AZ AZ - Carl, 57, & Jane Suraci, 46, Aguila, 1 Nov 2007

Carl and Jane Suraci were murdered in their home on the night of November 1, 2007. They lived at 22610 N 529th Ave., Aguila AZ 85320. This is in western Maricopa county. Their home was invaded. They were killed by gun shot. Some of their dogs were also murdered. The structure was set ablaze probably in an attempt to destroy evidence. The scene was originally investigated as a murder/suicide. It was later determined to be a double homicide. People who lived in the area and knew the Suraci's as productive community members felt like local drug dependent individuals were responsible.

I became aware of the crime after doing Internet searches related to the Yogurt Shop Murders in Austin Tx in December 1991. The victims of both murders were killed by gun and then the structure was set afire. They also shared a common relative.

Has law enforcement made any progress in solving this case? Is it similar to other crimes in this area? Has anybody been convicted of similar crimes in the area? Is it known if anything was taken? Was anybody familiar with the Suraci property suspected? We're people known by the Suraci's outside of the area thought of as possible perps? Former spouses, lovers, business associates? People they dealt with from their former lives in Sedona and Virginia? I understand they were former counselors. Did they have enemies from their professional activities? Did they have large amounts of cash or jewelry? What was the source of the funds for their property and animals?

From reading Internet posts of friends and family, the Suraci's were well regarded by many friends and family. I hope the cause and perpetrator of their murders can be discovered.

Truth is molten, and freeing

Links relevant to the case:


"Authorities hope that an increase in a reward will help solve the killing of a husband and wife in Aguila last year.
Carl Suraci, 57, and his wife, Jane, 46, were shot, killed and then burned in their manufactured home just before midnight on Nov. 1, Sgt Paul Penzone, a Silent Witness spokesman, said Wednesday. Maricopa County sheriff's investigators believed the fire was set to cover up the killings and that the Suracis were specifically targeted
The reward has been raised to $11,000."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0123abrk-Suracimurder0123.html


"Silent Witness" Video asking for help in solving the case:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG9ySaOxqhY


Blog re: Carl & Jane:

http://carlandjanesuraci.blogspot.com/


This case certain appears to be as cold as they get

Tragic

I think about this cold case at different times. I read that at least one of the Suraci's dogs was a Great Dane. A night invasion of this compound would have been scary for anybody. Even if you thought Carl & Jane were alone, you could not be certain of their location on property. They were no doubt armed. Their animals would have given warning. Dancing with a Great Dane in the dark and a rancher with a shot gun is not something many people would consider an easy target. If no emergency calls were made by Carl or Jane, IMO they must have known the perpetrator(s), and were taken down by surprise.

I recommend going to google maps, 22610 N 529th Ave AZ. Put the map in satellite mode. You will get an understanding of what a nighttime invasion, double homicide, and escape would have entailed.

It is hard to look at this case without thinking about the Yogurt Shop Murders.

The connections are pretty tangential at best: Carl was the Brother of the step-father of two of the murdered girls. He did not live anywhere near Austin when it happened and did not appear to have any links to the Conspiracy Theory that has hovered over the Yogurt Shop case. Still, a seemingly senseless murder covered up by arson is link that can not be ignored. A home invasion robbery is usually a situation where the robbers have reason to believe the target has serious money or something else of value hidden or in a safe and they need the homeowner to make that available to them. Prime targets include people involved in illegal enterprises or business owners who do a lot of cash transactions.

The one big question I have on this case is that the Suracis seemed to be living pretty large for a couple of retired "drug Consolers". Prior to moving to Aguila, they lived in Sedona; a beautiful place but a pricey place to retire to. They appear to have retired pretty well off and very young. What was the real source of their Wealth?

kemo said:

The one big question I have on this case is that the Suracis seemed to be living pretty large for a couple of retired "drug Consolers". Prior to moving to Aguila, they lived in Sedona; a beautiful place but a pricey place to retire to. They appear to have retired pretty well off and very young. What was the real source of their Wealth?

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Did their counseling careers ever have them working for a state or other government agency? If so, they would have paid into the Arizona State Retirement System. While they take a huge portion of your paycheck, when you retire, you can get good money. The formula is years-of-service + age, and you need that to total 80 for full retirement or 75 for partial retirement. I have known people to retire at the age of 50 with a decent income, because they started working at the age of 20.

Also, you don't have to work for the same agency the whole time. You can move between state departments and school districts, and your clock keeps ticking.


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azshadowwalker said:

Did their counseling careers ever have them working for a state or other government agency? If so, they would have paid into the Arizona State Retirement System. While they take a huge portion of your paycheck, when you retire, you can get good money. The formula is years-of-service + age, and you need that to total 80 for full retirement or 75 for partial retirement. I have known people to retire at the age of 50 with a decent income, because they started working at the age of 20.

Also, you don't have to work for the same agency the whole time. You can move between state departments and school districts, and your clock keeps ticking.


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Click to expand...

My understanding is that they were from the East Coast and moved to AZ after they retired. I don't know how long they had lived Aguila and how long they had lived in Sedona before that but they were 57 and 46 in 2007 when they were killed so this was a very early retirement.

I didn't mean to suggest that they were involved in anything dirty, just that there was more to their personal finances than employment derived pensions and it that may have been a factor in their deaths.

From what I understand, they were well respected members of the community. They lived on a large desert parcel with some horses and other livestock but their house was rather modest and there was nothing about them that would make them a likely target of a home invasion type robbery.

The Aguila area is in a remote part of Maricopa county, which includes the city of Phoenix. There is enough ground water to support some agriculture. Most of the residents are Hispanic and work in the local farms. There are some "urban refugees" like the Suracis who do not earn their living locally. There had been a problem with meth that had led to an upswing in property crime but there has not been anything like the Suraci case before or since.

Law Enforcement there is the Maricopa Sheriff's Dept which, at the time, was run Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He was perceived as very big on political grandstanding but not particularly interested in day to day operations of his department. Aguila residents believe the crime was not investigated properly because there were not enough voters there to worry about. The voters have since given "Sheriff Joe" the boot but, at this point it is unlikely that the case will be reopened.

The double homicide of a middle aged couple out on the Arizona desert is unlikely to generate much long term interest. This case would probably have been long forgotten had it not be remotely connected to the notorious Yogurt Shop case. As long as controversy surrounds that case, this case is not going to go away. There has been at least one "conspiracy theory" involving the Yogurt Shop case and this case is always linked to it.

Yeah, I am a native Arizonan, so I have *ahem* opinions on Arpaio. But I had never heard of this case. I stumbled upon it just looking through cold cases here in Arizona. I don't think it got much coverage here in Tucson. Despite being only 90 minutes apart on I-10, both counties and cities are large enough that things covered in Phoenix/Maricopa County and Tucson/Pima County aren't always the same.

I didn't think you were implying they were dirty, btw.

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