Scottsdale shooting case: A legally owned .40 caliber connects case full of mysteries

Show Caption Hide Caption Scottsdale-area police explain how they tracked killer who left six dead Scottsdale police Cmdr. Rich Slavin details during a press conference June 4, 2018, the timeline of a string of murders attributed to Dwight Jones.

The death of the suspect answered the question of who had committed a string of six murders that terrorized Phoenix and Scottsdale over the past week.

But other questions of "who" remain — though every victim had been officially identified, not every victim had been clearly connected to shooting suspect Dwight Lamon Jones, 56.

Before police found him dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Monday morning, Jones apparently visited a trail of sites connected to his long-running divorce and custody battle with his ex-wife. He seemed to carry out the shootings, as one officer described it, "to right some wrongs" — grudges he appeared to memorialize in hours of YouTube videos posted just weeks ago.

His first victim, killed Thursday, had an obvious connection. Dr. Steven Pitt, a forensic psychiatrist, had once performed evaluations in the divorce case.

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The law office where Jones shot and killed Veleria Sharp and Laura Anderson on Friday had represented Jones' wife in the case.

But Marshall Levine, found early Saturday, had no known connection to Jones and was apparently a victim of circumstance.

And the two victims discovered after that were even more of a mystery.

YouTube videos tied to Dwight Jones air grievances in custody battle Before the Scottsdale shootings, Dwight Lamon Jones apparently posted YouTube videos outlining what he saw as a conspiracy to take his son away.

Mary Simmons, 70, and Bryon Thomas, 72, were a friendly couple who always waved hello to neighbors on their Fountain Hills cul-de-sac and would compliment the yards of those living nearby. But it was unclear whether they had ever met Jones before they were killed.

Even after the suspect was found, the uncertainty remained.

"We're in a state right now where we're still at risk," said one woman who worked in the same office as Levine, but didn't want her name to be used. "Someone else could get pissed off and come after us."

A .40 caliber

On the day Jones was identified, police said ballistics evidence had tied most of the crime scenes together.

Thomas Mangan, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms spokesman, said Tuesday that a .40-caliber Glock handgun owned by suspect Dwight Lamon Jones was linked to some of the attacks. It was a gun he owned legally, in spite of past allegations of a violent crime.

Court records show Jones was arrested in May 2009 on suspicion of domestic violence. He pleaded guilty a month later to disorderly conduct — a misdemeanor — and Scottsdale city prosecutors dropped charges of assault and threatening and intimidating as part of the plea.

Scottsdale police investigate death in Fountain Hills

Mangan said the incident didn't legally prevent Jones from buying the gun that has been recovered by authorities.

"Ballistically, we have linked all the shootings," Scottsdale police Cmdr. Rich Slavin said at a news conference when Jones was identified. "Except for the last one, we're still working on that one."

Police said Tuesday they were still investigating what connection the couple may have had to Jones and why they became, apparently, his final victims. "At this point we do not have any updates scheduled," said Officer Kevin Watts.

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A quiet couple

The day after Thomas and and Simmons were found, a stream of cars crawled up the steep hill leading to their home.

The cars circled the cul-de-sac, searching for leftover signs of distress. One man parked and walked to the curved driveway to take a picture. A woman rolling past simply shook her head at signs of a life cut short: A white Nissan in the driveway, a folded wheelchair on the front porch. The house still hummed with the sound of an air-conditioner.

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As of Tuesday evening, it is unclear when — or if — Thomas and Simmons crossed paths with Jones before they became two of his six victims. They were the last victims discovered by authorities.

The couple appear to have lived a quiet life in Fountain Hills. Thomas, an Air Force veteran, belonged to the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, but people there said he rarely visited. Simmons was an accomplished tennis player, holding her own in leagues across the Valley, but had recently told fellow players that she needed to cut down on her court time. Thomas was losing his eyesight, a friend remembered, and Simmons didn't want to leave him alone.

Their house offered almost no hints of what had happened just three days earlier. The yellow police tape that stretched across the driveway had been pulled down and a horde of police cars and media trucks had since scattered.

The only visible sign of the weekend's crimes was the ladder that still leaned against a back wall, leading to the window where an officer, checking on the couple, had peered inside and discovered a crime scene.

Tragic circumstances

Levine's connection to the shooter seemed more distant. Records did not reveal that he had ever worked on Jones' divorce.

But another professional counselor who worked in the same office space on Morgan Trail, Karen Kolbe, had been Jones' son's counselor.

Kolbe, over the weekend before the killer's identity was known, said she had rented the space to Levine for his counseling business, Peak Life Solutions, for the past two years. She didn't know Levine well, though she described him as a "sweetheart."

She also knew the risks of her work, even then. "We've all had clients who frightened us at one point or another," she said.

After Jones was identified, it became apparent Kolbe was a possible connection to the case. She declined to comment again.

But another woman who worked in the same space told The Arizona Republic, "It’s safe to say Dr. Levine took a shot that was intended for someone else."

The lights were on Tuesday night inside the Scottsdale office suite Levine and Kolbe shared. Inside, one room had little left but carpet, while another was jammed full of chairs and boxes. No one was there.

Levine's name was still on the door.

The Associated Press and reporter Dennis Wagner contributed to this report.

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