Working off tips from associates of the men–combined with surveillance videos from Wal-Mart, where the two allegedly set fires–police narrowed in on the suspects early last week. For four days, law enforcement kept Dieteman, 30, and Hausner, 33, under round-the-clock surveillance at the Mesa, Ariz., apartment complex where they are roommates while other investigative teams gathered further evidence. By late Thursday, investigators had enough on the men to move in, but there was a hitch: Hausner’s 2-year-old daughter was visiting her dad, who shares custody with his soon-to-be ex-wife. Police decided to wait until Dieteman had stepped out of the apartment before descending on him. They then apprehended Hauser peacefully, and the daughter was returned to her mother. “We were everywhere. They had no choice,” said Assistant Phoenix Police Chief Kevin Robinson, who led the yearlong investigation. The two were given court-appointed lawyers late Friday night and are to be arraigned Aug. 14.
The two men are believed to have shot and killed a 22-year-old Mesa woman a week ago and, according to Robinson, they seemed to be scoping out their next victim. Neither man was a stranger to law enforcement. Hausner, a janitor, freelance photographer and boxing aficionado, was accused of domestic violence and ordered to attend a parenting class. Far less is known about Dieteman, who moved to Arizona from Minnesota and in the past was convicted for drunk driving and cited for failure to pay child support. Despite the latest arrests, Phoenix residents won’t be breathing easy. An unrelated serial murderer, the “baseline killer,” believed to be responsible for eight deaths and several rapes in the last year, is still at large.
