In the summer of 2018, the city of Scottsdale, Arizona, was unsettled by a series of targeted killings that claimed the life of 72-year-old Marshall Levine, a respected hypnotherapist and life coach. His body was discovered inside his office building shortly after midnight on Saturday, June 2nd. Levine had been fatally shot, a victim in a string of violence that initially seemed disconnected but would soon reveal a common thread.
The investigation into Levine's death quickly became part
of a larger, more complex case. Authorities were already probing the recent murders of a prominent forensic psychiatrist and two paralegals in the Phoenix and Scottsdale areas. As detectives delved deeper, they began to suspect that Levine's murder was not a random act of violence but was instead connected to the other killings. This realization spread a sense of fear throughout the local legal and counseling communities, prompting some to hire private security for protection.
The breakthrough in the case came when investigators identified 56-year-old Dwight Lamon Jones as the primary suspect. The motive behind the deadly spree was traced back to a bitter divorce and child custody battle that Jones had been through years prior. Each of his victims had a professional connection, however distant, to his divorce proceedings. It was discovered that Levine was subletting his office from a therapist who had provided counseling to Jones' son, making him an unintended target in Jones' vengeful path.
The manhunt for Dwight Lamon Jones concluded on June 4th at an Extended Stay hotel in Scottsdale. As a tactical team prepared to enter his room, Jones took his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His death brought an end to the terrifying series of events, but left a community to mourn the senseless loss of six innocent lives, including that of Marshall Levine.
