Suspected Arizona serial killer posted disturbing videos
Investigators believe Dwight Lamon Jones was behind the murders of six people; Jonathan Hunt reports from Los Angeles.
The former wife of an Arizona man suspected of killing six people said he was her “own personal terrorist.”
Connie, the ex-wife of Dwight Lamon Jones, 56, told “Dateline” in an interview slated to air on Friday that her ex-husband threatened to come after her following their bitter divorce, the Daily Mail reported.
She said she lived in fear and took drastic measures to protect herself. Police said Jones targeted and killed people linked to the breakup.
“[Jones] told me that he would wait until my defenses were down and then he would get me,” Connie told the newsmagazine. “I had my own terrorist, my own personal terrorist.”
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Jones was linked to the deaths of six people in the Phoenix area, including prominent forensic psychiatrist Dr. Steven Pitt, who had evaluated Jones and testified against him in 2010. Pitt was also credited with advising authorities and prosecutors in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case and Columbine school shooting.
Paralegals, Veleria Sharp and Laura Anderson, Marshall Levin, a hypnotherapist and life coach, and couple Mary Simmons and Bryon Thomas were all alleged victims of Jones. Police said Simmons and Thomas occasionally met up with Jones to play tennis at local parks.
Connie told “Dateline” she hired Rick Anglin, a retired Phoenix Police Department detective, to help protect her and her son from her ex-husband. Anglin taught Connie how to use a gun in case she was embroiled in a dangerous situation with the alleged serial killer.
Dwight Lamon Jones was linked to the deaths of six people in the Phoenix area. (Scottsdale Police Department)
“I prepared her for it mentally, physically, and emotionally. She trained for it,” Anglin told “Dateline.” Anglin and Connie are now married.
Anglin said he employed a team to look out for Connie and her son. He said his wife and her son rented cars and switched up where they shopped.
“I had people full time on the school where the son goes. If Connie went to the grocery store, if she had a public event, if she went to work, there was somebody with her,” he said.
Anglin explained how it was tough for Connie to go anywhere without inspecting the area first.
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“You don't get to just say: 'Let's go to the movies.' You've got to scan the parking lot. You've got to be aware of any social media that's being posted,” he said.
Connie Jones called her ex-husband her "own personal terrorist." (AP)
Anglin tipped off police of Jones’ connection with the victims. He said he recognized the offices of those who were killed, including two paralegals who worked for the same firm as Connie's divorce attorney and a forensic psychiatrist who testified in the divorce case, and alerted police.
Connie and Jones were married for more than 20 years. The two met while he was in the Army but she said he had trouble keeping a job over the years. Connie said her ex-husband was likable at first but his behavior became more erratic and his appearance disheveled. She said he used the courts to further torture her after she filed for divorce in 2009 and his arrest on a domestic violence charge at their home in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Authorities said Jones remained bitter about his divorce years after they split and began confronting people linked to the breakup and shooting them. The shooting deaths happened over four days. YouTube videos posted about a week before the deadly shootings appeared to show Jones detailing his belief that his ex-wife had set him up to in order for her to win their divorce case. He believed she convinced psychiatrists, lawyers and judges to side with her and obtain custody of their son.
Jones took his own life as police closed in on him at a Scottsdale extended-stay hotel where he lived for several years.
Connie Jones said she got the call about his death while she and Anglin were on vacation, first on a cruise and then at their cabin in northern Arizona. She said a sense of relief swept over her.
"For me, it would be the last time I would have to deal with him," she said.
Fox News’ Katherine Lam and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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