GUILTY AZ - Five people shot to death in Mesa home, 21 Feb 2006

[julianne]

Misterallgod...the high school is Desert Ridge High School. That is where the news crews were stationed today after school.

The public elementary school serving the neighborhood is Boulder Creek Elementary, however, many elementary-age kids around here are enrolled in a charter school instead of the public school system. I have heard that outside Arizona, many charter schools are geared towards the student population who are having difficulty in the normal school setting-but that is NOT the case in Arizona. There is a charter school a mile down the road from the victims homes called Noah Webster School, and it has a population of 1,200 students. The students are taught at an accelerated rate and the cirriculum is more advanced than what they teach in the public schools. There's more accountability and teachers are paid much better than the public schools. It is entirely possible that the young 10 year old victim attended Noah Webster, since it has such a good reputation and is so close.

This is so sad. Why any adult would do this to an innocent child is beyond me.

 

[julianne]

ShowerSinger--Thank you for your kind words.

I can only hope that, if anything, these poor kids didn't know what was happening and were sleeping at the time.

 

[Mellen]

How sad.
Julianne, you, too, are in my prayers. A 10 year old boy--same age as your son. Senseless.
15yo girl
18yo man
30yo man
32yo woman

All so young!!!!

Interesting age range. I wonder if they are all family members. Even the oldest person in the group seems too young to have an 18-year-old child. Of course, maybe they reported the ages incorrectly. So sad.

 

[~wildangel~]

Gosh how horrible...heart breaking..sounds like a family affair. Some nutcase in the family...went nuts...

 

[PrayersForMaura]

I would guess the 18 year old is a friend or family member in some other kind of way. Could be a drug deal gone bad. Still ... why harm the kids?

 

[PrayersForMaura]

The apparent shootings in the 2200 block of South Barrington near Baseline Road and the Loop 202, also left a 32-year-old woman, a 30-year-old male and an 18-year-old male dead, police said. All the victims were White, and there was no motive and no obvious sign of suicide, Mesa police Sgt. Chuck Trapani said.

"It's hard to understand how someone could kill someone that young," Trapani said.

Trapani said background checks on two of the victims turned up criminal records and said there was no sign of forced entry into the home.

More: http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/0221MesaShootings21-ON.html

 

[Invisible]

Interesting age range. I wonder if they are all family members. Even the oldest person in the group seems too young to have an 18-year-old child. Of course, maybe they reported the ages incorrectly. So sad.

Mellen, that is what I was thinking. The two older people could be parents to the 10 year old. It will be interesting to see what the relationship is between the occupants of the house.

 

[misterallgood]

Thanks, Julianne.

I have a feeling this is a case that is only going to get stranger. Something about reading that two of the people had criminal records, and that the age disparity is all... off. Early 30's and late teens usually equals siblings before parents and children.

Strangely, the first thing I thought of was the Entwistles. People found dead, (shot to death?) in a nice rental home in an area where such things almost never happen. People who had only lived in the home a relatively short time. Probably that's all it is, a rough coincidence of circumstances, but whatever, I'm certainly curious about this. I appreciate Julianne giving a somewhat close-in perspective, too.

Steve/Mr. A.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Yeah this will be an interesting one. The 32 year old woman could've had the 15 year old when she was 18 and she could just be dating the 30 year old guy. Maybe the 18 year old is his friend. Maybe the 30 year old doesn't even live there.

All just ideas right now ... I am hoping that there is justice served.
Prayers for all involved.

 

[lostfaith]

Misterallgod...the high school is Desert Ridge High School. That is where the news crews were stationed today after school.

The public elementary school serving the neighborhood is Boulder Creek Elementary, however, many elementary-age kids around here are enrolled in a charter school instead of the public school system. I have heard that outside Arizona, many charter schools are geared towards the student population who are having difficulty in the normal school setting-but that is NOT the case in Arizona. There is a charter school a mile down the road from the victims homes called Noah Webster School, and it has a population of 1,200 students. The students are taught at an accelerated rate and the cirriculum is more advanced than what they teach in the public schools. There's more accountability and teachers are paid much better than the public schools. It is entirely possible that the young 10 year old victim attended Noah Webster, since it has such a good reputation and is so close.

This is so sad. Why any adult would do this to an innocent child is beyond me.

Sorry, I just had to chuckle at this...note the bolded name in the post above.

:laugh:

 

[~wildangel~]

These people are just pieces of shiznit. Raised like that, probably raised in an abusive home, that's no excuse ofcourse, just that they become violent adults and all of the rest had to suffer:loser:

 

[aussiegran]

Very sad .These multiple murders seem to be happening a lot .Why cant they at least leave the kids alive.

 

[julianne]

Lost Faith (& Misterallgood)--Ooops, sorry for the typ-o. I actually didn't even see it when you pointed it out, Lost Faith, and I was thinking "Well, what's so funny about that...that IS his screen name", ha ha, then, of course, I realized my mistake.:laugh: It did make me laugh, though, once I saw it, and laughter has been a rare commodity today.

Regarding the relationships between the victims-- The unofficial word on the street is that the 32 year old woman and the 30 year old man were boyfriend and girlfriend. The 15 year old girl and the 10 year old boy were the children of the woman. And, get this...the 18 year old was the LIVE-IN BOYFRIEND of the 15 year old daughter!!! LIVE-IN BOYFRIEND!!! Wow. Incredible if true.

That fact, in and of itself, leads my suspicions to point towards the boyfriend. This is only my suspicions and is not being reported by the media, and I can only surmise that the reason I'm leaning this way is simply due to the fact that I am an avid news junkie and I hear so much of young, teenage boys "losing it" and going nutzo and killing people. But, who really knows? I'm sure that some answers will become at least partially clear by the morning. I had to stop by my office tonight about 2 hours ago, and in doing so, drove past the scene and LE is still out in full force, along with the train of media trucks and vans. LE is posted at the gated entrance, stopping every vehicle that enters.

I, too have heard that there was no signs of forced entry, and also that the house was found LOCKED FROM THE INSIDE.

 

[cathieq]

Latest information:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0222fivedead0222.html

2 brothers tied (in relationships) to mom and daughter...the 10 yr old...The info I'm finding so far are drug and traffic charges concerning the older man, traffic/failure to appears concerning the younger brother, and traffic citations against the woman.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

More questions than clues in Mesa massacre
<snip>

Neighbors said both children had made comments recently that the family feared for their lives.

"They told us a guy was out to kill them," said Matthews, who was friends with Cassie. "That's why they moved."

Police did not confirm any threats against the family.

Neighbors said Steven Duffy was a gun and knife collector. Detectives found a stash of weapons in the house.

"We haven't been able to tie it up — what weapon shot what victim," Trapani said.

Police said at least two of the people involved had criminal histories.

The home is near Baseline and Ellsworth roads and one of 244 inside Barrington Estates, where streets are lined with palm trees and children have two manicured parks to play in.

Cassie Lovell attended Desert Ridge High School, where she had just started this semester after being home schooled, friends said.

More: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=59613

 

[Shadow205]

It sounds to me like the killer died along with the victims. I would lean toward Steven Duffy at this point. Murder/suicide. What makes it strange though is the statement from neighbors about the kids saying that someone wanted to kill them and that is why they moved.

Has anyone seen any mention of the father of Cassandra & Jacob?

 

[julianne]

No, there's been no mention of the father of the children.

Still no word on who they think the perpetrator is, but they HAVE said that there is NO EVIDENCE at this point in time to make them think it's a murder-suicide scenario. Now THAT is scary. I would think that if it actually WAS a murder-suicide situation, then there would be clear evidence of that, right? I mean, if the person killed everyone in the home and then shot himself, the gun would be right there next to his body, and apparently, that is not the case.

Again today, the news crews were out in front of the high school.

 

[lostfaith]

I would think that if it actually WAS a murder-suicide situation, then there would be clear evidence of that, right? I mean, if the person killed everyone in the home and then shot himself, the gun would be right there next to his body, and apparently, that is not the case, QUOTE]


Up until recently that is what I would have thought also Julianne. Did you read the thread in the crimes forum of the mother just recently found dead with her 3 young sons??? Just today, it was revealed that she did indeed kill the 3 sons and herself. The gun was found in the living room on the couch and her in the bathroom. She shot herself and made it into the bathroom.. Not saying that is what happened in this case, just saying I guess it is possible. So Sad!

 

[cathieq]

From the latest news, the mom's boyfriend had conspired with his boss, William Craig Miller, to burn down the boss's house for insurance money. Tammy Lovell had called the police with information on her boyfriend's involvement. Duffy agreed to tape his boss and get evidence. From what I understand, mom, boyfriend and daughter's boyfriend all worked at the same place. Duffy's previous address (on court records) was his boss's home address. I gather they were all still employed there?

www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0223mesafatals0223.html

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=59730

Per court records, Miller had quite a few transactions going back to 1988. Correct if I'm wrong, he and his wife only just purchased this house (that was burned down) this past fall. He supposedly was having financial difficulties and I noticed he'd had quite a few liens filed against him and his business over the years...He's currently out on $10,000 bail.

 

[Shadow205]

"According to court documents, Tammy Lovell tipped off police that her boyfriend, Steven Duffy, was involved in the planning and execution of the fire."

I wonder why Tammy Lovell tipped off police that her boyfriend was involved in the arson. I mean, I know that it is the right thing to do if you know someone is involved in a crime to relay the info to the police. I also know that it is not usually done unless the person with that info is mad at the person involved.
With the new information provided in the above two links, I withdraw my previous comment about the murder/suicide. Evidently Miller is who the children were referring to when they said that "their family was in fear for the lives."

Not that it has anything to do with the deaths but the relationship between Cassandra & Shane still bothers me.

In answer to your question Julianne about the police making the comment that "no evidence of murder-suicide". They could have simply been referring to the fact that no suicide note was found. Things will be much clearer after the autopsies are completed. Lostfaith, you are correct that sometimes in murder-suicide cases the weapon is not located close to the bodies making it a little harder to determine upon 1st investigation that it is a murder-suicide.