A Mesa woman was kind enough to pay for her 41-year-old alcoholic nephew's carton of cigarettes. He allegedly expressed his gratitude by brutally beating her to death with a stick.
According to court records obtained by New Times, about 1 a.m. Tuesday, Mesa police were dispatched to a home at 5844 East Inglewood Drive in Mesa where they found the bloody body of Cynthia Pesek, 62.
The person who called police didn't give his name (he was later identified as William Null -- Pesek's 41-year-old nephew who lived with her in the home. More on him later), but told the dispatcher that Pesek had fallen. The injuries to Pesek's body told a different story.
When police entered the home, they noticed blood spattered all over the kitchen where Pesek's body was found. The county medical examiner would later discover that she suffered multiple skull fractures and had three teeth knocked out -- not exactly consistent with a "fall."
As police were examining the crime scene, authorities got a call from a woman named Pam Anderson, who told the cops her son, William Null, had just called her and said he "had a problem" with his aunt. Null told his mother "[the crime scene'] was a bloody mess."
Anderson asked to speak with Pesek, but Null told her she was unable to
come to the phone. Null then hung up the phone and left the house.
As cops were investigating the scene, they noticed Null exit a vacant
home directly next door to the crime scene. When confronted by police,
Null made "spontaneous statements" indicating that he'd been hiding in
the attic of the abandoned home as police were searching the house he
shared with his aunt.
"I fucked up," Null told the cops. He denied, however, that he had anything to do with his aunt's death.
Null was taken into custody and interviewed by police, at which point he explained the "big problem" he had with his aunt.
Null told police that earlier in the week he had some of his neighbors
buy him a carton of cigarettes at an Indian reservation. When they
delivered the cigarettes, Null didn't have the $50 to pay for them. His
aunt picked up the tab, which apparently embarrassed Null.
The two argued about the cigarettes repeatedly for three days, Null told
police. On Tuesday morning -- while Null was hopped up on Mountain Dew
and vodka -- the arguing apparently escalated into a physical fight.
When questioned by police, Null had obvious physical injuries -- cuts,
scratches, etc. He also had smeared blood on his ear. However, he never
said he assaulted his aunt and claims he has no idea how she sustained
her fatal injuries. Then police searched the backyard of the home -- and
the attic in the home next door, where Null admittedly watched police
respond to the murder scene.
In the backyard of the home, police discovered a 48-inch wooden stick
with blood on it that Null allegedly tried to bury under some dirt.
In the attic, police found bloody clothes, some Mountain Dew...and a carton of cigarettes.
Null still refused to admit that he had any role in his aunt's death. He asked about her condition and was told she'd died.
"This is bad...this is bad," Null then told the officer who delivered the morbid news.
Null then asked the cop if he would call his girlfriend and ask her to take care of his cat.
Null was booked into a Maricopa County jail on one count of second-degree murder.
