Arizona has seen five known serial killer and shooting cases -- including the Baseline Killer, the Serial Shooters, and the Cooksey killings -- that rocked local neighborhoods over the last couple of decades.
The Baseline Killer
It's hard to believe that it has been more than 10 years since 'Baseline Killer' Mark Goudeau terrorized residents along the Baseline corridor.
The city conducted numerous community meetings, plastered the city with sketches of his description, offered $100,000 for information, and even had the 'Guardian Angels' patrolling the streets of Phoenix searching for him.
More than 70 charges were filed against Goudeau, including nine killings, 15 sexual assaults, and various other robberies and kidnappings that occurred between the fall of 2005 and June 2006.
All but one of the victims were women going about their normal business, waiting for buses, washing their cars, or coming and going from work.
He usually attacked his victims at night wearing disguises, including a wig of dreadlocks and a fisherman's hat.
Most of the attacks occurred in Phoenix along Baseline Road. Goudeau lived about three miles from Baseline.
Although Goudeau and his family always maintained his innocence, prosecutors linked his DNA to several of the victims. Some of the victims' property was also found in his home.
In November 2011, he was sentenced to death and is being held on death row.
The Serial Shooters
(RIGHT) Samuel Dieteman stands for his booking mug shot, Friday, Aug. 4, 2006, at the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office's Madison Street Jail in Phoenix in connection to the Phoenix serial killer case that has been pending since mid 2005. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)
From 2005 to 2006, the Valley was also plagued with another round of random nighttime shootings and killings. Roommates Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman together committed 80 crimes, including six counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, and cruelty to animals.
In addition to killing six people, the pair also wounded 18 others, and shot several dogs, and a horse. They also set fire to a couple of Walmart stores, causing millions of dollars in damage. In all, the state filed 88 charges against Hausner.
The shootings mostly occurred overnight, the victims were pedestrians and bicyclists, and were shot from Hausner's car, usually with a shotgun or a .22 caliber rifle.
It was an anonymous call to Silent Witness from a person saying they heard their friend Samuel Dieteman talking about the shootings and his involvement in them.
Police identified Dieteman from surveillance video at the Walmart arsons. Police tracked the two and conducted wiretaps as they gathered evidence against them. When police searched their apartment, they found weapons, news clippings, and videos of the shootings. Police later realized that Hausner and Dieterman also returned to the crime scenes as onlookers.
Dieteman turned on Hausner and testified against him at trial in exchange for a life sentence.
Hausner committed suicide in prison on June 19, 2013, while he was sitting on death row.
The Cooksey killings
Cleophus Emmanuel Cooksey, 37, was arrested in December 2017 for killing nine people in a three-week period in late 2017.
Included in the killings were his mother Rene Cooksey and step-father Edward Nunn, who were found shot to death in an apartment near 12th Street and Highland Avenue on December 17.
Theother homicides spanned across the Valley for three weeks before that incident.
Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said ballistic evidence collected from each homicide scene tied Cooksey to all homicides.
Court records show Cooksey had a previous criminal record for armed robbery and manslaughter 16 years ago. He was released from prison in July 2017 and was in and out of jail after that.
As of August 2022, Cooksey awaits trial.
Phoenix Serial Street Shooter
Aaron Saucedo was arrested in connection to a series of deadly street shootings that happened in Phoenix between August 2015 and August 2016.
Police initially linked seven deaths and nine shooting incidents over a four-month period to the Phoenix Serial Street Shooter. However, Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said police linked Saucedo to two additional killings in the course of their investigation.
ABC15 learned evidence and investigation into the unrelated string of Phoenix freeway shootings helped lead police to make the arrest of Saucedo.
As of August 2022, Saucedo is awaiting trial.
Phoenix freeway shootings
For a period of time in 2015, those driving on Valley highways lived in fear as a shooter taking aim at commuters remained on the loose.
Nearly a dozen confirmed shooting incidents were reported and numerous other incidents were reported, but not confirmed.
A young girl was injured in one of the shootings.
Leslie Merritt Jr. was arrested and charged with the shootings. Within seven months of his arrest, Merritt was set free and the charges were dropped.
Officials tested evidence and cross-referenced these cases with those related to the Phoenix Serial Street Shooter but the evidence was "inconclusive."
The freeway shootings cases remain unsolved.
