The desert is filled with secrets, as there are plenty of famous and active serial killers from Arizona, stretching along that hot, dry plane of nothingness, surrounded by sand, rocks, cacti, and more than its fair share of bodies.
This Arizona serial killer list will unearth some of these secrets and showcase the hidden horrors that are etched into the Grand Canyon stone and buried under the beauty of the sixth-largest American state.
Serial Killers In Arizona
The term serial killer is an automatic buzzword for inciting fear and panic. Therefore, as much as television and movies are quick to label a string of homicides as related, Phoenix police and other law enforcement agencies are hesitant to do so, even if the presence of a serial murderer is suspected.
Despite this, in the summer of 2005, Phoenix was plagued by two serial killers at the same time. The Baseline Killer and the Serial Shooters were running rampant through the city. The Arizona Republic and other local news publications refer to it as The Summer of Fear.
Here's the list of Arizona serial killers and some background on two of the most famous killings in Arizona history.
The Serial Shooters
Samuel Dieteman and Dale Hausner were also taking out their rage on innocent victims throughout Arizona through what Hausner called "recreational violence."
The Serial Shooters started their rampage on May 2, 2006 and continued until they were arrested in August 2006. Throughout the summer, Dieteman and Hausner shot and killed eight people between them.
In 2009, Dieteman pleaded guilty to two of the homicides and testified against Hausner, receiving a life sentence. Hausner was found guilty in six of the eight murders he was charged with, accumulating six death penalties.
However, Dale Hausner was found dead in his cell on Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Police ruled the cause of his demise a suicide via overdose. The subsequent investigation revealed that Hausner's official COD was amitriptyline intoxication, meaning he had overdosed on antidepressants.
While the toxicology report was released in less than a month, it took almost a year for investigators to clarify how Hausner received a lethal amount of antidepressants. On June 8, 2014, NBC News revealed that police believe an inmate with an antidepressant prescription gave Hausner the pills.
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Hausner told the inmate he was having trouble sleeping. So, when the nurse wasn't watching the inmate, he would palm pills, he didn't feel like taking and save them for Hausner.
Police say Hausner may have accumulated more than 58 pills.
The Baseline Killer
Mark Goudeau, better known as the Baseline Killer, was most active between August 2005 and June 2006. After being arrested in September 2006, he was charged with nine killings, in addition to sexual assault charges, kidnappings, and armed robberies, totaling 74 felony charges.
Mark Goudeau was ultimately sentenced to die and is currently sitting in the Arizona State Penitentiary. Goudeau continues to maintain his innocence.
Cory Morris
Cory Morris (A.K.A. the Crackhead Killer) performed his killings between 2002 and 2003 in Maricopa County, Arizona. Morris would lure his victim in by offering money for sexual favors.
Once he had brought them back to his trailer, he killed them by strangulation. Additionally, he sexually assaults the victim, both pre and post mortem, making him one of the rarer necrophilic killers.
Cory Morris was arrested in April 2003. According to police, he confessed to five of the six homicides he was initially accused of killing. On July 19, 2005, Morris was sentenced to die for all six murders.
William Huff
William Huff, the self-proclaimed Phantom Killer, killed two young girls in 1967. William Huff, who was sixteen-years-old at the time, lured seven-year-old Cindy Clelland into the Arizona desert.
The next time anyone saw Clellan, she was naked and deceased. The young girl suffered from evisceration, disembowelment, strangulation, and stab wounds.
A month later, William Huff sent a letter to the Sierra Vista police department claiming to be "The Phantom" and claiming to be stalking his next victim.
Within that month, six-year-old Janelle Haines' body was discovered, naked and brutalized in the same fashion.
After serving 48 years in prison, William Huff was relinquished to a lesser house arrest sentence but is still not home free. Despite his pleas for clemency, the police department and the public still view 70-year-old Huff as a threat to society, and in 2019, he was returned to prison for having an eight-year-old girl in his apartment during a surprise parole check.
Aaron Saucedo
Aaron Juan Saucedo (A.K.A the Maryvale Shooter) was active in Phoenix between August 2015 and July 2016, killing nine, wounding two, and firing at twelve more victims. The Pheonix Police fielded over 3300 tips from the community, which eventually resulted in the apprehension of Saucedo.
However, this case received aid from federal agencies, such as the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Explosives, and the U.S. Marshal’s Service. It was a collective effort that certainly paid off when police arrested Aaron Saucedo on April 22, 2016.
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With so many victims, the prosecution wants to be ready and accurate with all their findings. Therefore, Saucedo's current trial date is sometime in 2021.
Charles Gary Sullivan
Charles Gary Sullivan is suspected of being a serial killer, although he only has one murder charge. Police connected Sullivan to the bludgeoning homicide of Julia Woodward in 1979.
However, a search of the suspect's computer produced bondage porn that had an eerie connection to the Woodward murder, led police to say that Sullivan could be responsible for at least two more murders.
This case is continuously developing, as Sullivan's trial will commence in January of 2021, after his arrest in Arizona in November of 2019.
Cleophis Cooksey Jr.
Cleophis Cooksey Jr. was arrested on December 17, 2017, after becoming the suspect in nine homicides over two months. Throughout November and December of 2017, Cooksey shot nine individuals, including his mother and step-father.
In January 2019, the Phoenix Police department and a Maricopa County Attorney for the prosecution held Cooksey for the nine deaths. Despite the mountain of evidence against Cooksey, he maintains his innocence.
This case has yet to be closed. Officers working the case are keeping it open while also keeping Cooksey in prison until they have a solid case. Therefore, a trial date has yet to be determined.
Robert William Fisher
Robert William Fisher, as far as the world knows, is a family annihilator. Fisher took his homicidal rage out on his wife and two young children at one time. However, he is relevant to this list because this horrific tragedy happened in Arizona.
“He’s a monster. It’s that simple,” said retired Scottsdale Police Detective T.J. Jiran in an interview with AZFamily.com.
On April 10, 2001, a house blew up in a quiet suburb of Scottsdale, Arizona. Immediately, calls started pouring in, and the police arrived on the scene quickly. It didn't take long to realize that the charred bodies of thirty-eight-year-old Mary Fisher, twelve-year-old Brittney, and ten-year-old Bobby were murder victims.
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The family's throats were slit while they slept, and Mary Fisher received a shot in the head. Notably, the man of the house, Robert William Fisher, was missing. A manhunt ensued, but after an initial sighting ten days after the apparent arson and homicides, Fisher was never seen again.
Currently, Fisher remains an FBI target on America's Most Wanted list. Fisher may be dead, but police continue to believe that he is free, alive, and well.
Robert William Fisher is an avid hunter, fisherman, and man on the run. As such, he is considered armed and dangerous.
Arizona Unsolved Murders
Pauline Robbin Burgett
Pauline Robbin Burgett is an unfortunate soul trapped on this list. Anyone who has followed or heard about this 1978 cold case knows that Burgett was the sixteen-year-old victim of a heinous crime.
For the Burgett family, March 12, 1978, will live in infamy. That is the date that Pauline's brother and mother returned to their Phoenix duplex to find her murdered. Fox 10 Phoenix explains that while there is DNA evidence available in this case, it has never linked to a match.
Pauline Robbin Burgett's case is one of the 732,000 murders the FBI cataloged since 1975 that have taken place in Arizona. While the murder is believed to be perpetrated by someone Burgett knew, there is no way to be sure.
The only thing that is certain about this and the thousands of horrific cases like it is that her killer was never brought to justice and, thus, is still at large.
Serial Killers In Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix, Arizona, is a hotbed for infamous serial killers. In fact, in a 2018 Phoenix New Times article, the sunshine belt state is referred to as the "City of Serial Killers."
Here are the serial killers that specifically target Phoenix:
- Samuel Little
- Dwight Lamon Jones
Samuel Little
Samuel Little is infamously regarded as "The most prolific serial killer in U.S. history," according to the FBI. Little claims to have killed 93 women from 1970 to 2005, but he was only officially charged for three of them.
Horrifically, the FBI has confirmed fifty homicides throughout the country, connecting Little with two murder victims from Arizona, and at least a third yet to be confirmed.
Samuel Little convinced himself he wouldn't get caught because he targeted high-risk victims, such as prostitutes. Due to his victim choice, he figured their disappearances would not get tracked. Fortunately, Little was wrong, and investigators linked him to three murder victims, for which he received three life sentences.
Dwight Lamon Jones
"I knew one day we would be in a situation where he was trying to kill me," Dwight Lamon Jones' ex-wife, Dr. Connie Jones, told Phoenix News-Times in an interview. "His death is the best thing to come out of this ordeal."
Jones killed six people in four separate instances, spanning over three days in June 2018. All six of Jones' victims were related to his divorce proceedings. However, while the killings were taking place, safety was not guaranteed for anyone in the Phoenix area.
Understandably, these three days of horror crippled the city of Phoenix until police finally tracked Jones to the Extended Stay Hotel in Scottsdale. Ultimately, Dwight Lamon Jones committed suicide in the hotel room after firing multiple rounds at officers.
"We are very grateful to be alive today," Connie Jones said. "We feel greatly sorry for the families and the victims."
The serial killers AZ attractive are not exclusive to Phoenix, but they seem drawn to The Grand Canyon State. Whether it is the access to body dumping areas, the transients Arizona attracts, or simple coincidence, it appears that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies spend a lot of time investigating homicidal crime in the desert.
Knowing this, would you think twice about visiting Phoenix, Arizona, or are you fascinated by the evidence and interested in learning more about their stories?
Make sure to check out our true crime merchandise, and then read about Albert Fish - the serial killer who wrote a letter to his victims parents.
