It was an anonymous tip about the murder of a Paradise Valleycouple that led investigators to the Glendale woman who held one ofthe keys that unlocked their case: She told them they should find aman known as "Shark" who always carried a .22-caliber handgun. Police soon identified "Shark" as Michael Lee Crane. The followingday, when police converged on Crane outside his brother's basementapartment in Mesa, the 31-year old murder suspect nearly retrievedthe gun stuffed into his waistband before officers could subduehim. Investigators would find a .22-caliber handgun in his backpack. Itwas a crucial find, since ballistic tests would later confirm thata weapon of the same caliber was used in the Jan.
26 murder ofPhoenix cigar salesman Bruce Gaudet, whose body was found in hissmoldering condo, and the Jan. 30 murders of philanthropistsLawrence and Glenna Shapiro, whose bodies also were found amid theremnants of an arson fire at their Paradise Valley home. Crane is suspected in all three deaths, and there is other evidencepolice believe links Crane to the crime, including property thatinvestigators found on him and in the room he shared with hisgirlfriend, Brittany Beinhauer. Those and other details are contained in recently released policedocuments related to the investigations, shedding new light on themurders and police efforts to nab those they believe areresponsible.
Investigators believe their evidence links Crane or his associatesnot only to the Shapiro and Gaudet murders, but to two arson fires-- which does not include the destruction by fire of a home Craneused to occupy -- and at least five home burglaries. Crane and Maricela Sanchez, 27, are charged with murder and arsonrelated to Gaudet's death. Crane also faces murder and arsoncharges related to the Shapiro deaths. Beinhauer, 28, Kelly Ann Steward, 29, Katherine Adele Austin, 26,Danielle Elaine Rossman, 26, and Shawn Eric Nicloy, 29, areawaiting trial on charges including theft, trafficking stolenproperty and hindering prosecution for their roles in the crimewave.
Some property alleged to have been stolen by the group wasdiscovered in the guest house of a home that one of the suspectsshared with her parents near 40th Street and Union Hills Drive,according to court documents. Other stolen property was turned over to police after a pair ofcostume-jewelry buyers' photos of a woman who had sold themtrinkets turned up in news reports related to the Paradise Valleymurders. Investigators later determined the jewels were stolen froma Phoenix home in late January. In addition to outlining police suspicions that the group wasinvolved in a widespread crime spree, the recently-releasedinvestigative records document the assistance tipsters and snitchesprovided in closing in on the suspects, and the danger officersencountered when they apprehended Crane, whose basement apartmentposed a tactical challenge for Mesa SWAT officers preparing tobreach the door before his arrest. What the documents do not explain definitively, however, is whatconnection existed between Gaudet and the suspects.
Gaudet's family told investigators they thought he had recentlyended a relationship with a woman in San Diego. One of hisdaughters recalled a blonde woman who sent a text message to Gaudetlast December asking if he wanted to make some extra money for theholidays. Sanchez, who was arrested in Gaudet's car near Yuma after beingshot with a stun gun and fleeing from Arizona Department of PublicSafety officers, described a scene to investigators that seems tosuggest Gaudet was more of a random target. But Sanchez's state ofmind has to be taken into account: for example, she gave herinterrogators dozens of names of co-conspirators including "amidget" named Ritchie and a Doberman pinscher that she claimed canspeak. Crane's brother, James Stewart, identified a woman named "Sole" asthe person who went to his Mesa apartment and borrowed Stewart'saging Toyota Camry one night in late January.
Witnesses would latertell investigators they saw a similar car leaving Gaudet'sapartment complex the morning of the fire. According to Sanchez, she and her co-conspirator knocked on thedoor to Gaudet's condo and, when no one answered, jumped over awall in the back. Once inside, Sanchez said, Gaudet was tied up andshot before the condo was set ablaze and his car was stolen.Sanchez said she drove Gaudet's car and was supposed to follow herco-conspirator, driving a white car, to a nearby car wash. Instead,Sanchez said, she drove to Yuma. "I wanted to come home," she said.
"I wanted to come to Yuma.". I am Transportation writer, reports some information about new boat dealer , bmw tank bag.
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