Samuel Dieteman
He has arguably been one of the most important witnesses for Maricopa County prosecutors in recent memory. With Samuel Dieteman’s lengthy and detailed cooperation in the Serial Shooter case, authorities were able to link extra murders to serial killer Dale Hausner and convict him on six in all.
But despite the help of their star witness, prosecutors have continued to have one fact looming over them all the while: Dieteman himself, at one time, was a cold-blooded killer.
On Wednesday, the same team that relied heavily on Dieteman’s help since 2007 began proceedings in Maricopa County Superior Court to end his life. If they succeed, he will join Hausner, his former roommate, on Arizona’s death row.
Dieteman pleaded guilty in 2007 to the murders of Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz and Robin Blasnek, as well as conspiracy to commit murder for his three-month role in the yearlong killing spree that became known as the Serial Shooter case.
Since that time, a picture of Dieteman has emerged as a drug addict and a drunk who became caught up in a cycle of violence-for-pleasure that Hausner started months before the pair ever met. Earlier this year, Dieteman testified in Hausner’s murder trial that the former airport janitor taught him how to hunt unsuspecting loners at night on the streets of the Phoenix valley. From then on, for three months in the summer of 2006, the pair regularly cruised the metro area in tandem, gunning down pedestrians from a silver four-door sedan.
The pair killed two people and wounded numerous others during that time. The violence ended in early August when a heavily armed SWAT team busted into Hausner’s central Mesa apartment and took the two men into custody.
Authorities later revealed they got a tip about the identity of the Serial Shooters from a man who Dieteman confessed to at a bar one night that summer. Within hours of the arrest, Dieteman began telling police about the details of the crimes. Several months later, he agreed to plead guilty to the two murders and testify against Hausner, who has always proclaimed his innocence in the case.
Now, it’s Dieteman’s turn to stand trial. Under Arizona law, a jury must decide whether a murderer should receive the death penalty. Despite his cooperation, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has insisted on seeking the punishment.
On Wednesday, prosecutors, Dieteman’s defense team and the judge in the case began selecting the jurors who will decide his fate. They were scheduled to question 240 potential jurors this week and begin to weed out those who may already know too much about the Serial Shooter case to make a fair decision in it.
Since he has already pleaded guilty, the jury will only have to decide whether to give him the ultimate punishment.
Fighting for life
Dieteman’s public defenders have their work cut out for them. Life in prison would be the best outcome they can get out of the sentencing. But with a defendant who took part in a serial killing spree, they may have a hard time finding sympathy in a jury.
Even Dieteman himself testified earlier this year that he deserves death for the crimes. “If I were on the jury to decide my fate, yes sir, I would vote for death,” he said back in January.
Working in his favor, however, is Dieteman’s utter cooperation since his arrest. He has spent many hours working with the very prosecutors who are now seeking his life. In fact, his help in the case gave authorities enough information to add extra charges to Hausner, including at least two more murders in which he was ultimately convicted and sentence to death.
Also in his favor, in a bit of a surprising twist, the lead investigator in the Serial Shooter case, Phoenix police detective Clark Schwartzkopf, is scheduled to testify as a witness for the defense once testimony gets underway. Schwartzkopf cannot advocate to the jury for life or death, but he is expected to testify about the invaluable help the defendant provided to the case.
Jury selection is expected to take at least two weeks. Opening arguments may begin as early as the second week in June.