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Arizona police arrest two in serial shooter case

Posted on: Friday, 4 August 2006, 20:34 CDT

By Tim Gaynor

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona police have arrested two suspected serial killers blamed for a string of fatal shootings that terrified Phoenix-area residents, officials said on Friday.

Officers arrested Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman at an apartment complex in Mesa, Arizona, 15 miles east of Phoenix, late on Thursday following a tip, Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris told a news conference.

Investigators say the men shot and killed six people in a crime spree that began in May 2005. Eighteen others were wounded in the apparently random attacks carried out at night and in the early morning, which targeted walkers and cyclists.

"These are the two monsters that we have been hunting," Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said.

Harris said police had weapons and incriminating statements linking the two men to the shootings. He did not speculate on motives for the attacks.

The gunmen last struck on Sunday, when a woman was shot and killed as she walked near her home in the city.

Harris said Hausner, 33, and Dieteman, 30, also shot several dogs and horses in the area.

The Arizona Republic and local television stations reported that Hausner worked as a custodian at the city's Sky Harbor International Airport, and took photographs for a boxing Web site.

Dieteman had a history of petty crimes and only recently returned to the Phoenix area after living in Minnesota, the media reports added.

Residents across the sprawling metropolitan area of 3.7 million people, who had lived in fear since the attacks, expressed relief on Friday.

"It's been a worry for months," said coffee shop worker Francis Charfauros as he served customers at a busy cafe. "Let's just hope that they got the right guys so it doesn't continue."

Police said they had kept a round-the-clock watch on the two suspects since they identified them four days ago.

The investigation also linked Hausner and Dieteman to arson attacks on two Wal-Mart stores in early June, which were carried out within 45 minutes of each other.

SECOND SERIAL KILLER SOUGHT

Police are also searching for a man wanted in connection with a series of murders, armed robberies and sexual assaults in the Baseline Road area of the city.

The "Baseline Killer" is believed to have shot eight people and sexually assaulted 11 women since August 2005.

Investigators believe the man responsible for the crimes is black or Hispanic, aged 25 to 40. Some witnesses have described the attacker as a bald man, while others say he wears dreadlocks.

Police have set up a tip hot line and are offering a reward of up to $100,000 in both the Serial Shooter and Baseline Killer cases.

It was not immediately clear if anyone would receive a reward following the arrests in the Serial Shooter case.

(Additional reporting by David Schwartz)

Source: REUTERS

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