Phoenix "Serial Shooter" Dale Hausner Is Sentenced to Death for Six Murders in Random Nighttime Attacks
A jury decided death was the right sentence for each murder. Hausner, a former janitor, had been convicted two weeks earlier of six killings and 19 other attacks.
Published
Random nighttime shootings of people and animals terrorized Phoenix for 14 months in 2005 and 2006. On March 27, 2009, a jury decided that former janitor Dale Hausner should die for six of the killings.
The jury found death the appropriate sentence for each of the six murders. As the decisions were announced, Hausner kept his head down, and he thanked the judge before being led from the courtroom, the Associated Press reported. Two weeks earlier, on March 13, he had been convicted of murdering six people and attacking 19 others, and acquitted in two other killings. The Arizona Supreme Court named those he was convicted of killing as Nathanial Shoffner, killed November 11, 2005; Jose Ortis and Mareo Carillo, both killed December 29, 2005; Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz, killed May 2, 2006; Robin Blasnek, killed July 30, 2006; and David Estrada.
The attacks ended in August 2006 with the arrests of Hausner and his roommate, Samuel Dieteman, at their apartment in Mesa. Dieteman entered a plea agreement and testified against Hausner. Hausner also received consecutive life terms for two conspiracy convictions. On automatic appeal in 2012, the Arizona Supreme Court reversed one animal-cruelty conviction and otherwise affirmed his convictions and sentences.
The Associated Press reported that Hausner was found guilty on 80 of 86 charges, while the Arizona Supreme Court said he was convicted of 80 offenses and acquitted of seven.
Sources
- State of Arizona v. Dale Shawn Hausner, 280 P.3d 604 (Ariz. 2012), Arizona Supreme Court (via CourtListener)
- Serial Shooter gets death sentence, The Bulletin (Bend) / Associated Press
- Arizona janitor found guilty of 6 murders, Deseret News / Associated Press
Related News
- August 4, 2006: Phoenix Police Arrest Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman in the "Serial Shooter" Attacks