Dale Hausner

Case details

Dale Hausner was convicted of six counts of first-degree murder, 18 attempted first-degree murder charges, two conspiracy to commit first-degree murder charges, and 16 aggravated assault charges. He was also convicted of 23 drive-by shooting charges, nine animal cruelty charges, three counts of discharging a gun at a structure, one count of unlawfully discharging a gun, and two counts of arson of an occupied structure.

He was sentenced to six death penalties on March 27, 2009. He later died in custody after committing suicide in his cell by overdosing on amitriptyline on June 19, 2013. A medical examiner ruled his death a suicide after a complete autopsy and a review of toxicology results. The Arizona Department of Corrections reported that he was found dead in his prison cell at the Eyman state prison in Florence just after 12 p.m. on June 19, and that he was 40 years old at the time of his death.

Timeline

• May 2005 — The Serial Shooter attacks began in the Phoenix area.
• June 29, 2005 — David Estrada, 20, was shot to death in Tolleson.
• June 29, 2005 — A horse was found shot to death in Tolleson.
• July 20, 2005 — A horse was shot and wounded in Tolleson.
• July 20, 2005 — A dog was shot to death in Tolleson.
• Nov. 11, 2005 — A dog was shot and wounded.
• **Nov.
• Nov. 11, 2005 — Nathaniel Shoffner was killed.
• Dec. 29, 2005 — A dog was shot to death.
• Dec. 29, 2005 — A man was wounded.
• Dec. 29, 2005 — Jose Ortis, 44, was fatally shot.
• Dec. 29, 2005 — Marco Carillo was fatally shot.
• Dec. 30, 2005 — Three dogs were shot.
• Dec. 30, 2005 — A woman was wounded.
• Dec. 29, 2005 — David Estrada, 20, who stood on a roadway, was among the shootings police later tried to definitively link.
• Dec. 30, 2005 — Clarissa Stevens, 21, was wounded as she walked alone on Van Buren Street at 2 a.m.
• 2006 — The investigation involved 36 shootings and included attacks on people and animals.
• May 2, 2006 — A victim was shot in the back while walking.
• May 2, 2006 — Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz, 20, was fatally shot while walking in Scottsdale after stepping off a bus on her way home from work.
• May 17, 2006 — A man was stabbed in an attack in a parking lot.
• May 30, 2006 — A man was wounded.
• May 31, 2006 — A man was shot in the side while walking.
• May 31, 2006 — A man was shot in the left side.
• June 8, 2006 — A man was shot in the right side while walking.
• June 8, 2006 — Arsons at two Wal-Mart stores occurred within 45 minutes of each other and caused approximately $7 to $10 million in damage.
• June 11, 2006 — A woman was shot in the left hip while riding her bicycle.
• June 20, 2006 — A man was shot while sitting in a parking lot.
• June 20, 2006 — A man was shot in the torso while walking.
• June 29, 2006 — (Included in the described spree timeline) Police linked the death of a Mesa woman to one of the serial predators; the deaths tied the Serial Shooter total to six.
• July 1, 2006 — A woman was shot while walking.
• July 1, 2006 — A man was shot while standing behind a strip mall.
• July 3, 2006 — A man was shot while pushing his bicycle on the sidewalk.
• July 8, 2006 — A victim was shot in the back of the head while walking.
• July 8, 2006 — A man was shot in the torso while walking.
• July 22, 2006 — A man was shot.
• July 30, 2006 — Robin Blasnek, 22, was shot and killed at approximately 11:15 p.m. while walking from her parents' house to her boyfriend's house in Mesa.
• Aug. 3, 2006 — Phoenix police released a statement linking Blasnek's murder to the Serial Shooter.
• Aug. 4, 2006 — Arizona police arrested Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman at their apartment in Mesa.
• Aug. 14, 2006 — A preliminary hearing was scheduled.
• Aug. 29, 2006 — Phoenix police questioned Jeff Hausner.
• Aug. 30, 2006 — Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman were indicted in federal court on two counts of arson.
• Jan. 3, 2007 — A judge barred news media from photographing or filming two serial killing suspects in court.
• Jan. 12, 2007 — Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio moved Baseline Killer suspect Mark Goudeau to a new jail cell.
• March 13, 2009 — Hausner was convicted of 80 crimes, including six counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, cruelty to animals and other charges.
• March 27, 2009 — Hausner was sentenced to six death penalties.
• March 30, 2009 — Hausner came to ADC custody.
• June 19, 2013 — Hausner died in his prison cell by overdosing on amitriptyline.
• June 20, 2013 — The Pima County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the death a suicide.

The offence

Serial Shooter attack pattern

Investigators believed the Serial Shooter(s) attacked from a vehicle without warning and targeted victims who walked, biked or were otherwise alone outside, usually between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. Victims appeared to have been targeted randomly. Police originally believed that the Serial Shooter was a single individual responsible for four murders and 25 shootings beginning in May 2005, and that a series of 13 shootings in the same area were the work of another offender. Investigators later revealed they believed the two series of shootings were related.

Victims and counts described

Hausner was convicted in connection with attacks that, according to the list of most of the crimes on which he was convicted, included the following dated events and victims:

• June 29, 2005 — A horse that was found shot to death in Tolleson.
• July 20, 2005 — A horse that was shot and wounded in Tolleson.
• July 20, 2005 — A dog that was shot to death.
• Nov. 11, 2005 — A dog that was shot and wounded.
• **Nov.
• Nov. 11, 2005 — Nathaniel Shoffner, who was killed.
• Dec. 29, 2005 — A dog that was shot to death.
• Dec. 29, 2005 — A man who was wounded.
• Dec. 29, 2005 — Jose Ortis, 44, who was fatally shot.
• Dec. 29, 2005 — Marco Carillo, who was fatally shot.
• Dec. 30, 2005 — Three dogs that were shot.
• Dec. 30, 2005 — A woman who was wounded.

For 2006, the list of crimes included:

• May 2, 2006 — A victim who was shot in the back while walking.
• May 2, 2006 — Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz, 20, who was fatally shot while walking in Scottsdale.
• May 17, 2006 — A man stabbed in an attack in a parking lot.
• May 30, 2006 — A man who was wounded.
• May 31, 2006 — A man who was shot in the side while walking.
• May 31, 2006 — A man shot in the left side.
• June 8, 2006 — A man who was shot in the right side while walking.
• June 8, 2006 — Arsons at two Wal-Mart stores.
• June 11, 2006 — A woman who was shot in the left hip while riding her bicycle.
• June 20, 2006 — A man who was shot while sitting in a parking lot.
• June 20, 2006 — A man who was shot in the torso while walking.
• July 1, 2006 — A woman who was shot while walking.
• July 1, 2006 — A man who was shot while standing behind a strip mall.
• July 3, 2006 — A man who was shot while pushing his bicycle on the sidewalk.
• July 8, 2006 — A victim who was shot in the back of the head while walking.
• July 8, 2006 — A man who was shot in the torso while walking.
• July 22, 2006 — A man who was shot.
• July 30, 2006 — Robin Blasnek, 22, who was fatally shot while walking in Mesa.

In addition to those convictions, he was acquitted in two killings and another attack that didn't result in an injury:

• He was acquitted in the May 2005 killings of Tony Mendez and Reginald Remillard.
• He was acquitted in the July 2005 shooting of a horse.
• He was acquitted in a December 2005 attack on a woman that didn't result in an injury.

Gun and other acts described

Police said Hausner preyed on pedestrians, bicyclists, dogs and horses during the 14-month conspiracy. Investigators also linked Hausner and Dieteman to two arson fires at Wal-Mart stores on June 8, started 45 minutes apart from each other, causing approximately $7 to $10 million in damage.

In the description of the crimes, the offender targeted victims who were outside alone and typically at night, and police described a “Serial Shooter” and references to “RV” or “Random Recreational Violence,” including tips describing vehicles used by the suspect(s).

Investigation

Link to wiretapped conversation

In an audio recording presented at trial, a police wiretap recorded Hausner and Dieteman discussing the shootings in graphic detail.

Public response and police efforts

Neighbourhood watch groups were kept on high alert during the summer of 2006. Police searches involved community meetings where residents were encouraged to provide tips. Police investigation included a serial criminal task force and a second serial case involving the “Baseline Killer,” which investigators believed overlapped the Serial Shooter investigation.

Identifying information in the described investigation

Police said they identified Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman as suspects through tips received from the community, mainly from Ron Horton. Investigators stated that the big break came when Horton called police after Dieteman bragged about shooting people. Horton told a reporter about “RV’ing,” which stood for “Random Recreational Violence.”

Arrest and custody

Police announced two arrests on the morning of Aug. 4, 2006. The suspects were Dale S. Hausner and Samuel John Dieteman. Phoenix police chief Jack Harris said officers arrested both men outside of their apartment in Mesa, Arizona, following a tip, and that police had weapons and incriminating statements linking them to the shootings.

Police said Hausner’s daughter was in the apartment when he and Dieteman were arrested outside, and the daughter was returned to her mother.

People involved

Samuel John Dieteman

Samuel John Dieteman was described as Hausner’s roommate and as the former defendant’s co-accused in connection with random nighttime shootings. Dieteman pleaded guilty to two murders and was awaiting sentencing. The record also said Dieteman could face the death penalty.

Jeff Hausner

Jeff Hausner was described as Dale Hausner’s brother. Phoenix police questioned Jeff Hausner, and Jeff Hausner said he agreed to a DNA test and allowed police to search his vehicle and his home. Police asked him for a polygraph test, which he declined. The record also stated that Jeff Hausner pleaded guilty in 2007 to a stabbing and was serving a 7 1/2-year prison term, and that he was indicted in another stabbing attack related to the Serial Shooter case last summer and had pleaded not guilty in that case.

Mark Goudeau and jail placement

Mark Goudeau was described as a suspect in the Baseline Killer case. On Jan. 12, 2007, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio moved Goudeau to a new jail cell after concerns about misleading implications about a “growing friendship” between Goudeau and Hausner. Arpaio said in a statement that there had not been any direct contact between the men and that Hausner misled a reporter to get more publicity for himself. Goudeau told jail officials that he had never spoken to Hausner and “would not want to affiliate himself in any way ‘with a mass murderer.’” Marci spoke about adjacency in a Special Management Unit at Maricopa County’s Fourth Avenue Jail.

Trial

Charges prosecuted and verdict

Hausner was convicted on March 13, 2009, of 80 crimes, including six counts of first-degree murder. The verdict covered:

• six first-degree murder charges;
• 18 attempted first-degree murder charges;
• two conspiracy to commit first-degree murder charges;
• 16 aggravated assault charges;
• 23 drive-by shooting charges;
• nine animal cruelty charges;
• three counts of discharging a gun at a structure;
• one count of unlawfully discharging a gun;
• two counts of arson of an occupied structure.

He was acquitted in two killings and another attack that didn't result in an injury, including the May 2005 killings of Tony Mendez and Reginald Remillard, the July 2005 shooting of a horse, and a December 2005 attack on a woman that didn't result in an injury. The jury found him guilty in dozens of attacks, while acquitting him in the two other killings and the non-injury attack.

Defence and statements to the jury

During the penalty phase of the trial, Hausner told jurors they should give him the death penalty because it would help the families of victims. He instructed his attorneys not to plead for a life sentence. During his time before deliberations in the penalty phase, he said the Hausner name would likely become as infamous as Charles Manson's.

Hausner made statements attributed to him in connection with his remarks to the jury, including the following quoted passages:

"When you think of Manson, 50 years from now you'll think of Hausner," he said.

"I'm not up here to point the finger at anybody else and say, 'Have mercy on my poor and withered soul,'" Hausner told the jury on Thursday.

"I'm willing to accept my punishment like a man without blaming anybody."

"It's justice as much as it can be," said Rebecca Estrada, whose 20-year-old son, David Estrada, was shot to death in Tolleson in June 2005.

"The death penalty is the limit and that's what he deserves."

"It was a good day because we took something bad off the street," said victim Tony Long, who still had 30 shotgun pellets in his body after he was shot while walking in June 2006.

"We're happy he's not going to be out in the public ever again," said Marci Matt, Remillard's sister.

He denied involvement in the attacks since his arrest in August 2006, offered alibis that included being at his girlfriend’s houses, shopping at the grocery store, driving in another part of the Phoenix area or taking care of his daughter, and suggested that Dieteman may have carried out some of the attacks.

Hausner admitted that he misrepresented himself to investigators who were looking into two arsons allegedly tied to the case and lied to investigators about where he threw away one of his guns.

Unusual trial steps described

The record said Hausner held a jailhouse news conference shortly after his arrest that ended when his newly appointed public defender entered the room and whispered that he should stop talking to reporters. It also said that his decision to take the stand exposed him to tough questioning from prosecutors.

Sentencing

On March 27, 2009, a jury sentenced Dale Hausner to six death penalties.

The record said Hausner had previously ordered his lawyers not to argue against persuading jurors to deliver the death sentences, saying jurors should put him to death to help the victims’ families heal. He fell short of confessing any guilt for the convicted crimes. During a “1/2 hour ramble” to the jury right before sentencing, he apologized to several people including his family and said he ruined the family name as people would hear the Hausner name and think of Charles Manson.

The punishment handed down on March 27 was for the six murder convictions against Hausner. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Roland Steinle was scheduled to sentence Hausner on Monday on his remaining convictions for attempted murder, aggravated assault, drive-by shooting, animal cruelty and other charges. He was described as scheduled to be sentenced Monday on 74 other convictions in the case.

Appeals

The record stated that Hausner was not expected to appeal.

Outcome and aftermath

Ruling of death

The Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death of serial killer Dale Hausner a suicide. After a complete autopsy and review of toxicology results, the medical examiner determined Dale S. Hausner, 40, took his life by overdosing on amitriptyline, a type of anti-depressant medication.

The Arizona Department of Corrections said he was found dead in his prison cell at the Eyman state prison in Florence just after 12 p.m. on June 19. The record indicated his death was ruled a suicide on June 20.

Other case-related statements

In connection with his jail history, the record included remarks by Sheriff Joe Arpaio about contact between Hausner and Baseline Killer suspect Mark Goudeau, including the statement:

"Hausner would appear to have quite an imagination," Arpaio said in the statement.

"My detention staff says there has not been any direct contact between these men and that Hausner misled the reporter in order to get more publicity for himself."

Sister and spouse details in the record

The record mentioned that Hausner cast himself as busy divorced father of a sick daughter and made an appearance in a TV commercial for a personal injury law firm. It also included details from a 1994 report in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Hausner's sons, ages 2 and 3, drowned in a creek after a car crash, and that his then-wife, Karen, was driving the car and fell asleep.