On April 6, 1992, Linda Reynolds, a Pizza Hut delivery person in Phoenix, Arizona, was tragically killed after being abducted during a delivery to a vacant house. She was a Caucasian female. The events of that day unfolded as a horrific crime orchestrated by Chad Alan Lee and his 14-year-old accomplice, David Hunt. After luring Reynolds to the empty residence, the pair confronted her with a rifle, forcing her to remove some of her clothing before kidnapping her.
They drove Reynolds out
to a desert area near Camelback Road and 115th Avenue. In a calculated effort to prevent her escape, they systematically destroyed her car by smashing its windows, puncturing the tires, and disabling the engine. Following the destruction of her vehicle, Reynolds was sexually assaulted by both of her captors. The assailants then forced her to withdraw $20 from an ATM at a First Interstate Bank.
After the bank transaction, Reynolds was taken back to the desert. In a final, brutal act of violence, Lee shot her in the head. When the gunshot did not immediately kill her, he proceeded to stab her twice in the chest. Police discovered her body the following day, on April 7, 1992, near her last known delivery location. An investigation led police to Lee and Hunt after distinctive shoeprints were found at the crime scene. The day after the murder, Lee pawned Reynolds' car stereo and wedding rings for $170.
Chad Alan Lee and David Hunt were subsequently apprehended and charged with a series of violent crimes, including the murders of Linda Reynolds and another victim, David Lacey, a taxi driver, just days later. Lee was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, sexual assault, armed robbery, and theft. He was sentenced to death for the murder of Linda Reynolds in 1994. The court found the murder to be especially cruel, heinous, and depraved. Lee later confessed to the details of the crimes, including how he shot and stabbed Reynolds. He also cooperated with police to recover the murder weapons which he had hidden in a forest. David Hunt, a minor at the time of the crimes, was also prosecuted for his involvement.
