Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “Phoenix Serial Shooters” - Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman

Episode Date: January 7, 2019

In an instant, Dale Hauser's family was gone. He was left broken, isolated, and enraged. In 2005, his anger would boil over. He would begin stalking the streets of Phoenix, looking to create random chaos, and steal the lives of others as quickly as his own children had been taken. Parcast News - Be sure to check out Parcast’s first fictional crime show MIND’S EYE at Parcast.com/MindsEye! Sponsors! Calming Comfort - Go to CalmingComfortBlanket.com and use Promo Code “KILLERS” at checkout to receive 15% off the displayed price. Torrid - Go to Torrid.com and use Promo Code SERIAL15 for $15 off every $50 you spend! That means you can get up to $150 off a $500 order! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Meet your match on ZipRecruiter. Do you want to hear something? Spooky. Some monster. It reminded me of big stuff. Monsters Among Us is a weekly podcast featuring true stories of the paranormal. One of the boys started to exhibit demonic possession. Stories straight from the witnesses' mouths themselves. Something very snake-like lifted its head out of the water. Hosted by me, your guide, Derek Hayes.

Somehow I lost eight whole hours. Listen now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder and assault that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. Phoenix, Arizona, 2005.

Residents locked their doors, heading inside well before sunset, as bodies began turning up on the quiet desert streets. This summer was so brutally hot that by the end of July, 30 lives had already been claimed from heatstroke, and yet for the next year, locals of Phoenix would have a far bigger threat to face than the weather,

as a killer hidden in the shadows took aim. The once-quiet city was about to be held hostage as a series of deadly drive-by shootings paralyzed the community. By the time the killer, now known as the serial shooter, was done with Arizona, the victim count would be in the dozens, including eight people shot dead in their tracks. That may seem like a staggering amount of damage for one man,

and in fact it was. Time would reveal that it wasn't one man, but two behind these horrible crimes. Sam Dietman was a hardened criminal with an extensive rap sheet. And Dale Hausner was a friendly face with a dark side. Through the manipulation of friendship and a taste for methamphetamine, Hausner would lure Deidman down the path to what he dubbed Random Recreational Violence,

a path paved in the blood of the innocent. Hi, I'm Greg Polson. From the podcast network, this is serial killers. Today, we're going to peel back the layers behind the terrible crimes committed by Dale Hausner and his partner, Sam Deidman, known collectively as the serial shooter. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa.

Mr. Richardson. Hi, everyone. Many of you have been asking us how you can support the podcast. If you enjoy the show, one of the best ways to help us is to leave a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts. While you're there, you can listen to previous episodes of serial killers, as well as parcasts, other podcasts. A new episode comes out every Monday. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at Parcast. And on Twitter at Parcast Network or on our website, parkast.com. From May 2005 to August 2006, Dale Hausner and Jeff Deatman stalked the streets of Phoenix, Arizona, randomly shooting at passers-by from an unmarked van. In the 15 months they terrorized Phoenix, they left eight dead, 19 injured, and an entire city terrified. They proved hard to apprehend due to the randomness of their attacks and the lack of witnesses to their crimes. the madness came to an unceremonious end in August 2006, as Hausner took his own life, and Dietman was apprehended by police. Dale Hausner grew up poor, but happy. The youngest of five brothers, Dale was born on February 4, 1973, in Nebraska.

Dale's parents, Eugene and Rosemary, had moved the family to Arizona when Dale was about five. Dale's very early childhood is largely undocumented, He lived off the grid in Nebraska and didn't even obtain a social security number until he arrived in Arizona. The Hausner family was close, even with Dale's oldest brother Gregory foregoing the move to stay behind in Nebraska and care for a family of his own. Randy, closest to Dale and age, looked up to his younger brother. Jeff, also older than Dale, thought highly of his brother as well. Christopher Dale's older brother who suffered from a developmental disability also looked up to him. Their father had graduated from a technical high school in Omaha, and although education was not stressed in the Hausner household, Eugene and Rosemary raised their children to respect hard work, religion, and loyalty.

Under Eugene's roof, Dale lived a mostly stable childhood, and by the time he was 10, became obsessed with boxing. In a 2015 interview, Randy remembers Dale as a silly kid, happy most of the time. The pair, being the closest in age out of the brothers, got along fairly well, though Randy notes that unlike the rest of the boys, Dale was very fond of his alone time. Randy also recalled how the boys often use boxing as a favorite form of exercise. Randy saw the two of them as runts of the litter, and as they enter their junior high years, the brothers used the sport to build up their slight forms as best they could.

Unfortunately, their favorite pastime also revealed that even as a second, a child, Dale Hausner was hiding a darkness inside him. Dale would regularly practice his skills on the family's punching bag, speaking to the bag as if it were a person. He would play the part of a victim, telling the punching bag he didn't want any trouble before firing off quick blows in mock retaliation. But his aggression didn't stop there. In one instance, Dale returned from school, excited that he'd finally taken revenge on a bully that had been giving him a hard time. He'd attacked him much in the same way he'd practiced on the bag at home. And though the kids can be expected to get in fights from time to time,

it was Vail's attitude that's especially noteworthy. When he returned home and told Randy what had happened, Randy was proud of him for getting back at the bully. Dale also told Randy that he felt something more. When his hand hit the bully's face and he looked down at the blood on his knuckles, Dale had felt good, not a typical reaction to someone else's blood on your hands. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of

research for this show. Thanks, Greg. Dale's reaction to this event is particularly important, since Dale would continue to feel this way to get a thrill out of violence throughout his adult life. According to the Child Mind Institute, aggression like this at an early age can be attributed to a number of causes. Mood disorders, psychosis, or even simple frustration can all be factors in aggression manifesting in a child. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that Dale's parents ever tested him for any of this, nor is there a record of them taking him to a psychologist. So we can only theorize on what fueled him. That's right. Like many children, Dale was bullied, but he stood up for himself and ended up enjoying that feeling. He grew up idolizing boxers and emulated his heroes on the schoolyard.

likely it was his desire to strike back at those who tormented him that initially gave Dale the idea to lash out. Frustration can often be present in children with undiagnosed cognition problems, now known as intellectual impairment, and impulsivity can play a huge role as well. Dale's impulse to cause reckless harm to those around him would later be a large part of his crimes, unique from many other serial killers, in that his victims appear to have been completely random. It's also important to note the sense of power that Dale associated with this aggression and that he shared these thoughts with his brother. The Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing notes in a 2012 paper

that peer relationships play a strong role in aggressive behavior and that sharing that behavior with someone can fuel a sense of power or social status. Randy's affirmation of Dale's actions may very well have reinforced what he had done, especially if it's true Dale had a desire to be praised, for the destruction he caused. Randy later found Dale's journal, where he chronicled other surprising instances of aggression, claiming to have started stealing and setting fires

at the early age of nine. He also described a passion for destruction, like slashing tires and spraying bleach on neighbors' clothes as they hung out to dry. Most disturbingly, Dale also recounted how, unbeknownst to his family, he would engage in the capture and torture of animals. In his journal, Dale wrote,

quote, quote, the birds that I shot and didn't immediately die were tortured. Others were buried up to their necks in the yard. Sometimes I would put them in a shoebox and microwave them. The smell was horrible, but I enjoyed the end result, end quote. Dale would add that he had, quote, no regret, no remorse, end quote. The Washington Post recently wrote about the correlation between school shooters and cruelty towards animals. That can also be applied to, quote, to Dale Hausner. They found that while 35% of college students in the general population admitted to past animal cruelty, the type of cruelty, up close and personal like Dale's method of torture with birds, was much more likely to be an indicator of a future school shooter. The forensic

examiner reports that aggressive and violent criminals are more likely to have abused animals as children before moving on to abusing human beings. Dale would not only abuse animals in secret as a child in the 1970s and 80s, but would continue to do so in his adult life, particularly as a springboard for even more serious crimes. And although Randy may have been blind to exactly how disturbed Dale's thoughts were becoming, other children in the neighborhood noticed that something was off. One childhood friend, Jesse Sullivan, recalled an odd instance during a sleepover. Jesse awoke to find Dale standing silently over another friend just staring at him. To Jesse, this was definitely not normal.

Interestingly enough, it was Jesse who also gave Dale his first chance to fire a gun when they were still just children. As pre-teens, Dale, Randy, and Jesse would sit in a makeshift clubhouse, shooting pellets at telephone poles or birds. But the other two boys were clueless that Dale would turn the childhood fun into an act of twisted torture and destruction, getting much more personal with his methods than Randy or Jesse would ever have thought to do. This behavior suggests that Dale wanted an audience, a common theme throughout his life,

starting with his tales of his schoolyard antics to Randy. The rush of his actions had invigorated Dale, but it was sharing them with Randy that seemed to really delight him. Even when it came to his more brutal actions with animals, it seemed as if Dale couldn't stop himself from sharing his thoughts somehow, settling on relegating them to his private journal, which wouldn't be discovered for years to come. On their own, Dale's early signs of an aggressive personality throughout his childhood

would have been enough reason for concern that he was headed down a dangerous path. But it wouldn't be until years later that a truly traumatic event would cause Dale's life to take a permanent turn for the worse. Family was always an integral part of Dale's life from the beginning, and it would remain important as he thought about starting a family of his own. Never having trouble wooing the ladies, Dale married his first wife, Tracy Spiker at just 18 years old. Tracy herself was only 19 at the time

and was pregnant with another man's child. Dale, in keeping with the family values he'd grown up respecting, accepted the boy as his own. Tracy was excited thinking she'd found a romantic man who would care for her and her children. In 1992, Tracy and Dale had a biological child and the blended family lived together in Arizona.

But while Dale seemed to truly enjoy being a father, he had a far from perfect marriage with Tracy. Tracy remembered Dale as a particularly mean husband and did not think back on the time fondly. He wasn't very nice. He wasn't a very nice husband. It wasn't very nice to me. It took me a while to realize that husbands don't treat their wives that way. Although reluctant to provide too many details, Tracy later told reporters that she never thought she would have to relive the bad memories of her time spent with Dale, which seemed to still haunt her. 18 months of despair was long enough for Tracy, and the young couple's marriage ended in divorce.

Dale's heartbreak wouldn't last long, as the next day, in April 1994, he married his second wife, Karen, who he had dated during the months it took to finalize his split from Tracy, and though his first divorce was quick and painless, Dale's second marriage would be marred with a horror he would never forget. In 1994, Dale and Karen had moved to Pasadena, Texas, where the couple planned to make their fortune. But Dale was not ready to break his family apart, and so his son Jeremiah, joined by Tracy's son, Donovan, came to live at them. Karen cared for the boys as if they were her own. Unfortunately, they would not stay a happy family for long as the terrible turn of events loomed on the horizon.

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Now, back to the story. Dale Hausner, along with his wife, Karen, and two children were starting out their life in Pasadena, Texas, when tragedy struck. In November of 1994, while on a road trip to Dallas, the unthinkable happened. With Dale sleeping in the passenger's seat and the kids in the back, Karen fell asleep at the wheel. The family's car careened off the I-45, plunging 25 feet off the air, edge into the freezing waters of Richland Creek. Dale attempted to rescue his two children, both trapped in their car seats. He dove under again and again, until he lost feeling in his limbs, but ultimately he was unable to save the boys. Karen and Dale walked away with minimal

injuries. Donovan would not be found until later that afternoon, and Jeremiah's body didn't wash ashore for another three days. Though physically unhurt, Dale would be scarred by this tragedy for the rest of his life. He discussed the remorse and guilt he felt surrounding the accident while in police custody and wrote about it in prison. He even later used it to rationalize why he was innocent, claiming he could never take another person's life. I know what it's like to suffer the loss of a kid,

and I would never, ever, ever want anybody to have to go through what I went through. By 2001, Dale and Karen, still hurting from the heartache of their loss, finally divorced, marking Dale's second failed marriage before he would turn 30. The events of the accident would weigh on Dale's mind for the rest of his life. In an email commemorating their passing, Dale wrote, quote, I tried to get them out, but the current was awful and the water was freezing, and I almost died trying to find them. Life is short, and your life can change as fast as mine did, end quote.

Clearly, Dale was plagued by what it occurred. A loss like that can seriously affect someone, especially someone that has already shown signs of unstable behavior. Dale's remark about a life changing in an instant is especially chilling, since his actions as a serial killer would be both swift and deliberate. Unlike some killers that seem to relish in the torture of their victims, Dale's kills during the spree each started and ended with a single shot. the adrenaline high only lasting a few moments as he sped off from the scene, lives taken as suddenly as his children had been taken from him.

Dale admitted in his own writings that he had already had a dark side, but this loss sent him into a state of depression, and with that depression came pent up anger. Dale told Randy that when his kids died, he died, and he seemed to his brother to have a permanently tortured soul from then on. Again, Dale never underwent. any sort of psychological assessment prior to his arrest in 2006. The Journal of the American Medical Association cites the need for a parent to accept help

from the community and from medical professionals after a tragic incident like the loss of a child. But Dale never did this. It's possible that Dale didn't fully process what happened. Even after the incident, his neighbors still described him as someone with a happy, nice guy persona, despite his depressive state and the... guilt he claimed to have following the accident, feelings which he kept hidden from his public life. Despite the act he kept up for the community at large, Dale's grief would not be resolved by

splitting with Karen, and in fact he became jealous and openly dangerous after the split. There was one especially disturbing instance of violence between the couple worth noting. Karen alleges that a few months after she and Dale were divorced, Dale found out she was seeing other people again. Enraged, Dale kidnapped her, driving her out into the desert and threatening her with a shotgun. Dale, furious over the demise of their relationship, told Karen that he would eventually kill her with the weapon. Dale relented as a few passing motorcyclists happened upon the scene, but Karen would file for an order of protection in 2002 all the same. If those bikers had not appeared when they did, we might be talking about a very different timeline here. Clearly, Dale was

unhinged enough to threaten to shoot someone close to him, and yet his ability to mask his dark side would continue to trick his neighbors and co-workers into thinking he was harmless. Karen knew the truth. Dale continued to harbor anger toward Karen, likely in part because of her responsibility in the crash. Regardless of theories that there might have been more to the accident

than Dale always led on, the fact stands that it had been Karen who was driving the vehicle when it went over the edge. and Dale would not forget that. But about a year after he and Karen broke up, Dale would begin to think about her less and less when he met a third and final partner, Linda Swaney. Linda and Dale met at a singles activities group in 2002

and quickly fell in love. The couple didn't live together, but much like with Dale's other relationships, the relationships started out with romance and great promise. Although they were never married, they did have a child. Amanda, or Mandy for short, in early 2004, and Dale moved into Linda's new house. Less than six months later, things had fallen apart, and Dale would go through a third breakup. Dale didn't take the breakup well, angry at Linda for ending things.

Linda had grown fearful of Dale's tendency to get even with people. She was worried that he planned to destroy her swimming pool after he commented how easy it was to ruin a pool with a little oil. For the sake of her child, in whose life Dale played a very active role, Linda attempted to play nice with Dale. Unfortunately, Mandy was a sickly girl, requiring the use of a feeding tube and constant care. She had been hospitalized on more than one occasion due to a rare disease related to blood sugar, and so Dale was allowed a key to Linda's house for emergencies. Dale would often abuse this privilege on days he wasn't scheduled to care for Mandy.

To his neighbors, Dale appeared to be an incredibly attentive father, and many even claimed they thought that Mandy hadn't had a mother in the picture because Dale was with her so often. Dale often played up Mandy's sickness as well, leaning into the role of protective father as a way to be liked in the community. In reality, Dale did not pay as much attention as he let on. Mandy split her time between Linda's place and Dale's apartment, although he was the sole caretaker of his daughter on some weekends.

He would often leave Mandy without proper supervision, recklessly putting her health at risk. And although they were no longer married, Dale would make regular promises to help Linda, but failed to follow through. In one instance, Linda found herself in a difficult situation. She had broken her foot and needed extra help on her days with Mandy. Dale agreed to stay with her and care for the toddler, only to go missing for several hours at a time, with no explanation, often in the middle of the night. Eventually, his lack of parental competence, combined with his disappearing act, would drive Linda past a point of civility. Linda distanced herself as much as she could socially and would attempt to get as far removed from Dale as legally possible. But Dale was only one half of the brutal team that would unleash what he called random recreational violence, or RVing on the streets of Phoenix.

Elsewhere, Sam Dietman, soon to become the other half of the team, was well on his way down the path of criminality as well. While young Dale Hausner's flair for the criminal was bubbling just below the surface, Sam Dietman's was frothing with reckless abandon. Sam was born on October 17, 1975, and spent the early years of his life in Mancato, Minnesota, generally causing trouble. Unlike Dale, Sam didn't grow up with a tight-knit family, but we were born in the tight-knit family, but we were in the early years of his life in Mancato, knit family, but rather with a father who beat his mother and a very unstable living environment. Sam's father, Scott, had been in the Hell's Angels and had done time in prison, a fact that young Sam was very upset by. With his father floating in and out of the picture, Sam and his mother

were on their own. As a preteen, he moved with her several times back and forth between Arizona and Mancato. While there is much less on record about Deatman's early life than Dale Hausner's, It is known that he was exposed to drugs and alcohol at an early age, which led to a string of arrests, including DUIs, marijuana possession, property damage, and shoplifting charges, just during his time in Mancato. At age 16, Sam fathered a daughter, although the child would remain with her mother in Minnesota. Subsequently, Sam had a warrant out for his arrest for over $1,500 in unpaid child support. In his early 20s, Sam finally moved. moved from Mancato to Phoenix for good.

His mother coming along as well. With this seemingly permanent change, Sam was able to convince his family and himself that he had abandoned his troubled life of crime in the Midwest for a brighter future down south. Unfortunately, a brighter future was not in store for Sam. While he did become a union electrician and worked several odd jobs, he was never able to consistently support himself

and seemed to be inches away from trouble wherever he went. He was divorced and lived with his mother and a new stepfather, with whom he had a less than stable relationship. Eventually, Sam's life took an upturn while working as a bartender at Pollock Joe's. Here he made a friend who would forever impact his life, a drinking buddy by the name of Ron Horton. A single father, Ron, was struggling to raise his three sons after his wife left him without warning. Ron worked a job in construction and spent what little free time he had caring for the boys. often acting as a helicopter parent, enforcing his own needs in favor of his sons.

By late 2004, at the urging of his mother, Ron had taken a step back, allowing the kids some breathing room and himself a chance at a personal life. Ron began hanging out at several bars on the west side of the city, including the Rib Shop, the Stardust Inn, and the Amber Inn, frequent them enough to befriend the regulars

and earn that identifier as well. While drinking at Pollock Joe's, Ron became fast friends with Sam. To Ron, Sammy, appeared to be a stand-up guy, who never missed an opportunity to pay back a favor. At the time they met, Sam was doing as well as he could, working for honey well as an electrician by day and drinking or bartending all night.

But in early 2005, Ron noticed that Sam's life had spiraled downward. His stepfather kicked him out of the house, although Sam, furious, claimed he had left by choice. Pollock Joes shut down, leaving Sam without a bartending job. He got into an argument with a supervisor at Honeywell and was transferred, and a second argument resulted in his termination. Ron's fatherly instincts kicked in as he thought about Sam's children back in the Midwest. He knew Sam was responsible for sending money to help raise them,

and after all, Sam was his friend. So Ron did what any friend would. He opened his home to Sam Deidman, offering him a place to stay in exchange for Sam's electrician services, fixing the wiring in his house. Sam had temporarily been saved. However, this shakeup in his housing and employment situation was a major life change. Something like this was likely a huge setback and shock for Sam Dietman. He'd already uprooted himself to start over once before, and losing both his jobs and being

kicked to the streets by his own family would have been very stressful. At first, Sam adjusted to his new situation fairly well. He was a big help to Ron, not only working with the house is wiring, but helping to take care of Ron's kids. Had Ron known what Sam was capable of, he may not have been as trusting of him, good with kids or not. By mid-2005, the temporary fix was starting to fall apart. No longer a bartender, Sam became the best patron of the Phoenix pubs, drinking more and more often, especially at the Amber Inn, a local joint that a girl he was seeing at the time had a fondness for. Interestingly enough, even as Sam's life was crumbling around him,

he managed to put on a convincing act in October when his father Scott came to visit for Sam's 30th birthday. Scott, due to his time in and out of prison, and his flair for domestic abuse, had never been close with his son. In fact, he hadn't really seen him in 10 years. Back when Sam and his mother left Minnesota for good, Scott had already started over with the new wife and stepchildren, leaving Sam feeling alienated and forgotten. Somehow during this visit, Sam was able to convince Scott

that everything in Arizona was going great, and Scott would bring this news to the rest of the family in Mancato. Scott Dietman had no idea how his son's life was progressing in Phoenix, but considering how Rocky Sam's situation had become, his trouble should have been hard to hide from his father. And yet Sam easily portrayed himself as something he was not, slipping into a different persona, likely convincing himself he was okay as much as he was convincing his father. Maybe it's because his father wasn't really looking or Sam wasn't really offering.

Sam was jobless, homeless, and spending as much time at bars as he did on Ron's couch. It's very likely that Sam suffered from abandonment issues. He never had a real relationship with his father, and his life seemed to be. revolve around constant trouble that left him alienated from the rest of his family. According to mental health America, a feeling of abandonment or fear of abandonment can be a sign of codependency, and Sam never seemed to be able to make it on his own. Co-dependency is an emotional and behavioral condition that affects an individual's ability to have a healthy, mutually satisfying relationship. Codependency is often formed through one-sided, emotionally destructive relationships

and can be a learned behavior from a family member, particularly when some form of abuse is involved. Sam's childhood, marred by his father's absence and his abusive actions against his mother, likely led Sam to suffer from these feelings, hindering his ability to stand on his own. Before Ron took him in, Sam bounced back and forth between Minnesota and Arizona, craving stability. but never achieving it. The idea that someone else would help him figure things out must have been comforting to Sam. And it explains why he fell into people's lives so well.

Someone so dependent on pleasing another must have been a great match for Dale who craved to share his actions with someone else, ever chasing the spotlight. Just as Dale used Randy as his confidant as a child, he would soon sink his teeth into Sam, feeding off Sam's need to please. The lack of a consistent figure to look up to in his life would have left Sam impressionable

and an easy target for manipulation, which would help to explain why later, in his testimony, Sam would also paint himself as a victim of Dale Hausner, going along with the plans of someone he admired. But before meeting Dale and fully launching his progression from common criminal to serial murderer, Sam would encounter another Hausner, tempting him to the darkness. Dale Soldier Brother, Jeff. Up next, we'll see how Sam turned to crime. Ryan Reynolds here for MintMobil. I don't know if you knew this,

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Up front payment of $45 for three-month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. Seeful terms at mintmobile.com. And now back to the story. Dale's older brother, Jeff Hausner, had sticky fingers and a seedy nature. By mid-2005, 42-year-old Jeff's primary source of income came from shoplifting,

and he was mixed up in petty crimes, stabbing, and drugs. But he also had a history of being kind to those in need. regularly opening his doors to homeless drinking buddies and providing them a roof over their heads. When Sam Dietman met Jeff, he was at the lowest point in his life, staying in Ron Horton's house without a job or a purpose. Directionless, Sam began telling Ron he didn't deserve to live in his house, hinting that maybe he didn't deserve to live at all. Ron began seeing less and less of Sam.

Sometimes instead of coming home, he would sleep in the back of a bartender's car, and sometimes no one would know where he went. Despite Ron and his other bar buddies doing their best to keep an eye on him, Sam seemed determined to slip out of the light, and by November of 2005, he moved out of Ron's house for good. Sam stayed with various friends or even slept on the street until Jeff, taking pity on his pal, offered to allow him to stay at his place. Sam moved in with Jeff in January of 2006.

Jeff and Sam got along well. growing close as they drank their way through the Amber In's liquor supply, and bunked in an apartment in the West Valley. Although Jeff had invited Sam to stay with him, Jeff didn't own a place of his own. Instead, he lived in the apartment of Celeste Vance, a woman who suffered from cerebral palsy and whom Jeff reluctantly dated, mostly out of convenience.

Celeste allowed Jeff full run of the place and seemed to have no issue with a friend staying with them as long as Jeff vouched for him. Sam got along with the couple, as well as with Celeste's teenage son who lived there, and Jeff's teenage daughter who often visited. It seemed to be a nice arrangement for someone who was otherwise homeless. By mid-January 2006, Jeff's wholesome act of kindness quickly derailed into something much more suspicious. Jeff, already a criminal himself, decided to let the jobless Sam in on a gig where he could make a lot of money, shoplifting.

Jeff had a good system in place involving stealing things like expensive liquor and other coveted goods. They would hit Walmarts, fries, Sam's clubs, and especially Costco's, which they believed had the worst security. Jeff was impressed with how good Sam was at shoplifting and began to brag about his skills to his brother. For someone like Sam who had never received much positive reinforcement, it was only natural that he would be drawn to the success the crimes brought him, especially because it paid well. There wasn't a huge risk in it, save the possibility of getting detained by store security, and the payout was better than average,

partially because Jeff had a source to offload the stolen property. Jeff often talked to Sam about his younger brother Dale, who fronted the cash for the small-time shoplifting operation. Jeff looked up to Dale, impressed that he had a job and personal goals. He bragged about Dale's abilities as a shoplifter and about his social connection. and so Sam came to respect him even before the two men would meet. Sam knew that Dale was keeping the money coming in

and taking the risk of selling off the goods. Sam was excited to meet him, and Dale was excited to meet the shoplifter his brother told him was maybe even better than Dale was. Still, the pair would not cross paths for some time. Sam fell into Jeff's routine, enjoying the life he had, living in Celeste's apartment, and often even using Celeste's Olsmol,

to take Jeff to visit his elderly parents. Jeff claimed to have debilitating panic attacks if he tried to drive while sober, and so Sam would drive for him. Sam enjoyed spending time at the retirement apartments with the house and her parents since he was estranged from his own. For a time, Sam was grateful for Jeff's hospitality

and for allowing him to become part of a new world and a new life. Jeff became Sam's best friend, and he didn't know what he'd do without him. Later, Sam would tell reporters he wished he had never even met the man. Dale Hausner and Sam Deatman would terrorize the streets of Phoenix, Arizona, and the surrounding areas for many months in 2006. But before Dale would ever meet Sam, he'd begin his descent into random acts of violence. Dale had exhibited aggressive and unusual behavior as a child,

but now, at age 32, he was about to move on to a more deadly mode of violence. operation. Although he had a job working as a janitor at an airport and freelanced in boxing photojournalism, he and Jeff had started a very successful side business, the shoplifting gig that would eventually include Sam. Dale found himself surrounded by the kind of money he'd never had before, making a modest profit from his stolen bottles of alcohol in DVDs. With a steady cash flow and a lack of education to stop him, Dale began using methamphetamine. Meth is a highly addictive, and dangerous stimulant, which provides the user an effect similar to cocaine. Meth, however, is cheaper and lasts much longer.

It's usually smoked, snorted, or even injected. Meth works by surging the user with a jolt of dopamine, the chemical in the brain that creates euphoria and feelings of pleasure, sometimes keeping them up for hours or even days. Unfortunately, excessive meth use also eats away at the part of the brain that produces dopamine, preventing a user from being able to feel pleasure. According to the men's clinic, Destination Hope, it can also cause such psychological effects

as paranoia, anxiety, insomnia, and most relevant to this case, intense signs of aggression. Dale's meth use would certainly contribute to how he committed his later crimes. Although 56% of meth users felt that the drug did indeed result in violent behavior, it's important to note that not all meth addicts become violent in the way that Dale did.

Results of a 2015 study published in the Journal of Drug Issues suggests that meth-related violence may be part of a complex set of problems. Drunk, high, and plagued by a dark and tragic past, Dale's problems could certainly be considered complex. Even before Dale and Sam Deatman would partner up, Dale would cross a fatal line. In the early days, Dale Hausner would brandish what he'd call his little 22, shooting both people and animals seemingly for fun.

On May 17, 2005, Dale graduated from petty criminal, shoplifting CDs at Walmart, to cold-blooded killer. A little after 10 p.m., Dale began driving aimlessly around Phoenix and his silver Camry. He'd gone on random night drives like this before, much to the distaste of his ex-girlfriend, Linda. But tonight was different. Dale carried with him his 20, two rifle and at some point in the night was likely accompanied by his brother Jeff, who he usually drank or did drugs with before going out driving. Fueled by meth and alcohol, Dale circled around the city with no particular destination. He kept his eyes on people that seemed as if they were walking alone in dark areas or looked to be unsavory to him. At around 11, he spotted someone

suitable for the beginning of his random recreational violence. Tony Mendez, a good-natured local, was on his bicycle on his way to help a family in need. Even as early as May, Phoenix was blistering hot, and Tony had heard about a nearby family who had no electricity running to their house, and no electricity meant no air conditioning. Tony discussed their predicament with his roommate Ricky. Tony had been estranged from his family for over a year and lived with Ricky while figuring things out. The men had grown up together,

and Ricky considered Tony to be like a brother. In 2005, they worked together in a repair shop, installing drywall. It was a good arrangement. After deciding that there wasn't much they could do to help with the air conditioning issue, Ricky and Tony decided that they could at least bring over some candles and bottled water to the family. They attached a small trailer to Tony's bike, and although they had planned to go over together, Tony got a head start with the candles

while Ricky went back for the water. Tony rode his bike for a few blocks with no indication that he was being followed. Or if he had sent someone behind him, he might even have thought it was Ricky coming with the water bottles. But in an instant, most likely before he even knew what had happened, Tony was dead. He was shot once in the chest and left in the street. At least 15 minutes later, a homeowner out. Outside for a cigarette, noticed Tony's body slumped over the bicycle.

Thinking Tony was drunk or had been hit by a car, the neighbor went over to help, but quickly realized that the man was dead and called 911. Ricky had never left his house that night, still trying to decide whether he should go out alone to try to catch up with Tony, when a few friends from the neighborhood appeared in the darkness, visibly shaken at the sight of him. They had heard a body had turned up a few blocks over and were concerned. when they'd seen Ricky's trailer at the scene. Of course, Ricky knew then that Tony was gone.

He rushed to the scene to find police had already arrived. The police also mistook the crime scene for an auto accident until they turned over the body to see the bullet hole in his back that had gone straight through his heart. Police would identify the singular bullet wound as a shot from a 22 rifle. A 22 is not an easily concealable weapon. a full-length rifle. It couldn't be carried in a waistband or drawn quickly from a pocket.

It could, however, be concealed inside a car, firing a single shot before the perpetrator drove off into the night. Which is exactly what Dale Hausner had done. While Dale certainly had a taste for destruction before, Tony's death marked the first time he crossed over to murder. Although Dale's first crimes were not immediately connected to the work of the serial shooter, local police, most importantly, investigating officer Cliff Jewel, would become convinced that

Dale was responsible. And despite leaving very little physical evidence, the sweeping effects of Dale's actions are still felt by the community today. Dale had never met Tony before and knew nothing about his home life or his personality. Interestingly, the two men had slightly similar backstories. Both had relationships that had unexpectedly fallen apart. Dale and Tony also had children that were an important and complicated part of their lives. Had Dale known that Tony was taking the first steps to reconciling with his wife, would he have acted any differently? If he thought of his own two lost children and known that Tony was planning to reconnect with his kids, would he still have gunned him down? Unfortunately,

we'll never know. But what we do know is that once Dale's appetite for murder began, It wouldn't stop until he was captured over a year later. The very next week, Dale would kill again, and he would keep killing, eventually teaming up with the wayward Sam Deepman for a paralyzing string of murders, the likes of which Phoenix had never seen. Thanks again for tuning in to serial killers. Join us next Monday as we continue down the road of the serial shooter's random recreational violence

and the shooting spree that ensued when a deadly, meth-fueled partnership was formed. You can find more episodes of Serial Killers, as well as all of Parcasts, other podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, cast box, tune-in, or your favorite podcast directory. Many of you have asked how to help the show,

and if you enjoy the show, the best way to help is to leave a five-star review. We'll see you next time. Have a killer week. Serial Killers was created by Max Cutler, is a production of Cutler media and is part of the Parcast Network. It is produced by Max and Ron Cutler, sound designed by Russell Nash, with production

assistance by Ron Shapiro and Paul Mahler. Additional production assistance by Carly Madden and Maggie Admeyer. Serial Killers is written by Michael C. Rogers and stars Greg Paulson and Vanessa Richardson. Blood Trails is a true crime podcast born in the outdoors, where the terrain is unforgiving, the evidence is scarce, and the truth gets buried. under brush and silence. I've seen something in the road. I instantly thought it was a sleeping bed.

And there was a full of blood. Somebody somewhere knows something. I'm Jordan Sillers. Season 2 is out now with new episodes every Thursday. Listen on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A beloved 75-year-old man washing up getting ready for bed is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks.

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