Serial Shooter suspect’s brother tied to killing

Dale Hausner had help from his brother in one of the eight slayings for which he is indicted in the Serial Shooter case, according to the state’s prosecutor.

Death penalty sought for Serial Shooter suspect

The revelation came in a state motion filed April 28 asking the court to combine murder cases filed in 2006 with one filed this year that came to light after Hausner’s co-defendant pleaded guilty and cooperated with authorities.

Hausner, 35, and Samuel Dieteman, 32, are accused of a shooting spree in which eight people were killed and 17 others were wounded.

Authorities allege that the pair drove around Phoenix, Mesa and Scottsdale, shooting people and animals at random with a shotgun.

Police arrested them in August 2006 at their Mesa apartment.

Hausner’s 41-year-old brother, Jeff Hausner, is serving a 7 1/2-year prison term for the April 14, 2006, stabbing of a homeless man.

Prosecutor Vince Imbordino wrote in the motion filed Thursday that Jeff Hausner handed to Dale Hausner the shotgun used to kill Nathaniel Schoffner, a transient who tried to intervene when they were trying to kill a dog in Phoenix on Nov. 11, 2005.

Dale Hausner had not been charged with that crime until after Dieteman pleaded guilty April 4 to two of the killings in exchange for his testimony against Hausner.

Dieteman still faces the death penalty, but Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas agreed to give him credit for his cooperation when a jury weighs whether to condemn him to death.

As part of his cooperation deal, Dieteman will testify that Dale Hausner admitted killing Schoffner with the same shotgun they used on others.

Dale and Jeff Hausner were driving late at night when they decided to shoot a dog with a .22-caliber rifle, Imbordino wrote.

Schoffner confronted them and Dale Hausner tried to shoot him, but the rifle jammed.

“Jeff Hausner then handed the shotgun to Dale,” Imbordino wrote.

“Dale Hausner told Dieteman that he then shot Mr. Schoffner with the shotgun,” his motion said.

Mike Scerbo, spokesman for the county attorney’s office, said he couldn’t comment on whether prosecutors will seek charges against Jeff Hausner.

“It’s an ongoing investigation,” Scerbo said.