PHOENIX — An investigator with the Attorney General’s Office said Tuesday he and his investigators now believe they know who killed 54-year-old James Chafin in 1987 in a Glendale cemetery.
Roger Geisler said newer technology enabled officers to identify the DNA of Gary Billups from beer bottles and cigarettes found at the scene. He also said Billups, brought in for questioning earlier this year, committed suicide about a week later and left what Geisler described as a confession.
Geisler acknowledged, however, the DNA collected in 1987 by Glendale Police officers at Resthaven Cemetery also later proved to be a match for brothers Kenneth and Willie Mayfield.
