Stapley investigation revealed through documents, possible leaks

By Nick R. Martin | January 25th, 2009 | 2:54 pm | No Comments »


Don Stapley

The criminal investigation of Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley has seen more than its share of headlines in the past week. Chief among them was a story about the possible addition of a second criminal probe focusing on bribery allegations.

The public has seen few official statements from either the Maricopa County attorney’s or sheriff’s offices, the agencies handling the investigation. Yet information is still flowing as Valley media continue to “obtain” various documents from the investigation.

At least two stories in the past week appear to have possibly come from strategic leaks from the investigative agencies, though none are clear how the documents were obtained. See the following:

A Jan. 24 story in the Arizona Republic titled “Stapley files reveal state of his mind on inquiry.”

“This is going to be a nightmare,” Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley told a sheriff’s investigator when he learned he was being indicted on multiple criminal counts related to his financial-disclosure forms.

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Another Gannett shut down; Republic folds 'Arizona Woman'

By Nick R. Martin | January 23rd, 2009 | 8:46 pm | 1 Comment »

A 20-year era at the Arizona Republic is coming to an end. An article in the newspaper yesterday announced the folding of Arizona Woman magazine, which has been published for two decades.

It is the third piece of bad news to hit Arizona media organizations owned by the Virginia-based media conglomerate, the Gannett Company, this month. Nearly two weeks ago, the company announced that tens of thousands of its employees nationwide, including more than 2,000 in Arizona, would be forced to take a week off without pay. A few days later, the company announced it would close the Tucson Citizen newspaper in March unless somebody aggrees to buy the ailing daily.

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The prosecution rests

By Nick R. Martin | January 22nd, 2009 | 12:35 pm | No Comments »


Dale Hausner, accused of being the Serial Shooter responsible for eight murders and numerous other crimes, is shown in October 2008 during the opening days of his trial in downtown Phoenix. Pool photo

Live from the courtroom: The state has rested its 87-count criminal case against Dale Hausner, the 35-year-old Arizona man accused of being the infamous Serial Shooter. The prosecution’s case ended more than four months after the trial opened with jury selections in September. The case included hundreds of witnesses, took nearly 60 days of testimony and showcased the testimony of Hausner’s alleged accomplice for many of the shootings, Samuel Dieteman.

Hausner’s attorneys are scheduled to launch their defense of the man next week. It will be far shorter than previously expected. One of Hausner’s attorneys said on Wednesday the defense could last as little as three weeks. Hausner himself may testify in his own defense starting in the first week of February.

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Hausner was off work on days of shootings and days after

By Nick R. Martin | January 22nd, 2009 | 11:09 am | No Comments »


Dale Hausner

Live from the courtroom: Serial Shooter suspect Dale Hausner took a lot of time off work in his job as a janitor at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, and most of those days either landed on the day of a crime in the killing spree or the day after. Phoenix police Detective Clark Schwartzkopf, the lead investigator in the case, is on the witness stand this morning, going over Hausner’s employment records compared to the shootings.

The comparison works. “The pattern was that these shootings either occurred on days that the defendant had the day off or he took them the day after the shooting,” Schwartzkopf said. Hausner called in sick, took vacation time or was scheduled for a regular day off on those occasions.

Take Nov. 11, 2005 for example. Hausner had that day off, as well as the two days before and after the date for a total of five days off, Schwartzkopf said. Nov. 11 was also the date that two dogs were shot and a homeless man named Nathaniel Schoffner was killed. The evidence is very circumstantial, but the prosecution is using it to show that Hausner had the opportunity to commit the nearly 90 crimes he’s charged with.

Update (12:19 p.m.): Defense attorney Tim Agan just grilled Schwartzkopf on the conclusions that were being drawn by this time off-shooting correlation.

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Big thanks as donations surpass start

By Nick R. Martin | January 22nd, 2009 | 6:23 am | 4 Comments »

I continue to be flattered and surprised by the generous support from readers of this site. This week, less than two weeks into accepting donations, your contributions surpassed my startup costs for HEAT CITY. I originally spent $289.75 to buy a domain name, get a year of hosting, pay for a little card that lets me access the Internet from anywhere, and park for one week near the downtown Phoenix courthouse where Dale Hausner is on trial.

Well, this week, a few generous donations brought the total giving to $300, essentially reimbursing me for those costs. So I owe you all a big thanks. This website has been a labor of love from the beginning. Readers deserve quality information and news, and I’m trying to deliver it, hopefully with some success.

I wouldn’t be able to do it without reader support. Even if you can’t give a dollar or two, your e-mails, links, comments and story tips help immensely.

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Exclusive: Hausner upset, says he saw prosecutor 'laugh at me'

By Nick R. Martin | January 21st, 2009 | 7:16 pm | No Comments »


Click image to download 180kb PDF

Two weeks ago, when Serial Shooter suspect Dale Hausner was spotted extending his middle finger in court toward several of his alleged victims, he wrote it off as “simply a misunderstand(ing).” He was just “scratching an itch,” he said at the time, not flipping the bird.

Today, the man suspected of killing eight people and wounding at least 17 others wrote a letter to Judge Roland Steinle saying he had observed one of the prosecutors “literally laugh at me” when his ex-lover was on the witness stand. This time, no way, no how; “it could not be a ‘misunderstanding,'” he wrote.

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Hausner's defense will likely end in February, says attorney

By Nick R. Martin | January 21st, 2009 | 3:21 pm | No Comments »

Ken Everett

Live from the courtroom: One of Dale Hausner’s attorneys made a startling announcement this afternoon when told the judge that the Serial Shooter suspect’s defense will likely end sometime in February. That assessment from defense attorney Ken Everett is a far shorter one than any he’s made in the past. Previously, he told the judge that the defense of Hausner would be extensive and could last months, keeping the case going through Easter.

But just a few minutes ago, Judge Roland Steinle asked Everett for a rough schedule of witnesses, since the prosecution is expected to rest tomorrow morning. Everett told Steinle that several defense witnesses will testify next week and early the week after. Then, Hausner himself will likely take the stand in his own defense the first week of February. After that, another witness or two may be called to wrap up the case, but otherwise, Hausner’s side of the story will be over.

The jury, it seems, may get the chance to decide Hausner’s guilt or innocence beginning next month.

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Ex

By Nick R. Martin | January 21st, 2009 | 11:35 am | No Comments »


Dale Hausner

Live from the courtroom: Linda Tarrence, the former lover of Dale Hausner, testified this morning that she never wants Hausner to see their young daughter again.

In fact, Tarrence said, she has received a restraining order to keep Hausner from their 5-year-old.

“That’s your desire?” asked defense attorney Ken Everett. “You don’t want Dale to have contact ever again with his daughter?”

“That’s true,” said Tarrence, who was also on the stand yesterday to talk about her relationship with Hausner.

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Look who's talking: Hausner complains about prosecutors

By Nick R. Martin | January 21st, 2009 | 10:45 am | No Comments »


Judge Roland Steinle

Live from the courtroom: Judge Roland Steinle revealed this morning that Serial Shooter suspect Dale Hausner and his attorney have written a letter to him complaining about the prosecutors in Hausner’s ongoing eight-count murder trial. The letter, Steinle said, complained about “facial gestures and things” by the prosecutors.

This complaint, Steinle told the attorneys, is extraordinary coming from Hausner and his defense team. You “constantly shake your head no no no when a witness says something you don’t like,” Steinle told Hausner. “We have lawyers rolling their eyes.”

Hausner has been increasingly active and squirrelly sitting in the defendant’s chair. Throughout the trial, he has often waved at witnesses, shaken his head in disagreement, given thumbs up to the gallery, been accused of giving the finger to victims and most recently, heard dropping an expletive when he didn’t like what a witness was saying.

“When a witness is testifying, nobody will make facial gestures, agreeing or disagreeing,” Stienle said. “I expect everybody to be on their best behavior.”

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Eyewitness: Passenger acted 'a bit off' before jumping from plane at Sky Harbor

By Nick R. Martin | January 20th, 2009 | 9:02 pm | 2 Comments »


Phoenix police are shown rushing to capture a man who jumped from a taxiing airplane today at Sky Harbor International Airport. Passenger Amanda Vega took the photo with her iPhone from the plane.

An airline passenger said he “had to go in a hurry” before opening the emergency door and jumping from a moving jet onto a runway today at Sky Harbor International Airport, according to an eyewitness.

The unidentified man, who was arrested by police after bolting from the plane, had been acting “weird” before and during the flight, talking to passengers about his “addiction to bread and Starbucks,” the eyewitness said.

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