Archive for the 'Serial Shooter' Tag
January 2nd, 2009, 4:18 pm by Nick R. Martin
A couple weeks into the Dale Hausner trial, the lights went out in the courtroom, leaving the place pitch black. When they came back on about 30 seconds later, Judge Roland Steinle joked with the jury. “Kind of thought the county forgot to pay the electric bill,” he said from the bench.
I’ve been in the courtroom, representing the East Valley Tribune almost every day since opening arguments began back in October. Sadly, this marks my final post for the newspaper. The Tribune couldn’t keep its own lights on without losing a few people in the process. I’m one of them.
I plan independently to spend some time in the courtroom this month and blog about it on a web site to be named later. When I know where that will be, I will post the address of the new blog in the comments here. So stay tuned. Thanks for all your following and support over the past few months. If you would like to contact me in the interim, you can e-mail me at emailnickmartin@gmail.com.
Farewell.
Tribune file photo. Dale Hausner is shown being led into the Maricopa County jail just after his arrest on suspicion of being the Serial Shooter.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • Judge Steinle • Serial Shooter | 1 Comment »
December 18th, 2008, 4:13 pm by Nick R. Martin
Since the beginning of the trial, Dale Hausner has been wearing a special security brace around one of his legs to keep him from bolting from the courtroom. He wore it underneath his pants, and it was worn instead of shackles or cuffs.
 Last week, Hausner asked Judge Roland Steinle to let him remove the brace because he has shown good behavior throughout the trial. The Maricopa County attorney’s and sheriff’s offices strongly opposed the move. But today, Steinle said he would grant the request starting on Jan. 5, when the trial resumes after a few weeks off.
Basically, he said, neither the prosecutors or sheriff’s deputies provided any reason other than the crimes he’s accused of to keep the leg brace on. “If I read the case law correctly, I have to have something more than that,” Steinle said. He told prosecutors that the decision could be appealed to the Arizona Court of Appeals, if they’d like.
Hausner will still have to wear one security device on him during the trail — something called a “rack belt,” which is controlled by a remote control and can send an electrical shock through Hausner, should he act up.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • Defense • Judge Steinle • Prosecution • Serial Shooter | Post a Comment »
December 18th, 2008, 3:12 pm by Nick R. Martin
After more than two months of testimony, many of the jurors seem to be going through some sort of vacation-itis. Most have stopped taking notes. Some are yawning from time to time. Some aren’t even looking at the forensic scientists on the witness stand today. They all appear ready for a long break.
They’re going to get it, too. Today is the last day of the trial for the year. The trial will be on vacation from tomorrow through the New Year. However, today brings some of the most important forensic evidence of the case to date. A former Mesa police DNA analyst named Virginia Smart just took the stand and is expected to tell the jury that she found Dale Hausner’s DNA on a pair of latex gloves that also had gunshot residue on them. This would explain why his fingerprints were not found on the recently-fired shotguns seized in a search of his apartment and car following his arrest in August 2006.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • Jurors • Prosecution • DNA • Mesa • police • Serial Shooter | 2 Comments »
December 17th, 2008, 3:22 pm by Nick R. Martin
Of the two shotguns seized from Dale Hausner’s property on the night of his arrest, neither one had his fingerprints on them, a Mesa police fingerprint analyst testified this afternoon. Instead, investigators found six fingerprints of Samuel Dieteman, the man believed to be Hausner’s co-conspirator, on one of the guns and two mystery prints — which could not be linked to either suspect — on the other gun, said analyst Kelly Speckels.
 This is significant for Hausner’s defense. Throughout the trial, his attorney, Ken Everett, has floated the theory that Dieteman (pictured) took his friend’s guns and car and did all the shootings by himself. Dieteman has already pleaded guilty to two homicides in the Serial Shooter killing spree and agreed to testify early next year against Hausner, who has maintained his innocence.
This information is also a big deal because it means Hausner, so far, has not been connected forensically to any murder weapon. In the early part of the killing spree, authorities believe the Serial Shooter used a .22 caliber rifle. However, no such rifle was ever recovered from Hausner’s property. Investigators also believe Dieteman was only present for the later part of the spree, which all took place using shotguns. Though Dieteman will point the finger at Hausner for the later shootings, he probably has no intimate knowledge of the earlier shootings.
It’s not clear how damaging the analyst’s testimony is to the case. She was intended to be a witness for the prosecution, but this information seems to more strongly benefit the defense.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • Defense • Prosecution • Ken Everett • Mesa • police • Serial Shooter | 1 Comment »
December 15th, 2008, 2:49 pm by Nick R. Martin
 Throughout the lengthy interrogations on Aug. 4, 2006, Dale Hausner remained a cool customer as police investigators called him a serial killer dozens of times. They questioned his character, brought up his sick daughter and generally hit him with hard questions about his whereabouts during the shootings. He remained calm the entire time.
That is, until the investigators called him a pervert. Hausner became flustered for the first time several hours into the videotaped interrogations when his inquisitors began to ask whether he got sexually aroused after killing people. “Answer his question, Dale,” Phoenix police detective Darren Udd said at one point. “Did you get aroused?”
Hauser acted seriously insulted at the accusation. In fact, he clammed up, telling the detectives in the room he wanted a lawyer — which he didn’t get. The detectives apparently saw this as an opening and began attacking him on it, asking him about sexual perversions and pushing him on the subject. The once talkative Hausner decided, though, that he’d had enough. He said he wouldn’t answer any more questions.
“You’re being disrespectful,” Hausner told them. The detectives then left the room.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • phoenix • Serial Shooter • video | 2 Comments »
December 15th, 2008, 2:03 pm by Nick R. Martin
In the midst of his August 2006 interrogation, Dale Hausner told police investigators that he recently underwent six surgeries to treat skin cancer, and he also had been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. To my knowledge, this information has never been reported before. It’s unclear whether he really was sick, or whether this was a story he told the police to gain sympathy.
The videotapes of the interrogation continue to play in the courtroom this afternoon.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • cancer • chron's disease • Serial Shooter • skin cancer | 2 Comments »
December 15th, 2008, 12:02 pm by Nick R. Martin
Prosecutors are continuing to play video this morning showing police investigators interrogating Dale Hausner in the hours of his arrest. Video playback already went on for several hours on Thursday and is expected to continue into this afternoon.
 The detectives in the Serial Shooter investigation became increasingly intense with their questioning into the late morning of Aug. 4, 2006. By that time, they told Hausner, his suspected accomplice Sam Dieteman had begun to confess to his role in the shootings and also implicate Hausner in the crimes while being interrogated in another room. They even told Hausner that his brother, Jeff Hausner (pictured), had implicated him in the shootings, too. It’s not clear right now whether the detectives’ statements about the brother were true, or just a ploy to get Dale Hausner to talk. Either way, it didn’t work.
All the while, Dale Hausner maintained his innocence, saying he would not confess to crimes he did not commit. “You guys are trying to get me to confess to something I didn’t do,” Hausner said. “I’m telling you everything I know…I’m sorry, I don’t know what else to tell you guys.”
Dieteman has continued to cooperate with the investigation ever since. He is expected to testify against Hausner in the trial sometime in January.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • Prosecution • Samuel Dieteman • jeff hausner • police • Serial Shooter • video | 1 Comment »
December 12th, 2008, 3:49 pm by Nick R. Martin
The trial is off for a couple days, and we’re headed into the weekend, so I wanted to leave you with a bonus post to tide you over. Here are the official police transcripts (PDF 1.5MB) of the secret wiretap conversations between Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman, which were recorded in the 24 hours before their arrest in Mesa.
[Please be warned: The language in the transcript, which can be downloaded at the link above, is filled with expletives and other crude references -- the kind that generally would not be printed in a general circulation newspaper. If this kind of language makes you squirm or is inappropriate for somebody reading along with you, do not download the transcripts.]
 The wiretaps were some of the most anticipated evidence in the trial against Hausner (pictured). The jury, as well as the public, got the chance to hear these recordings for the first time this week. Police planted small audio recorders in his apartment and captured him talking in detail about the killings and shootings with his roommate and supposed accomplice, Dieteman. The men talk about their strategy and even compare themselves to serial killers across the nation. Following his arrest, Hausner told police the comments were just sick jokes.
The transcripts may differ slightly from some of the news accounts of when the recordings were played Tuesday in court. Reporters, like the jury, only got to hear the recordings once, and the quality is very poor. In contrast, Phoenix police detective Jason Buscher, who created the transcripts, testified that he listened to the recordings countless times since they were made, and made revisions to the transcript as recently as two weeks ago.
In addition to the transcripts, the full audio of the wiretaps has been posted online by KTVK-TV (Channel 3). The link was originally posted Tuesday by a reader in the comments section, but it’s worth mention here. Again, the same warning that applies to the downloaded document should also apply to clinking on the audio link. Though the sound is fuzzy and tough to hear, the language is not for sensitive ears.
Programming note: The trial is scheduled to resume Monday morning.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • Prosecution • ktvk • Mesa • phoenix • police • Serial Shooter • wire • wiretap | Post a Comment »
December 12th, 2008, 3:18 pm by Nick R. Martin
Dale Hausner was fascinated with serial killers.
The Mesa man, now accused of being one himself, said as much in a videotaped police interrogation that took place just hours after his August 2006 arrest.
“I find it interesting,” Hausner said in the interrogation, talking about reading lots about American serial killers nicknamed things like the Son of Sam and BTK. “It’s very fascinating.”
“I would like to sit down with a real-life Jeffrey Dahmer, and say, ‘Why the hell would you eat all those people?’ ” Hausner said.
Jurors on Thursday in Hausner’s eightcount murder trial in Maricopa County Superior Court were shown several hours of his videotaped interrogation by Phoenix police detective Clark Schwartzkopf and other investigators.
The grainy black-and-white video showed Hausner vehemently denying that he had killed anyone and even saying that he sympathized with the families of the victims.
“I didn’t shoot anybody,” said Hausner, who has pleaded not guilty to the 87 charges against him. “But the person who did probably should be given the needle.”
Read full story…
Tribune file photo. Serial Shooter suspect Dale Hausner, center, answers media questions at a jail news conference following his August 2006 arrest.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • Prosecution • Samuel Dieteman • Mesa • phoenix • Serial Shooter • video | Post a Comment »
December 11th, 2008, 2:04 pm by Nick R. Martin
“I didn’t shoot anybody, but the person who did probably should be given the needle.”
Posted in: Dale Hausner • Serial Shooter | Post a Comment »
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