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Scottsdale PD defends the way it handled the Dwight Jones investigation

Dwight Jones is accused of killing six people in a murder spree this spring. All but two of the murders were linked to a vendetta Jones had against his ex-wife.

Earlier this week, Scottsdale Police Department released body camera video of the investigation into Dwight Jones' murder spree this past spring. 

Jones has been linked to the murder of six people in the span of four days. All but two of the murders were linked to a vendetta Jones had after a bitter divorce from his ex-wife. 

RELATED: Timeline details what led police to the man behind the Phoenix-area killing spree

In the video, Elizabeth Feldman, who is thought to be Jones' intended victim in one of the shootings, is heard telling detectives Dwight Jones' name hours after the second shooting. 

We asked Scottsdale police why they didn't pursue Jones sooner, this is what they said.

"We interviewed Attorney Elizabeth Feldman in the afternoon on Friday June 1st.  During that interview, she stated the only case she had involving Steve Pitt was a divorce case with Connie Jones and ex-husband Dwight Jones 10 years prior. We did not link the Pitt murder case with Law Firm double murder case until 9pm that same evening.  This was done through ballistics.    

 During the early parts of the investigation, we received hundreds of tips.  Many pointed towards other individuals.  An eye witness in the Pitt homicide was adamant that the shooter was a white male.  We could not just discount that information.  Also at that time, we were still in a rescue mode and trying to identify who could be a potential victim along with determine what the link(s) were between the two cases.  

 We were able to link the Levine murder at approximately 5 am on June 2nd due to ballistic evidence.  Again, due the complexity of all the scenes and parties potentially involved, we were still attempting to determine the Modus Operandi and reasonings behind who could have been the suspect(s).

 Late Saturday afternoon we were able to determine a suspect vehicle from the Pitt homicide scene that may have be driven by the suspect(s).  Saturday night June 2nd at 9:30 pm, Connie Jones called the Phoenix Police Tip line and gave the tip on Dwight Jones.  By early Sunday morning (June 3rd), the Task Force was able to make definitive links between the suspect vehicle (observed at the Pitt homicide scene) and all three murder scenes which gave us a strong suspect in Dwight Jones.  On Sunday June 3rd at 3:20 pm, we observed Dwight Jones for the first time with our undercover detectives.  We never lost sight of him again.  

 In summary, the complexity of these homicides and volume of tips came into the Task Force were tremendous.  We did not have corroborating evidence or information in the early parts of the investigation to contact, detain and question Mr. Jones."

MORE: Scottsdale PD body cam video shows murder scenes following murder spree

 

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