Mesa Police Department Crime Blog: Mesa PD’s Homicide Unit Ends 2022 With 88.46% Clearance Rate

Mesa Police Department’s Homicide Unit. We throw the name around in media releases and blogs for all to read, but what does the generic title even mean? Who are the people in the unit and what exactly do they do?

Our Homicide Unit is comprised of one Lieutenant, two Sergeants, nine field detectives, one cold case detective, one civilian investigator, seven cold case volunteers, one intern, and one crime analyst… phew! Seems like a lot. But let’s break it down even further. What happens when someone is murdered in Mesa? Who responds?

Initially patrol officers will be dispatched. Once on scene, if they determine the death is suspicious or if they know for sure it is a murder, the Homicide Unit gets called out. No, not the whole unit, but a select few. The Homicide Unit has an “on-call” team on standby and ready to go at any time, any day of the week. The on-call team is made up of one sergeant and three detectives and they rotate teams every week. Just imagine what it’s like for that team when in one week there are multiple call outs. Yes, it does happen. And to top it off, the on-call team also responds to Mesa Police Officer involved shootings, whether the person has died or not. Oh- side note… they also review every dead body call in Mesa that is not a vehicular homicide. That’s 915 dead body calls in the last year! The only dead body cases our Homicide Unit does not investigate are vehicular homicides (i.e., DUI or hit and run related collisions resulting in death), which is taken on by our Vehicular Crimes Unit- that’s a whole other story.

Our Homicide Unit responded to and took lead on 26 cases with 31 victims in 2022. They solved all but three cases, and usually within a month of the murder. This gave a clearance rate of 88.46%, an impressive number, especially when talking about the most heinous of crimes. But then I learned, comparative to 2021 and many years before, this was no rarity. This was the elite work of the Mesa Police Department.

When I sat down with the unit, in awe of the work they accomplished, Detective Delia Marquez quickly informed me, “It’s never a one man show.” With Detective J. Ingram adding that the mass number of murders are solved because of, “businesses and private citizens coming forward with information.” I watched as several other detectives nodded their heads in agreement.

In addition to the community working with the police, internally, multiple units in the police department also become involved in homicide cases. This includes Crime Scene Specialists- to photograph the scene as well as collect and process evidence, the Real Time Crime Center- to gather intelligence, and the Special Operations Division- to plan the apprehension of an outstanding suspect. “The Crime Lab and Firearms Examiners also play a huge role in solving homicide cases.” Added Detective Paul Sipe.

Every detective I spoke to was quick to get any praise off of them, immediately. The genuine spirit of a homicide detective was humbling. Detective Amy Johnson is the most senior detective on the unit, being a police officer for 23 years, with 10 of those years in the Homicide Unit. I asked why she has stayed in this unit for so long. She said it is the fulfillment of “seeing a case through from beginning to end.”

The newest member of the Homicide Unit has been on the team for eight months, Detective J. Ingram. With 23 years in law enforcement, he shared his eye-opening experience about becoming a Homicide Detective and sliding into a role that put him as the tie between a lost loved one and their family members. He said, “The most difficult part (of being a homicide detective) is the death notification.”

In 2022, 31 people in Mesa died at the hands of someone else: 23 by gunfire, four by stabbing, one by hammer, one by fire, one by vehicle (purposely ran victim over with car- twice), and one by strangulation. 20 cases have been solved resulting in charges filed, one case was solved as self-defense (no charges), and two additional cases were solved due to the suspects killing themselves in a murder/ suicide prior to law enforcement involvement. That leaves three unsolved cases.

The shooting deaths of 23yo Willie Love and 25yo Curtis West at 1457 W. Southern on June 4, 2022.
The stabbing death of 25yo Gabriel Hilsdorf at 825 S. Alma School on September 20, 2022.
The shooting death of 22yo Maximillian Utley at 1302 S. Revere on November 25, 2022.

What happens to unsolved homicide cases? Walking through the office, I saw stacks of paperwork and many detectives fully invested in their computer screens. Detective Teresa Van Galder had a mountain of papers in a cardboard box just inside her cubicle. She is the only sworn Cold Case Detective in the Homicide Unit. To be classified as a cold case in Arizona, the case must be “unsolved for one year or more after being reported to a law enforcement agency, and that has no viable and unexplored investigatory leads” as defined by ARS 13-4271.

Detective Van Galder has a case load of approximately 100 cold cases, which prompted the need for civilian volunteers. The volunteers dedicate their own time to reviewing cold cases and seeing if they can find anything that may have been missed or could ultimately help solve a stagnant case. Alongside her is Civilian Investigator Roland Brown, a retired police officer from Detroit, Michigan. Roland spent 23 of his 26 years in law enforcement in Investigations. So, why come back after retirement? He says, “Working cold case homicide allows me to continue my commitment to bringing closure to family members who still believe in the justice system.”

Curious about what other units do on the Mesa Police Department? Leave us a comment, telling us what you want to read about.

If anyone has information about any unsolved homicide, please call the Mesa Police Department’s non-emergency line at 480-644-2211 or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS.

Mesa Police Department is always hiring, check out our website at JOIN MESA.