Jesus Busso Estopellan, who admitted murdering an Arizona State University student and his friend earlier this month, was in Maricopa County Superior Court this morning where he pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder.Estopellan has already admitted to police that he murdered the two men in late June after getting…
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 one count of…
Three Mesa teens probably didn’t expect police to call in a friggin’ police helicopter when they tried to flee the cops after breaking into a school to steal some candy last night. But that’s exactly what happened, and the three 15-year-old kids were promptly taken into custody.Mesa police say the…
Convicted murderer Thomas Paul West pleaded his case for his death sentence to be reduced to life in prison in front of the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency today, and the majority of the Board was apparently unmoved.In a 3-2 vote, the Board denied West’s request for a commutation of…
Thomas Paul West, 52, has been on death row since the Reagan administration. He’s scheduled to be put to death on Tuesday, but is now seeking the same last-minute appeals many condemned inmates seek before their state-ordered date with death.West is scheduled to appear before the Arizona Board of Executive…
Professional Standards Bureau has completed an internal investigation into allegations that Phoenix Police Officer Jeff Gordon engaged in “inappropriate contact” while on duty. But the reports detailing what got Gordon, who is the son of Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, in trouble won’t be available until early next week, a police spokesman tells…
Patrick Trejo, 25, was a music teacher at Raul H. Castro Middle School in Phoenix. He also used Craigslist to try to solicit sex with a dog, which — shocking as it may (not) seem — is a crime.Trejo learned his fate in Maricopa County Superior Court this morning after…
For anyone in the armed-robbery biz, here’s a tip: try robbing a store where the highest-priced item costs more than a buck.That said, after apparently weighing his options of which store to rob at gunpoint, a thief in Mesa settled on the Family Dollar Store near Broadway and Dobson roads…
omparing the victims of snake-oil salesman James Ray’s deadly sweat lodge to dogs left in hot cars has ruffled a few feathers.Imagine that.People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, as we reported last month, was attempting to capitalize on the publicity Ray’s manslaughter case received by comparing the victims of his…
A shooting early this morning in the parking lot of a Phoenix strip club’s left one man dead and police scratching their heads.Mark Curtis Hill, 38, was shot multiple times in the parking lot of Cheeta’s strip club near 7th Street and Indian School Road…
The Congressional intern whom many credit with helping to save the life of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will throw out the first pitch at Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game tonight at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix.While most interns spend their time filling Starbucks orders and finding ways to screw up making…
Alleged pederast Bradley Gietz and Jose Luis Juarez have a few things in common. For starters, they both work at a McDonalds. They also live together. They also allegedly like sexually abusing little kids and posting photos and video of the abuse on the Internet.As we reported yesterday, one of the…
pleaded not guilty today to charges of first-degree murder after allegedly beating his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter to death last month. If convicted, Martwane Mackey faces a life sentence. Maricopa County prosecutors have yet to decide whether to seek the death penalty. In addition to blunt-force trauma to the girl’s head and…
A Tempe man set his own apartment on fire Friday night, tried to blame the blaze on his next-door neighbor, and then laid down on the ground in front of the burning building and started screaming, according to court documents obtained by New Times.When police got to the apartment at…
Bradley Kirk Gietz is a pretty sick pup — not only is he into kiddie porn, he’s also into his own son.Earlier this month, while investigating kiddie porn found outside of Arizona, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigations obtained several photos of a naked boy under the age of…
Republican presidential candidate/Godfathers Pizza baron Herman Cain has a solution for the immigration problem currently plaguing the United States. It involves a moat, alligators, and a new take on China’s “great wall.”Cain’s archaic solution is as follows: build a moat along America’s southern border, fill it with alligators, and construct…
A school bus aide for the Washington Elementary School District was arrested yesterday on suspicion of molesting an 11-year-old special needs student.Andres Mendoza, 70, was booked into jail in connection with 30 counts of child molesting and six counts of sexual conduct with a minor.Mendoza’s an aide on the bus…
As Casey Anthony soon returns to a society that wants no part of her, a woman in her late 40s continues to sit on Arizona’s death row, convicted nearly two decades ago of killing her 4-year-old son. Deborah Milke’s case was a huge one in the Valley, though it paled…
A six-month internal investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office that resulted in two of Arpaio’s top men being fired will cost the county up to $102,000.The amount is considerably higher than the $46,000 we heard it would cost earlier this year.The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is expected to…
Three Maricopa County employees are heading to mediation talks on Monday with the possibility of settlements in their multi-million-dollar claims against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas.This will be the first round of what are sure to be other mediation talks — and potentially quick and lucrative…
Arizona can’t force Jared Loughner to take his anti-psychotic medication for now, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court ruled today.The opinion comes less than a week after U.S. District Judge Larry Burns said Loughner could be forced to take his meds. This spring, the apparently insane Tucson massacre suspect, who shot…
When a creepy stranger clad only black boxer-briefs climbed into a 14-year-old’s bed on Sunday morning and told her to be quiet, the girl made the only sensible choice:Scream. Loudly.Her shouts woke up her 11-year-old brother, who shared her bedroom in the home near Peoria and 7th avenues. The boy…
