In a quiet, sparsely populated area near Salome Road, a place often used by Phoenix-area residents as a weekend getaway, a grim discovery was made on April 19, 2016. Lester Lindsay, an 83-year-old male from Wenatchee, Washington, was found deceased along with his 76-year-old wife, Ella Lindsay, and 81-year-old Alice Boyd of Bingen, Washington. The three were victims of a triple homicide that unfolded at the desert property.
Investigators arriving at the scene found not only the three victims but also that three homes in the area had been burglarized. With no immediate witnesses or a clear motive, law enforcement had very little information to guide their initial investigation.
The case took a significant turn when authorities connected the homicides to an incident in Glendale, Arizona. A man identified as 24-year-old Kitage Lynch of Phoenix was arrested after allegedly shooting at two Glendale police officers. At the time of his arrest, Lynch was found in possession of a vehicle belonging to one of the victims, Alice Boyd. Furthermore, a handgun discovered at the scene of the Glendale shooting was determined to have been stolen from the residence in Salome where the three victims were found. This crucial evidence provided investigators with a primary suspect in the triple murder.
Following the collection and analysis of biological evidence from the crime scene, the La Paz County Sheriff's Department established enough probable cause to link Kitage Lynch to the murders. In August 2017, a La Paz County Grand Jury indicted Lynch on multiple counts, including three counts of first-degree murder. He was subsequently arraigned in August 2018, where he entered pleas of not guilty to all charges. At the time of his arraignment for the murders, Lynch was already serving a 15-year prison sentence for convictions stemming from the Glendale incident, which included aggravated assault and discharging a firearm. The La Paz County Attorney's Office later announced that they would not be seeking the death penalty in this case.
