PHOENIX — Investigators with the Arizona Attorney General's Office say they believe they know who killed 54-year-old James Chafin in 1987 in a Glendale cemetery.
Investigator Roger Geisler said Tuesday that newer technology enabled officers to identify the DNA of suspect Gary Billups from beer bottles and cigarettes found at the scene. He also said that Billups, brought in for questioning earlier this year, died by suicide about a week later and left what Geisler described as a confession.
Geisler acknowledged, however, that the DNA collected in 1987 by Glendale police officers at Resthaven Cemetery also later proved to be a match for brothers Kenneth and Willie Mayfield.
Both had been interviewed shortly after the killing but denied being on the scene where Chafin's body was found. Geisler said they could not be questioned after the recent DNA match, however, because both died years ago.
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Aside from the DNA of Billups and the Mayfield brothers found at the scene, investigators said there was evidence that Chafin was assaulted by more than one person after the four had what Geisler described as a "social gathering'' at the cemetery after drinking earlier that night at the now-closed Critters Lounge.
"His throat was cut three times," Geisler said. "He had multiple bruises. I mean, it was very obvious he had been in a fight with different people.''
Roger Geisler, an investigator with the Attorney General's Office, with Attorney General Kris Mayes, at an announcement Tuesday about a reopened 1987 Glendale murder case.
Attorney General Kris Mayes, who never used the word "solved,'' described the purpose of Tuesday's announcement as "trying to provide answers to the family about what happened to their loved one.''
But Mayes said that, as far as she is concerned — and with the fact that the Mayfield brothers are no longer available to question — the case is closed.
"When you have a case that is four decades old, there will still be mysteries surrounding it,'' she said. "All questions will not be answered. But we believe we have enough to lay this blame at Billups' feet and to tell the public about who else was present on site at the time.''
Geisler said witnesses told Glendale police at the time that all three men had been previously identified as being seen with Chafin earlier that evening at the bar. There were also claims there had been an argument.
After the body was found, Glendale police interviewed the brothers, Geisler said.
But he said both denied being there. Absent more, that was the last time they were questioned.
Billups could not be found at the time.
A tip last year to the Attorney General's Office led to it and Glendale police reexamining the original file, re-interviewing surviving witnesses, and identifying Billups, who had lived in Glendale at the time.
Only in March did they locate him in the area.
After initially refusing to be interviewed, he agreed to speak with investigators. At that time, according to investigators, he denied knowing Chafin and denied living in Glendale in 1987 despite arrest records placing him in the city in 1986 and 1987.
He was released after providing a DNA sample.
About a week later, he died by suicide.
Assistant Attorney General Nick Klingerman said that, reviewing the evidence, he believes there was a "reasonable likelihood'' prosecutors could have obtained a conviction of Billups. But he said there was no conclusion that the same result was possible with the Mayfield brothers, even with the DNA at the scene.
The difference, Klingerman said, is based on what happened after Billups met with police.
"I think it's pretty unusual when you go take a buccal (cheek) swab for DNA, test somebody (who) then commits suicide and leaves a note explicitly saying 'I don't have anything that can save my ass,' '' Klingerman said. "That statement kind of puts it over the top for us, combined with the rest of the evidence.''
Geisler said the findings were presented to Chafin's niece and nephew, his surviving relatives, who now live on the East Coast.
"They were just ecstatic over the fact that somebody even cared to look at the case again,'' he said.
"They thought it was done, gone forever,'' Geisler said. "And that's what really makes it for investigators, is to be able to give families those answers that they need.''
He said all this comes down to changes in technology and police practices.
"They did not take swabs back in 1987,'' Geisler said. "We didn't obtain those type of samples from people.''
