In the early morning hours of June 24, 2014, 72-year-old Mark Leroy Woodruff, a white male, was found deceased in the driver's seat of his running vehicle, which was parked in his own driveway in Glendale, Arizona. Woodruff, a resident of Glendale who had spent most of his life in Arizona, was returning from an overnight shift volunteering as a custodian at his local church. An investigation by the Glendale Police Department revealed he had sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
Evidence at the scene included a 9MM shell casing, and investigators determined that another shot had been fired through the car door.
The investigation into Woodruff's murder led police to Gustin Ray Woodman Jr. Detectives learned that Woodman had seen Woodruff at a gas station earlier, noticed he had money in his wallet, and made the decision to follow him with the intention of robbing him. Just two days after the discovery of Woodruff's body, police conducted a traffic stop on Woodman. A search of his vehicle produced a 9MM Taurus handgun.
A forensic analysis of the handgun uncovered a spent 9MM shell casing lodged in the chamber. This casing was matched to the one found at the scene of the crime, providing a crucial link between Woodman and the murder of Mark Woodruff. Woodman was subsequently arrested and faced multiple felony charges. In October 2023, a jury found Gustin Ray Woodman Jr. guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit armed robbery with a deadly weapon, and armed robbery with a deadly weapon, along with possession of a weapon by a prohibited person. In February 2024, Woodman was sentenced to death for the murder and received an additional 15.75 years in prison for the other charges.
