Suspected serial killers took turns at trigger, police say

PHOENIX -- The gunmen took turns as they drove around the city.

Some nights it was Samuel John Dieteman, a burly electrician with a ragged mop of jet black hair. According to court documents, he'd blast at lone pedestrians from the window of a silver Toyota Camry in what he called ``random recreational violence."

Other nights the trigger was pulled by his roommate, Dale S. Hausner, a baby-faced janitor and freelance photographer, the court documents allege.

After each shooting, the pair would drive slowly away, leaving little evidence other than the victim's body on a sidewalk.

Court documents and interviews with police provide a glimpse into the way investigators believe the pair operated and how they were finally found.

Dieteman, 30, and Hausner, 33, were arrested Thursday on two counts each of first-degree murder and 14 counts each of attempted first-degree murder. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Aug. 14.

Overall, they are being investigated in 36 shootings, including 17 that targeted people and others that involved animals.

A specialist on serial killers, Katherine Ramsland, said it's common in team killings that one person is ``egging the other on" to join in.

``If one was the quiet, timid type, he may have been the follower who got himself in a situation and just kept going because the reality was created by the dominant partner," she said. ``That happens in team killings quite often."

Until last week, investigators did not know who was responsible for the late-night attacks. They didn't know if the attacks were committed by one person or more, and grouped the attacks under one name: the ``Serial Shooter."

Phoenix police are still seeking another shooter, dubbed the Baseline Killer, who is believed responsible for eight killings in the area of Baseline Road.

Police believe the attacks started just past midnight on May 24, 2005, with the killing of 56-year-old Reginald Remillard, who was shot in the neck while he slept at a bus stop.

The last shooting the men are accused of occurred on July 30. Robin Blasnek was shot in the back as she walked to her boyfriend's house in Mesa. She was alive when a neighbor found her, but died later at a hospital.

In between, a probable cause statement alleges, Dieteman and Hausner had taken turns driving while they selected victims at random.

On May 2, the probable cause statement said, Hausner pulled along the curb next to Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz, 20, after she stepped off a bus. Dieteman allegedly fired once from a shotgun, hitting Gutierrez-Cruz on the left side. She died later at a hospital. A few minutes later, police say, the duo shot a 17-year-old in the back while he was walking along a street.

After targeting people and animals across Phoenix and its suburbs on the west side, the attackers moved east.

Early July 22, they found a man in his 30s riding his bicycle in Mesa. Dieteman told police that Hausner pulled close in the Camry, pulled the shotgun over the steering wheel and fired out the driver's side window, according to the probable cause statement.

The man survived but was seriously injured.

Police say the last attack, the one that killed Blasnek, occurred less than three miles away from the apartment Hausner and Dieteman shared. Hausner shot her while driving, Dieteman said, according to the statement.