Landlord missing for months was killed by tenant after rent dispute, Arizona cops say
.jpg "A landlord who was missing for months was killed by a tenant after a rent dispute, Arizona authorities said.")
A landlord who was missing for months was killed by a tenant after a rent dispute, Arizona authorities said.
Joshua Blake, 42, of Golden Valley, was “last seen or heard from” on Aug. 3, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said in an Oct. 28 Facebook post. Days before, he had an argument about the “nonpayment of rent” with tenant Michael Turner Jr, 31, and threatened a possible eviction.
After Blake’s disappearance, Turner Jr. tried “to notarize a bill of sale” to take ownership of his landlord’s home, the sheriff’s office said.
During a traffic stop on Sept. 1, Turner Jr. was driving a car that belonged to Blake, the sheriff’s office said. Turner Jr., who is not allowed to have firearms, was arrested and booked into the Mohave County Adult Detention Facility after being “found to be in possession of a firearm and illegal narcotics.”
Through their investigation, deputies determined Turner Jr. and another man, Hunter McGuire, 26, shot and killed Blake, the sheriff’s office said.
“Blake’s body was then buried on an abandoned property located a short distance from where McGuire was living,” the post said.
On Oct. 26, the sheriff’s office said they found a “possible burial site.”
“Detectives dug around the burial site and located human remains that had been buried approximately three feet down,” the sheriff’s office said.
The remains were identified as Blake’s the next day, according to the sheriff’s office.
Turner Jr., who was still in custody, was charged with murder, the sheriff’s office s.aid
The other suspect, McGuire, died by suicide on Oct. 21 following a police chase “after being identified as committing multiple homicides in Kingman and Las Vegas,” the sheriff’s office said.
Golden Valley, Arizona, is near the Nevada border and about 100 miles southeast of Las Vegas.
This story was originally published October 31, 2022 at 1:09 PM with the headline "Landlord missing for months was killed by tenant after rent dispute, Arizona cops say."
