In a quiet Phoenix, Arizona neighborhood, the holiday season of 2018 was tragically marred by the discovery of a talented artist's untimely death. On the evening of December 23rd, police were called to a home near Seventh Avenue and Bell Road to conduct a welfare check on 36-year-old Jocelyn Casdorph and her 47-year-old husband, Victor Issa. After receiving no answer, officers forced their way into the residence, where they found both Casdorph and Issa deceased.
Jocelyn, a
White/Caucasian female, was a gifted makeup artist and face painter. Born on January 11, 1982, she had built a career around her artistic talents. Her sister, Courtenay Fields, remembered her as a 'beautiful, wonderful, very talented soul' and expressed devastation at her loss. Friends and community members also recalled her as an incredible artist.
The investigation into the couple's deaths quickly revealed a grim sequence of events. Authorities determined that Victor Issa had shot and killed his wife before turning the gun on himself in a murder-suicide. This conclusion meant there would be no arrests in the case, as the sole suspect was also deceased.
Further examination of Victor Issa's past uncovered a dark history of family violence. Two years prior, Issa's own father had murdered his mother and brother, a traumatic event that social media posts suggest deeply affected him. While the exact motive for the murder-suicide remains unclear, this history of familial violence provides a disturbing backdrop to the tragic end of Jocelyn Casdorph's life. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
