Suspect in Phoenix serial killings denies involvement

One of two men arrested in a string of random late-night serial shootings that terrorised residents in the western US city of Phoenix has denied any wrongdoing, according to a newspaper interview.

The attacks, which began in May 2005, left six dead and were all the more frightening because another, apparently unrelated, serial killer had been preying on Phoenix-area victims at the same time.

“I am not a monster,” Dale Hausner was quoted as saying in an interview from prison yesterday with the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Hausner, 33, said he is not a killer, according to the report, but said the other man arrested in connection with the shootings – Samuel Dieteman – might have taken Hausner’s car and guns to commit the crimes.

“I feel very sorry for the families of the people who were hurt, but I didn’t do it,” Hausner was quoted as saying.

Hausner said his brother introduced him to Dieteman, 30, six months ago. About a month ago, he said he let Dieteman move into his apartment because he felt sorry for a guy with no job or home.

Dieteman declined to be interviewed by the press.

Hausner said he believes Dieteman implicated him in the killings to deflect blame, according to the newspaper, though he said he is not sure Dieteman is capable of such violence. During the manhunt for the “Serial Shooter”, Hausner said he did not suspect Dieteman was involved.

Hausner said Dieteman did not have weapons of his own, as far as he knows. Now, Hausner said, he wonders and worries about whether Dieteman used Hausner’s firearms and car during the killing spree.

Dieteman, 30, and Hausner, 33, face two counts each of first-degree murder and 14 counts each of attempted first-degree murder. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 14. Police have said other charges are possible.

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

Police who interviewed Dieteman said the two took turns shooting people in the city over the course of more than a year.