PHOENIX (AP) — Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the death of an 80-year-old Air Force veteran whose decomposing body was found dismembered in his Phoenix home, according to authorities.
Phoenix police said 58-year-old Thomas Wallace was being held on $1 million cash bond on suspicion of second-degree murder, concealing a dead body, theft of means of transportation and trafficking in stolen property while Romana Gonzalez remains jailed on suspicion of fraud and theft.
Authorities said Wallace, 58, was formerly roommates with the victim and Gonzalez also stayed off and on at the home of the victim, whose name hasn't been released yet.
It was unclear Sunday if either suspect has a lawyer who can speak on their behalf and Gonzalez’s age wasn’t immediately available.
Police said officers went to the home Nov. 1 for a welfare check and reported finding two black trash bags inside a bedroom.
Court documents show that severed body parts were found in a pile of blankets that were in a laundry basket and in stacked layers of linen.
Homicide investigators were called in and discovered blood on the living room ceiling and on several walls and furniture, and the victim’s detached head was found in stacked layers of linen.
Police said the cause of death will be determined by the Maricopa County medical examiner’s office.
The victim’s missing pickup truck was found at a motel down the street where Wallace and Gonzalez also were located and arrested Thursday.
Wallace and Gonzalez allegedly pawned some of the victim’s items last month for $50 including a 10-inch chain saw that had pieces of flesh and torn ligaments on the blade.
Police said a camera bag also was pawned that had the victim’s business card inside.
Ruby Lowry told Phoenix TV station KPNX that the victim was a good neighbor who would help anyone.
“It’s a sad thing for it to happen to him because he didn’t deserve that,” Lowry said.
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