The Top 5 Most Notorious Killers in Arizona History

It's the stuff of nightmares. Serial killers running loose in our neighborhoods, endangering our families and children.

More than fodder for a true crime podcast or an episode of Law & Order, these five men kept Arizona awake and scared us beyond words until they were finally rounded up and held accountable for their crimes.

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Arizona's Most Notorious Murderers and Serial Killers

Wikipedia explains that a serial killer is "typically a person who murders three or more people, in two or more separate events over a period of time, for primarily psychological reasons."

Here are some of the most chilling and notorious serial killers in Arizona’s history:

• The Serial Shooters
  • These two men, Samuel Dieteman and Dale Hausner, terrorized Arizona during the summer of 2005.
  • The pair shot and killed eight people between them.
  • The tide turned when Ron Horton, a friend of Dieteman, tipped off police that Dieteman had bragged about the killings while drinking.
  • Dieteman pleaded guilty to two homicides and testified against Hausner, who received six death sentences.
  • Hausner was found dead in his cell in 2013. His death was ruled a suicide.

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• The Baseline Killer
  • Mark Goudeau was known as the Baseline Killer. Goudeau reined terror in the Phoenix metropolitan area between August 2005 and June 2006.
  • Goudeau was charged with nine murders, sexual assaults, kidnappings, and armed robberies.
  • In all, he received 74 felony charges.

• The Phantom Killer
  • In 1967, William Huff called himself The Phantom
  • Huff murdered two young girls in Sierra Vista. The killer sent a handwritten letter to the police taking responsibility after he murdered 7-year-old Cindy Clelland.
  • Huff served 48 years in prison.

• The Crackhead Killer
  • Cory Morris was known as The Crackhead Killer because initially, he claimed all the women died of drug overdoses.
  • Morris killed prostitutes between 2002 and 2003 in Maricopa County. Morris lured his victims to his trailer and then strangled them.
  • Morris was convicted of five murders and received a death sentence.

Sources: KZBK Phoenix | Wikipedia | Serial Killer Shop | Murderpedia | MSCO

Images:

"Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Jun. 2024.

"Mark Goudeau." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Apr. 2024.

"Cory Morris." image via Murderpedia.

"William Huff." image via mcso.org.