In the early hours of October 19, 2022, Martin Eric Nelson Jr., a 35-year-old white male from Kingman, Arizona, was found deceased from a gunshot wound inside a vehicle in Golden Valley. Nelson and another man, 42-year-old Timothy Burt, had traveled to a property in Golden Valley with the intention of recovering a trailer they believed had been stolen.
Their attempt to retrieve the property led to a fatal confrontation.
At the Golden Valley residence, they were met by Hunter Allen McGuire, a 26-year-old man also from Kingman. An altercation ensued, and McGuire allegedly opened fire, fatally wounding Nelson. Burt, who was present at the scene, initially fled and hid in the desert for approximately 12 hours before approaching investigators. His account of the events reportedly changed multiple times, leading to his arrest on suspicion of hindering prosecution.
The investigation into Nelson's death quickly connected McGuire to a broader string of violent crimes. Authorities discovered that the Golden Valley property was occupied by McGuire and his girlfriend, 32-year-old Samantha Branek. A search of the residence uncovered evidence linking McGuire to a double homicide that had occurred in June 2022 in Kingman, the victims of which were identified as Retta Atkins and Darren VanHouten. It was also determined that McGuire was a suspect in a separate murder in Las Vegas and had been hiding out in Arizona.
Following the shooting of Nelson, McGuire and Branek became the subjects of a multi-state manhunt. They were observed on video surveillance pawning evidence related to the Las Vegas murder. A third individual, 23-year-old Brittany Conkling, was seen with Branek at a truck stop in Yucca, Arizona, purchasing supplies. The search for the trio culminated in a high-speed chase near Interstate 40. After abandoning their vehicle, Conkling surrendered to law enforcement and was arrested for hindering prosecution. McGuire and Branek were later found deceased in the desert from gunshot wounds, lying next to each other with a rifle on McGuire's chest. Authorities believe McGuire died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, while the circumstances of Branek's death remained undetermined pending an official ruling from the medical examiner.
