Criminal Trials

Baseline Killer Case UPDATE: Accused Serial Murderer Mark Goudeau's Defense Team Calls No Witnesses

Just got word that he defense team of Mark Goudeau, accused of murdering nine people in an infamous 2005-06 crime spree, will not be calling any witnesses to the stand at his ongoing trial. Mark Goudeau is looking directly at death row if convicted ​The stunning turn of events occurred a ... More >>

David Robert Morris Hit With 30-Year Prison Sentence for Using Phoenix Home as Kiddie Porn Studio

David Robert Morris​A Phoenix man who used his west Phoenix home to shoot kiddie-porn films was sentenced today in Maricopa County Superior Court to 30 years in prison.David Robert Morris pleaded guilty in May to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of child molestation, and o ... More >>

Thomas James Odom, 17, Found Guilty of Murdering his 15-Year-Old Girlfriend

Image: Facebook Thomas Odom​After a 10-day trial, Thomas Odom was found guilty of killing his 15-year-old girlfriend in April of last year.   Known as Will Longobardi in his former life as a teenager living just outside of Schenectady, New York, Odom -- once a resident of El Mirage -- ... More >>

Prison Escapee's Accomplice/Cousin/Fiancee Pleads Not Guilty in New Mexico Murders

Casslyn Welch​Casslyn Welch, the alleged accomplice of three Arizona prison inmates who escaped custody last year and went on a murderous rampage through several states, pleaded not guilty to federal murder charges in New Mexico this morning.Last week, Welch, the fiancee/cousin of one of the ... More >>

Final Exit Network Murder Trial UPDATE: Senior "Exit Guide" Testifies For Prosecution--Kind Of Gets Help From `Right To Die' Group Insider

The "senior exit guide" who helped a Phoenix woman commit suicide testified yesterday that it took the woman about eight minutes to become unconscious after pulling a plastic hood over her own head and inhaling helium.Intense testimony at right-to-die trial​Wye Hale-Rowe, a retired family therapi ... More >>

Fiancee/ Cousin of Prison Escapee Pleads Guilty to Escape and Robbery Charges. Federal Murder Case Still Looming

Casslyn Welch pleaded guilty today to escape and robbery charges. She still faces federal murder charges for allegedly murdering an Oklahoma couple while on the run with prison escapee fiancee/cousin.​The accomplice of three inmates who broke out of an Arizona prison last summer pleaded guilty tod ... More >>

"Honor Killing" Case UPDATE: Faleh Almaleki Convicted of 2nd-Degree Murder and Other Charges

The jury has rendered its verdict in the high-profile murder case of former Glendale resident Faleh Almaleki, accused in the so-called "honor killing" of his oldest child, 20-year-old Noor.Faleh Almaleki is likely to spend the rest of his life behind bars,​Guilty of second-degree murder in the Oct ... More >>

Mistrial Declared in Case of Phoenix Man Who Killed Neighbor in "Neighborhood Dispute"

The judge in Gary Kelly's murder trial declared a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a verdict.​The jurors in the murder trial of Gary Thomas Kelly, the Phoenix man who killed his Hispanic neighbor after apparently getting drunk and spouting off some racial slurs, couldn't reach a verdict, ... More >>

Gilbert Man Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter and Child Abuse in Death of 13-Month-Old Girl

David Reed​A Gilbert man, initially charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 13-month-old girl, pleaded guilty to lesser charges in a Maricopa County Superior Court this morning.David Arnold Reed III, 23, copped to manslaughter and child abuse in the 2009 beating death of Cheree Goard, ... More >>

Soccer Coach Daniel Cope Takes Guilty Plea in Child Porn Case; Will Receive 35-50 Years in Prison

Daniel Cope​ A former Valley soccer coach pleaded guilty today to attempted sexual conduct with a minor and charges related to possessing nude pictures of his roommate's little boys. Before his November 2008 arrest, Daniel Cope worked for two years for the American Youth Soccer Organization, ... More >>

Warren Jeffs Wins New Trial After Utah Court Reverses Rape Accomplice Convictions

A few hours ago, the Utah Supreme Court announced that it has reversed the 2007 criminal convictions against Warren S. Jeffs, the super-creepy messianic leader of an Arizona-based polygamous sect. We have written often in these pages about Jeffs and his sect, the Fundamentalist Church of J ... More >>

Thomas Destories, a.k.a. "Paydirt," Pleads Guilty to Killing Speed-Cam Operator

Thomas Patrick Destories​The Phoenix man -- known in certain circles as "Paydirt" -- who shot and killed the operator of a speed-camera van in April of last year seems to have gotten his wish: photo-radar is now done-zo on Arizona highways.Not that it's likely to effect him -- he plead guilty to ... More >>

Lisa Aubuchon Drove Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas' Political Prosecutions -- Now the Feds May Have Them Both In Their Crosshairs

Young Champions Arson Nets Final Guilty Plea; Third Karate Instructor Admits to Crime That Killed Friend

  Jeff Otto is the last one of three surviving arsonists to plead guilty in the June 14, 2009 torching of the Young Champions of America headquarters in Phoenix​The third member of a group of karate instructors who burned down the Young Champions of America headquarters last June, ... More >>

Dave Barnes, Onetime Hotshot Murder Cop, Fired by Phoenix PD Today

David Barnes, a onetime homicide detective with the Phoenix Police Department who is now under criminal indictment on perjury charges, was fired this afternoon.   ​Sergeant Trent Crump, a spokesperson for the city agency, said Barnes (in the photo) learned of his termination from a ... More >>

The Court Tower Conspiracy: Andrew Thomas and Joe Arpaio's Court Tower "Cover-Up" Sounds Like a Good Story, But It's Pure Fiction

Baby Gabriel Mom Pleads Not Guilty in Disappearance; Are Murder Charges on the Horizon?

Eight-month old Gabriel Johnson was last seen alive in San Antonio, Texas​Elizabeth Johnson, the mother of the missing eight-month old baby, Gabriel Johnson, appeared before a Maricopa County Superior Court judge this morning, via-video feed from the Maricopa County Jail and pleaded not gui ... More >>

Debbie Milke Was Convicted of Murdering Her Own Child, Now She May Win Her Freedom (or, At Least, a New Trial)

Bryant Wilkerson Faces Prison for a Fatal Accident. But if a Drunk Driver Hits You, Is It Your Fault?

Power Play

County law enforcement's attack on the judiciary didn't work, but the war's far from over

Danny Carbajal TKO'd

The big brother of a Phoenix boxing champ pleads guilty to ripping off his late wife. He remains the chief suspect in her unsolved murder

Utah Targets Polyg Prophet

While Arizona authorities languish, the Utah Attorney General's Office focuses on the leader of the fundamentalist Mormon Church

Eyes Wide Shut

From Governor Janet Napolitano down, Arizona authorities have protected polygamous sexual predators with their indifference

Giving the Boot

Prominent attorney withdraws from boot-camp murder case over unpaid fees

Dangerous Minds

An alleged rape at a county psych ward has Maricopa County acting like a schizophrenic

The Gang's All Fear

The Crips who raped a retarded girl sprang from a 'hood where too many kids aspire to the thug life

A Madam, A Murder, A Mystery

Exhuming Arizona's most notorious prostitute

Wake-Up Call

That's what the jury gave Scott Falater, convicted of killing his wife in the Sleepwalker Murder Case

Trial and Heir

In the trial of the decade, Butch Harrod is found guilty of the 1988 murder of wealthy Phoenix widow Jeanne Tovrea

Jafet Coronado's Good Samaritan

The nursing assistant was fired for sexual misconduct. But when he was charged with crimes, Samaritan Health System decided he deserved the best defense money could buy.

Fife's History

It took years, and some luck, to unravel Symington's web of deceit

Juror Furor

Juror's dismissal prompts mistrial demands; excused woman had put false data on questionnaire

Juror Excused

Odd development in Symington trial

Denouement or Vindication?

Jurors in Symington's 12-week criminal trial hear closing arguments, begin deliberations

David v. the System

Attorney casts himself as martyr in bizarre courtroom melodrama

Barrister Behind Bars

Former "King of Probate" faces long prison term for ripping off elderly

Fife's Last Stand?

Some observers believe governor must testify to save his own skin

Sugar Mommy

Martha Symington's lawyer tells jury of governor's profligacy

Reeling and Dealing

"Suge" Knight is behind bars, Tha Doggfather is on the shelves, and the future of Death Row Records hangs in the balance

Porn Free

Why tough-talking county prosecutors freed a man facing 48 years in prison on a kiddie porn conviction

Official Secrecy Acts

Fighting a legal war on multiple fronts, Symington and his attorneys turn to a time-honored tactic: stonewalling

The Shape of Things to Con

Snell Johnson is a well-known sculptor. Some investors know him best as a con artist.

NO NEW TRIALJUDGE REJECTS KILLER'S ATTEMPT TO UNDO QUESTIONABLE LEGAL ADVICE GIVEN IN 1982

ODOR IN THE COURT

IT TOOK COURAGE FOR THE DEAF GIRL TO ALLEGE RAPE. SHE WAS REWARDED WITH AN UNPREPARED PROSECUTOR WHO BUNGLED THE CASE.

HOW CHILD-ABUSE CASES CAN BE PROSECUTED

THE PLUMBER'S LAWYER ACQUITTED HIM WELL

BEATING A WIFE-BEATER

AFTER THE COURT FOUND HER HUSBAND INNOCENT OF ATTACKING HER, SHE SUED HIM-AND WON

TALE OF THE TAPE

CARERAS CAPTURED THE JAILHOUSE SCUFFLE THAT LEFT A PHOENIX MAN WITH EIGHT BROKEN RIBS. NOW THAT HE'S SUING, THE TAPE HAS DISAPPEARED.

WHO DID ANN ROPER STAB?

HER HUSBAND HAD 18 PERSONALITIES. SHE SAYS SHE WAS PROTECTING HERSELF AGAINST ONE THAT ATTACKED HER.

The Mix Rape Trial: Justice Screwed