Warren Jeffs
Born 1955 in San Francisco
Warren Jeffs, the leader of a polygamous sect of the Mormon Church known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Chist of Latter Day Saints, was added to the FBI’s ten most wanted list in May of 2006.

As leader of the controversial Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Jeffs maintained almost exclusive control over the Arizona town of Colorado City and the adjacent Utah community of Hilldale. He used this power to enforce his strict interpretation of Mormonism which was most visibly illustrated by polygamy. Jeff gave himself sole authority to perform marriages in the communities. Jeff used this self-appointed title to marry his male followers to multiple wives and in many cases to marry men to underage girls. It was estimated that Jeffs had more than 70 wives.

Eventually multiple state and federal charges accused Jeffs of sexual assualt on a minor, conspiracy to commit sexual misconduct, felony flight, accomplice to rape, and various tax violations.

He was arrested on August 28th, 2006, in Nevada. He was stopped by Nevada Highway Patrol because the temporary plates on his Cadillac Escalade were not visible. With him were his borther, Issac, and one of his wives, Naomi.

At the time of his arrest, Jeffs seemed prepared for a lengthy flight from the law. He carried several wigs and more than a dozen pairs of sunglasses as well as 16 cell phones and four computers. Warren Jeffs is now in custody of the state of Utah and is expected to be extradited to Arizona to face new charges in 2008.

lke Clanton

Ike Clanton is famous for his role in the gunfight at the O.K corral. The Clantons moved to Tombstone, Arizona Territory, in 1877 and quickly raised conflict with the Earp brothers, Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan. This conflict escalated between 1877 and 1881 through accusations on both sides of a myriad of crimes including murder.

The situation came to a head on October 25, 1881, when a drunken Ike Clanton got into an argument with Wyatt Earp’s friend Doc Holiday over an incident involving a stagecoach robbery which both sides accused the other of committing. The next day, after Clanton had stayed up all night drinking and playing poker with Virgil Earp and another man, Clanton armed himself with a Winchester rifle and a pistol and began looking for the Earps. Virgil and Morgan Earp, in their role as police officers, found Clanton first and knocked him unconcious. Clanton was taken to the courthouse and help for several hours before being fined for disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon.

After Clanton was released his brother and a few friends, after hearing of Clanton’s arrest, arrived in town on horseback. They were armed and looking for revenge. The gang gathered near the O.K corral. Intending to arrest Clanton and the rest of his posse, Wyatt, his two brothers, and Doc Holliday, walked down to the lot near the O.K. Corral where the most famous gunfight in the history of the U.S west took place.

It’s difficult to say what actually happened at the O.K Corral because of conflicting reports from the participants and eye witnesses. But the outcome was clear. From Ike’s posse, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury were killed. Morgan and Virgil Earp were shot but did not die of their wounds.

Ike didn’t have much of an impact on the incident as he fled before the gunfight even started. Why choose Ike Clanton as one of the top ten notorious Arizona criminals? Without Ike

Cory Morris

Cory Morris, known as the “Crackhead Killer”, was convicted of first-degree murder for the slaying of five Phoenix women between 2002 and 2003. Most of the women were killed in a trailer in which Morris lived behind his aunt’s house in downtown Phoenix.

Morris admitted to killing all five during sex. He would then dump the bodies in alleys or streets near the intersection of 13th St and Roosevelt. All of the women – Barbara Codman, Shanteria Davis, Jade Velazquez, Sherri Noah and Julie Castillo – were thought to have problems with drugs or alcohol. Some may have been prostitutes.

Morris wasn’t a suspect in the case until his uncle noticed a foul smell coming from the trailer. Some of the bodies may have been left in the trailer for several days.

Morris worked as a DJ at the bar Fat Cats on Grand Avenue. The location where Fat Cats was is now the new Chez Nous bar.

Sammy the Bull Gravano

Although Sammy the Bull is most famous for for his ties to the New York Gambino mafia and John Gotti. As the under boss of the Gambino crime family Gravano was closely tied to Gotti and rose to a prominent role in the family. In 1991, after an FBI sting, Gravano was arrested. Gravano confessed to participating in 19 murders among other charges including racketeering. In order to refrain from testifying against dozens of his former mafia connections Gravano turned state’s evidence and testified against Gotti who was sentenced to life.

Gravano left the witness protection program in 1995 and moved to the Phoenix metropolitan area. Gravano supposedly lived a straight life at first, including starting a pool construction company and buying an Italian restaurant and naming it Uncle Sal’s (rumors persist that Uncle Sal’s pizza boxes said “The Best Kept Secret in Scottsdale”).

Soon though, Gravano made a connection with local ecstasy dealers which, with help from his son Gerard Gravano, blossomed into an entire market. Where previously most ecstasy sold in the east valley, especially Scottsdale, was sold by small dealers. Within a few years the Gravano family held almost exclusive control over the ecstasy market.

Both Gravanos were arrested in 2002 for their roles in the narcotics ring. Sammy “The Bull” Gravano is now serving out a 19-year sentence in an Arizona state prison.

Serial Shooters

Between 2004 and 2006, Phoenix police suspected there were two or more serial killers in the metropolitan area. While bodies were being found in central Phoenix in what appeared to be targeted killings, there were also instances of random shootings in the east valley.

Initially police received reports of random gunfire aimed at dogs, and horses. Then the violence escalated to include bikers and pedestrians. Initially police believed there were two shooters working alone. Later arrested were Dale Hausner and Samuel Dietman who lived together in a Mesa apartment. Police believe one would drive while the other would shoot. No motive was discovered in any of the crimes. Police believe Dale Hausner and Samuel Dietman to be responsible for six murders and 20 other shootings in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Robert Fisher

Shortly before 9am on Tuesday April 10, 2001 an explosion tore through a south Scottsdale house. In the ruins of the house police found the family of Robert Fisher and quickly deduced that his wife and two kids had been killed prior to the explosion. Fisher was named a suspect in a triple homicide.

Robert’s wife, his 10-year-old, and his 12-year-old, had likely died from having their throats slashed before the fire.

Shortly after the crime the Fisher’s SUV and Robert’s dog were found in northeastern Arizona near Payson. Fisher was not.

Robert Fisher was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List on June 29, 2002. Police believe Fisher called America’s Most Wanted Program in August, 2001 from Chester, VA.

Baseline Killer

The Baseline Killer is a serial killer that operated in central and south Phoenix from 2004-2006. In 2007 a central Phoenix resident Mark Goudeau was arrested and charged with all of the murders along with sexual assaults and other crimes.

As of early 2008 Goudeau has been convicted of two sexual assaults and sentenced to 430 years. He’s awaiting trial for the murders.

List of the Baseline Killer’s crimes.

Winnie Ruth Judd – Trunk Murderess

On a night in October of 1931, 26-year-old Winnie Ruth Judd and two of her close friends were romantically interested in a local Phoenix playboy named Jack Halloran. During or after the argument Winnie Ruth Judd shot and killed the two women and then returned to her apartment. A drunk Halloran showed up a short time later and Winnie Ruth told him about the shootings. The two returned to the scene of the crime and take care of the bodies.

They decided to fit the bodies into two trunks. While one of the bodies fit into a trunk the other didn’t. It was dismembered. The next day Winnie Ruth asked her landlord to take the trunks to the train depot and send them to Los Angeles. Later that day Winnie Ruth boarded the same train for the 400 mile ride to California. Upon arrival the baggage handler noticed a foul smell and told Ruth she would not be able to take the trunks without opening them for inspection. She told the handler she would have to see her husband in Los Angeles to get the key. Four days later police arrested the “Trunk Murderess”. Ruth was incarcerated until her death in 1998. She was ninety-three.

Johnathan Doody and Alessandro “Alex” Garcia
Alexandro “Alex” Garcia
On April 10th the bodies of nine buddhist monks were found inside the The Wat Promkunaram Buddhist Temple outside of Goodyear, Arizona. All had been shot in the head at close range. It would be the biggest mass murder in the west since the Manson family massacre.

It looked like a thrill killing.

Eventually the two high school students Johnathan Doody and Alessandro Garcia were arrested and charged with the murders. They were sentenced to 300 years. Later, with Doody and Garcia both facing the death penalty, Buddhist monks from the temple appealed to the state to not execute the two. It was their belief that all life is sacred no matter whose life it was.

Ernesto Miranda

Arizona vs Miranda was one of the most important court cases of the twentieth century. In 1963 Ernesto Miranda, from Mesa Arizona, was arrested for rape. Without legal counsel he confessed and was convicted and sentenced to 20 to 30 years on each charge with the sentences to run back to back. Alvin Moore, Miranda’s court appointed lawyer appealed the court’s decision to the Arizona Supreme Court. After the court affirmed the appeal the case went the U.S. Supreme Court where Chief Justice Earl Warren concluded that the 5th amendment to the Constitution, a right to not self-incriminate oneself, was violated as Miranda didn’t know he had a right to legal counsel. His sentence was overturned. To this day, law officials are required to tell suspects that they have to remain silent as well as a legal counsel.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS