's house. She was about a mile away and just shy of her friend's house when she was shot in the back and killed.
Two days later, police found Dieteman and realized he was driving a Toyota Camry that looked identical to a vehicle described by a shooting victim.
Police put Dieteman and Hausner under surveillance, then tailed them as they "suspiciously drove" through the areas of prior attacks, slowing in the areas of vagrant activity, court records say. Officers saw one of the suspects throw away a trash bag that included a map of attack locations and an expended .410-bore shotgun shell. Hausner and Dieteman were arrested Thursday night after one left the Mesa apartment they shared to take out the trash and the other soon followed to see what was taking so long. Neither man resisted. Police say both made incriminating statements and are linked to the shootings by physical and forensic evidence. A shotgun and other weapons were seized.
Sometimes, Hausner fired and other times, it was Dieteman, court records say. The two reportedly kept newspaper clippings of their exploits and those of the Baseline Killer.
Initially, Hausner and Dieteman are accused of two counts of first-degree murder and 14 counts of attempted first-degree murder. The murder counts are for the slayings of Gutierrez-Cruz and Blasnek.
On Saturday, at Blasnek's funeral service, the toll from a year's worth of random violence was palpable in the words spoken by her mother, Sandra.
"My life has just revolved around Robin for 22 years. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself now," she said. "Robin is going to leave a huge hole in my life."
Republic reporter Katie Ruark contributed to this article.
Young victim's family finds 'closure'
Katie Ruark
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 6, 2006 12:00 AM
It was a mixture of sadness and relief as hundreds gathered at the funeral of Robin Blasnek on Saturday, just two days after police arrested the two men believed to be responsible for her death.
"It's closure today," said Bishop Paul Rowley, the family's representative. "It is (a relief), and they are grateful to the police. They're grateful that this won't be able to happen to another family."
The parking lot and streets near the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stake at 1455 N. Harris Drive in Mesa were full of cars, and the church had to bring in hundreds of folding chairs to accommodate the large crowd that gathered to grieve for the 22-year-old Blasnek, who was shot July 30 while walking alone on Gilbert Road.
Blasnek is believed to be the last victim in the "Serial Shooter" series of attacks. Police arrested two men Thursday who they say committed a rampage that claimed six lives.
Blasnek's parents spoke and her two sisters prayed. Seventeen of her girlfriends sang Take These Wings, changing the lyrics to describe a robin instead of a sparrow.
Sandra Blasnek said the circumstances of her daughter's death show how evil the world can be.
"But what we've experienced also tells us how many good, loving Christian people live in this world," she said. "All of your thoughts and prayers have literally carried us through this time."
Steve Blasnek, Robin's father, also spoke of the help they have received and shared what this experience has taught him.
"This is not a time to be angry even at the people who did this," he said. "I'm glad these people have been apprehended. We certainly didn't want other people to go through what we went through. I don't dwell."
Colleen Brimley, 51, a longtime friend, said the arrests are an "enormous relief."
"Not so much for Steve and Sandra right now because of everything," she said. "But for the safety of the neighborhood."
Rowley said the family appreciates the support from the community.
"I truly believe the Lord could have intervened and spared her life if he wanted to," Sandra Blasnek said. "I guess he thought Robin had been tested long enough and decided just to bring her home."
The Blasnek family lost another daughter, Rachel, 15, in a car accident 10 years ago.
Suspect 'weird,' neighbor says
Sarah Muench
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 6, 2006 12:00 AM
Cindy McGillivray joked to her family that her next-door neighbor was the "Serial Shooter" the day before police arrested the man and his roommate as suspects, never really expecting he might actually be accused of the crime.
But when she opened her front door, saw police tape early Friday in her Mesa apartment complex and found out that her neighbors Dale Hausner and Samuel J. Dieteman had been arrested, all the oddities she noticed about the two men began to add up.
"I just thought he was weird," McGillivray said of Hausner. "He was personable and in your face but weird. He would shoot right by you like you weren't supposed to see him."
Neighbors were shocked when police descended late Thursday on their normally quiet community at the Windscape Apartments on McKellips Road near Mesa Drive to take Hausner and Dieteman into custody. They were just as shocked at the thought that two possible serial killers lived among them and not far from a children's play area.
McGillivray said Hausner moved into the complex about 15 months ago.
She noticed he would be gone for days at a time. Lately, Dieteman and Hausner would hang out on the patio of their first-floor apartment after midnight. Dieteman would stand like a "sentry," McGillivray said, and Hausner would be working on something that looked like a rolling toolbox.
Sometimes, she would hear what sounded like someone throwing someone else up against their common wall with enough force to make the wall shake and her husband's dart board fall. But when she went to check on the pair, no one would answer the door, she said.
About two months ago, someone posted a sign on Hausner's window that read, "This man is a monster. Stay away from him. Beware," in black marker, she said. She thought an angry ex might have written it.
But as suspicious as McGillivray was, she never thought the two would be arrested in connection with the slayings of six people and the wounding of 17 others in a shooting spree that targeted people walking or biking late at night.
Once, McGillivray said, Hausner saw her husband, Mike, cleaning his rifles on the porch and lent him a .410-bore shotgun to take to the range. It was the same caliber as that of a weapon listed in a probable-cause statement leading to the arrests. Authorities confiscated Mike's guns because the couple left their door unlocked and suspected Hausner and Dieteman might have taken the guns and used them, McGillivray said.
"I never noticed them missing," Mike said. "It's possible he had it and brought it back the next time we weren't home."
Reporter's brush with Hausner
Angela Pancrazio
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 6, 2006 12:00 AM
On the day I met Dale Hausner, police were hunting for a serial shooter who had killed four people over the previous 10 months.
Of course, I did not know on April 12 that he was possibly involved. No one had a clue at that time who the "Serial Shooter" might be.
Looking back, I would like to be able to say that I had a premonition or some uneasy feeling when I interviewed Hausner for an innocuous story on the closing of Terminal 2 at Sky Harbor International Airport, but that would not be true. My memories of him, however, are vivid, which is surprising given such a brief encounter and the number of people a reporter interviews.
I was at Terminal 2 interviewing passengers and employees about the closure of this historic terminal. Hausner was a custodial worker there. He told me that Terminal 2 was special to him because it was where he and his family landed when they moved to Phoenix from Omaha. As a 5-year-old boy, it was his first impression of Arizona. He remembered stepping off the plane, walking down steps, crossing the tarmac in the torrid heat and then entering the cool of Terminal 2, which seemed huge to him.
He told me that he preferred working at Terminal 2 because the employees there were different. He liked the camaraderie. Terminal 2 was like a small town where everybody knew you and looked out for you, he said. More than anything, he explained that his co-workers understood that he had a young daughter who was seriously ill with a rare disease.
He was a single father and often would have to leave his job with no warning to take care of his daughter, he explained. He said he could have better shifts at the other terminals but that co-workers at Terminal 2 understood his situation with his daughter. He told me his two sons had died in a car accident and his daughter was all that he had. He proudly pulled a picture of his baby girl from his wallet to show me.
He told me that he worked several jobs to support his daughter. He was a boxing photographer, which struck me as interesting. We exchanged business cards. His business card had two boxing gloves on it.
At the time, I thought it a little strange that he had revealed so many details about his personal life to me. But I also thought that he probably was lonely and that he wanted someone to know that he was more than his job at Terminal 2.
My impression was that Hausner was a hard-working single father with a complicated and sad life. I did not know if what he had told me about his children was true, but I thought that, if even half the story was, it was tragic. Back at the newsroom, I told my editor maybe we could figure out a way to do a story on him and his daughter.
Now, Hausner is one of the men arrested in a shooting spree that included six horrific killings.
I feel that when I interviewed Hausner, I brushed against a hidden and frightening part of the world that I will never understand. I have gone over and over in my mind the details of our chance meeting, looking for clues.
We all want to believe that people accused of doing violent acts are different from us and that our inner compass will warn us of them.
That, of course, is not always true.
from the next 4 articles in the arizona tribune i dont think the cops had probable cause to bust the guys and that it was a false arrest!!!!!Source
Cops had shooting suspect’s name in early July
By Paul Giblin, Tribune
August 6, 2006
Police had obtained the name of one man implicated in the Serial Shooter crime spree in early to mid-July, but were unable to locate him as the body count climbed. They say they figured out where he lived only after a young Mesa woman was killed a week ago.
Initially, Samuel J. Dieteman was just one of several people whom police thought might have been associated with the string of shootings, Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill said Saturday.
While some investigators tried to find Dieteman, other multi-agency task force members checked out hundreds of other leads in the final weeks of the wide-ranging investigation.
“Detectives continued to try to find him, but they could not,” Hill said. “They tried a number of resources, a number of investigative techniques and tools and technology things to try to find this person.”
Dieteman, 30, and Dale Hausner, 33, were arrested at their Mesa apartment late Thursday night. Police now say they had been following them for four days — starting the day after 22-year-old Robin Blasnek of Mesa was killed as she walked alone on Gilbert Road late at night.
The year-long spree of shootings left six people dead and 17 others wounded. Blasnek is believed to be the pair’s final victim.
Other victims include a man — who police still have not identified — who was wounded by a shotgun blast while bicycling in Mesa on July 22, and the slaying of 20-yearold Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz, who was killed in Scottsdale.
Dieteman and Hausner are being held without bail on suspicion of two counts of firstdegree murder and 14 counts of attempted first-degree murder. Additional charges are pending, authorities said.
Police received a specific tip about Dieteman before July 30, the day of the final slaying, and through surveillance located him late Monday, Hill said.
“From that moment on, the minute we found where he was, then we were able to find out where he lived and everything else went from there,” Hill said. “We were on him 24/7 because if this turned out to be our suspect, we were not going to let another incident happen.”
Dieteman, and then Hausner, became the focus of the investigation when police tied them to a silver, four-door Toyota Camry that matched the description of the car used by the Serial Shooter, Hill said. Police made that connection late Monday.
Tipsters called authorities three times since June with information that Dieteman was tied to various crimes around the metropolitan area, according to officials with Phoenix police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
However, the first tip was associated with arsons at two Wal-Mart stores in Glendale on June 8. At that time, authorities were unaware of any link between the fires and the shootings, police and ATF officials said.
ATF agents released videotaped images of two men who were suspected in the arsons. A tipster identified one of the men as Dieteman, but authorities were unable to locate him or identify a second man photographed with him, said ATF senior special agent Thomas Mangan.
“The people we were trying to interview hadn’t seen him in months,” Mangan said. Authorities tried to track him through vehicle records, but they were outdated.
Authorities now believe the second man at Wal-Mart was Hausner.
The second tip, which tied Dieteman to the S erial Shooter cases, was incomplete, Hill said. The final tip, which came before July 30, finally led police to him.
Authorities were unable to immediately provide the specific dates of tips Saturday, because key investigators were unavailable.
The third source, who told police that Dieteman referred to the shootings as “Random Recreational Violence,” had no idea where he was, Hill said.
He would not disclose what investigative methods police used to finally locate Dieteman.
Still, Hill said, “from that point on, after they were able to locate him, they were immediately able to make him an investigative lead and begin to focus on him with lots of resources.”
After investigators located Dieteman, he led them to Hausner, his roommate in the Windscape Apartments at 550 E. McKellips Road in Mesa.
While some officers kept watch on the two, other investigators worked to gather more evidence against them before they could make an arrest.
Police tracked Dieteman and Hausner on Tuesday night as they drove through areas of prior attacks and watched as they slowed as they passed homeless people.
Police were prepared to shoot Dieteman and Hausner if necessary to prevent them from shooting anyone else, Hill said.
“We did not want anybody else to get shot. Everything we did from when we were able to locate him was aimed at trying to stop that. That was a very critical part of what we had to do from then on,” he said.
Dieteman and Hausner made no other late-night drives before police arrested them near a trash container at their apartment complex late Thursday night.
“There was just a lot of focus and attention and constant decision-making going on while trying to make a case — and at the same time, you have to try to protect the public. That was a very difficult time,” Hill said.
Contact Paul Giblin by email, or phone (480) 970-2331
i think this is the article that leads me to beleive the police did NOT have probable cause to arrest these two murderers and made a false arrest. Now if "Dieteman called to tell of spree" I would say the police might have had "probable cause" to arrest him, and the courts probably would have agreed that the cops had "probable cause" to arrest him.The question is what did Dieteman tell his friend. If Dieteman specificly told his friend that he was involved in one of the murders I would say that would give the cops "probable cause" to arrest him.
If Dieteman said stuff that made his friend think he was involved with the shooting, but didn't admit to being guilty of the shooting then I don't think that would give the police "probable cause" to arrest him. Althought it would certainly make him a suspect. This article doesn't tell us what Dieteman told his friend, so we can't guess if it gave the cops "probable cause".
Now the odd thing is the police did NOT arrest Dietman when they found him at the Stardust bar ie:
They found him last week at Stardust and put him under surveillance until his arrest.Cops usually arrest people the very second they have "probable cause". For that reason I suspect the police didn't have "probable cause" to arrest him.
Denials, details in 'Shooter' case
Dieteman called to tell of spree, friend says
Judi Villa, Robert Anglen, Sarah Muench and William Hermann
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 8, 2006 12:00 AM
One of the men accused in a yearlong spree of serial killings is a deeply troubled guy whose life spiraled out of control amid divorce, homelessness and unemployment, friends say.
Samuel "Sammy" John Dieteman seemed to find refuge at the Stardust bar in Glendale, where he drank rum and Cokes and made friends who became like family to him. Last week, the day after a Mesa woman was shot dead, friends say, Dieteman called one of them, making statements about a string of fatal shootings that has left seven people dead and 17 more wounded.
Dieteman, 30, and his roommate, Dale S. Hausner, 33, now are accused in the "Serial Shooter" crimes that struck fear across the metropolitan area as the violence swept from the West Valley to the East. In all, 37 shootings that targeted people walking, biking or otherwise outside alone at night are believed to be linked.
"I would never ever, ever expect anything like that from him," Sherry Vandervort, a bartender at Stardust, said of Dieteman.
In a jailhouse interview Monday, Hausner calmly and adamantly proclaimed his innocence, saying he is "an upstanding member of society" who could never participate in such a coldblooded frenzy of killings, although he theorized that Dieteman may have. Hausner said he met Dieteman through his brother Jeff and allowed him to move into his apartment about five weeks ago because Dieteman didn't have a job or a place to live.
"Apparently at night Sam had been taking my car out, using various weapons I have at my house to commit crimes." Hausner said. "And apparently they tracked it to my car and, when they came and busted in the house, I was there, and I guess I'm just guilty by association, even though I did not shoot anybody or kill anybody."
Also Monday, a seventh homicide was linked to the yearlong spree of serial killings. Tony Junior Mendez, 38, was gunned down on May 17, 2005.
Phoenix police now are poring through shootings dating to the beginning of 2005, looking for similarities, and they have asked law-enforcement agencies Valley-wide to do the same, said Sgt. Andy Hill.
"We could very well end up with more," Hill said.
Resembled transients
The serial shootings began with Mendez's killing. Court records say the men selected victims who looked like transients in what Dieteman called "random recreational violence."
Dieteman and Hausner were arrested last week at their Mesa apartment and booked on two counts of first-degree murder and 14 counts of aggravated assault. The men also are believed to have set two fires 45 minutes apart at two Wal-Mart stores in Glendale on June 8. A federal search warrant affidavit obtained Monday by The Arizona Republic says Hausner and Dieteman were identified as the two suspects caught on surveillance tapes.
Police had been looking for Dieteman since mid-July as a possible suspect in the Serial Shooter cases. They found him last week at Stardust and put him under surveillance until his arrest.
Police have said they have a wealth of evidence linking the two men to the shootings, including weapons and incriminating statements.
Dieteman declined interview requests.
Court records have described the shootings as stealth attacks. They usually occurred in clusters and generally within a few miles of each other. All were between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. Little evidence was left behind.
Mendez's killing fits the profile. A transient, Mendez was biking near the home where his children lived when he was shot at 10:30 p.m.
Mendez's mother, Barbara Robles, said her son was starting to work again and wanted to get his kids back. The family didn't understand who would want to kill Mendez.
"Everybody says, 'Well, God calls you in different places and different times,' " Robles said. "He must have told him, 'It's your time, Tony.' "
Hausner on Monday expressed compassion for the victims and their families, saying his two sons died in a 1994 car accident and his 2-year-old daughter is terminally ill.
"I am so sorry. This is such a tragedy," he said. "I know what it's like to suffer the loss of a kid."
Answer for everything
For a man accused of being one of the most prolific serial killers in the history of Phoenix, Hausner was remarkably calm, never raising his voice and seemingly having an answer for everything.
He admitted to being at the Wal-Mart stores with Dieteman the night of the arsons but said he didn't set any fires or see Dieteman set any either. He said he kept news clippings and maps of the serial shootings merely because he was keeping up on the attacks like everyone else in the Valley.
And even though court records say police tailed Hausner and Dieteman last week as they "suspiciously drove" through the areas of prior attacks, slowing in the areas of vagrant activity, Hausner had an explanation for that, too: Sometimes he drove around late at night when he couldn't sleep.
Hausner did admit owning a small arsenal that included numerous rifles, shotguns, pellet guns, various knives and stabbing weapons, ice picks, awls, "stuff like that," but he said, "I'm a gun collector. I have lots of weapons - as does most Americans.
"I'm not going to be out shooting people for no reason," he said.
Hausner's demeanor could conceivably reflect the confidence of an innocent man, two criminologists said Monday. Or it could also be the arrogance of a sociopath, they said.
Robert Keppel, a consulting detective from Washington state with years of experience investigating serial-killer cases, said it isn't unusual for a serial killer to wish to "exercise his mastery over a situation by acting very cool."
"He is being dominant," Keppel said, describing a serial killer. "He is power-hungry and he wants nothing but to make everyone else look like they are wrong. It's his way to gain one-upsmanship on everyone around him. There are many like him in prison."
Nowhere to go
Hausner grew up in Phoenix and seemed to teeter between grief and anger as tragedy, divorce and allegations of domestic violence and substance abuse touched his life.
After the deaths of his sons 12 years ago, Hausner told friends he spent the next decade living with extreme guilt and battling depression.
Hausner worked as a janitor at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport from January 1999 until last week, when he was fired after his arrest. He also was an amateur sports photographer.
A Republic analysis of city personnel records indicates 10 of the shootings occurred on Hausner's regularly scheduled days off and five more were on days when Hausner had taken personal leave.
Friends say Dieteman, a divorced father of two with a lengthy history of petty criminal offenses, went downhill last year after his mother kicked him out. Friends would often spot him walking the streets in the early morning because he had nowhere to go. Dieteman had quit his job as an electrician in 2002.
"He was somebody who needed to be loved," said Kelly Hottowe, a bartender and close friend of Dieteman's. "He would curl up in the back of my car and take a nap like a little kid."
Includes information from staff reporters Michael Kiefer, Lindsey Collom and Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor.
i think this is the article that leads me to beleive the police did NOT have probable cause to arrest these two murderers and made a false arrest.
Push is on to make cases against pair
By Gary Grado, Tribune
August 6, 2006
Authorities still have much to do and little time to make their case against two Mesa men who sit behind bars on suspicion of committing a series of crimes that left six dead.
“The hunt is over, but the work has just begun,” said Phoenix assistant police chief Bill Louis. “When you think about our job when we have one person under arrest for one offense — how difficult that is to put a successful case together. We’re talking about dozens of offenses here. It’s going to take us a long time to compile enough information to make sure we have them tied to the offenses that we believe.”
Police have said for weeks they believe 36 crimes are linked, but they booked Dale S. Hausner, 33, and Samuel J. Dieteman, 30, Friday on suspicion of only 15 criminal counts each, two of them first-degree murder. The pair haven’t been formally charged.
And while the urgency for arrests is gone, investigators now face time constraints set by speedy trial rules.
Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill said reports still have to be written, evidence processed and analyzed, and more investigation to be done.
Police believe the men are responsible for the six slayings, wounding 17 people, shooting 12 animals and one case of criminal damage.
Under court rules, now that Hausner and Dieteman are jailed, prosecutors have less than two weeks to prove to a judge or a grand jury that the pair should stand trial.
Barnett Lotstein, special Maricopa County attorney, said that once charges are filed, prosecutors can’t just keep adding charges without going before a grand jury, so decisions on additional charges have to be made soon.
On the other hand, prosecutors aren’t going to withhold charges just to save time, Lotstein said.
“We will charge what we think we have a reasonable expectation of proving.” he said. “That’s the standard, and if that means that we charge 36 counts or however many there are, that’s what it means.”
Eight of the 15 counts the men are accused of committing, including the shooting deaths of Robin Blasnek of Mesa and Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz in Scottsdale, are supported by an abundance of evidence, including confessions, according to court documents.
The remaining allegations are simply connected by method of operation, the documents state.
According to the documents, Hausner and Dieteman would stealthily drive up to people who were either walking alone, riding a bicycle or waiting at a bus stop late at night and open fire.
Victims were selected randomly and the crimes committed on major thoroughfares. A witness said Dieteman referred to the crimes as “RV” or Random Recreational Violence.
Contact Gary Grado by email, or phone (602) 258-1746
i think this is the article that leads me to beleive the police did NOT have probable cause to arrest these two murderers and made a false arrest.
Cops had shooting suspect’s name in early July
By Paul Giblin, Tribune
August 6, 2006
Police had obtained the name of one man implicated in the Serial Shooter crime spree in early to mid-July, but were unable to locate him as the body count climbed. They say they figured out where he lived only after a young Mesa woman was killed a week ago.
Initially, Samuel J. Dieteman was just one of several people whom police thought might have been associated with the string of shootings, Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill said Saturday.
While some investigators tried to find Dieteman, other multi-agency task force members checked out hundreds of other leads in the final weeks of the wide-ranging investigation.
“Detectives continued to try to find him, but they could not,” Hill said. “They tried a number of resources, a number of investigative techniques and tools and technology things to try to find this person.”
Dieteman, 30, and Dale Hausner, 33, were arrested at their Mesa apartment late Thursday night. Police now say they had been following them for four days — starting the day after 22-year-old Robin Blasnek of Mesa was killed as she walked alone on Gilbert Road late at night.
The year-long spree of shootings left six people dead and 17 others wounded. Blasnek is believed to be the pair’s final victim.
Other victims include a man — who police still have not identified — who was wounded by a shotgun blast while bicycling in Mesa on July 22, and the slaying of 20-yearold Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz, who was killed in Scottsdale.
Dieteman and Hausner are being held without bail on suspicion of two counts of firstdegree murder and 14 counts of attempted first-degree murder. Additional charges are pending, authorities said.
Police received a specific tip about Dieteman before July 30, the day of the final slaying, and through surveillance located him late Monday, Hill said.
“From that moment on, the minute we found where he was, then we were able to find out where he lived and everything else went from there,” Hill said. “We were on him 24/7 because if this turned out to be our suspect, we were not going to let another incident happen.” [what this means is the cops did NOT have "probable cause" to arrest him at thist him - he was a suspect without any evidence to allow the police to arrest]
Dieteman, and then Hausner, became the focus of the investigation when police tied them to a silver, four-door Toyota Camry that matched the description of the car used by the Serial Shooter, Hill said. Police made that connection late Monday.
Tipsters called authorities three times since June with information that Dieteman was tied to various crimes around the metropolitan area, according to officials with Phoenix police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
However, the first tip was associated with arsons at two Wal-Mart stores in Glendale on June 8. At that time, authorities were unaware of any link between the fires and the shootings, police and ATF officials said.
ATF agents released videotaped images of two men who were suspected in the arsons. A tipster identified one of the men as Dieteman, but authorities were unable to locate him or identify a second man photographed with him, said ATF senior special agent Thomas Mangan.
“The people we were trying to interview hadn’t seen him in months,” Mangan said. Authorities tried to track him through vehicle records, but they were outdated.
Authorities now believe the second man at Wal-Mart was Hausner.
The second tip, which tied Dieteman to the Serial Shooter cases, was incomplete, Hill said. The final tip, which came before July 30, finally led police to him.
Authorities were unable to immediately provide the specific dates of tips Saturday, because key investigators were unavailable.
The third source, who told police that Dieteman referred to the shootings as “Random Recreational Violence,” had no idea where he was, Hill said.
He would not disclose what investigative methods police used to finally locate Dieteman.
Still, Hill said, “from that point on, after they were able to locate him, they were immediately able to make him an investigative lead and begin to focus on him with lots of resources.”
After investigators located Dieteman, he led them to Hausner, his roommate in the Windscape Apartments at 550 E. McKellips Road in Mesa.
While some officers kept watch on the two, other investigators worked to gather more evidence against them before they could make an arrest.
Police tracked Dieteman and Hausner on Tuesday night as they drove through areas of prior attacks and watched as they slowed as they passed homeless people.
Police were prepared to shoot Dieteman and Hausner if necessary to prevent them from shooting anyone else, Hill said.
“We did not want anybody else to get shot. Everything we did from when we were able to locate him was aimed at trying to stop that. That was a very critical part of what we had to do from then on,” he said.
Dieteman and Hausner made no other late-night drives before police arrested them near a trash container at their apartment complex late Thursday night.
“There was just a lot of focus and attention and constant decision-making going on while trying to make a case — and at the same time, you have to try to protect the public. That was a very difficult time,” Hill said.
Contact Paul Giblin by email, or phone (480) 970-2331
Minn. residents recall Dieteman’s small troubles
Pioneer Press
August 6, 2006
Until now, Samuel John Dieteman was a small-time criminal. Raised in the small towns of southern Minnesota, he attended alternative school, married his high school sweetheart and became a hell-raising father with his share of troubles with alcohol and the law.
Now, Phoenix police say he’s one of the two Serial Shooters, who authorities say cased targets in the Valley and marked them with blue and red dots on a map.
As investigators attempt to solidify their case against Dieteman, 30, and alleged accomplice Dale S. Hausner, a picture of how the former could be linked to a horrific killing spree is emerging.
An informant told police Dieteman and Hausner, 33, traded places when they worked on the streets. One drove while the other took aim and fired, police say. Then they would switch.
But no authorities have yet publicly speculated — and perhaps no one will ever know — what could have led Dieteman to graduate from misdemeanor trespassing and drunken driving in southern Minnesota to calculated murder and arson in the Valley, as authorities now allege.
Wooden tulips line a trailer home at Summit Park in St. Peter, Minn., where Dieteman’s former in-laws live. A man there declined to comment.
A neighbor said Dieteman would visit his in-laws, Freda and Jerome Iverson, when he was married to their daughter, Dorothy. Dieteman would “kick up his heels every now and then, raise a little hell, have a couple beers,” said the neighbor.
His ex-wife could not be reached for comment.
As a young parent in his 20s, Dieteman “seemed caring” with his daughters and would take them fishing and camping, the neighbor said. The St. Peter neighbor said she didn’t think Dieteman was capable of killing people.
Just down the road in St. Peter, Dieteman attended public school. Paul Peterson, principal at St. Peter High School, said Dieteman was a student at the city’s alternative school for grades eight and 10, but was in the main high school for the ninth grade. Peterson could not recall qualifications then for attending the alternative school.
James Hughes, assistant principal at the high school for 20 years, said he couldn’t remember any specifics about Dieteman, but recalled his name Saturday morning the moment he heard the news. “I can’t tell you that I know him from good or bad,” he said.
Dieteman’s father, Scott Dieteman, moved to Madison Lake, Minn., nestled on crystal blue waters east of St. Peter. Several attempts to reach Scott Dieteman were unsuccessful.
Scott Dieteman’s neighbors said he moved to Madison Lake about three years ago with his girlfriend. He works part time in his scrapmetal workshop next to his house.
Although neighbors have met his daughter, they’ve never met his son.
Several local residents socializing at Madison Lake’s Trail Blazer Bar & Grill said they didn’t know the Dieteman family but were amazed one of their own was a serial killer suspect.
Jen Schave, 28, was following the news of the case way before it “hit home” for her in Minnesota.
“I’m shocked. I had no idea that was going on,” she said, but “anywhere you go, there’s bad people. It’s a crappy world we live in. I’m just glad it didn’t happen around here.
The mayor of the town of some 10,000 learned Saturday of his own connection.
“When I first heard it, I was shocked, and then it looked like he was the son of one of my classmates,” said Mayor Tim Strand in a phone interview. He attended St. Peter High with Dieteman’s mother. “I find it hard to believe that someone from this little town — about as average as you can get — is connected with something like this.”
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0806hausnerdenial0806-ON.html
'Serial Shooter' suspect denies involvement
Chris Kahn
Associated Press
Jul. 7, 2006 07:20 AM
One of two men arrested in a string of serial shootings in the Phoenix area has denied any wrongdoing.
"I am not a monster," said Dale S. Hausner in a jailhouse interview Sunday with the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Hausner, 33, told the newspaper he is not a killer, but said the other man arrested for the crimes - Samuel John Dieteman - might have taken Hausner’s car and guns to commit the crimes.
"I feel very sorry for the families of the people who were hurt, but I didn’t do it," Hausner told the Pioneer Press.
Hausner said his brother introduced him to Dieteman, 30, six months ago. About a month ago, he said he let Dieteman move into his apartment because he felt sorry for a guy with no job or home.
Dieteman declined to be interviewed by the Pioneer Press.
Hausner told the newspaper he believes Dieteman implicated him in the killings to deflect blame, though he said he’s not sure Dieteman is capable of such violence. During the manhunt for the "Serial Shooter," Hausner said he didn’t suspect Dieteman was involved.
Hausner said Dieteman didn’t have weapons of his own, as far as he knows. Now, Hausner said, he wonders and worries about whether Dieteman used Hausner’s firearms and car during the killing spree.
Police linked six killings and the nonfatal shootings of 17 people to the "Serial Shooter" case. Hausner and Dieteman are being held on two counts each of first-degree murder and 14 counts each of attempted first-degree murder. Overall, they are being investigated in 36 shootings, including the 17 that targeted people and others that involved animals.
A police interview with Dieteman said the two took turns shooting people in the city over the course of more than a year.
Some nights it was Dieteman, a burly electrician with a ragged mop of jet black hair. According to court documents, he’d blast at lone pedestrians from the window of a silver Toyota Camry in what he called "random recreational violence."
Other nights, he told police the trigger was pulled by Hausner, a baby-faced janitor and freelance photographer, the court documents allege.
After each shooting, the pair would drive slowly away, leaving little evidence other than the victim’s body on a sidewalk.
"We are so confident that these are the people," Chief Jack Harris told The Associated Press.
An expert on serial killers, Katherine Ramsland, said it’s common in team killings that one person is "egging the other on" to join in.
"If one was the quiet timid type, he may have been the follower who got himself in a situation and just kept going because the reality was created by the dominant partner," she said. "That happens in team killings quite often."
Until last week, investigators had no idea who was responsible for the late-night attacks. They didn’t know if the attacks were committed by one person or more, and grouped the attacks under one name: the "Serial Shooter."
The arrests are expected to free up about 50 officers to help track down another shooter, dubbed the "Baseline Killer," who is believed responsible for eight killings, some in the area of Baseline Road.
While the Serial Shooter investigation isn’t complete, police believe the attacks started just past midnight on May 24, 2005, with the killing of 56-year-old Reginald Remillard, who was shot in the neck while he slept at a bus stop.
The last shooting the men are accused of occurred on July 30. Robin Blasnek was shot in the back as she walked to her boyfriend’s house in Mesa. She was alive when a neighbor found her, but died later at a hospital.
In between, a probable cause statement alleges, Dieteman and Hausner had taken turns driving while they selected victims at random.
On May 2, the probable cause statement said, Hausner pulled along the curb next to Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz, 20, after she stepped off a bus on her way home from work at a Scottsdale restaurant.
Dieteman allegedly fired one blast from a shotgun, hitting Gutierrez-Cruz on the left side. She died later at a hospital.
A few minutes later, police say, the duo shot a 17-year-old in the back while he was walking along a street.
After targeting people and animals across Phoenix and its suburbs on the west side, the attackers moved east.
Early on the morning of July 22, they found a man in his 30s riding his bicycle in Mesa. Dieteman told police that Hausner pulled close in the Camry, pulled the shotgun over the steering wheel and fired out the driver’s side window, according to the probable cause statement. The man survived but was seriously injured.
Police say the last attack, the one that killed Blasnek, occurred less than three miles away from the apartment Hausner and Dieteman shared. Hausner shot her while driving, Dieteman said, according to the statement.
"The circumstances of Robin’s death tells us how wicked this world has become," Blasnek’s mother, Sandra, said Saturday at her daughter’s funeral.
Investigators had started looking for Dieteman in July as a suspect in arson fires in June at two Wal-Marts in suburban Glendale, but didn’t spot him until one day after Blasnek was shot. They found out where he lived and kept him and his roommate under surveillance for most of the week.
Thursday night, police decided they had enough to make the arrests in connection with the Serial Shooter attacks. Authorities said their evidence against the men included weapons and a map marking the locations of dozens of shootings.
AP-WS-08-07-06 0052EDT
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0806serialkillerupdate0806-ON.html
Suspected serial killers took turns at the trigger, police say
Chris Kahn
Associated Press
Aug. 6, 2006 07:20 AM
The gunmen took turns as they drove around the Valley.
Some nights it was Samuel John Dieteman, a burly electrician with a ragged mop of jet black hair. According to court documents, he'd blast at lone pedestrians from the window of a silver Toyota Camry in what he called "random recreational violence."
Other nights the trigger was pulled by his roommate, Dale S. Hausner, a baby-faced janitor and freelance photographer, the court documents allege.
After each shooting, the pair would drive slowly away, leaving little evidence other than the victim's body on a sidewalk.
Court documents and interviews with police provide a glimpse into the way investigators believe the pair operated and how they were finally found.
"We are so confident that these are the people," Chief Jack Harris told The Associated Press, adding that the men had admitted some of the crimes since they were arrested on Thursday.
Dieteman, 30, and Hausner, 33, face two counts each of first-degree murder and 14 counts each of attempted first-degree murder. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Aug. 14.
Overall, they are being investigated in 36 shootings, including 17 that targeted people and others that involved animals.
An expert on serial killers, Katherine Ramsland, said it's common in team killings that one person is "egging the other on" to join in.
"If one was the quiet timid type, he may have been the follower who got himself in a situation and just kept going because the reality was created by the dominant partner," she said. "That happens in team killings quite often."
Until last week, investigators had no idea who was responsible for the late-night attacks. They didn't know if the attacks were committed by one person or more, and grouped the attacks under one name: the "Serial Shooter."
The arrests are expected to free up about 50 officers to help track down another shooter, dubbed the Baseline Killer, who is believed responsible for eight killings, some in the area of Baseline Road.
Phoenix police are still seeking another shooter, dubbed the Baseline Killer, who is believed responsible for eight killings in the area of Baseline Road.
While the Serial Shooter investigation isn't complete, police believe the attacks started just past midnight on May 24, 2005, with the killing of 56-year-old Reginald Remillard, who was shot in the neck while he slept at a bus stop.
The last shooting the men are accused of occurred on July 30. Robin Blasnek was shot in the back as she walked to her boyfriend's house in Mesa. She was alive when a neighbor found her, but died later at a hospital.
In between, a probable cause statement alleges, Dieteman and Hausner had taken turns driving while they selected victims at random.
On May 2, the probable cause statement said, Hausner pulled along the curb next to Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz, 20, after she stepped off a bus on her way home from work at a Scottsdale restaurant.
Dieteman allegedly fired one blast from a shotgun, hitting Gutierrez-Cruz on the left side. She died later at a hospital.
A few minutes later, police say, the duo shot a 17-year-old in the back while he was walking along a street.
After targeting people and animals across Phoenix and its suburbs on the west side, the attackers moved east.
Early on the morning of July 22, they found a man in his 30s riding his bicycle in Mesa. Dieteman told police that Hausner pulled close in the Camry, pulled the shotgun over the steering wheel and fired out the driver's side window, according to the probable cause statement. The man survived but was seriously injured.
Police say the last attack, the one that killed Blasnek, occurred less than three miles away from the apartment Hausner and Dieteman shared. Hausner shot her while driving, Dieteman said, according to the statement.
"The circumstances of Robin's death tells us how wicked this world has become," Blasnek's mother, Sandra, said Saturday at her daughter's funeral.
Investigators had started looking for Dieteman in July as a suspect in arson fires in June at two Wal-Marts in suburban Glendale, but didn't spot him until one day after Blasnek was shot. They found out where he lived and kept him and his roommate under surveillance for most of the week.
Thursday night, police decided they had enough to make the arrests in connection with the Serial Shooter attacks. Authorities said their evidence against the men included weapons and a map marking the locations of dozens of shootings.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0807hausner0807.html
Suspect's brother says family in anguish
Voices concern for victims' kin
Sarah Muench
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 7, 2006 12:00 AM
The brother of one of the suspects in the "Serial Shooter" case said Sunday that his family is devastated that one of their own could be responsible for terrorizing the Valley for more than a year.
In an e-mail sent to the media Sunday, Randy Hausner, a local comedian, explained how his family is still stunned from the arrests Thursday of 33-year-old Dale Hausner and suspected accomplice Samuel John Dieteman, 30.
"My family and I are in complete shock and horror as to what happened and why," Randy wrote. "Words cannot express the anguish we feel right now."
Randy said his distraught mother told him about Dale's arrest. Their mother suffers from emphysema and their father also has medical problems, Randy said. He said that Dieteman had not known Dale for very long and that they met through Dale's other brother. Randy met Dieteman only a couple of times and said he was unaware of his close relationship with Dale.
Randy added in his e-mail that his family expresses sympathy for the victims, as well as for Dale.
"With God's help we will somehow get through this. While the legal process runs its course, our prayers go out to the victims, their families and to Dale," Randy said.
The arrests marked the end of a series of random shootings that began in May 2005 and struck fear as the violence swept from the West Valley to the East, eventually claiming six lives.
An additional 17 people were wounded in the 36 shootings that targeted people walking, biking or otherwise outside alone late at night. Both men are accused of two counts of first-degree murder and 14 counts of attempted first-degree murder. They are being held without bail.
The pair suspected in the notorious string of serial killings drove through cities selecting random targets that one referred to as "random recreational violence," according to court documents released Friday.
Hausner, whose two sons died in a 1994 car accident, has a 2-year-old daughter who is terminally ill. Court records show his ex-girlfriend, who is the mother of his daughter, wanted Hausner to undergo regular drug tests because she claimed he had a history of abusing methamphetamine.
Both Hausner and Dieteman have had previous brushes with the law. Hausner's past offenses included shoplifting. He was also arrested in 2003 in Gilbert on suspicion of disorderly conduct when he argued with a neighbor and threw what he said was "bleach" on him when it was really water.
Before moving to Phoenix several years ago, Dieteman had extensive run-ins with police in Minnesota for drugs, shoplifting, drunken driving and assault.
Dieteman lived in a north Phoenix neighborhood off and on for several years and frequented bars called the Amber Inn and Polak Joe's, what is now called the 43rd Avenue Tavern on 43rd Avenue and Dunlap Avenue.
12 News reporter Kim Holcomb contributed to this article.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=71156
Suspect denies shootings role
Associated Press
August 7, 2006
One of two men arrested in a string of serial shootings in the Phoenix area has denied any wrongdoing. ‘‘I am not a monster,’’ Dale S. Hausner said in a jailhouse interview Sunday with the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Hausner, 33, told the newspaper he is not a killer, but said the other man arrested for the crimes — Samuel John Dieteman — might have taken Hausner’s car and guns to commit the crimes.
‘‘I feel very sorry for the families of the people who were hurt, but I didn’t do it,’’ Hausner told the Pioneer Press.
Hausner said his brother introduced him to Dieteman, 30, six months ago. About a month ago, he said he let Dieteman move into his apartment because he felt sorry for a guy with no job or home.
Dieteman declined to be interviewed by the Pioneer Press. The sheriff’s office has not yet responded to interview requests from the Tribune and The Associated Press.
Hausner told the newspaper he believes Dieteman implicated him in the killings to deflect blame, though he said he’s not sure Dieteman is capable of such violence. During the manhunt for the Serial Shooter, Hausner said he didn’t suspect Dieteman was involved.
Hausner said Dieteman didn’t have weapons of his own, as far as he knows. Now, Hausner said, he wonders and worries about whether Dieteman used Hausner’s firearms and car during the killing spree.
Dieteman and Hausner face two counts each of firstdegree murder and 14 counts each of attempted first-degree murder. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Aug. 14.
The two are being investigated for 36 shootings, including six deaths. Seventeen of the shootings involved people and the others involved animals.
While the Serial Shooter investigation isn’t complete, police believe the attacks started just past midnight on May 24, 2005, with the killing of 56-year-old Reginald Remillard, found shot in the neck at a bus stop.
The last shooting the men are accused of occurred July 30 in Mesa. Robin Blasnek, 22, was shot in the back as she walked to her boyfriend’s house in Mesa. She died later at a hospital.
Police say the attack occurred less than three miles from the apartment Hausner and Dieteman shared in north Mesa. Hausner shot her while driving, Dieteman said, according to a probable cause statement.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=71165
Former neighbor in Minnesota defends Dieteman
By Katie McDevitt and Emily Gersema
Tribune
August 7, 2006
Samuel Dieteman was not a “saint” but wasn’t a problem child, either, said Louise West, his old neighbor in St. Peter, Minn.
One of the men charged in connection with the Serial Shooter crimes was “quiet, polite and well-mannered” West said Sunday in a phone interview with the Tribune.
West said her family has known Dieteman for more than 15 years. Dieteman lived two houses away, West said, and would travel with her family to Myrtle Beach, N.C. At one point, he was roommates with her son Jerry, she said. Her son was planning to travel to the Valley to visit Dieteman in a month.
“I love that kid. He’s like my own son,” West said. “I was always there for Sam. Anytime he needed me, I was there.”
Dieteman lived down the street from West and would spend time talking with the woman when his mom wasn’t home, West said. She acknowledged the man’s 37 encounters with police for crimes such as shoplifting, driving while drunk, marijuana possession and assault, but called them “petty stuff” that she wished the news media wouldn’t bring up.
“I’m not trying to make him into a saint,” West said. “I understand that he did wrong. They’re making him look like a monster here in the newspapers.”
Dieteman and Dale Hausner were charged Friday with two counts of firstdegree murder and 14 counts of attempted murder in connection with the Serial Shooter crimes.
Police are still searching for another serial criminal — the Baseline Killer. Sunday marked the anniversary of his first crime, in which he is believed to have sexually assaulted two teenage girls at gunpoint.
While Dieteman and Hausner await another court hearing next week, 44-yearold Daryl Davies, who was shot May 31 in west Phoenix, said he struggles with numbness and pain in his left arm from a shooting connected to Dieteman and Hausner.
He spent three hours in surgery for injuries to his spleen, stomach and bladder, and more than a dozen pellets still remain embedded in his body.
“Now that these guys are caught I plan on starting walking again,” Davies said. “Before, I would drive to the store, I would always look around and I would not keep my back to traffic.”
Davies, who has permanent injuries from a 2002 car crash walked nightly with a cane because it helped his back feel better. He said he preferred walking in the middle of the night to avoid the heat.
“Ironically, I was walking for my health when I was shot,” Davies said. “I don’t have anger, but I will never forget this.”
Contact Katie McDevitt by email, or phone (480) 898-6344. Contact Emily Gersema by email, or phone (480) 898-6568.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0807hausner-ON.html
Hausner says police can't prove case against him
By JACQUES BILLEAUD
Associated Press Writer
Aug. 7, 2006 07:19 PM
A suspect in a series of random shootings in metropolitan Phoenix said Monday that his interest in the investigation led him to keep a map of the shooting locations, but he denied participating in the crimes.
Dale S. Hausner said authorities won't be able to prove the case against him, though his roommate, fellow suspect Samuel John Dieteman, could have committed the crimes without his knowledge.
In a jailhouse interview, Hausner said his interest in the investigation led him to collect news clippings about the spree and that he spoke to several people, including Dieteman, about the shootings.
"We just kind of chatted back and forth and wondered why, if there is 150 police on the case, why they couldn't collar him a little bit faster," Hausner said of conversations with Dieteman. "Is it that hard to catch people doing this kind of stuff?"
Hausner's 11-minute interview ended when his newly appointed public defender, Garrett Simpson, entered the room and whispered that he should stop talking to reporters.
Dieteman and Hausner, who have been jailed since last week, have been booked for investigation on two counts each of first-degree murder and 13 counts each of attempted first-degree murder.
In all, the two were being investigated in 37 shootings in which seven people were killed and 17 were wounded. Other shootings involved animals.
Jail officials said Dieteman declined requests for an interview. Efforts to locate an attorney for Dieteman were unsuccessful.
Hausner said Dieteman was down on his luck, so he let him sleep on an inflatable mattress in his apartment in Mesa. Hausner said he met Dieteman about nine months ago through one of Hausner's brothers.
Hausner said Dieteman could have taken Hausner's car while Hausner was sleeping. Police said several of the shootings were done from a car. Hausner said he owns a handful of shotguns, a rifle, pellet guns, blowguns, knives and stabbing weapons, such as ice picks.
"I don't see Sam as a cold-blooded killer, but if they've got evidence saying he is, there's not much I can do to refute that," Hausner said.
Hausner said he made no incriminating statements to investigators. Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill declined to respond to Hausner's comments.
The case's probable-cause report said police watched the two men as they "suspiciously drove through the areas of prior attacks and slowing in the areas of vagrant activity."
Hausner said he and Dieteman merely drove around to unwind. "There is no law against driving around at night because you are tired and can't sleep," Hausner said.
Hausner said the shootings were a tragedy and noted he lost two sons in a 1994 accident.
"I know what it is like to suffer the loss of a kid and I would never, ever, ever want anybody to have to go through what I went through," Hausner said.
Dieteman and Hausner first surfaced as suspects in a federal investigation into arsons at two Wal-Mart locations in suburban Glendale that were started roughly 45 minutes apart.
Hausner said he was with Dieteman at the stores, but never participated in the arsons, nor did he see Dieteman start a fire. Court records filed by federal investigators say video footage at both stores show two men who appear to be Dieteman and Hausner near the areas of the fires.
Police said Monday that they are adding one more fatal shooting to the string of attacks under the "Serial Shooter" investigation.
So far, Hill said the May 17, 2005, killing of 39-year-old Tony Mendez hasn't been connected to Hausner or Dieteman.
If the shooting of Mendez is connected to the Serial Shooter case, that would make him the first victim.
Previously, police believed the first victim was 56-year-old Reginald Remillard, who was fatally shot while sleeping at a bus stop. Mendez was shot while riding his bike.
Police were also searching for another suspected serial predator in the Phoenix area. The so-called Baseline Killer is believed to have killed eight people and sexually assaulted several women since last August.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0807serial-next-ON.html
Legal teams are formed in 'Serial Shooter' attacks
Michael Kiefer
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 7, 2006 09:43 PM
Deputy Maricopa County Public Defender Garrett Simpson learned he had been assigned to defend Dale Hausner, one of the men accused in the "Serial Shooter" case, about 10 minutes before he walked into Hauser's jailhouse news conference Monday and put an end to it.
And 10 minutes was about how long the news conference had been going on.
"It's almost never a good idea," Simpson said of Hausner's glib talk before the press.
Those charged with first-degree murder are always defended by two lawyers, and Simpson, who helped get an acquittal in January for Delano Yanes, who had been charged with sodomizing and murdering his infant son, will be joined by fellow Deputy Public Defender James Wilson.
Hausner's co-defendant, Samuel John Dieteman, will be represented by Maria Schaffer and Gary Shriver from the Legal Defender's Office.
And they will go up against two of the county's most experienced prosecutors.
Bob Shutts is chief of the County Attorney's Office homicide bureau and has prosecuted such high-profile criminals as David Anthony, who was sentenced to death in 2004 for murdering his wife and her children, and Steve Boggs, who killed three people at a Mesa restaurant and was sentenced to death in 2005.
His co-prosecutor, Vince Imbordino, obtained death sentences for Boggs' accomplice, Christopher Hargrave, and for rapist and murderer Frank McCray.
But Hausner and Dieteman, may not go to trial for as many as 18 months as the lawyers piece together their cases.
Police have linked 37 incidents, including seven homicides to the Serial Shooter.
The two men have been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and 14 counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Both are scheduled for preliminary hearings Aug. 14 to determine whether the case will go to trial. But that hearing may never happen because prosecutors will likely take evidence before a grand jury to get an indictment on as many counts as they can.
A capital-review committee will discuss whether to seek the death penalty, and County Attorney Andrew Thomas will make the final decision.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0807hausner-interview-exps-ON.html
Excerpts from Hauser's press conference
Aug. 7, 2006 09:00 PM
Before his attorney cut off the discussion, Dale Hausner met with the news media to discuss accusations that he is responsible for a series of shootings in the Valley during the past year.
Hausner maintains his innocence and said that if his weapons were used in the crimes, his roommate, Samuel Dieteman, may be responsible.
Here are excerpts from the comments he made Monday:
"Why I'm here is because I had Sam Dieteman staying with me for about five weeks and apparently at night Sam had been taking my car out, using various weapons I have at my house to commit crimes and apparently they tracked it to my car ... I did not shoot anybody or kill anybody."
"I'm a gun collector. I have lots of weapons - as does most Americans. I have two 410s; a 12 gauge; 20 gauge; 28 gauge; .303, five pellet guns; blow guns; various knives and stabbing weapons; ice picks; awls; stuff like that."
"Really this is all just overwhelming to me, I can't believe this is happening to be honest. You know I'm an upstanding member of society. I've been with the same city of Phoenix job for eight years. I worked three jobs to make ends meet because the city unfortunately doesn't always pay you what you'd like it to. I'm a bartender and photographer, I have a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter who's got a terminal disease.
"And you know I'm not going to be out shooting people for no reason. If I'm going to shoot someone it's going to be because they're doing threats to me and my daughter coming into my house and hurting me."
"I'm not going to be driving around at night shooting people with any type of weapon."
"There is no law against driving around at night because you're not tired and you can't sleep. If I was out looking for victims they would have pulled us over right then with any weapons that we had in the car, which we had none in the car."
"If he (Dieteman) is doing this stuff it's absolutely terrible and I have no idea why he would do this and most of all why he would want to take me in all of this stuff ... I keep my car keys by my front door because I'm not very organized so if I don't put them in the same spot every time I'll lose them."
"So it would be very easy for him at night, the way my apartment is laid out, as you walk into the front room, there's a little kitchen, a little bathroom, and my room is in the back. I sleep in the back, he'll sleep on an air mattress in the front room, he could have access to my car and I wouldn't even know about it."
"...I might add the SWAT team was very nice to me because I have a terminally ill daughter who at the time was staying with me, I got her Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and they wanted to haul me off immediately but they did wait there until the mother of my daughter came to pick her up. They could have by all rights hauled me off but she did need certain medical attention."
"I have no history of violence in my past, I mean, like I said I've been with the same job for the last eight years, you know, I don't think I can fly, I'm not insane or anything."
http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/psychiatristonhausner0807-CR.html
Psychiatrist says serial shooting suspect sounds like serial killer
Brahm Resnik
12 News
Aug. 7, 2006 09:36 PM
It was a 13-minute command performance today at the County Jail -- before he was cut off by his lawyer. Serial shooter suspect Dale Hausner hastily summoned reporters to take any and all of their questions about his case.
Hausner sounded almost like an Average Joe -- a janitor, a boxing fan, a father.
He easily volunteered an answer to the biggest question: He was innocent. The other suspect -- Samuel Deiteman -- committed the six murders and more than 30 other shootings they're accused of over a span of 14 months.
"This is all just really overwhelming to me, I can't believe this is happening, to be honest," Hausner said. And he had an answer for every question that followed. "Many, many times at night I drive around because I can't sleep," he said.
But to the ears of a trained expert, the serial shooting suspect sounded more like a serial killer.
Dr. Steven Pitt, a forensic psychiatrist based in Scottsdale, has worked on several high-profile cases, including the JonBenet Ramsey murder. Pitt heard something else in Hausner's answers : "A brazen person, a very cocky person, a person that thinks they're above the law."
A closer listen to other answers also leaves a chill. When Hausner was asked about the weapons police hauled away from his Mesa apartment late Thursday night, he listed an extensive and arcane collection. "Two 410's, a 12-gauge, 20-gauge, 28-gauge, 303, probably five pellet guns, blow guns, various knives and stabbing weapons, ice picks, awls, stuff like that." Pitt watched on a video monitor and then deadpanned: "That's an exhaustive weapon collection and I call that a clue."
In some ways, Pitt says, Hausner does have more going for him than the Average Joe. "They're going to be a little bit more verbally competent," he said of serial killers in general, "they're going to have more social skills in terms of moving in and out to avoid detection and apprehension." But when confronted by an expert questioner with command of all the evidence in the case, Hausner may look a lot less average -- and a lot more more like the man police are calling a serial killer.
"My sense is you will see a lot of lying and a lot of unraveling of his story," Pitt says.
For now, Hausner's sticking to his story. He answered every question from reporters until his public defender -- who was meeting Hausner for the first time -- showed up at the news conference to cut him off. Even then, Hausner got the last word.
"Are you the serial shooter?" a reporter shouted. "Absolutely not."
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=71222
Hausner: Dieteman could have done crimes
By Gary Grado, Tribune
August 8, 2006
Serial shooting suspect Dale S. Hausner seems to have an answer for everything. The 33-year-old ex-janitor held a jailhouse news conference Monday to deny that he was part of the crime spree that included at least 37 shootings around the Valley and to say his roommate, second serial shooting suspect Samuel J. Dieteman, could have committed the crimes without his knowledge.
“Sam has kind of a low selfesteem problem and if he did this stuff, it would be for recognition,” Hausner told reporters at Maricopa County’s Fourth Avenue Jail.
Hausner said his interest in the Serial Shooter led him to keep news clippings of the crimes and a map of the shooting locations. Police found both in a trash bin outside his Mesa apartment complex.
Police said that on Aug. 1, they trailed Hausner and Dieteman driving through areas of previous attacks. Hausner, though, said that’s because of his difficulty sleeping.
“There is no law against driving around at night,” Hausner said.
Hausner’s defense attorney, Garrett Simpson, interrupted and put a stop to the 10-minute conference, but not before Hausner implicated Dieteman in the shootings, professed his own innocence and contradicted the police version of his arrest.
“Apparently, at night Sammy’s been taking my car out, using various weapons that I have in my house to commit crimes, and apparently, they tracked it to my car and when they came and busted in the house,” Hausner said. The two men — roommates whose relationship goes back nine months, Hausner said — are being held on suspicion of slayings in Mesa and Scottsdale and 13 attempted killings around the Valley. They were arrested late Thursday.
Hausner said he met Dieteman through his older brother, Jeff Hausner, and the two became friends.
Dieteman, an electrician, was “down on his luck,” so Hausner let him move in and live rent-free because he had done some electrical work and painting for the mother of Hausner’s child.
Both men were arrested at the Windscape Apartments, 550 E. McKellips Road. Police said they nabbed one suspect as he threw out the trash and the other when he came out to check on his friend.
Sgt. Andy Hill, Phoenix police spokesman, said a SWAT team waited for them outside partly to avoid a confrontation inside the apartment where Hausner’s daughter was.
Hausner said that police busted into his apartment, and that at first, he believed it was Dieteman joking around.
However, “for us, the fact that the 2-year-old child was in there was critical for us in terms of how we conducted that arrest,” Hill said.
Hill said a task force has added another possible homicide to the investigation.
On May 17, 2005, Tony Mendez, 38, was riding a bicycle about 10:30 p.m. at 2333 N. 48th Lane when he was shot.
Police have said the men have made incriminating statements, and a court document says Dieteman admitted involvement. But Hill refused to give details on their statement, or respond to Hausner’s contention that he wasn’t involved.
Hausner also denied involvement in the arsons at two Glendale Wal-Marts on June 8. Surveillance video shows the two men entering and leaving the stores around the times of the fires, a search warrant filed in U.S. District Court says.
About 15 minutes after the second fire, a person was wounded seven miles away in a shooting that matched the Serial Shooter’s method of operation, police said.
Dieteman’s name first surfaced during the arson investigation, and again during the Serial Shooter investigation. Still, investigators were unable to find him, authorities said.
They found him early last week, according to a federal affidavit. The document said a witness told federal agents that Dieteman was drinking that night at a pool hall in a Glendale strip mall.
Kelly Hottowe, a bartender who has known Dieteman since 2002, said she was working in the bar the day police caught up with Dieteman. She said Dieteman was playing a game of 3-ball pool when police closed in.
Police followed Dieteman as he left in a light-colored, fourdoor sedan. They kept him under tight surveillance for four days before capturing the two men.
A court document shows that police followed them driving through “the areas of prior attacks and slowing in the areas of vagrant activity.” At one point, investigators saw them remove a “suspicious item wrapped in a towel from the trunk to the back seat.” It appeared to be a “long weapon,” but it couldn’t be confirmed.
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Gary Grado by email, or phone (602) 258-1746
another article that addresses the issue of the the cops have "probable cause" to arrest them or did the police falsely arrest them. these two statements could be the key to the issue of did the cops have probable cause to bust Samuel J. Dieteman and Dale S. Hausner
A confidential informant told detectives one of the men accused in a series of random shootings told her he shot a man in west Phoenix and mentioned a third person
The informant says Samuel J. Dieteman "started to cry" when he told her about the shooting and said "it was not the first time they had done something like that,"
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0809serial0809.html
3rd person might be involved in shootings
Police informant suggests suspects had accomplice
Judi Villa, Michael Kiefer, Sarah Muench and Robert Anglen
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 9, 2006 12:00 AM
Could there be a third "Serial Shooter"?
A confidential informant told detectives one of the men accused in a series of random shootings told her he shot a man in west Phoenix and mentioned a third person, according to a Glendale police report released Tuesday.
The informant says Samuel J. Dieteman "started to cry" when he told her about the shooting and said "it was not the first time they had done something like that," the report says.
Dieteman, 30, and his roommate, Dale S. Hausner, 33, were arrested last week and accused in a string of random shootings from the West Valley to the East Valley that killed seven people and wounded another 17. The 37 shootings believed to be linked to the "Serial Shooter" began with a homicide in May 2005 and targeted people walking, biking or otherwise outside alone at night. Court records have said Dieteman called the shootings "random recreational violence."
On Tuesday, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office filed a direct complaint consisting of 32 counts against Dieteman and Hausner, including two counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of drive-by shooting. In addition are 14 counts in which a jury would have a choice between aggravated assault or attempted first-degree murder.
"These alleged crimes have caused carnage and terror in our community," County Attorney Andrew Thomas said in a prepared statement.
Distraught and choked up with emotion, Dieteman's mother, Mary Monaghan, spoke out Tuesday for the first time, saying she has not seen her son since he was arrested and doesn't have any idea what will happen next to him and her family.
Dieteman's mother, speaking through a metal screen door at her modest stucco home in Glendale, said the charges don't change anything.
"I love my son, and I'll never say anything bad about him," she said. "He's my son and I love him. Isn't that enough of a story?"
While she struggled with questions about the case, Dieteman's stepfather, Timothy Monaghan repeatedly shouted "no comment" and ordered her to shut the door.
"He hasn't been home in a long time," she said, explaining that Dieteman has not lived with them for more than a year. "We haven't seen him in a while."
Hausner on Monday blamed all of the killings on Dieteman, saying he had nothing to do with any of the crimes even though police say his car and his guns were used in the crimes.
Dieteman has remained silent. But his friends dispute Hausner's account. They say Dieteman made statements about the crimes that may have led police to arrest the pair and put an end to the shootings.
The two men also are suspected of setting two arson fires 45 minutes apart at Wal-Mart stores in Glendale on June 8. Federal search warrant affidavits say their images were captured on surveillance tapes.
The Glendale police report says after those surveillance tapes were released to the public a confidential informant came forward to identify Dieteman. She described him as a "crazy man" who once beat a man "half to death" for putting mustard on his burger at a fast-food restaurant, the report says.
The informant also said Dieteman asked her if she had heard about the shooting of man on a bicycle on Camelback Road around 89th Avenue "about a month ago." Four of the shootings attributed to the Serial Shooter occurred on Camelback Road, including one near 86th Avenue on May 31. That victim was walking. But a bicyclist was shot in the 4000 block of West Camelback Road in March.
The source said Dieteman told her he was with a man who is "currently incarcerated," that they had used a shotgun and that they were in a truck. Hausner has not been recently incarcerated, raising questions about whether a third accomplice was involved.
Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill said detectives continue to follow up leads in the Serial Shooter case and examine cases already known to them and others that could end up being linked.
"We haven't closed the book in any of those cases," Hill said. "It's possible somebody else may come up."
The murder charges filed Tuesday are for the deaths of Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz in Scottsdale on May 2 and Robin Blasnek in Mesa on July 30.
Police suspect Dieteman and Hausner committed as many as seven murders and may file more charges as they develop those cases against the men.
The direct complaint is filed in order to keep the suspects in jail pending a hearing before a judge or a grand jury. The grand jury may decide to charge differently. And more charges can be added as evidence accrues.
In his statement, Thomas said, "I am confident that justice will be done."
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=71294
Suspects charged in serial shootings
By Gary Grado, Tribune
August 8, 2006
Two Mesa men suspected in a yearlong spree of random shootings have been formally charged with a long list of crimes, ranging from aggravated assault to first-degree murder. Prosecutors filed a 32-count criminal complaint Tuesday in Maricopa County Superior Court against Dale S. Hausner, 33, and Samuel J. Dieteman, 30.
The Serial Shooter suspects were arrested Thursday.
The complaint alleges that Hausner and Dieteman committed two counts of first-degree murder, 14 counts of attempted first-degree murder and 16 counts of drive-by shooting.
The next big question facing prosecutors is whether to seek the death penalty. Barnett Lotstein, special assistant county attorney, said prosecutors have 60 days to decide.
The two first-degree murder charges stem from the deaths of 22-year-old Mesa resident Robin Blasnek and Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz, 20, of Phoenix.
Blasnek was gunned down about 11:15 p.m. July 30 as she walked south on Gilbert Road at Grandview Drive. Dieteman told police that Hausner pulled the trigger on Blasnek, according to court documents.
Gutierrez-Cruz was shot as she walked from a bus stop near 6100 E. Thomas Road in Scottsdale. "Hausner pulled alongside in the curb lane and Dieteman fired one shot from a shotgun at the victim," court documents state. Dieteman and Hausner could face more charges when they go to trial because the Maricopa County Attorney's Office typically seeks grand jury indictments in major felony cases before filing a formal complaint.
Police said they have reason to believe the two men are responsible for 37 shootings, seven of them homicides, since May 2005.
On Monday, Hausner held a jailhouse news conference to say he was innocent and that Dieteman, who lived with him before their arrests, must have taken his guns and car without his knowledge and used them to commit the crimes.
The criminal complaint filed Tuesday includes charges of aggravated assault. Lotstein said the complaint was structured that way to give a jury another option if it were to decide against the attempted murder charges, which require proof of premeditation.
Contact Gary Grado by email, or phone (602) 258-1746
another article that addresses the issue of the the cops have "probable cause" to arrest them or did the police falsely arrest them. this article has the BEST and most complete summary of what was told to the police before they arrested the two guys. and since details are missing we don't know if they had the needed "probable cause" to bust the two guys or if the two guys were busted illegally on "hunches"
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0810serialshooters0810.html
Linking 'Shooter' clues was slow task
Police say additional culprits are possible
Judi Villa
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 10, 2006 12:00 AM
From the time "Serial Shooter" suspect Samuel Dieteman hit the police radar to the day he was captured, six more people were wounded in a string of random shootings and a woman walking outside in her pajamas was killed.
In the six weeks in between, a litany of sketchy clues, dead-ends and near-misses kept Dieteman just out of the reach of police, even after he was arrested for shoplifting during the height of the search to find him.
Dieteman, 30, and his roommate, Dale Hausner, 33, were arrested last week and accused of stalking the Valley for 14 months, gunning down people who were outside alone at night. Court records say that Dieteman targeted victims who looked to be transient and that he called the shootings "random recreational violence."
Seven people were killed and 17 wounded in a string of 37 shootings that began in May 2005.
The emergence of Dieteman as one of the most wanted and feared men in the Valley was gradual.
It began with just a tip.
June 20
Dieteman is the man in the surveillance tape, a confidential informant told federal agents investigating two arson fires. The fires were set 45 minutes apart on June 8 at Wal-Mart stores in Glendale.
Dieteman, the informant went on to say, also told her he had shot a bicyclist with a shotgun a month ago on Camelback Road near 89th Avenue. And, he said, it wasn't the first time he had done something like that. He gave the informant the first name of Lenny, an accomplice in the shooting, Glendale police reports say.
Police and agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began looking for Dieteman. The information about the shooting was passed along to Phoenix police detectives who are regularly assigned at the ATF office. Officials say a detective tried to track down the shooting tip and the friend Dieteman said was with him.
Two shootings attributed to the Serial Shooter could have matched. One was a man shot May 31 while taking a nighttime stroll at 86th Avenue and Camelback. The other was a bicyclist gunned down March 10 at 40th Avenue and Camelback. But neither came at exactly the time and place the tipster described. In one case, the weapon didn't match either, said Tom Mangan, an ATF spokesman.
Then, when police identified Lenny Constable as the man Dieteman said he was with during the shooting, they found Constable had been in jail since the morning of March 10. There was no way he could have participated in a shooting in May.
"The information wasn't panning out," Mangan said. "There were inconsistencies."
Still, Mangan said, "We weren't trying to dismiss the information."
Agents were "looking for Dieteman aggressively" to question him about the arsons, Mangan said. They checked his cellphone records, set up surveillance at an apartment complex where they thought he might be living and scoped out bars he was known to frequent, the police report says. They even asked the informant to make a call to Dieteman in hopes he would confess.
Dieteman remained elusive.
Mid-July
A multi-agency task force investigating the Serial Shooter cases received information that Dieteman was their man.
At this point, Phoenix police had received thousands of tips about the Serial Shooter, many with names attached. Dieteman, like the other names, would have to be checked out.
"There's a lot of names that got passed along," Sgt. Andy Hill said.
But police soon realized Dieteman's name also had surfaced in the arson investigation. And Dieteman looked a little more promising.
At the time, though, Dieteman was considered a possible lead, Hill said. There wasn't enough information to call him a suspect. Still, they were trying to find him.
When Mesa police arrested Dieteman at a Wal-Mart store on July 21, there was no reason for them to think he was anything but a shoplifter caught with pilfered vodka, a stud finder and windshield wipers.
There was no warrant for Dieteman's arrest in a national database of criminal information and nothing to indicate he was wanted because he was still just an "investigative interest," Mangan said. "He didn't fit the criteria."
Dieteman was cited and released.
About six hours later, police now say, Dieteman and Hausner shot and wounded a man riding a bike in Mesa.
End of July
A tip pointed the task force to a Glendale bar where Dieteman regularly hung out.
Detectives found him there on Aug. 1. But by then, the Serial Shooter had already been blamed for another murder. On July 30, Robin Blasnek, 22, was shot and killed while walking to a friend's house in Mesa.
Dieteman and Hausner arrived at the Stardust bar around 9 p.m. on Aug. 1. They were in Hausner's Toyota Camry, a vehicle police say was identical to one described by a Serial Shooter victim. Friends at the bar that night said Dieteman shot pool and even bought a round of drinks for everyone. He left around 11:30 p.m., with police following him.
Court papers say detectives watched the pair drive to a casino where they "removed a suspicious item wrapped in a towel from the trunk to the back seat." The item appeared to be a long weapon.
The next night, detectives tailed Dieteman and Hausner as they "suspiciously drove" through the areas of prior attacks, slowing in the areas of vagrant activity, court records say.
At the men's apartment complex, police watched one of them throw away a plastic bag. Inside, police found a map with red and blue dots representing attack locations and an expended shotgun shell.
Aug. 4
Dieteman and Hausner were arrested and later charged with 32 crimes, including two counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of drive-by shooting. In addition are 14 counts in which a jury would have a choice between aggravated assault and attempted first-degree murder.
Police have said physical and forensic evidence and incriminating statements link both men to the shooting spree. At their apartment, officers seized a shotgun and other weapons, along with news articles about the Serial Shooter and maps of previous shootings.
Hausner on Monday blamed all of the killings on Dieteman, saying he had nothing to do with any of the crimes. Dieteman has remained silent.
Hill said Wednesday police currently have no additional suspects. But, he said, "It is possible there could be more."
"Many things are possible," Hill said. "That will all depend on where the investigation takes the task force investigators in the days and weeks ahead."
He said police continue to investigate the shootings and are trying to determine if any other cases might be linked.
On Wednesday, Mangan said it was "unfortunate" that Blasnek was killed before police could find Dieteman and link him to the serial shootings.
"No one has more regrets than her family and everybody here in law enforcement that those links were not established sooner," Mangan said. "But the information was fragmented at best. We were moving aggressively trying to identify him."
Reporter JJ Hensley contributed to this article.
another article that addresses the issue of the the cops have "probable cause" to arrest them or did the police falsely arrest them.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0809az-serial-killers09-ON.html
Serial shooting suspect involved in past violence, report says
Associated Press
Aug. 9, 2006 06:07 PM
A man accused of shooting 16 people in a rash of late night attacks throughout the Phoenix area once punched a clerk at a Wendy's restaurant for putting mustard on his burger, according to a police report.
Samuel John Dieteman, 30, pulled the clerk over the counter and pounded him "half to death," an unidentified informant told police in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, according to a report obtained Wednesday by the Associated Press.
According to the report, the informant contacted police about Dieteman because she thought he looked like one of two men in a surveillance video that was broadcast on television. Police had circulated the video as part of an investigation into arsons at two Glendale Wal-Marts.
Authorities eventually caught up to Dieteman at a Glendale pool hall.
Officials with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which had helped investigate the arsons, said they're convinced that Dieteman and his roommate, Dale S. Hausner, 33, committed the arsons.
Maricopa County authorities have also charged both men with two counts of first-degree murder, 14 counts of attempted first-degree murder, and 16 counts of drive-by shooting.
The two are thought to have teamed up over the past 14 months to randomly shoot people in the middle of the night as they walked alone or rode bicycles along the street.
Dieteman has declined interview requests made through jail officials.
Dieteman's lawyer, Maria Schaffer, said she hasn't received the police report and doesn't have enough information to say whether it's a fair representation of Dieteman's personality.
Kelly Hottowe, a friend of Dieteman's, said his life started to unravel last summer after his mother kicked him out of her house in Glendale.
"That poor man walked the streets for weeks," said Hottowe.
"He started drinking a lot, and who knows what else," she said. "Maybe he was born with that little button in his head, and it took those things to happen, and he pushed it."
In the Glendale police report, the informant also told police that Dieteman shot someone in May with a biker named Lenny Constable. But Constable couldn't have been involved, said his lawyer, Henry J. Florence.
Florence said Constable has been in jail for four or five months on aggravated assault charges for stabbing a man at a restaurant. "He's been in jail all this time."
Phoenix police spokesman Andy Hill said Wednesday that police haven't named a third suspect in the serial shootings case.
"We're not saying that there might not be somebody (else), but we don't have another suspect at this time," Hill said.
In addition to the 16 shootings that Dieteman and Hausner have been charged with, police say they're investigating another 21 random shootings including five more deaths. Several of those cases involve animal shootings.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=71369
No more suspects sought in serial shootings
By Gary Grado, Tribune
August 10, 2006
There is no third suspect in a yearlong string of shootings in which two Mesa men are charged, authorities said Wednesday after some Valley media outlets raised the question in published and broadcast reports.
Media outlets based their stories on a Glendale police report in which a confidential informant said Samuel J. Dieteman, now a suspect in the serial shootings, told her he shot a bicyclist near 89th Avenue and Camelback Road with a man named Lenny.
Both Dieteman and Dale S. Hausner are charged with two counts of firstdegree murder, 14 counts of attempted first-degree murder and 16 counts of drive-by shooting in connection with a spree that police say could include 37 incidents and seven deaths.
Tom Mangan, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said investigators discovered Lenny has been in jail since March.
Shootings in that area occurred in May, according to Phoenix police.
“We’re very confident the two individuals we have are the shooters,” Mangan said.
Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill said that “there are no additional suspects,” but that a task force continues to follow up on leads.
The Glendale police report pertains to two Wal-Mart fires that Hausner and Dieteman are suspected of starting June 8. Police spokeswoman Jackie Cole said “there are some interpretation issues” of the report by the media.
“Some of the things I’ve heard and seen on the news don’t seem to be consistent with the report,” Cole said.
The report obtained by the Tribune on Wednesday is heavily redacted, but Dieteman is identifiable in it by a reference to a tattoo.
Dieteman has made incriminating statements about the shootings to police, court records show, but Hausner has denied involvement and told reporters he blames Dieteman for the crimes.
Contact Gary Grado by email, or phone (602) 258-1746
http://www.azcentral.com/lavoz/front/articles/080906calmaphoenix-CR.html.html
Vuelve la calma al sur de Phoenix
Por Samuel Murillo y Ángel Larreal
La Voz
Agosto 9, 2006
Un respiro de alivio dieron varios residentes del área metropolitana de Phoenix al darse a conocer la noticia de la captura de dos sospechosos de una serie de crímenes que habían sembrado el terror entre la comunidad.
“Tenemos a dos sospechosos en custodia”, anunció el sargento Andy Hill el pasado 11 de agosto, previo a una abarrotada rueda de prensa en el Ayuntamiento Municipal, en esta capital arizonense.
En la conferencia, visiblemente emocionados por la información que dieron a conocer, representantes de diferentes corporaciones policíacas y el alcalde de Phoenix, Phil Gordon, revelaron lo que desde hace varias semanas muchos residentes querían oír: “Capturamos a los criminales en serie”. Aunque no fue precisamente ese el mensaje, el alcalde dijo que había evidencia de que tenían en sus manos no a uno, sino a dos sospechosos de ser el “serial shooter” (francotirador en serie).
El munícipe volvió a referirse a los autores de más de una treintena de tiroteos y otros delitos como monstruos. “Queremos informarles que hemos capturado a estos monstruos que por algunas semanas le robaron la tranquilidad a nuestros vecindarios”, resaltó al abrir paso al jefe de la Policía de Phoenix, Jack Harris, para que fuera él quien diera los detalles. “Los tenemos. Hoy después de un trabajo conjunto entre varias agencias y numerosos agentes que estuvieron trabajando en las investigaciones de este caso hemos logrado detener a dos personas sospechosas de los tiroteos en serie”, dijo.
Informó que los detenidos son Samuel Dieteman y Dale Hausner, éste último, hasta el viernes 11 de agosto, empleado del aeropuerto Sky Harbor de la Ciudad de Phoenix.
La detención de Samuel Dieteman y Dale Hausner captó la atención de la prensa a nivel internacional, luego de que el caso trascendiera ante el pánico provocado por los crímenes en serie.
Evidencias los inculpan
Las autoridades identificaron a Dieteman y Hausner como los responsables de haber causado la muerte de al menos seis personas en varios tiroteos realizados por diferentes rumbos de la Ciudad de Phoenix. Aunque originalmente se creía que era un “serial shooter” (francotirador en serie) resultaron ser dos los involucrados en este caso, según las investigaciones llevadas a cabo por varias agencias policíacas del Valle.
La detective Stacie Derge, de la Policía de Phoenix, informó que desde unos días antes tenían ubicados a los sospechosos, pero querían tener suficiente evidencia para arrestarlos. La detención de los dos sospechosos se efectuó la madrugada del viernes 11 de agosto en el complejo de apartamentos Windscape en Mesa. En la vivienda que era alquilada por Dale Hausner, quien tenía pocos meses de haber llevado a vivir como compañero de cuarto a Dieteman, la policía encontró varias armas de fuego y un mapa que detallaba los puntos donde se habían registrado los tiroteos.
Las dos personas están relacionadas con el caso conocido por la policía como “Serial Shooter” (francotirador en serie), quien se cree ha asesinado a seis personas y herido a otras 17, la mayoría transeúntes y ciclistas, desde mayo del 2005, informaron después de la captura voceros de la Ciudad de Phoenix. El último asesinato que se atribuye al denominado “francotirador en serie” tuvo lugar en Mesa el domingo anterior a la captura de los sospechosos, cuando una joven de 22 años fue asesinada mientras caminaba desde la casa de sus padres a la de su novio. Durante más de un mes la policía designó a más de 180 agentes exclusivamente a este caso, que investigaron a tiempo completo los 34 ataques o tiroteos contra personas, perros y caballos. Los disparos tuvieron lugar generalmente de noche y sin testigos.
“No soy un monstruo”: Hausner
Uno de los dos hombres arrestados en relación con la serie de asesinatos aparentemente aleatorios negó cualquier relación con los hechos. “No soy un monstruo”, dijo Dale S. Hausner en entrevista concedida a los medios desde la cárcel de la Cuarta Avenida.
Hausner, de 33 años, afirmó que no era un asesino, pero agregó que Dieteman quizás haya tomado su carro y armas para cometer los crímenes.
“Me siento muy mal por las familias de las personas atacadas, pero yo no lo hice”, dijo. Hausner comentó ante cámaras y grabadoras de audio que su hermano le presentó a Dieteman hace seis meses.
Mencionó que hace un mes le permitió a Dieteman mudarse a su apartamento porque le apenaba que no tuviese trabajo ni hogar.
Hasta el momento, Dieteman, de 30 años, se ha negado a conversar con los medios. Durante la entrevista con la prensa, Hausner dijo no estar seguro de que Dieteman sea capaz de causar esa violencia, pero que lo implicó a él para desviar su culpa.
Ambos fueron vinculados al caso del “serial shooter”, luego de que la Policía de Glendale proporcionara unas imágenes tomadas de una de las cámaras de una tienda Walmart que fue incendiada en junio pasado, y en la que aparecen como principales sospechosos.
Una persona no identificada llamó a la policía para informar que Dieteman manejaba un vehículo en los alrededores de los sitios donde se registraban los tiroteos. Según la información divulgada por las autoridades, Hausner y Dieteman tomaban turnos para manejar o para disparar las armas de fuego contra objetivos no planeados. Entre las notas de prensa se maneja que lo hacían como una forma de “diversión recreacional”.
Dieteman admitió ante la policía haber realizado muchos de los disparos. Los dos detenidos fueron fichados como parte de la investigación de dos cargos de asesinato en primer grado por las muertes de Robin Blasnek y Claudia Gutiérrez Cruz, así como por 13 cargos de intento de asesinato en primer grado.
Sembraron terror
Todos los ataques, que empezaron en mayo de 2005, sembraron más terror porque otro asesino en serie, aparentemente no relacionado, había estado atacando al mismo tiempo en la zona de Phoenix. El otro homicida ha sido identificado como el “asesino de Baseline”, a quien se le atribuyen al menos 23 delitos entre robos, violaciones y asesinatos. Los dos casos tomaron como presas del miedo a varios residentes del Valle del Sol.
El activista pro inmigrante Elías Bermúdez había expresado su temor de que fuera un hispano el responsable de estos atroces crímenes. Sin embargo, el anuncio de la detención de dos sospechosos, ninguno de ellos hispano, le dio una sensación de alivio.
“El ambiente en contra del inmigrante en el estado está muy tenso y de haber sido un hispano el responsable se hubiera acrecentado más el odio racial”, externo. Bermúdez fue uno de los pocos activistas que estuvo presente durante la conferencia de prensa en la que se anunció la captura de los sospechosos. A través de su programa de radio que se transmite en el 740 AM estuvo llamando a sus radioescuchas, principalmente hispanos, a denunciar cualquier actividad sospechosa en sus vecindarios y a ayudar a la policía a capturar a los criminales en serie.
Piden apoyo de comunidad hispana
Como parte de las acciones que desarrolló la policía para alertar a la comunidad acerca de los crímenes en serie y los avances en las investigaciones, la semana pasada realizó un foro dirigido a la población hispano-parlante.
Durante el evento, realizado en la escuela Creighton, en Phoenix, las autoridades solicitaron ayuda a la comunidad para recabar información que lleve a la captura de los criminales en serie. Después de la detención de dos sospechosos de ser el “tirador en serie” ahora los esfuerzos de la policía y de los ciudadanos deben enfocarse a la detención del “asesino de Baseline”, dijo la detective Stacie Derge.
Actualmente las autoridades ofrecen una recompensa de hasta 200 mil dólares a quien dé informes que ayuden a la detención de este criminal, recordó. Se cree que el llamado “Baseline Killer” es responsable del asesinato de siete mujeres y un hombre, así como de agredir sexualmente a 11 mujeres y niñas durante el último año.
La policía aconsejó a la comunidad que se mantenga alerta a lo que ocurra a su alrededor, confíen en sus instintos y tengan un plan si llegaran a ser atacados.
¿Y ahora qué?
Desde el punto de vista legal, la extensa cobertura de los medios de comunicación sobre estos casos, tiene ramificaciones muy complejas que pueden alargar el periodo del juicio a los responsables.
Gabriel Chin, profesor de leyes y director del Programa de Seguridad y Justicia Criminal del Colegio de Abogacía James E. Rogers de la Universidad de Arizona (UA), explicó que las complicaciones y la atención de los medios al caso de los francotiradores harán imposible para la defensa y la parte acusadora encontrar personas que conformen un jurado que sea imparcial.
Al ser consultado, el experto dijo que en casos notorios como estos es adecuado preguntarse: ¿Pueden estas personas tener un juicio justo?, ¿Puedes encontrar jurados que no se hayan formado una opinión al respecto?
Chin sostuvo que este caso será muy complicado desde el punto de vista de la selección de los jurados por la publicidad y atención que recibió por parte de todos los medios de comunicación.
“Hubo un vínculo emocional porque todo el mundo en el Condado Maricopa se identificó y pensó que pudo ser víctima del francotirador. Yo pude haber sido una víctima”, sostuvo el abogado explicando la asociación psicológica hecha por personas.
Igualmente, el profesor de justicia criminal de UA opinó que “lo justo del sistema judicial está comprometido”. Y añadió: “Esta es otra pregunta muy seria ¿Se puede encontrar un jurado imparcial en el Condado Maricopa?
Chin dijo que especulaba al formular lo siguiente: “Pienso que va a tomar mucho trabajo encontrar un jurado imparcial en el Condado”.
Sobre la aplicación hecha por los abogados defensores de cambiar el juicio de condado (change of venue, en inglés), el experto en justicia criminal calificó la solicitud como “apropiada”.
Sobre la extensa y en algunos casos sensacionalista cobertura del caso de los francotiradores en algunos medios de comunicación, Chin expresó que el papel de la prensa en estos casos siempre crea un conflicto deontológico (ético) muy complejo.
Igualmente, opino que en un caso criminal altamente publicitado como este, algunos medios de comunicación son usados inteligentemente por los fiscales y la parte acusadora.
Residentes opinan
- A pesar de que las autoridades capturaron a Dale Hausner y Samuel Dieteman, acusados de ser los francotiradores que aterrorizaron a Phoenix por poco más de un año, esto produjo sentimientos de alivio y una que otra crítica en la población.
"Me siento más tranquilo por la captura de los dos sujetos acusados de ser los francotiradores, pero todavía siento un poco de angustia porque sigue libre el llamado asesino de Baseline. Ya era hora de que los detuvieran, después de un año por fin los agarraron".
"En mi casa desde que están estos problemas (los francotiradores y el asesino de Baseline) no me dejan salir sola. Tengo que ir a todos lados con alguien que conozcan. Nos sentimos más seguros con la captura de los supuestos francotiradores; sin embargo, tomamos las medidas preventivas por el asesino de la Baseline que todavía está suelto."
"Me siento tranquila y segura con el trabajo que han hecho las autoridades policiales. Hasta ahora mi vida social no se ha modificado".
Tómelo en cuenta…
- Estas son unas recomendaciones dadas por la Policía de Phoenix:
•Esté siempre alerta.
Ponga atención a su alrededor y demuestre confianza en sí mismo
Ponga atención y fíjese en la gente que lo rodea
No tenga miedo de hacer el ridículo o de llamar la atención para pedir ayuda
•Piense en un plan
Imagine qué haría si alguien le enfrenta, el mejor consejo es huir, gritar y correr
-Lleve un teléfono celular y téngalo listo para usar. Las llamadas al servicio de emergencia son gratuitas y no importa si el teléfono tiene el servicio suspendido
-Si alguien le agarra el bolso deje que se lo quiten
Por sobre todo, confíe en sus instintos
Es recomendable como medida extra de seguridad, llevar un rociador de pimienta o un silbato
-Primero que todo, llame a la policía, no a su familia
Reporte cualquier actividad sospechosa por minúscula que sea
Fuente: Departamento de Policía de Phoenix.
Contacte al reportero:Samuel.murillo@lavozpublishing.com y angel.larreal@lavozpublishing.com
http://www.prensahispanaaz.com/index.asp?id=9041
Caen dos asesinos pero otro sigue suelto
Con bombo y platillo, las autoridades dieron a conocer la detención de Dale Hausner y Samuel Dieteman, los dos supuestos pistoleros por los que ofrecían 100 mil dólares de recompensa. El anuncio lo hicieron en una conferencia de prensa que se caracterizó por la espectacularidad; sin embargo, no dejó de estar empañada por el hecho de que sigue suelto otro asesino en serie.
Ahí estuvieron el alcalde de Phoenix, Phil Gordon, el jefe de la Policía de Phoenix, Jack Harris, y otros jefes policiacos, entre ellos del FBI y del ATF. Algunos concejales de Phoenix como Peggy Bilsten, Claude Mattox, Gregg Stanton y Dave Siebert, también se hicieron presentes.
“Hemos capturado a dos monstruos”, dijo el alcalde Gordon, al tiempo de reconocer el trabajo de los investigadores.
Como se recordará, Hausner y Dieteman fueron arrestados la semana pasada en un apartamento que compartían en Mesa.
El primero, de 33 años, trabajó varios años como afanador en el Aeropuerto Internacional Sky Harbor, mientras que su amigo es electricista. Según las autoridades, ellos son los autores de al menos 36 agresiones con arma de fuego entre mayo del 2005 y los primeros días de agosto. Los acusan del asesinato de al menos seis personas y causar lesiones a otras 17; se cree que son los que mataban también perros y caballos. Ambos se encuentran recluídos en la cárcel Cuarta Avenida y enfrentan varios cargos de asesinato en primer grado y asalto con agravantes. El jefe Jack Harris también elogió la labor de los investigadores, pero sobre todo el trabajo conjunto de las distintas agencias policiacas. Agradeció el apoyo de la comunidad para dar con el paradero de los sospechosos, de quienes dijo no tener duda que son los autores de los múltiples homicidios. Cabe señalar que la captura de los peligrosos asesinos en serie se llevó a cabo sin ningún incidente; ni una sola bala fue disparada durante el operativo en el que participaron agentes de la Policía de Mesa, de Phoenix, del FBI, del ICE y del ATF. Los sospechosos no opusieron resistencia ni trataron de escapar, así que en cuestión de segundos fueron detenidos y trasladados al edificio principal de la Policía de Phoenix.
Se declara inocente
El lunes pasado, Dale Hausner ofreció una conferencia de prensa en la cárcel para alegar su inocencia ante los medios de comunicación.
“No debo nada”, declaró el acusado, quien entró al pequeño salón encadenado de pies y manos, y fuertemente custodiado. Dijo que no es ningún asesino y que la única razón por la que fue detenido es porque vivía con su amigo Samuel Dieteman.
Reconoció que en algunas ocasiones salía en el auto con su amigo y hasta iban juntos a la tienda, pero nunca fue su cómplice. Con esa declaración, Hausner descargó toda la culpa en Samuel Dieteman, y aclaró reiteradamente que una cosa es que viviera con él y otra que fuera su cómplice en los asesinatos.
“Yo no salgo a balear a la gente sin razón alguna”, recalcó, alegando que no hay ninguna ley que prohíba salir a manejar cuando alguien no puede dormir. Al ser cuestionado por qué tenía guardados recortes de periódicos con la lista de las víctimas de los asesinos en serie, Dale Hausner contestó que eso lo hace cualquier ciudadano.
Aseguró que él también está pendiente del Asesino de la Baseline porque no quiere que siga suelto.
Cuando le preguntaron por qué tenía tantas armas en el apartamento, incluído un rifle .410 con el que fueron asesinadas varias víctimas, el acusado respondió: “Colecciono armas de fuego como la mayoría de los americanos”.
Incendiaron tiendas Wal-Mart
Los investigadores dicen no tener la menor duda de que estos dos sujetos fueron los que incendiaron dos tiendas Wal-Mart en junio pasado. Los tienen plenamente identificados por las imágenes captadas por las cámaras de seguridad de dichos centros comerciales, que muestran cuando Dale Hausner y Samuel Dieteman ingresaron a las tiendas; incluso, grabaron cuando se alejaron en su auto Toyota, tras iniciar los incendios.
Al respecto, Hausner econoció que la fecha en que ocurrieron los incendios fueron a dichas tiendas, pero ellos no los causaron ni vieron quiénes lo hicieron.
Intensifican búsqueda
La Policía de Phoenix dio a conocer que sus casi 200 oficiales que tenía destinados para los dos casos, ahora se dedican de lleno a la búsqueda del Asesino de la Baseline. Como es del dominio público, es un sujeto afroamericano de entre 25 y 30 años al que se le atribuyen ocho asesinatos, así como varias violaciones. Por su captura se ofrece una recompensa de hasta 100 mil dólares, si alguien sabe quién es o tiene información que pueda ayudar a identificarlo, favor de comunicarse de inmediato al 911 o al (480) 837-8446, que es la línea de Testigo Silencioso.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=72007
Warrant: Police tailed suspects before arrest
By Daryl James, Tribune
August 18, 2006
Two men arrested this month in the Serial Shooter case cruised the streets of Chandler two nights before their arrest and slowed down near bicyclists and pedestrians traveling alone.
But the suspects returned to their Mesa apartment when it started to rain and complained aloud that the downpour had ruined their night, a search warrant affidavit made public on Friday indicates.
"The suspect vehicle left and began to cruise the streets of the city of Chandler in a manner that would be described as suspicious," wrote Scottsdale detective Hugh Lockerby. "The vehicle approached several pedestrians and bicyclists that were alone."
Police arrested Samuel Dieteman, 30, and Dale S. Hausner, 33, at their Mesa apartment on Aug. 3. They are charged with 46 counts that include the slayings of 22-year-old Robin Blasnek on July 30 in Mesa and 20-year-old Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz on May 2 in Scottsdale.
Overall, police have linked seven random shooting deaths to the men over 14 months.
Lockerby, one of the detectives who kept the suspects under constant surveillance in Chandler, said the vehicle slowed down several times during the night when it approached "potential targets." He indicated the men drove away each time due to "constant vehicular traffic."
Police have previously said that undercover detectives were prepared to shoot and kill the suspects if they raised the .410-gauge shotgun that police allege was in the car. But rain came instead, and Dieteman and Hausner returned home.
"An undercover officer was hiding in nearby bushes and overheard a statement about the rain ruining the night," Lockerby wrote.
He indicated the men carried an item to and from their vehicle that night that was likely the shotgun that police later seized from the apartment.
The next day after the cruise through Chandler, undercover detectives observed Dieteman discarding a black plastic bag. Officers recovered the bag and found a Valley map inside that included red and blue marks that corresponded with previous shootings.
Officers also recovered a .410-gauge shotgun shell from the bag.
The affidavit, which includes large portions blacked out by investigators, also indicates that police searched a storage unit at 2850 E. McDowell Road in Mesa that Hausner rented.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James H. Keppel reviewed the search warrant affidavit on Friday and ordered prosecutors to unseal certain portions.
Keppel also ruled Friday that the trials for Dieteman and Hausner should remain in Phoenix. Defense attorney Garrett Simpson had previously requested that Hausner's trial be moved outside Maricopa County because of heavy media coverage of the case that might taint the jury pool.
Keppel said it’s too early to decide whether the people in the county have received too much information about the case to give Hausner a fair trial.
‘‘The time to decide whether there’s too much media coverage should be decided shortly before the trial,’’ Keppel said at a hearing Friday.
Contact Daryl James by email, or phone () -
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0901serialkillings01-ON.html
Police: In 1 case, suspects in killings acted like witnesses
Associated Press
Sept. 1, 2006 11:25 AM
Two men charged in a series of random shootings in metropolitan Phoenix flagged down officers arriving at one incident in May, police said Friday.
Sam Dieteman and Dale Hausner were at the scene of the May 30th shooting of James Hodge in west Phoenix and directed arriving officers to the wounded man, Sgt. Andy Hill said.
The men told officers they had been out looking for Hausner's cat and heard Hodge screaming in pain, Hill said. Officers considered them witnesses, but did place their names into a database assembled by a task force investigating the crimes.
Hodge survived, and Dieteman and Haunser are charged with his shooting. All together, they face two counts of murder and 14 counts of attempted murder connected to the year-long shooting spree.
Dieteman, 30, and Hausner, 33, were arrested early last month by a task force investigating 37 shooting incidents stretching back to May 2005.
Seven people were killed during the shooting series and 17 wounded. Several animals also were shot. Police are continuing efforts to link them to the other cases
Suspects talked to police as witnesses
Judi Villa
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 2, 2006 12:00 AM
The two men accused in a deadly 14-month spree of serial shootings approached a bleeding victim after one of the attacks, then flagged down a police officer for help, according to crime reports released Friday.
Samuel Dieteman, 30, and Dale Hausner, 33, said they were walking around looking for Hausner's cat May 30 when they heard screaming, found a man bleeding in a west Phoenix parking lot, then heard tires squealing.
The two also asked the victim, James Hodge, what had happened, but Hodge "was unable to tell them," the report says. Hodge survived the shooting.
Although the men's names and their statements appear in a police report, officers didn't immediately make the connection when they began looking for Dieteman in late June in connection with two arsons in Glendale. A woman who identified Dieteman from surveillance tapes also told officials that Dieteman said he had shot a bicyclist about a month before.
When police began looking for Dieteman, they ran his name through a computer system, but it didn't match the May 30 shooting because Dieteman's name was spelled wrong in the report, Sgt. Andy Hill said. Detectives did not tie the information together until after police found Dieteman at a bar Aug. 1 and put him and Hausner under surveillance. The two were arrested Aug. 3.
From the time Dieteman first hit the police radar June 20 to his capture, six more people were wounded in the serial shootings and a woman was killed.
Still, it would only be speculation to suggest Dieteman and Hausner could have been captured earlier and some of the shootings prevented if the connection had been made sooner, Hill said. Both men had given police fake addresses May 30. It is unclear whether Dieteman purposely spelled his name wrong or if it was written down incorrectly in the report. Hausner's name was spelled correctly in the report, but police said they weren't aware of him until he was seen with Dieteman on Aug. 1.
"Now, we see the puzzle a lot differently than we did back then," Hill said. "It's not a surprise in a serial investigation that, at some point, you'll have some sort of contact with the suspects."
Although the report places Dieteman and Hausner at the shooting scene, it doesn't explain why they approached police or even stuck around in the first place.
But Steven Pitt, a nationally known forensic psychiatrist based in Scottsdale, said it's not uncommon for serial offenders to interject themselves into criminal investigations.
"Because they are having serial success, they become increasingly brazen and intoxicated with their own success to the point where they feel they are above the law," said Pitt, who isn't involved with the "Serial Shooter" case.
Some serial offenders interject themselves into the investigation as "a slap in the face" to police, Pitt said. Other reasons could include "an unconscious desire to be apprehended" or a need to relieve guilt, Pitt said.
"It takes a lot of audacity," he said. "For some, it's just an extraordinarily narcissistic rush to see all the attention their crime has garnered and to be right there under the nose of law enforcement and not be apprehended. That's a very intoxicating feeling."
Dieteman and Hausner have been indicted on 46 counts that include murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault and drive-by shooting. Police believe the men are linked to 37 shootings that killed seven people and wounded 17. Court records say the two targeted people who looked to be transient in what Dieteman described as "random recreational violence." Both men have pleaded not guilty.
The report on the May 30 shooting was one of a dozen released Friday. The others shed little light on the investigation. Victims reported various vehicle descriptions, and a couple even mentioned two men on bikes.
After being told about several other random shootings, one victim told police, "Tell them I'm not a test dummy and I didn't sign up for this. It hurts."
Hodge was shot in the back just after 11 p.m. as he stood in front of his residence in the 4800 block of North 89th Avenue. A neighbor who heard the gunshot and screaming called police. Dieteman and Hausner then reportedly flagged down an arriving officer, telling her a man had been shot. Both men told police they didn't know Hodge, hadn't heard any gunshots and hadn't seen any suspicious activity.
Dieteman's and Hausner's names do not appear in any of the other reports.
"We have not found any other incidents where they were at and we identified them as being there," Hill said.
'Serial Shooter' case expands
Hausner is now charged in all 7 murders
Judi Villa and Michael Kiefer
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 18, 2006 12:00 AM
Expended .22-caliber shell casings found in the car of "Serial Shooter" suspect Dale Hausner match the bullets that killed five people during a 14-month spree of random shootings, according to a Phoenix police report released Friday.
Hausner, 33, was indicted Friday on five new counts of first-degree murder, a move that means charges now have been filed in all seven killings that police had linked to the Serial Shooter cases. Hausner and his roommate, Samuel Dieteman, 31, were arrested in August, but the original 46-count indictment against them accounted for only two of the murders.
Dieteman also is facing new charges related to some of the 36 separate shooting incidents that began in May 2005 and eventually killed seven and wounded at least 19. But Friday's indictment does not link Dieteman to the first five murders in the spree, which occurred between May 2005 and December and involved a .22-caliber weapon.
Police have long suspected that the Serial Shooter switched to a shotgun earlier this year. The last two murder victims were gunned down with a shotgun. The report released Friday says Dieteman told police that Hausner was involved in the .22-caliber shootings and that he "got rid" of the rifle because it could be linked to him.
The .22-caliber projectiles used to kill the five victims all had "16 lands and grooves with a right twist," the same distinctive markings as seven expended casings found under the rear passenger seat of Hausner's car, the police report says. Police also found 100 live .22-caliber bullets in the trunk of the car.
The Serial Shooter cases are believed to have begun May 17, 2005, with the shooting death of Tony Mendez, 38, who was riding his bicycle on an east Phoenix street. Hausner was charged with Mendez's slaying on Friday, as well as with the killings of Reginald Remillard, David Estrada, Jose Ortis and Marco Carillo. Previously, he and Dieteman were indicted on charges relating to the shotgun slayings of Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz in Scottsdale in May and Robin Blasnek on July 30 in Mesa.
Court records say the men picked victims who were outside alone at night and looked like transients in what Dieteman called "random recreational violence." Animals also were targeted. Both men have pleaded not guilty.
"I have previously announced my intent to seek the death penalty against these predators," Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said after announcing the new indictment. "Those who would take the lives of others in the name of so-called random recreational violence need to be taught that mass murder is not a sport. It is instead a one-way ticket to death row."
In addition to the five new murder charges, Hausner also is facing 30 other counts, some relating to the shootings of three horses and seven dogs. Dieteman is facing seven new charges. Both men are being accused of two new drive-by shootings that previously had not been linked to the string. Police say the investigation is continuing.
Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris thanked the community for calling in thousands of tips as Phoenix police investigated two serial predator cases at the same time.
In September, police arrested Mark Goudeau in relation to two sexual assaults that have been linked to the "Baseline Killer" case, a string of 23 attacks, including rapes, robberies and eight murders, since August 2005. Goudeau has been indicted on 20 counts related to the September 2005 sexual assaults of two sisters at a south Phoenix park. He has pleaded not guilty.
Police say Goudeau has been linked only to the September 2005 assaults, but he has not been excluded as a suspect in the other cases.
The serial shootings swept from the West Valley to the east. Hausner and Dieteman were arrested after police received a crucial tip about Dieteman's identity and linked the pair to two arson fires at Wal-Mart stores in Glendale, where the suspects were caught on surveillance tape.
"One of the greatest satisfactions for law enforcement in seeing suspects brought to justice is that the loved ones of victims can now rest in the fact that the criminal justice system is moving forward in the process of closure for them," Harris said.
"The surviving victims, loved ones and all of us who grieve with and for those who have suffered at the hands of these serial killers are thankful that the community is now safe from those criminals."
Staff reporter Jahna Berry contributed to this article.
Hausner, Dieteman get 35 additional felony counts
By Jill Redhage, Tribune
November 17, 2006
A Maricopa County grand jury indicted two serial shooting suspects from Mesa with 35 additional felony counts Friday.
The indictment charges Dale S. Hausner with 35 more felonies and adds seven for Samuel J. Dieteman.
Hausner alone is charged with five new counts of firstdegree murder. Other charges against him include cruelty to animals, drive-by shooting and arson.
Prosecutors say Dieteman never acted alone, but always with Hausner. Dieteman is accused of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder as well as drive-by shooting, arson and aggravated assault.
On Aug. 11, a county grand jury indicted Dieteman and Hausner on two counts of firstdegree murder, 14 counts of attempted first-degree murder, 14 counts of aggravated assault and 16 counts of driveby shooting. The victims cited in the original murder indictments were Claudia Gutierrez Cruz and Robin Blasnek.
Police believe the two men cruised Valley streets for 14 months searching for potential targets for their shooting spree.
Prosecutors said they plan to seek the death penalty for Hausner and Dieteman.
Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill said investigators only recently connected the July 7 shooting of a Phoenix man at 2632 W. State Ave. to the serial shooting case. The victim survived being shot with a shotgun outside his home, but still has shot in his body, Hill said.
Hausner has said publicly he had no part in the string of crimes. He placed sole blame on Dieteman, claiming that his “down on his luck” friend used his car and guns. A court document shows Dieteman admitted involvement, but police said both men have made incriminating statements.
County Attorney Andrew Thomas refused to comment Friday on whether Hausner’s brother, Jeffrey, was connected to any of the serial crimes. Jeff Hausner was arrested Nov. 2 on suspicion of stabbing a homeless man in the stomach in west Phoenix on April 14.
Police say Jeff Hausner was with Dieteman when the homeless man was stabbed. Jeff Hausner was booked into the county’s Madison Street Jail on suspicion of attempted murder.
Thomas also would not say whether Dieteman will testify against Dale Hausner during the trial.
The defendants, who were arrested Aug. 3 outside their Mesa apartment, are in a Maricopa County jail while they await trial on the Aug. 11 murder charges.
Hausner’s new felony counts
• First Degree Murder (5 counts) Victims: Tony Mendez, Reginald Remillard, David Estrada, Jose Ortis and Marco Carillo
• Attempted First-Degree Murder (3 counts) Victims: Timmy Tordai, Clarissa Stevens and David Perez.
• Aggravated Assault (2 counts)
• Drive-By Shooting (10 counts)
• Discharge of Firearm at Structure (2 counts)
• Cruelty to Animals (10 counts)
• Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Murder (1 count)
• Arson of Occupied Structure (2 counts)
Dieteman’s new felony counts
• Attempted First-Degree Murder (1 count)
• Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Murder (1 count)
• Drive-By Shooting (2 counts)
• Arson of Occupied Structure (2 counts)
• Aggravated Assault (1 count)
Contact Jill Redhage by email, or phone (480) 898-6536
The dumb asses should have taken the 5th and kept their mouths shut. All this stuff they have said in police questionings will be used against them in court probably to convict them. That's not to say I like them, they are probably asshole murderers. But if the dumb shits took the 5th it would make it harder to convict them. That't not to say a kangaroo kourt won't convict them.
The article didn't mention it but I thought they started out by first shooting animals such as horses and cows out in the west valley before they switched to humans. The cops must have questioned them about if they got their jollies from murdering horses.
'Serial Shooter' suspects dodging blame
Judi Villa and Michael Clancy
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 28, 2006 12:00 AM
"Sit back," Dale Hausner told his friend Samuel Dieteman while they were out driving one night in late May.
Then, Dieteman told police, Hausner rolled down his window, brought up a shotgun, reached over him and "fired at some fat guy that was walking down the road," according to police reports released Monday.
Afterward, Hausner "just kinda chuckles a little bit and lays the gun down besides his leg there," Dieteman said in an interview with detectives. "He just kinda looked at me for a second and kept drivin'."
In interviews with police after their arrests in August, Dieteman, 31, and Hausner, 33, both cast blame on the other for the 14-month spree of random shootings that began in May 2005 and left seven dead and at least 18 wounded. Dieteman paints Hausner as the mastermind, and Hausner says that if Dieteman was involved, he had no knowledge and never would have let Dieteman live with him or be near his daughter, the reports say.
Hausner went so far as to suggest that the "Baseline Killer" was responsible for the "Serial Shooter" crimes. Hausner and Dieteman have been indicted on charges linked to 36 Serial Shooter attacks, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Dieteman says the May shooting, which was not fatal, was the first time he was involved with any of the Serial Shooter attacks that terrorized the Valley for more than year, although he said Hausner told him he had committed similar shootings in 2005 with a .22-caliber weapon, according to the police reports. He said that he was with Hausner for four shootings and that the two took turns firing the gun.
In his interview with police, Hausner characterized himself as a law-abiding citizen while casting Dieteman as a drunk whose self-esteem was so low that he wanted to die.
Hausner consistently insists he had nothing to do with any of the shootings. He said that gangs or the Baseline Killer, who was responsible for a string of 23 attacks that left eight people dead, could be responsible for the shootings. At the time of the interviews, police had not arrested Mark Goudeau involving two sexual assaults linked to the Baseline Killer case.
Hausner also told detectives that if Dieteman was the shooter, he must have taken Hausner's guns and his car.
"I wasn't there for any killings," Hausner said. "I did not drive the car for any killings. I did not pull the trigger on anybody. . . . I'm not a murderer. I don't kill people!"
Dieteman has a different story. He said he didn't realize what Hausner was about to do the first time he was with him for a shooting in May. Several weeks later, Dieteman said the men were driving home from dinner when Hausner handed him the gun and said, "Come on, your turn."
"I aimed a little high just to make sure I didn't hit anything," Dieteman told police.
"God, he was pissed," Dieteman said of Hausner. "Can't miss! You're gonna get us busted!"
Dieteman told police he met Hausner around May, through Hausner's brother, Jeff, and moved in with Hausner at the beginning of July. Dieteman said nobody but he and Dale Hausner were involved in any of the shootings he participated in, the reports say.
Dieteman told police that he had been drinking on the nights of most of the shootings and that he also used methamphetamine.
After the first shooting he said he was involved in, Dieteman said he went back to Hausner's Mesa apartment, where Hausner poured him a drink. The next day, the men went hunting with Hausner's brother west of town, reports say.
The random shootings began in May 2005. Court records say the two men picked victims who were outside alone at night and looked like transients in what Dieteman called "random recreational violence." Hausner has been indicted on charges of first-degree murder in all seven killings. Dieteman is facing murder charges involving two of the killings. Both men also face charges of attempted murder or aggravated assault and drive-by shooting.
Both have pleaded not guilty.
In the interview transcripts, Dieteman says he and Hausner laughed about the shootings, kept newspaper clippings and plotted locations of their shootings on a map.
Hausner wore a glove when he loaded shells into the shotgun the men used and made sure casings weren't left in the area of the shootings, Dieteman told police.
Once, Dieteman said, Hausner insisted on stopping to make sure he'd actually hit an intended victim, then flagged down police. Both said they "almost threw up" after seeing the man bloody.
Another time, after the murder of Robin Blasnek in Mesa in July, Dieteman said, Hausner woke him up, shouting, "The news! The news! And he's all happy." Dieteman claimed he wasn't with Hausner when Blasnek was killed, although Dieteman has been charged with her murder.
Dieteman said victims were chosen randomly, but he said Hausner "hated hookers" and once had him shoot at a woman who he believed was one.
Dieteman told police that he called Silent Witness a couple of weeks before his arrest to report the types of guns being used in the spree. Silent Witness calls are anonymous, but information is passed along to detectives. Police say they received no such tip.
Hausner and Dieteman were arrested after police received a crucial tip about Dieteman's identity and linked the pair to two arson-caused fires at Wal-Mart stores in Glendale where the suspects were caught on surveillance tape.
Police put Dieteman under surveillance a couple of days before his arrest. The night before their arrest, police watched Hausner pick up Dieteman at a casino south of Phoenix and drive around. Dieteman told police the plan was to shoot somebody that night, too.
"He kinda looked around for a while for somebody," Dieteman said, "but wasn't anybody walkin' around out there."
New details of serial shootings revealed
By Gary Grado, Tribune
November 27, 2006
Detectives hunting for the Serial Shooter planted a bug in the Mesa apartment of suspects Dale Hausner and Sam Dieteman to build a case for an arrest.
Search warrants unsealed Monday, along with transcripts of interviews, revealed previously unknown details about the investigation into the shootings that spanned 14 months and killed seven people. Police tactics included the use of bugs to listen in on the pair.
Authorities were given approval by the county attorney’s office on Aug. 2 to plant listening devices in the suspects’ apartment and car, according to the documents. The next day, authorities heard the pair discussing whether to hide evidence in a fan or behind a washer. Investigators tailing the two men said they saw the them visit the laundry room of their apartment complex at 550 E. McKellips Road.
The warrants also revealed that police tried to arrange a meeting between an informant and Dieteman two hours before Robin Blasnek, 22, was gunned down in Mesa as she walked alone along Gilbert Road, but Dieteman said he couldn’t meet because he was too busy.
Two days later, Dieteman told the informant — his former roommate — that police were too stupid to link him to the shooting spree and that “they can’t pin the shooting of” Blasnek on him, the warrants state.
Previously, authorities had released redacted versions of the documents. However, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office recently asked Judge Roland Steinle to unseal them completely because the need for confidentiality was gone, according to court documents.
Also on Monday, Phoenix police released heavily redacted transcripts of investigative interviews with the suspects. According to the records, Dieteman told police he and Hausner shot at several people, and that they would look for “somebody walking around alone” to shoot.
“I’d look around and, and say ‘Ey, you know there’s one’ or something,’” Dieteman told police. “You know, ‘Get ‘em’.”
But Hausner has denied killing anyone.
After a shooting, the men would watch local and national TV news and read the newspapers, gathering information on the crimes, the records state. Dieteman said Hausner would get excited. The men also recorded an episode of “America’s Most Wanted” and kept clippings about the shooting.
Dieteman told police that when news of Blasnek’s death was broadcast on television, Hausner awoke Dieteman. Hausner was “shakin’ my leg: ‘Ey! Ey! Wake up! The news!’ and he’s all happy,” Dieteman told police. “ ‘What’s-her-name in Mesa, whoever, just got shot and killed the other day.’ ”
Also according to the transcripts, Dieteman said he and Hausner took steps to remove evidence — taking casings with them after shootings and wearing latex gloves. The two also carried the gun in a duffel bag and never left it in the car. At one point, Dieteman told police he and Hausner thought about burying the gun or hiding it in an attic.
The two men were arrested at their Mesa apartment on Aug. 4, after Dieteman bragged about the crimes to the confidential informant in mid-July, warrants state.
The men are accused of 37 shootings that targeted people as they walked or rode bicycles late at night. They have been charged in two indictments on 81 counts of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault, arson, drive-by shooting, and conspiracy to commit murder.
Contact Gary Grado by email, or phone (480) 898-6573
Nov 27, 9:38 PM EST
Documents: Accused serial shooters give conflicting statements
By CHRIS KAHN
Associated Press Writer
PHOENIX (AP) -- Shortly after they were pulled from their apartment and accused of being serial killers, a janitor and his roommate pointed fingers at each other at police headquarters as the one responsible for months of random shootings.
Dale S. Hausner, 33, calmly maintained his innocence, saying he didn't take part in any of the shootings that left seven people dead in the Phoenix metropolitan area, according to documents police released Monday.
Meanwhile, Samuel John Dieteman, 31, said in a separate room that he watched as Hausner shot at people while driving around town.
Prosecutors eventually charged 51 criminal counts against Hausner, Dieteman or both together, ranging from murder to arson. If convicted, County Attorney Andrew Thomas said he will seek the death penalty against both men.
Hausner and Dieteman have pleaded not guilty.
While talking to police on Aug. 4, Dieteman said Hausner randomly targeted people as he drove his 1998 Toyota Camry around town.
One time, Dieteman said, Hausner targeted a "fat guy that was walking down the road."
"He just kinda raised up the shotgun up ... and I just hear this poppin' and this guy started screamin' in the road," Dieteman said.
Hausner "just kinda chuckles a little bit and ... and lays the gun down besides his leg there," Dieteman said. "He just kinda looked at me for a second and kept drivin'."
Another time, in mid-June, Dieteman said Hausner handed him handgun when he spied what he thought was a prostitute.
Dieteman remembered Hausner told him: "get the whore."
"I remember how pissed he was," Dieteman told police. "I fired and I aimed a little high."
Dieteman said he didn't want to hurt her. "Think she just kept walking," he said.
That same night, several police officers including Mesa Police Detective Don Byers, pressed Hausner to confess, but Hausner maintained his innocence.
"I don't know what you guys want me to tell you guys," Hausner said.
"Here's what I want you to do!" Byers said. "You're not telling me the truth ... that's a hard thing for somebody to sit here and ... and say 'You know what, I drove for all of these shootings and, uh, I was involved with it, and I shot the gun too.'"
Hausner told police that he would have kicked Dieteman out of the apartment if he knew of the shootings.
He said he has a daughter. While he had many guns in his apartment, Hausner said he wouldn't have attacked anybody and risked going to jail, where he couldn't care for his family.
Dieteman, Hausner said, may have started shooting people because he had self esteem problems, that he wanted to die. Dieteman was unemployed, had a drinking problem and had been living with him for free, Hausner said.
"Why would somebody do that?" he said. "Maybe to make people afraid of you or to in a sick way boost yourself up, you know, 'I'm the killer, you know, here I am.'"
His older brother, Jeff Hausner, also is charged in the so-called Serial Shooter investigation.
Jeff Hausner is accused of stabbing a vagrant on April 14. He has pleaded not guilty to attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault charges.
Serial Shooter suspect tries suicide, sheriff says
By Katie McDevitt, Tribune
December 6, 2006
Serial Shooter suspect Dale Hausner never seemed depressed to those who knew him. But on Monday, guards at Maricopa County’s Fourth Avenue Jail found Hausner unconscious in a pool of vomit from what authorities believe was a suicide attempt with over-the-counter antihistamine tablets.
Despite four months of solitary confinement in jail, the 33-year-old Mesa man stays “energetic” and “upbeat,” his spokesman David Hans Schmidt said Wednesday at a news conference.
Hausner was released Wednesday from Maricopa Medical Center’s county inmate hospital ward, where he was treated, and placed into the jail’s psychiatric ward for treatment and observation.
“This may have been a serious suicide attempt, or he may have been trying to get high or it may have been a sympathy ploy cooked up by Hausner,” Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said in a statement.
Officials said Hausner ingested up to 48 pills before he was discovered.
Guards searched Hausner’s cell and found notes with the names and phone numbers of laywers and family, along with orders to give all personal property to his brother, Randy Hausner.
Schmidt said the notes weren’t necessarily in reference to suicide. He said Hausner’s brother spoke with him Wednesday, but Dale Hausner “was all drugged up and made no sense whatsover.”
Schmidt said Hausner’s family was quite shaken.
In the psychiatric ward, Hausner will rest in a cell where he will be prevented from harming himself and can be supervised.
Arpaio ordered a jail-wide ban on the canteen sales of antihistamines and decongestant pills after reviewing the jailhouse protocol of selling the medication to inmates. Inmates have sometimes abused the drug to achieve a high, Arpaio said.
Prior to Hausner’s hospitalization, inmates bought an average of 700 bottles of 24 antihistamines each month, plus 1,500 two-tablet packets of decongestants. Now, only Advil will be available for purchase.
Schmidt said Hausner was suffering from a cold in recent days, and he does not know if his client attempted suicide.
In a letter to the Tribune post-marked Aug. 28 from Maricopa County’s Fourth Avenue Jail, Dale Hausner wrote that, “Being alone gives me time to think.”
“I think a lot about my family, but mostly I think about my daughter,” Hausner wrote. “I get no social interaction...other than the guards bringing me food, or tossing my cell. I don’t see any people.”
In the letter, he complained of “awful” food, a shortage of toilet paper and of missing his daughter.
“I am in my 8 foot by 12 foot cell (for) 22 hours each day,” he wrote. “I’ve been here almost a month and have only had one change of clothes and bedding.”
To get out and walk around, Hausner is given one hour of recreation in an empty room, he wrote. He also gets an hour to use the phone.
“I get a lot of mail from my family and friends,” Hausner wrote. “I even get fan mail, which is bizzarre.”
Every once in a while, guards walk into the man’s cell and check for contraband, the letter said.
“They strip me to my boxers and put me in the rec room and rifle through my stuff,” he wrote.
On November 12, 1994, Hausner’s sons Donovan, 3, and Jeremiah, 2, died when the family’s car crashed off a guard rail in Texas and fell into a stream.
Hausner said he suffered “extreme heartache” and “unrelenting anguish,” following the crash.
Hausner was arrested along with roommate Sam Dieteman at their Mesa apartment on Aug. 4 after Dieteman bragged about the crimes to a confidential informant in mid-July. The men are accused of 37 shootings that targeted people as they walked or rode bicycles late at night.
The two men were arrested at their Mesa apartment on Aug. 4, after Dieteman bragged about the crimes to the confidential informant in mid-July, warrants state.
Dieteman has confessed to some of the crimes, but Hausner maintains he is innocent. Contact Katie McDevitt by email, or phone (480) 898-6334
Hausner says he hoarded medications
By Nick Martin, Tribune
December 8, 2006
Dale Hausner, one of Mesa’s “Serial Shooters” suspects, told jail investigators Thursday he hoarded hundreds of cold remedies and painkillers for more than a month, waiting to take his own life, said Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
That attempt came early Monday morning. Guards found Hausner unresponsive in a pool of his own vomit and gave him emergency care.
Hausner had kept the pills hidden in a packet of M&M’s chocolate candies, Arpaio said. Hausner swallowed 260 of the over-the-counter medications in the attempt.
In a news release, Arpaio called Hausner “clever” for being able to hide the pills from guards who would regularly sweep his Fourth Avenue Jail cell in Phoenix looking for such stashes.
Jail officials have since halted the sale of all medications except Advil for inmates. Hausner has been placed on suicide watch.
Hausner had been in solitary confinement for four months following his August arrest with roommate Sam Dieteman on suspicion of 37 shootings Valleywide. Hausner has maintained his innocence.
Contact Nick Martin by email, or phone (480) 898-6380
'Serial Shooter' suspect survives apparent suicide attempt in cell
Michael Kiefer
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 7, 2006 12:00 AM
Dale Hausner, a suspect in the "Serial Shooter" crimes, was hospitalized for nearly three days after apparently attempting suicide in his jail cell Monday morning.
Hausner, who is charged in seven murders carried out over a 14-month shooting spree, was found unresponsive and covered with vomit.
On Wednesday, Hausner's publicity agent, David Hans Schmidt, said that Hausner was in stable condition.
According to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Hausner took as many as 48 over-the-counter antihistamine pills that he bought from the jail canteen. Arpaio said he was uncertain if Hausner was trying to commit suicide, get high or garner sympathy, but Arpaio ordered that he be housed in a psych ward where he will be kept under suicide watch.
"I want Hausner safe," Arpaio said. "I think the community he terrorized should have the privilege of deciding this man's fate, not him."
Arpaio also said that he will no longer allow inmates to buy over-the-counter drugs other than ibuprofen.
Hausner, 33, and suspect Samuel Dieteman, 31, have been indicted on 81 counts related to the 36 Serial Shooter attacks that began in May 2005 and ended with their arrest in August. Dieteman has been charged in two of the slayings, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for both men. Both also face charges of attempted murder or aggravated assault and drive-by shooting.
According to jail records, on Nov. 29, Hausner bought vitamins, a decongestant, painkillers, antacids, beef jerky and two bottles of antihistamines, 24 per bottle - the most allowed at one time - from the Fourth Avenue Jail canteen. Around 8:30 a.m. Monday, a correctional officer found Hausner slumped in his special-management cell. The officer had passed the cell just 15 minutes before, Arpaio said.
When jail personnel searched Hausner's cell, they found a two-page letter, which Arpaio refused to call a "suicide note." But, he pointed out, it was written in the past tense. They also found notes to Hausner's pastor and his brother Randy, asking that books be sent to Randy and granting Randy power of attorney.
"The family is quite shaken over this," Schmidt said.
Republic reporter Judi Villa contributed to this report.
'Serial Shooter' suspect admits suicide attempt
Dec. 8, 2006 12:00 AM
Dale Hausner, one of two suspects arrested in August in the "Serial Shooter" case that terrorized Valley residents, admitted he tried to commit suicide by ingesting about 260 antihistamines, decongestants and pain relievers, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
An officer found Hausner on Monday in his cell, covered in vomit. Hausner told sheriff's officers that he had hoarded the pills for more than a month, the department said. Sheriff Joe Arpaio has stopped the sale of nearly all over-the-counter medications to inmates. Hausner remains on suicide watch in the psychiatric ward.
- Carrie Watters
Hmmmmmm..... Perhaps the cops really did have probable cause to search the home and car of these guys????
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1224informant1224.html
Informer in 'Shooter' case breaks his silence
Chris Kahn
associated Press
Dec. 24, 2006 12:00 AM
As the city shuttered itself in fear of serial killers this summer, Ron Horton found himself having an odd conversation with an old drinking buddy.
"Let me ask you something," Horton remembers his friend Samuel Dieteman sliding over to tell him between beers in June. "Do you know what it's like to kill a man?"
"How would I know?"
"Well," Horton recalls Dieteman saying, "neither did I until the last few months."
In an exclusive interview with the Associated Press, Horton said Dieteman went on to describe how he and a friend poked shotguns out car windows and blasted at people as they cruised by.
"They called it 'RVing,' " Horton said. "Random Recreational Violence."
Horton initially thought it was just a false barroom brag from a man he thought he knew well, a former roommate who liked joking and drinking and who twice punched out men who were being rough on their girlfriends.
He would come to regret not believing it sooner.
Horton led police to Dieteman, 31, and Dale Hausner, 33, who were charged during the summer with slayings attributed to the "Serial Shooter." Police say seven people were killed and 17 wounded in the random attacks across the Valley dating to May 2005, which mostly came as the victims walked or bicycled alone late at night or in the early morning.
Horton's role as an informer was confirmed through a non-police source with access to documents from the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information has been sealed.
Police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill said help from the public was critical in leading to the arrests, but he would not comment specifically on anyone's involvement.
Dieteman, who is jailed, has not responded to repeated interview requests made through authorities.
Horton said Dieteman told him another man would accompany him on the late night cruises, but he didn't say who.
Horton said Dieteman said police would never find them: "You can never trace shotguns," Horton recalled Dieteman saying. "The (pellets) don't have markings that you can trace."
But Dieteman did feel bad about one shooting, Horton said. One time he shot at somebody who looked like a man. He later discovered it was a woman.
Horton, a soft-spoken 48-year-old with a shaggy blond mane, still shakes his head when thinking about his conversation with Dieteman at the Rib Shop, a west Phoenix bar. He said he thought Dieteman was lying, that he was incapable of the cold-hearted acts he described.
But the past year was tough on Dieteman, Horton and another friend said in interviews. He had a problem with booze. He also had a quick temper. When his stepfather kicked him out last year, Dieteman was broke, unemployed and depressed, Horton said.
Dieteman moved around among friends and occasionally lived on the street.
"He snapped," Horton said. "He was living in Goodwill boxes, and I was like, 'Sammy, why are you living there for? Why don't you come and live with me?' He said, 'No, I don't deserve to live in a house.' "
In winter 2005, Dieteman told Horton he had started living with Jeff Hausner, Dale Hausner's older brother. The two had become close. Horton said Jeff Hausner and Dieteman seemed to disappear from their group of friends for months at a time.
Horton said his suspicions grew in July, when he said Dieteman sent him a text message saying he was angry and that somebody was going to get hurt.
He went to police later that month after hearing from a friend in his pool league about the Serial Shooter, blamed at that point for five slayings and the deaths of several dogs and horses.
It was awkward at first. Horton had never spoken to police like this: never to help them catch somebody. The detectives, in turn, were loaded with thousands of tips.
Horton started telling police about his friend and how he thought the shootings were going to move east of Phoenix. Dieteman had started living with Dale somewhere in Mesa, Horton told detectives.
No one had been killed since Dieteman's conversation with Horton but several people had been wounded: a 19-year-old shot while pushing his bicycle, a woman shot in the back of the head while walking.
Finding Dieteman was a problem, Horton said. His living situation changed frequently - he lived with Horton in fall 2005 - and he had just changed his cellphone number.
Horton finally found Dieteman's new number through a friend and started text messaging him on July 30.
Dieteman was slow to answer. When he did, he only left short, vague responses. Horton tried again and he waited.
That night, 22-year-old Robin Blasnek was shot to death while walking on a street in Mesa. The news crushed Horton, who called police and vowed to be more aggressive.
"It affected me quite a bit," Horton said. "I wasn't sure if I could have done something earlier." Horton kept text messaging Dieteman, who finally agreed to meet at the Stardust bar in Glendale.
Undercover officers watched as Horton drove Dieteman to another bar, then to a casino on the Gila River Reservation. It was getting late, and Horton asked Dieteman to get a ride home from Hausner, Dieteman's roommate at the time. He left his friend at the casino. Dieteman and Hausner were arrested two days later, Aug. 3.
Dieteman is charged with two counts of murder: Blasnek's slaying and the May 2 shooting of Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz. Hausner is charged with seven counts of murder. Both have pleaded not guilty.
One 2005 fatal shooting was connected to the Serial Shooter case after Dieteman and Hausner were arrested.
According to police documents, Dieteman admitted some of the crimes, saying Hausner came up with the idea. Hausner has denied involvement and has suggested that Dieteman had taken Hausner's guns and car while he was asleep.
Indictment split for suspected killers
Associated Press
January 3, 2007
Though police say they’d worked together, two men accused in the Serial Shooter investigation will have separate trials where they’ll likely give vastly different explanations about their alleged involvement in dozens of shootings.
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge split an indictment against Samuel John Dieteman and Dale S. Hausner in December. On Tuesday, Commissioner Pamela Svoboda set a separate March 21 trial date for Hausner’s older brother, Jeff, who also is charged in the investigation.
Prosecutor Bob Shutts said after Tuesday’s hearing that he expects all three men to face charges separately.
“It’s to ensure a fair trial,” said Maria Schaffer, Dieteman’s lawyer. Judges sometimes split up co-defendants “if one defendant is more forthcoming than the other” about his involvement, she said.
That’s apparently the case in the Serial Shooter investigation.
Dieteman, 31, already has confessed to some of the shootings, according to Phoenix police. Shortly after his arrest in August, Dieteman told detectives that his roommate Dale Hausner led the late night attacks.
Once, Dieteman told police, Hausner targeted a “fat guy that was walking down the road.”
“He just kinda raised up the shotgun up ... and I just hear this poppin’ and this guy started screamin’ in the road,” Dieteman said, according to police documents.
Meanwhile, Dale Hausner, 33, has denied any involvement in the shootings. He told investigators that Dieteman could have taken Hausner’s guns and car while he was asleep.
“I was not there at any shootings,” Hausner told police in a heated interview in August. “I did not pull the trigger.”
In all, the Serial Shooter investigation includes 42 shootings that left seven people dead and at least 17 others wounded.
Dieteman has been charged with two counts of murder, and Hausner is charged with seven counts of murder. Both have pleaded not guilty.
County Attorney Andrew Thomas has said he will seek the death penalty against Dale Hausner and Dieteman.
Jeff Hausner also has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and aggravated assault charges stemming from an April 14 stabbing of a homeless man. The attack was linked to the investigation after Dieteman and Dale Hausner were arrested this summer.
Jeff Hausner’s lawyer, Candice Shoemaker, did not comment Tuesday after the trial date was set.
Prosecutors also are preparing for an additional trial against another accused serial killer.
Mark Goudeau, 42, is charged with 71 criminal counts, including nine counts of first-degree murder. Goudeau, a former construction worker, is accused of being the socalled Baseline Killer who preyed on Phoenix residents for more than a year.
Goudeau’s trial is scheduled for Jan. 22.
Judge forbids filming serial killer defendants in court
By CHRIS KAHN
Associated Press Writer
PHOENIX (AP) -- A judge has forbidden the news media from photographing two serial killer suspects in court out of concern that they won't receive a fair trial.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Roland Steinle said Wednesday that photographers and cameramen could still be present and follow court hearings regarding Samuel John Dieteman and Dale S. Hausner. But Steinle prohibited them from filming the two men in jail house jumpsuits and flanked by sheriff's deputies.
"The court was concerned that continuing publicity would affect whether the defendants would receive a fair trial," Steinle said during a court hearing.
Despite those concerns, defense lawyer Maria Schaffer said she doesn't plan to ask the judge to move the case out of metro Phoenix.
Previously, a former lawyer for Hausner tried and failed to change the court venue because of the intense media attention.
Hausner, 33, and Dieteman, 31, are accused of randomly shooting numerous people with shotguns as they cruised Phoenix area neighborhoods late at night.
Hausner faces seven murder counts and Dieteman faces two murder counts. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty if they're convicted.
Both men have pleaded not guilty.
No trial date has been set. The next hearing for Dieteman is scheduled for May 21, while Hausner has a court hearing set for Jan. 8.
Even though police said they'd worked together and they are named in the same criminal complaints and indictments, Hausner and Dieteman will have separate trials.
A judge split the case against them in December.
"It's to ensure a fair trial," Schaffer said Tuesday.
Trial set for Jeff Hausner
Jan. 3, 2007 12:00 AM
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge Tuesday set a March 21 trial date for Jeff Hausner, brother of Dale Hausner, a suspect in the "Serial Shooter" case.
Jeff Hausner is accused of stabbing a panhandler in a Phoenix parking lot in April. Police have linked the stabbing to the Serial Shooter case, a crime spree that claimed seven lives.
For 14 months, Dale Hausner and his roommate, Samuel Dieteman, roamed the Valley, shooting at people who appeared to be transients, according to police. Dieteman was present during the April incident in which Jeff Hausner is suspected of attacking the transient, court documents say.
Jeff Hausner has not been named as a suspect in any of the other Serial Shooter cases.
- Jahna Berry
Serial murders suspects reside in adjacent cells
By Katie McDevitt, Tribune
January 12, 2007
Mark Goudeau and Dale Hausner only knew each other through news reports. But now they’re neighbors.
The two men suspected in separate killing sprees have lived in adjacent jail cells since Hausner attempted suicide in December, Hausner said Wednesday in a phone call to the Tribune.
“After I took (the) pills, they moved me,” Hausner said. “They put me next to Mark Goudeau. I see him every day and we talk. He seems to be a very nice person.”
Both suspects have maintained their innocence, and Hausner said they don’t talk about their cases.
“It’s just you know, ‘Hey, how’s it going?’” he said.
Phoenix police have named Goudeau a suspect in 19 incidents linked to the “Baseline Killer,” a series of rapes, robberies and slayings in the Valley between August 2005 and June 2006. Hausner and Samuel Dieteman are charged in connection with 37 random shootings linked to the “Serial Shooters” that spanned 14 months and killed seven people.
Goudeau and Hausner now reside in the Special Management Unit of Maricopa County’s Fourth Avenue Jail, sheriff’s deputy Doug Matteson said.
“The inmates can’t physically see each other and can only yell through walls and doors,” Matteson said.
He said the inmates are kept away from one another and spend their breaks alone.
Hausner and Dieteman were arrested Aug. 4 in Mesa, and Goudeau has been in custody since September.
Contact Katie McDevitt by email, or phone (480) 898-6334
Two inmates in high-profile cases separated from cell proximity
MESA, Ariz. (AP) -- A man accused in a string of rapes, robberies and slayings has been moved to a new jail cell after it was reported that he was communicating with a serial shooting suspect.
Until Friday, Mark Goudeau and Dale Hausner had been housed in adjacent cells in the Special Management Unit at the county's Fourth Avenue Jail.
On Wednesday, Hausner told a newspaper in a telephone interview that he was in a cell next to Goudeau. "I see him every day and we talk," Hausner said.
But the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said Goudeau told jail officials Friday morning that he has never spoken to Hausner and "would not want to affiliate himself in any way 'with a mass murderer.'"
Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he doubted the two inmates communicated with each other.
The unit is where the most dangerous suspects are housed, and each inmate is separated by several feet of concrete and steel and no one is within view or earshot of one another, according to Arpaio.
"Hausner would appear to have quite an imagination," Arpaio said. "My detention staff says there has not been any direct contact between these men and that Hausner misled the reporter in order to get more publicity for himself."
Hausner and Samuel Dieteman were arrested Aug. 4 at their Mesa apartment and charged with 37 random shootings linked to the "Serial Shooters." The case spanned 14 months and included seven slayings in Mesa, Scottsdale and Phoenix.
Phoenix police have named Goudeau a suspect in 19 incidents linked to the "Baseline Killer." The case includes rapes, robberies and slayings across the Phoenix metropolitan area from August 2005 to June 2006 and overlapped with the Serial Shooter investigation.
Both Goudeau and Hausner have maintained their innocence.
Inmates Goudeau, Hausner moved after seen communicating
Jan. 14, 2007 10:16 AM
MESA, Ariz. (AP) - A man accused in a string of rapes, robberies and slayings has been moved to a new jail cell after it was reported that he was communicating with a serial shooting suspect.
Until Friday, Mark Goudeau and Dale Hausner had been housed in adjacent cells in the Special Management Unit at the county's Fourth Avenue Jail.
On Wednesday, Hausner told a newspaper in a telephone interview that he was in a cell next to Goudeau. "I see him every day and we talk," Hausner said.
But the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said Goudeau told jail officials Friday morning that he has never spoken to Hausner and "would not want to affiliate himself in any way with a mass murderer.'"
Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he doubted the two inmates communicated with each other.
The unit is where the most dangerous suspects are housed, and each inmate is separated by several feet of concrete and steel and no one is within view or earshot of one another, according to Arpaio.
"Hausner would appear to have quite an imagination," Arpaio said. "My detention staff says there has not been any direct contact between these men and that Hausner misled the reporter in order to get more publicity for himself."
Hausner and Samuel Dieteman were arrested Aug. 4 at their Mesa apartment and charged with 37 random shootings linked to the "Serial Shooters." The case spanned 14 months and included seven slayings in Mesa, Scottsdale and Phoenix.
Phoenix police have named Goudeau a suspect in 19 incidents linked to the "Baseline Killer." The case includes rapes, robberies and slayings across the Phoenix metropolitan area from August 2005 to June 2006 and overlapped with the Serial Shooter investigation.
Both Goudeau and Hausner have maintained their innocence.
Brother of Serial Shooter suspect takes a plea deal
Jahna Berry
Mar. 13, 2007 10:32 AM
The brother of serial shooter suspect Dale Hausner pleaded guilty Tuesday to stabbing a panhandler in a Phoenix parking lot in April.
Jeffrey Joseph Hausner, 40, faces up to nearly nine years in prison and will be sentenced April 20.
Authorities have said the assault was tied to the 14-month streak of late night violence attributed to "Serial Shooter" suspects Dale Hausner and his roommate Samuel Dieteman. The pair have been indicted for a string of shootings, which claimed seven lives. Hausner and Dieteman randomly targeted people who appeared to be transients, police say.
Dieteman was also present when Jeffrey Haunser stabbed a homeless man who asked him for money, according to court documents.
Hausner was initially charged with attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault.
As part of the plea agreement, the attempted murder charge was dismissed.
The plea agreement doesn't specify that Jeffrey Hausner must testify against his younger brother, Dale, said prosecutor Vince Imbordino who is assigned to both the Serial Shooter case and Jeffrey Hausner's case.
However, defense attorneys or the prosecutor could still call Jeffrey Hausner to the witness stand for the serial shooter case.
'Shooter' suspect linked to 2 more crimes
Jahna Berry and Sarah Muench
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 21, 2007 02:28 PM
Authorities have linked two more crimes to accused "Serial Shooter" Dale Hausner, County Attorney Andrew Thomas said today.
Hausner and his alleged accomplice, Samuel Dieteman, are accused of committing a string of late-night shootings that took seven lives and rattled the Valley for months.
This is the third time Hausner has been indicted in connection with the case. The pair were indicted in August for 46 crimes, which included two deaths. In November, they were indicted on more charges, which included linking Hausner to five homicides.
Thomas has said that he plans to seek death against the Hausner and Dieteman.
On Wednesday, a grand jury indicted Hausner for two counts of discharging a firearm in connection with a December 2005 Tempe shooting.
There were no injuries, but Hausner fired six shots at a woman's car windshield on Dec. 29, 2005, in the parking lot of an industrial area in the 5000 block of South Ash Avenue near Baseline Road and Mill Avenue, police and county attorney's officials say.
The 32-year-old woman, Shenita King, was inside one of the buildings where she attended a bartending school, police said. Several people, including King, heard several pops but didn't realize it was a shooting until later, police said.
The windshield of her 2002 Chevy Cavalier sustained $500 in damages, police said. Hausner was retaliating on behalf of a friend who had a dispute with King, according to the county attorney's office.
Exactly 11 months later, Phoenix police contacted Tempe police saying an informant led them to believe the shooting could be connected, Tempe police said.
Tempe's ballistics revealed the car shooter used a .22 caliber gun, the same caliber shell casings reportedly found in Hausner's car that matched the bullets that killed five people, authorities said.
The Tempe incident happened on same day as two murders in the downtown Phoenix area which police have linked to the Serial Shooter case.
"These new charges are the result of continued determination on the part of law enforcement to hold this defendant accountable for all of his alleged crimes," Thomas said in a statement. "All of these charges are serious and will be fully prosecuted."
March 22, 2007
Serial Shooter suspect requests newspaper discount
Tribune
A suspect in the Serial Shooters case who faces seven counts of first-degree murder has requested a discount Tribune subscription as a reward for generating newspaper headlines.
“I’ve sold a lot of newspapers for you,” Mesa resident Dale Hausner said Wednesday during a telephone call from Fourth Avenue Jail in downtown Phoenix, where he is awaiting trial. Hausner called himself “Dale the Innocent” when placing the collect call and said he deserves a “sweetheart deal.”
The Tribune declined Hausner’s request.
Hausner has sent several letters and placed several phone calls to the Tribune since his arrest in August. The other suspect in the case, Samuel Dieteman, has declined media requests for comment.
Police who interviewed Dieteman said the two men took turns shooting random people and animals in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Mesa from May 2005 to July 2006. The pair are charged with seven slayings in connection with 42 shootings. They also face felony counts of arson and animal cruelty.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/98448
September 29, 2007 - 6:42AM
Psychologist: No common motivation in Serial Shooter crimes
Jill Redhage, Tribune
A forensic psychologist told a judge Friday it would be a “substantial leap” to assume all the crimes connected to Dale Hausner, a suspect in serial slayings, were done for thrills.
While prosecutors have proposed “thrill-seeking” as the common motive for Hausner and Samuel Dieteman’s alleged 14-month shooting spree, psychologist Mark Cunningham — an expert witness hired by defense attorney Kenneth Everett — said he believes that explanation is too broad. Calling all the crimes thrill-seeking, Cunningham said, is like saying “if it’s not anger or sexually motivated, it fits common scheme or plan for the wastebasket of everything else.”
Crime motives can begin with schizophrenia, drug addictions and personal tragedies as much as for money or fun, he explained.
The question before M a r i co p a County Superior Court Judge Roland Steinle on Friday was whether the court would deal with the 81 felony counts Hausner faces in one or multiple trials. Hausner is charged with crimes including first-degree murder, drive-by shooting, arson and animal cruelty.
Prosecutors believe he and Dieteman cruised Valley streets scouting for targets for their own amusement.
Park Dietz, a forensic psychiatrist and criminologist, explained that wanting to feel more powerful or trying to alleviate boredom and negative feelings all fall under the umbrella of thrill-seeking for the purpose of categorizing serial killers. Dietz said the evidence he considered — including crime scene facts, wiretaps of the men’s conversations and admissions by Dieteman to police — points to at least one common motive. He said serial killers whose targets are purely random are extremely rare.
The judge will continue listening to arguments about how many trials Hausner should face on Oct. 19.
Cops probably violated the rights of the serial killers. Although that doesn't justify their murders.
Hausner talks in court about police treatment
Michael Kiefer
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 27, 2007 12:00 AM
Dale Hausner, one of two suspects in the "Serial Shooter" case, took the witness stand in Maricopa County Superior Court Friday to talk about how police detectives refused to feed or clothe him or grant him bathroom breaks after his arrest in August 2006.
Furthermore, he claimed that they called him "an idiot," "a pervert," and "a psychopath"- a claim that detectives confirmed under oath.
Police and prosecutors believe that Hausner and his former roommate Samuel Dieteman worked together as the Serial Shooters who traveled the Valley for 14 months, shooting at random people out of their car. Seven died and 17 more were wounded in the attacks; several dogs and horses were also killed.
Hausner's attorneys hoped that Friday's hearing would compel Judge Roland Steinle to preclude video of certain police interviews from trial.
Hausner claimed that he was kept shirtless for hours, clad only in a pair of shorts. "Before we left the apartment, I asked the SWAT guys if I could get dressed and they said, 'Move along,' " he said.
Hausner said that he was shivering from the cold during his police interviews and was repeatedly denied a blanket to cover himself. His responses to questions from the prosecutor and the defense attorney during Friday's hearing were snappy and spirited. When asked if he didn't like being called names by detectives, he spit back, "No sir, not one bit."
Steinle ordered the attorneys to submit more legal briefs before he reconsiders.