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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 5 June 2018

Suspect in 6 slayings targeted people connected to divorce

By MELISSA DANIELS and The testimony was cited
JACQUES BILLEAUD in the couple's November
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — 2010 divorce, which
A hunch from a retired granted Jones' wife sole
detective helped lead custody of their now
police to a man suspected 21-year-old son.
of shooting six people The 59-year-old psychiatrist
to death in the Phoenix was well known in his field
area, some of whom were and assisted in high-profile
connected to his divorce, murder cases, including
authorities said Monday the JonBenet Ramsey
after the assailant killed mystery in Colorado and
himself with officers closing a notorious Phoenix serial
in. killer investigation.
A round-the-clock Paralegals Veleria Sharp,
investigation that began 48, and Laura Anderson,
late last week led police 49, worked at the law office
Monday to an extended- that represented Jones'
stay hotel in suburban wife. Police believe Jones
Scottsdale where 56-year- may have been targeting
old Dwight Lamon Jones the attorney, but she was
was staying. As officers not present Friday when
approached, they heard Jones went to the office in This undated photo release by the Scottsdale Police Department shows Dwight Lamon Jones.
gunfire and found his body. downtown Scottsdale. Associated Press
Jones' victims included Sharp was shot in the head
a well-known forensic but ran out of the office to he backed her against Jones' DNA was found As police shared new
psychiatrist who testified get help before collapsing a wall, hit her in the face on one of spent casings. details of the case, several
against him in court in on the street, police said. and threatened to kill her, And traffic cameras hundred people crowded
2010, two paralegals who She was pronounced dead according to court records. showed a vehicle fitting into a chapel at a mortuary
worked for the law office at a hospital. The arrest was cited by his the description of Jones' in Scottsdale to honor
that represented the Counselor Marshall Levine, then-wife when she filed for gold Mercedes near the Pitt with music, humorous
suspect's wife, a marriage- 72, appears to have been divorce. law firm 30 minutes before stories and a Hebrew
and-divorce counselor who mistaken for someone else "Personally, I have feared the double killing on Friday, prayer of mourning.
was apparently targeted who once occupied the for my safety for the past police said. He was remembered as
in a case of mistaken same office. At one time, nine years. I cannot express The suspect has also been a perfectionist in his work
identity and another man the space was used by a the emotions I feel for the linked to two additional on major cases and a
and woman who have not counselor who saw Jones' innocent families touched killings in Fountain Hills, loving man who doted
been identified, authorities son as part of the divorce. by this senseless violence," an affluent suburb in the on his fiancee and family
said. "This is not a success Levine, who took over the Connie Jones said. northeastern corner of members. Phoenix police
story, but it's a story that has space, was not involved in Her current husband, a metro Phoenix. The man Lt. Bryan Chapman, who
closure," Maricopa County the divorce case. retired police detective, and woman found dead had become a close friend
Sheriff Paul Penzone said. Police would not speculate made the connection inside the home have not during their work on criminal
The slayings began why Jones tracked down between her divorce been named publicly. cases, said Pitt volunteered
Thursday with the fatal people connected to and the crime scenes Jones, who was seen driving countless hours to help
shooting of Dr. Steven Pitt, his divorce so long after and notified police of his around Fountain Hills, was investigate many lesser
who, according to court it happened. They say suspicion Saturday night, later seen dumping a known crimes.
records, had evaluated he had been living in she said. .22-caliber gun stolen from "He was the hardest
Jones and testified in extended-stay hotels for "We started to see that Mr. the Fountain Hills home. working person I ever met,"
2010 that he had anxiety the past nine years. Jones was visiting them Some neighbors who Chapman said.q
and mood disorders and The suspect's ex-wife, in an effort to right some were home on Monday
symptoms of a paranoid Connie Jones, said in a wrong based on what we afternoon stepped out
personality. statement that her ex- could see," said Rich Slavin, to observe the police
Pitt said Jones did not husband was a "very assistant police chief in presence that remained on
conform to social norms emotionally disturbed Scottsdale. the street, which is usually a
and acted impulsively and person." Analysis of shell casings serene area.
aggressively. He lacked Jones was arrested in found at Pitts' office, the "It's quiet around here," said
remorse and close friends May 2009 at his family's law firm and Levin's office landscaper Saul Ramirez,
and required excessive Scottsdale home on confirmed that the victims who stopped to take
admiration, the records a domestic violence were killed with the same cellphone videos of the
said. charge after his wife said gun, police said. scene.