True Crime Arizona

Host Briana Whitney and Arizona Family reporters Alexis Dominguez and Casey Torres dive into and analyze the latest string of developments in the East Valley teen violence investigations, including an exclusive interview with the parents of a suspect in mutliple assaults, a teen victim's fight for change in Arizona law, and the community fallout from the Gilbert police chief's first press conference. UPDATE: We also discuss the three new arrests that happened during the recording of the episode.

True Crime Arizona host Briana Whitney and Arizona’s Family reporter Emma Lockhart break down the details in the five new arrests in East Valley teen violence cases, both admitted and possible ties to the “Gilbert Goons,” and the possible impact these arrests may have on the ongoing Preston Lord murder investigation. We hear from Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell on where the Lord investigation stands with evidence and charges, and hear from the victim’s father in one of these cases after arrests were made.

Just before Thanksgiving 2022, JoAnn Dudek was getting ready for a holiday trip to NYC to visit family, when communication suddenly stopped. JoAnn lived in Anthem, AZ with her husband and daughter, who were there the day she allegedly disappeared and told investigators she left behind most belongings. But it’s a case full of twists and turns: Bizarre phone calls that may or may not exist, another unexpected death, and the sheriff’s office officially naming this a homicide investigation even though JoAnn’s whereabouts are unknown.

Exactly two months after 16-year-old Preston Lord was beaten to death at a Halloween party in Queen Creek, Arizona, police announced they are recommending charges against seven juveniles and adults involved in his death. It is now up to the Maricopa County Attorney to decide who and what to prosecute. This comes as other investigations into teen violence in the East Valley have been reopened with possible ties to a gang police have recognized as the "Gilbert Goons." Host Briana Whitney and Arizona Family reporters Morgan Loew, Emma Lockhart, and Casey Torres discuss what is likely to happen next, the possible evidence in the case, and historical parallels to prior gang violence in the East Valley.

In August 1992, remains of an unidentified teenager were found by somebody walking their dog in Apache Junction, Arizona. 30 years later, DNA and forensic genetic genealogy have helped identify her as a girl from South Phoenix who went missing in June of 1992. Her family was able to answer some things, but how she got to the remote desert and her cause of death is unknown. The timing of her disappearance and death is eerie though, it all happened while two known serial killers were operating in the Phoenix area. Could she have been another one of their victims? True Crime Correspondent Briana Whitney and Chief Investigative Reporter Morgan Loew analyze what we know.

Sixty years ago, in November 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while driving through downtown Dallas. It’s a historic event that hasfueled theories and conspiracies about what happened. But now, with modern technology, an engineering and animation lab has found something new that they said proves the “single bullet theory” is not possible scientifically. As they explain their findings, meanwhile former Mafia underboss Sammy “The Bull” Gravano reveals details during his time as a government informant when the FBI questioned him about JFK’s death. It’s an ominous and eerie meeting, and Gravano shares what he believes happened that day in Dallas.

In April 2023, 22-year-old Mercedes Vega was leaving her Tempe, Arizona apartment to meet friends for dinner. The next morning, her body was found burning in a car off the I-10 freeway 60 miles away in the rural desert. Once the autopsy report was released, the details revealed one of the most gruesome murders and causes of death. Now 7 months later, her parents are sitting down for the first time to open up about what they know, the last known surveillance footage of Mercedes, and what the desperately seek as her killer, or killers, still walk free.

In 2004, 5-year-old Josh Eberle Martinson was found dead on a bunk bed in his father’s Phoenix apartment, while his father, Jeffrey Martinson, was in the next room passed out from an attempted suicide with prescription drugs and liquor. The medical examiner ruled Josh’s death was from an overdose of prescription meds, and his father was charged with his murder. However, multiple years and trials later, he was set free. It’s something Joshua’s mother has struggled to comprehend.

More than four years after Jamie Yazzie disappeared on the Navajon Nation, her boyfriend learned his fate in a federal courtroom after being charged with her murder and assaulting other women.

DNA cracked the case in the brutal murder of a college student over three decades ago along a popular hiking trail. The Prescott, Arizona murder of Cathy Sposito in June of 1987 was unsolved but remained open and active for 36 years. In September 2023, the Yavapai County Sheriff named Bryan Scott Bennett as Sposito’s killer, but the investigation found Bennett also had more victims who were attacked and sexually assaulted in northern Arizona. While the discovery solved several cases, an unexpected twist is the reason why there’s no arrest now.