Arizona AG creates cold case homicide unit 

PHOENIX (CN) — Arizona’s attorney general announced the creation of a cold case homicide unit on Thursday, focusing first on five unsolved murders across the Phoenix Valley dating as far back as 1992.

The cold case unit, which has been in development for at least a year, will aid rural agencies that lack the staffing and resources the attorney general’s office or large agencies like Phoenix Police have at their disposal, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a press conference Thursday morning.

“This unit reflects my commitment to ensuring that justice is not forgotten or abandoned no matter how much time has passed,” Mayes said.

Supervised by special agent Roger Geisler, the unit will use advanced DNA and genealogy software at its disposal to place fresh eyes and updated technology, such as forensic genealogy labs, on old cases deemed otherwise unsolvable.

“Especially DNA,” Geisler said. “The advance in those resources for us has really opened up a lot of doors.”

Mayes said her team has reached out to Arizona colleges and universities whose labs may be able to add additional resources.

“Justice has no expiration date,” she said. “Every cold case represents a life that mattered.”

She said the unit won’t require any new funding for the attorney general’s office, and instead relies on reallocated resources from within the office — though she added that the Legislature needs to better prioritize public safety.

Geisler said at the press conference that the unit will take cases based on referrals and prioritize areas with fewer resources while aiding as many agencies as it can.

So far, there are five cases atop the unit’s docket:

• Sabino Lopez, 21, was shot and killed in Tolleson on June 9, 2019, after he was confronted by three male subjects in a silver SUV.
• Victoria Lacey, 25, was stabbed to death in Glendale on Aug. 13, 2012. Though she lived long enough to talk to medics, she said she didn’t know who stabbed her. A mailman told detectives he saw two Hispanic males spray-painting a vehicle in the area around the time of the stabbing, but he never saw the victim.
• Leslie Good, 39, was shot and killed in Goodyear on June 3, 2008, by an unknown shooter.
• Diana Shawcroft, 20, and Jennifer Lueth, 19, were last seen leaving a convenience store in Glendale on May 4, 1996. They were seen getting into a man’s blue pickup truck, and their bodies were found three months later in a remote area 100 miles north of Phoenix. The attorney general’s office says new evidence has recently been discovered.
• On Aug. 6, 1992, Apache Junction police found the body of a young female in the desert south of U.S. 60. More than three decades later, Apache Junction police used DNA to identify the victim as 15-year-old Melody Harrison, who was reported missing in June 1992.

“Together, we will do everything in our power to bring closure to the families and justice to the victims of these homicides,” Mayes said. “We see you. We hear you. And we will not give up until justice is served."

Anyone with information related to a cold case is urged to contact the Arizona attorney general’s office or Silent Witness with information.

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