Suspect in 4 Phoenix Homicides Over 3 Days Is Dead

Man is suspected of killing forensic psychiatrist who assisted in JonBenet case
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 4, 2018 11:22 AM CDT
Suspect in 4 Phoenix Homicides Over 3 Days Is Dead
This image released by the Phoenix Police Department shows a sketch of the suspect in the first of three shooting deaths in Phoenix.   (Phoenix Police Department via AP)

A man suspected in four Phoenix-area slayings that happened over three days fatally shot himself Monday as police swarmed the hotel where he was staying, authorities said. The man, who was not identified, was suspected in the deaths of a forensic psychiatrist, two paralegals, and a counselor. The raid came after authorities identified the fourth victim, but investigators did not immediately link that death to the other three, the AP reports. Marshall Levine, a 72-year-old marriage and divorce counselor and life coach, was found shot inside an office building shortly after midnight Saturday, police said. The Arizona Republic reported Levine also worked as a hypnotherapist.

On Thursday, Dr. Steven Pitt, a prominent forensic psychiatrist who assisted in high-profile murder cases, including the JonBenet Ramsey mystery in Colorado and a notorious Phoenix serial killer investigation, was found dead near Scottsdale. Witnesses reported hearing a loud argument and gunfire outside Pitt's office. Police said the killings Friday of paralegals Veleria Sharp, 48, and Laura Anderson, 49, who were shot inside the office of a firm that practices family law, were related to Pitt's shooting, but they were still trying to determine exactly what linked the three victims. "We don't know the relationships or the connections," said Sgt. Ben Hoster. How, or if, Levine's death also had ties to the killings of the two women and Pitt was still being investigated, Scottsdale police told the Republic. (More murder stories.)

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