Phoenix police: Serial killing suspect tied to 9 attacks

A serial killing suspect shot and killed nine people, including his own mother, and used a victim's gun in some of the slayings that unfolded in a three-week span late last year, authorities said Thursday.

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams speaks at a news conference about the linking of nine homicides to a convicted felon on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in Phoenix, Ariz. Phoenix-area police have evidence linking 35-year-old Cleophus Cooksey Jr., already charged with killing his mother and stepfather, to seven additional homicides that occurred in a three-week span late last year. (AP Photo/Terry Tang)

Shell casings, DNA, stolen jewelry and a cellphone taken from a victim were among the pieces of evidence that investigators used to tie Cleophus Cooksey Jr., 35, to the killings, according to court documents.

"It should appall every one of us in the room that he managed to kill nine people period, let alone in such a short period of three weeks," said Sgt. Jonathan Howard, a Phoenix police spokesman.

The seven men and two women were shot between Nov. 27 and Dec. 17 in their homes, suburban apartment complexes, in a parked car or while outside, the documents state.

This undated booking photo provided by the Maricopa County Sheriff shows Cleophus Cooksey. Police in Phoenix and two suburbs say they have evidence linking Cooksey, already charged with two killings to seven additional homicides that occurred in a three-week span late last year.  (Maricopa County Sheriff via AP)

Cooksey, described by police as an aspiring musician, knew some of the victims but investigators were still trying to determine motives in a few of the attacks, according to police officials in Phoenix, Glendale and Avondale.

"We have witnesses that are identifying relationships between the suspect and his victims but we have yet to discover what kind of started this entire spree," Howard said.

A number of details were withheld by police who cited the ongoing investigation.

Authorities were not discounting the possibility that Cooksey could be linked to other crimes. Howard encouraged anyone who has information about his relationships or activities to call police.

A list of nine homicide victims all linked to a convicted felon is displayed by the Phoenix Police Department at a news conference on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018 in Phoenix, Ariz. (AP Photo/Terry Tang)

The victims included Jesus Real, 25, the brother of Cooksey's ex-girlfriend. Real was asleep in his Avondale home on Dec. 11 when he was shot twice in the face. Avondale police say Real's sister and Cooksey had broken up the night before.

Another victim, 43-year-old Maria Villanueva, was seen on surveillance video arriving at a Glendale apartment complex on Dec. 15 and then leaving with an unknown man in the driver's seat.

Her partially nude body was found the next morning in a Phoenix alley and her car was found abandoned at another complex in Glendale.

An empty walkway at an apartment complex that police say is linked to two of nine homicides by Cleophus Cookse, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in Phoenix. The Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017, double homicide were two of Cooksey's relatives, according to police. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Investigators found a cellphone and a bloody men's shirt inside. DNA on the shirt matched Cooksey's, court documents said. The cellphone was also confirmed to be his.

Cooksey was arrested Dec. 17 for the shooting deaths of his mother and stepfather in their home and has been jailed since then on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of being a felon in possession of a weapon.

Gary Beren, an attorney who represents Cooksey, didn't immediately return a phone call and email seeking comment.

A sparse parking lot is seen Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in Phoenix, where police say a double homicide previously took place that is linked to Cleophus Cooksey. The double homicide at the location took place on Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Cooksey was rebooked into jail Thursday in the seven additional homicide cases, Howard said. He was being held on a $5 million bond, according to a court document.

"I'm just proud as heck that he's off the street," said Glendale police Chief Rick St. John.

Cooksey previously served 16 years in prison for manslaughter and armed robbery and had been free for 18 months, authorities said.

It's the second time in the past few years that Phoenix has dealt with serial killings. Aaron Juan Saucedo has been charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in drive-by shootings in 2015 and 2016 that left nine people dead and two others wounded.

Saucedo has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A man who crashed a stolen police vehicle, survived gunfire from 11 police officers and then drove off and crashed another police cruiser — all while wearing handcuffs in a hospital gown — is in no mental capacity to appear before a judge right now, his lawyer said Friday.

The chaotic chain of events involving at least five law enforcement agencies began when Gary Porter, already wanted on a felony theft warrant, was discovered passed out in a chicken coop on Monday, arrested and taken to a hospital for evaluation, police said.

Paris Police Chief Mike Dailey then took him to jail, and had stepped out of the pickup truck to escort him inside when Porter somehow slipped his handcuffs from behind his back, moved into the driver's seat and drove off. The chief jumped onto the truck's running board to try to stop him, but was thrown to the ground, authorities said.

A chase ensued, joined by officers from Norway, Oxford and Paris, sheriff’s deputies and state police in a mostly rural part of Maine about 48 miles from Portland, police said. They eventually deployed spike mats that blew the tires and caused Porter to crash into a ditch.

A bystander’s video captured at least part of the gunfire at that point: With his hands still in cuffs, Porter circles around the truck and jumps into another police vehicle in full view of officers. Shots ring out as he climbs into the second cruiser with his back to police and takes off again. The video shows him swerving and driving away.

Authorities said he crashed again a short distance from there. By the end, 11 officers ultimately fired their weapons, and Porter was struck once by an officer's bullet. Police didn't say that any officers were hit.

Maine State Police spokesperson Shannon Moss said initially, without providing more detail, that “officers confronted Porter and gunfire was exchanged.” That was in a statement on behalf of all of the law enforcement departments involved.

But the departments involved didn't release key details of the confrontation, including whether Porter obtained a weapon or fired it. They also didn't information about the extent of injuries. The Office of the Maine Attorney General said Friday that Porter was shot, treated and released from a hospital.

Porter’s initial court appearance on two counts of theft, assault on a police officer, escaping custody, eluding police and violation of bail was set for Wednesday, by video conference from the Cumberland County Jail, but his defense said the medication he was given made him mumble and unable to keep his eyes open. He had another opportunity on Friday, but his attorney Justin Leary, said he still wasn't fit to go before a judge.

“I don’t think he’s mentally equipped right now to go forward,” Leary said. A mental examination was requested and Porter was scheduled to return to court on May 15.

The bystander who recorded the video of the roadside confrontation in Paris, Linda Marie Mercer, said she had arrived on the scene to see a truck in the ditch and numerous police vehicles alongside it. She said she heard gunfire and saw officers shooting into the truck. She thought the person in the truck might have been killed — the officers appeared to relax.

But the video shows what happened next: Porter, still cuffed and in a white hospital gown, ignored shouts of “put your hands up!” and climbed into an SUV that had been left with its driver's door wide open. More bullets flew as he drove away.

Eleven officers are on administrative leave following the shooting, authorities said. It was the largest number of police officers to discharge their guns in a single incident in recent memory in the state, said Brian MacMaster, a long-time investigator for the attorney general’s office, who’s now retired after a career that began in 1969.

It’s standard practice for officers to be placed on administrative leave after using deadly force in Maine. Officers are generally off duty for about a month before being evaluated and allowed to return, MacMaster said.

In this image taken from video, law enforcement personnel converge on a suspect, who was arrested earlier in the day and then stole a police vehicle and crashing it, before exchanging gunfire with the suspect who then stole a second police vehicle, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Paris, Maine. The Office of the Maine Attorney General said that the suspect Gary Porter was shot, treated and released from a hospital, before making initial court appearance via video on Friday, May 10, 2024, after his first court appearance was postponed because medication administered at the Cumberland County Jail made him sleepy. (Linda Marie Mercer via AP)