Two people have been arrested in the 2008 murder of Arizona State University student Zachary Rowe.
William Crawford, 27, and Rory Coriell, 29 -- both of whom have prison records -- have been arrested in Rowe's murder, which took place at a rented home in Chandler.
Police responded December 23, 2008, to the Chandler home, where firefighters were battling a fire that "fully engulfed" the home, according to police. Rowe's body was recovered from the home, and the medical examiner found that he actually had been killed by a gunshot wound to the head.
Fire investigators discovered that some sort of flammable liquid had been set down in the house, and police recovered bullet casings from the scene.
A person who knew Crawford and Coriell eventually told police that the men said immediately after the incident that they'd gone to the home to steal things, including marijuana.
Rowe's dog alerted him to people at the house, and Rowe managed to take some shots at the suspects, but he was shot by one of the suspects, according to court documents obtained by New Times.
The two men ran from the home, but after realizing that nobody had called the police. They went back in an effort to retrieve any evidence that might tie them to the crime.
One person who talked to police said Coriell's face was bleeding, as if he'd been grazed with a bullet.
Another person who noticed his injury said they saw news coverage of the crime and "immediately knew" these two were responsible.
Another witness, who knew both Rowe and the two murder suspects, Crawford and Coriell, said the men often asked about Rowe, the witness' "marijuana connection," court documents state. He said he never introduced them because these two were known to rob people, especially drug dealers.
However, another witness admitted to dropping off Crawford and Coriell at Rowe's house, where Rowe supposedly was going to "front" the two some weed.
After seeing the story on the news, the witness confronted Crawford and Coriell, but he "was told not to ask questions that the witness didn't want to know the answers to," court documents state.
All the witnesses were interviewed "separately and over a lengthy amount of time," corroborating parts of the whole story, according to the documents.
After providing evidence to the County Attorney's Office, prosecutors agreed there was probable cause to make arrests.
Both men have been booked into jail on first-degree murder charges.
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