Phoenix police: Double-murder suspect killed seven others over three weeks

A month after police arrested a 35-year-old man on suspicion of killing his mother and stepfather, the Phoenix Police Department on Thursday announced it had a previously unannounced serial killer in custody — its second in less than a year.

Cleophus Cooksey Jr. is accused of slaying at least nine Valley residents during a three-week period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. A felon-turned-aspiring-rapper who nicknamed himself “Playboy,” Cooksey was arrested at the spot of the Dec. 17 double shooting minutes after police received the shots-fired call.

Two days later, Phoenix police discovered through the use of new technology that he was responsible for "several homicides" in the preceding three weeks, according to court records released Thursday.

But it wasn’t until a month later that authorities publicly announced they had linked Cooksey to seven other unsolved homicides — possibly more — in metro Phoenix, including killings in a south Phoenix alley, at a Glendale apartment complex and in a grassy field.

"To solve nine homicides in a period of three weeks is outstanding," said Sgt. Jonathan Howard, Phoenix police spokesman, during a news conference Thursday.

Although all were committed in late 2017, the killings were scattershot, included victims in a variety of demographic groups, occurred at various locations throughout the Phoenix area and lacked a unifying pattern or method.

The only clear connection among the victims, police say, is Cooksey, a man whose criminal record dates to his years as a juvenile offender.

A man who spent his 20s in prison on a manslaughter conviction.

A man who was in and out of custody in recent years and who walked out of prison four months before the first confirmed killing.

Suspect grew bolder, authorities say

In addition to the murders of his mother and stepfather, Cooksey is accused of abducting a woman in Glendale, sexually assaulting and then killing her, dumping her body in south Phoenix.

Another victim is the brother of Cooksey's ex-girlfriend. Police said the suspect shot him twice in the head while the man slept in an Avondale apartment.

Other victims seem to be random, slain during meetings set up online or through text messages. In one case, court records said, he planned to buy 14 grams of marijuana from a man he's accused of killing.

As the homicides grew in number, Cooksey appeared to grow bolder, police said. He reportedly masqueraded as one victim's cousin, directing a Glendale police officer to the body of man Cooksey had shot moments before. He ran away before police could follow up.

In another case, police said, he shot a man, stole his gun and a gold-colored necklace. In the hours that followed, police said Cooksey posted a Facebook photo showing him wearing the newly acquired jewelry.

Police said ballistics testing on Cooksey's gun and other evidence connected him to one body after another, and detectives haven't ruled out the possibility of more victims.

Officials: Technology key in this case

Police Chief Jeri Williams, along with Mayor Greg Stanton and other local and federal law-enforcement officials, said the break in the case was made possible because of recently implemented technology as part of the National Crime Gun Intelligence Center.

Those tools made it possible for law enforcement across the Valley to quickly review ballistic information from one crime scene and compare details with another, Williams said Thursday.

As she read aloud the nine names of those slain, she said evidence from each scene pointed to Cooksey.

“We know that criminals are not bound by geographical boundaries,” Williams said, praising the interagency collaboration along with the investment in the equipment.

Investigators on Thursday recommended Cooksey be charged with seven additional murder counts, along with charges of prohibited possession of a firearm, armed robbery and sexual assault.

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office will make the final charging decision.

Howard, the Phoenix police spokesman, confirmed that police were looking into other murders to see if there might be links to Cooksey. The suspect has been speaking with investigators, and police have been working with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit.

Cooksey has denied committing the murders.

He is the second serial-killing suspect to be arrested in Phoenix in the past year.

In May, Phoenix police named 23-year-old Aaron Saucedo as the alleged "Serial Street Shooter," a man responsible for 12 shootings and nine deaths. Saucedo is awaiting trial while being held at Maricopa County's Fourth Avenue Jail.

The shooting victims

The shooting victims included people of varied demographics. They were younger and older adults; men and women; black, white and Hispanic in race and ethnicity.

Here are the victims Phoenix police say they have tied to Cooksey to date.

Nov. 27, 2017: Andrew "Andy" Remillard , 27, 16th Street and Indian School Road, Phoenix.

, 27, 16th Street and Indian School Road, Phoenix. Nov. 27, 2017: Parker Smith , 21, 16th Street and Indian School Road, Phoenix. Remillard and Smith were gunned down in a parking lot in the late-night hours of Nov. 27. Police have not yet determined a motive for the shooting and are unaware of how Cooksey may have come into contact with the two friends.

, 21, 16th Street and Indian School Road, Phoenix. Remillard and Smith were gunned down in a parking lot in the late-night hours of Nov. 27. Police have not yet determined a motive for the shooting and are unaware of how Cooksey may have come into contact with the two friends. Dec. 2, 2017: Salim Richards , 35, 4000 block of 44th Avenue, Phoenix. Officers found Richards critically wounded when they arrived about 7:45 p.m. He later died at the scene.

, 35, 4000 block of 44th Avenue, Phoenix. Officers found Richards critically wounded when they arrived about 7:45 p.m. He later died at the scene. Dec. 11, 2017: Jesus Bonifacio Real , 25, 500 block of East Harrison Drive, Avondale. Real is the brother of Cooksey's ex-girlfriend, police said.

, 25, 500 block of East Harrison Drive, Avondale. Real is the brother of Cooksey's ex-girlfriend, police said. Dec. 13, 2017: LaTorrie Beckford , 29, 5000 block of North 55th Avenue, Glendale. Police said he was shot twice and found near a parking lot between two buildings near Camelback Road and 55th Avenue. He died at the scene.

, 29, 5000 block of North 55th Avenue, Glendale. Police said he was shot twice and found near a parking lot between two buildings near Camelback Road and 55th Avenue. He died at the scene. Dec. 15, 2017: Kristopher Cameron , 21, 6000 block of North 58th Avenue, Glendale. Cameron was found kneeling in a grassy field in the area of the 5000 block of North 58th Avenue in Glendale. He died a day later. The shooting occurred in an area about a mile from where Beckford was shot to death 48 hours earlier.

, 21, 6000 block of North 58th Avenue, Glendale. Cameron was found kneeling in a grassy field in the area of the 5000 block of North 58th Avenue in Glendale. He died a day later. The shooting occurred in an area about a mile from where Beckford was shot to death 48 hours earlier. Dec. 16, 2017: Maria Villanueva , 43, body discovered at the 1700 block of South Third Avenue, Phoenix. Police said Villanueva was abducted from her Glendale apartment the day earlier, sexually assaulted and murdered. Police say Villanueva met with Cooksey as she was pulling into her complex and got into the car with him. Officials have found no indication the two knew each other beforehand.

, 43, body discovered at the 1700 block of South Third Avenue, Phoenix. Police said Villanueva was abducted from her Glendale apartment the day earlier, sexually assaulted and murdered. Police say Villanueva met with Cooksey as she was pulling into her complex and got into the car with him. Officials have found no indication the two knew each other beforehand. Dec. 17, 2017: Rene Cooksey , 56, 1300 block of East Highland Avenue, Phoenix.

, 56, 1300 block of East Highland Avenue, Phoenix. Dec. 17, 2017: Edward Nunn, 54, 1300 block of East Highland Avenue, Phoenix. Rene Cooksey and Nunn, Cleophus Cooksey's mother and stepfather, were gunned down in their home. Police responded to a shots-fired call and discovered the younger Cooksey at the residence. He was arrested at the scene.

A 16-year sentence

Cooksey only recently began living his life as a free man. His criminal history stretches back to when he was a juvenile, with the most serious previous offense occurring in 2001, when he was convicted of manslaughter at 18 years old.

According to court records, Cooksey and four accomplices were robbing a Phoenix topless bar at gunpoint when the bar manager fatally shot an accomplice.

Cooksey initially was charged with first-degree murder under the felony murder rule, which allows for a defendant to face the most serious of charges in a death that occurred in the commission of a felony. In Arizona, a defendant can be found guilty of felony murder even if he did not mean to kill someone or wasn't the actual killer.

Cooksey pleaded guilty in 2001 to the lesser charge of manslaughter. A presentencing report that year from the manslaughter conviction struck an ominous tone about the young man's behavior.

"(Cooksey's) record is characterized by recidivism and by escalation in the serious and dangerous nature of the offenses," his probation officer stated, noting Cooksey's juvenile record and the extreme physical abuse he endured growing up. "The pattern of criminal behavior leads to the conclusion that the defendant is a very dangerous individual."

He was sentenced to 16 years in prison, records show.

But the wrongdoing didn't stop once he was behind bars.

Cooksey walked into prison Nov. 14, 2001.

Five months later, he was found guilty of drug possession in prison, the first of at least 22 violations he would be found guilty of during the ensuing 15 years, according to records from the Arizona Department of Corrections reviewed by The Arizona Republic.

He was found guilty of nine other "major violations" that ranged from fighting in 2008 to assaulting prison staff in 2011, the last disciplinary infraction noted before his first release from prison to community supervision a few years later.

In and out of custody

Cooksey was released to community supervision in January 2015.

He was charged with a DUI in November 2015, records show.

That's about the same time he started rapping.

With a YouTube account under his name, Cooksey dubbed himself King Playbola and began recording himself rapping about women and drugs, all while a track drones on in the background. The handful of dimly lit videos — most with a few dozen views as of Thursday morning — feature Cooksey on a couch performing in front of the camera.

The videos were posted between November 2015 and January 2016. A 93-second clip is especially haunting in light of recent allegations.

King Playbola I do I do ill/

Iller than the rest of ‘em/

Go ask the rest of ‘em/

I chopped at the rest of 'em/

Murdered all the best of ‘em/

Nothing left of ‘em.

One video published on his account shows him rapping about "murder in my thoughts" while wearing a blue bandanna, on its face a seemingly irrelevant detail. But witnesses described the man near one of the homicide scenes wearing a similar bandanna, and police later recovered a garment matching that description at Cooksey's residence.

Investigators reference the YouTube clip in court records.

Asked about the videos at Thursday's news conference, Phoenix police said Cooksey was an "aspiring music star."

Cooksey was rearrested in May 2016 on a technical violation and returned to prison pending further court proceedings. He was released June 30, 2016, and absconded from supervision two months later, said Bill Lamoreaux, an Arizona Department of Corrections spokesman.

That spurred another arrest warrant and a December 2016 booking into a Maricopa County jail. Cooksey was transferred back to the Department of Corrections until the initial manslaughter sentence was completed last summer.

He was released July 28, 2017.

A difficult childhood

Cooksey was born on March 25, 1982, the grandson of Tucson-based civil-rights leader Roy L. Cooksey. The elder Cooksey formed the Afro-American Coordination Committee there in 1960 and met Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X on several occasions, according to a 2009 Arizona Daily Star article.

Cleophus Cooksey's presentencing report states that he was raised by his biological parents until their separation when he was 12. Cooksey said his childhood was marked by "frequent physical confrontations," both between his parents and directed toward him.

He left home when he was 16, Cooksey told the probation officer, and from that point until his 2001 arrest had been living with his girlfriend. At the time, Cooksey admitted a daily use of marijuana and PCP on occasion.

The report states that Cooksey's father committed serious physical abuse against his son, and after one incident, the younger Cooksey was hospitalized when he was 12. Attempts to reach Cooksey's biological father were unsuccessful.

'I should probably talk to my lawyer'

In a Dec. 19 interview described in court records, an Avondale officer asked Cooksey if he was aware of the killing of Jesus Real.

“Yeah. There was a, something happened. Um. Yeah I remember …” he replied, pausing for a moment while shaking his head up and down, investigators wrote.

“I don’t remember much but um. Somebody said you guys wanted, there was something about. You guys never found anybody,” he continued.

Cooksey declined knowing the name of the person slain — Real — at which point the investigator reminded Cooksey he had stayed with his girlfriend at the apartment where the killing happened.

”Yeah I remember that. I should, I should probably talk to my lawyer, right?”

He stopped talking to the Avondale officer. On Jan. 9, he talked to Phoenix officers investigating the other killings. Cooksey denied having committed any murders, though he admitted to being near certain crime scene locations — corroborating cellphone GPS data obtained by investigators.

Police seek more information

Phoenix police are still seeking information on these homicides and any others that may be connected to Cooksey. Investigators don't know for certain there are more, but that remains "absolutely a distinct possibility," Howard said Thursday, requesting the public's assistance for any and all additional information, no matter how seemingly small.

“We are already receiving calls from new witnesses," he said. "We want to continue with that trend.”

Anyone with information is urged to call the Phoenix Police Department or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS. You also can leave a tip online by visiting the Silent Witness Web page or contact a local law enforcement agency.