Suspected serial killer linked to Phoenix-area shootings dead, cops say
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Police in Arizona say a suspect linked to the killings of several professionals was found dead in a hotel room early Monday. Scottsdale and Phoenix police swarmed the hotel in Scottsdale Monday morning, reports CBS affiliate KPHO-TV. He has been identified as 56-year-old Dwight Lamon Jones.
The victims were identified as a prominent forensic psychiatrist, a counselor and two paralegals. Officials announced at a 3 p.m. PT news conference that the suspect is connected to a total of six victims -- a husband and wife were found dead Monday. The first victim had testified against the suspect in court, according to court documents.
Sgt. Vince Lewis with the Phoenix police confirmed Monday the killings were linked to the same suspect. Lewis said that over the last day and a half, the suspect was tracked to the hotel room. Early Monday, a tactical team set up outside and evacuated adjacent rooms, Lewis said.
Shots were fired inside the hotel room, and the tactical teams entered and found the unidentified suspect dead, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Lewis said.
No officer fired any shots, Lewis said. The suspect was in the hotel room alone.
Scottsdale police said Sunday that Marshall Levine was found shot inside an office building shortly after midnight Saturday. The Arizona Republic reported Levine worked as a hypnotherapist and life coach. He also provided marriage and divorce counseling.
On Thursday, Dr. Steven Pitt, a prominent forensic psychiatrist who assisted in high-profile murder cases including the JonBenet Ramsey mystery in Colorado, and a notorious Phoenix serial killer investigation, was found dead near Scottsdale. Witnesses reported hearing a loud argument and gunfire outside Pitt's office.
Police said the killings Friday of paralegals Veleria Sharp, 48, and Laura Anderson, 49, were related to the Pitt shooting.
Phoenix police say Pitt's killer was described as a bald man wearing a dark-colored hat with a short brim. Police released a sketch of the suspect in the three killings.
Sharp and Anderson were shot Friday inside a law office. Police say one of the women managed to walk to an intersection to seek help despite a gunshot wound to her head. She was taken to a hospital where she died.
Officers followed a blood trail back to the office and found the other woman. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hoster said there was no indication that family members of the victims were in danger.
"We're asking the public to remain vigilant and to call us if they notice anything out of the ordinary," Hoster said.
In the Levine case, Scottsdale police received a call Saturday about a man found fatally shot inside an office. Hoster did not identify the caller but said the person knew the victim.
The killing occurred in an office park that houses mostly therapists and counselors.
Pitt, 59, assisted in the investigation of the 1996 death of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, who was found dead at her home in Boulder, Colorado.
A decade later, he helped Phoenix police in the Baseline Killer investigation as they sought a man who was later convicted of killing nine people.
The website of Burt/Feldman/Grenier, the law firm that employed Sharp and Anderson, says it practices divorce, child support and other aspects of family law litigation and mediation.
