An Arizona couple has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing a registered sex offender to death in a desert area of the state, authorities said.
Jacob Middlebrook, 35, and his girlfriend, Layne McIntosh, 36, were first taken into custody on second-degree homicide charges in the death of 29-year-old Arron Christopher Warren, Bullhead City Police said in a social media post.
The investigation began Saturday after a motorist spotted a dead man on the side of the road in the 3100 block of Silver Creek Road. Police said the circumstances of the death appeared suspicious, prompting detectives to open a homicide investigation.
Detectives identified the victim as Warren, whom they described as a Bullhead City transient. They also identified a possible suspect and learned that Warren's vehicle was missing.
Hours later, Las Vegas Metro Police assisted Bullhead City investigators and found the victim's vehicle parked at a casino in Laughlin, Nevada. Middlebrook and McIntosh were arrested by Las Vegas Metro Police and booked into the Clark County Detention Center, where they are being held pending extradition to Mohave County, Arizona.
On Monday, the charges against the pair were upgraded to first-degree homicide. Investigators determined that Middlebrook and McIntosh were also local transients who had known Warren for the past few months.
"Detectives discovered that the couple had expressed distaste for registered sex offenders and had planned the homicide in advance," Bullhead City police said.
Police added that the couple allegedly selected the desert location ahead of time where they intended to leave Warren's body and had measured furniture and beds that might be large enough to cover the body along the side of the road. Warren was a registered Level 2 sex offender.
Bullhead City Police Chief Paul George said the department notifies the community when certain registered sex offenders move in or change addresses, but he stressed he "will not tolerate anyone using this information as a reason to threaten, intimidate, harass or harm another person." Notifications are mailed to residents within roughly a 1,000-foot radius of an offender's registered address, and the department also shares them on social media to reach a broader audience.
"Our goal is to provide information, not create fear or alarm. We believe an informed community is a safer community," George said in a statement, adding that the department's Bureau of Criminal Investigations conducts monthly address verification checks to ensure registered sex offenders comply with registration requirements. "Our responsibility is to protect our community, keep residents informed and to enforce the law. We take all three of these seriously."
