Posted: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 6:00 am | Updated: 5:37 pm, Mon Aug 16, 2010.
Mike Leiby - The Independent
WHITE MOUNTAIN LAKE — A married couple was found dead late Thursday afternoon in their home in White Mountain Lake from an apparent murder/suicide.
Navajo County Chief Deputy Randy Weems said a 9-1-1 call came in at about 3:50 Thursday afternoon from a man who said police needed to get out to 8649 Roundup Drive in Bourden Ranch Estates as soon as possible and then hung up.
Two deputies were sent to the address in the White Mountain Lake area, arriving about 10 minutes later and knocked on the door. Getting no answer the deputies checked the door and finding it unlocked entered to see if there was a problem or if someone needed help. After entering the residence Weems said the deputies found the bodies of 53-year-old David Deay and his wife, 58-year-old Judy on the floor.
Weems said the two deputies made a search to see if there were any other victims or anyone still in the residence and secured the scene. Taking into consideration the position of the weapon used plus the presence of a note, Weems said that led investigators in the direction of murder/suicide as a likely scenario.
Members of the Navajo County Homicide Task Force, Show Low Crime Scene Unit and Snowflake Police handled the scene as a murder which they say is standard procedure.
Once the scene was secured, a warrant was requested to complete the search/investigation and Navajo County deputies were posted at the entrance to the home. Weems said a warrant in such cases is not a requirement, but is departmental procedure to assure they are covered should another scenario in the deaths of the Deay’s arise.
The warrant came through about 8 p.m. and investigators reentered the residence to complete their work.
Weems said the bodies were removed at about 11 p.m. Thursday night, about an hour before the crime-scene search wrapped up and everyone left.
Navajo Count Sheriff KC Clark said Judy had apparently been dead for about two hours before David.
Neighboring 45-year-old Glen Hoskins said he arrived home just after the incident and seeing law enforcement next door asked what was going on and was told about the apparent murder/suicide.
Hoskins said he has lived next to the couple for a few years but they had been there for about six or seven. He said he was not close to the Deay’s, but they seemed like an average couple to him. He said Judy was a traveling nurse who was gone a lot and David was a transmission mechanic who used to work at A-1 Transmission in Show Low. He said the couple had been hit hard by the recession noting that he was of the impression they had been considering some offers to sell their home, but he never got the impression that their situation was severe.
A search of Arizona court records by The Independent indicates David was charged with assault in Show Low Justice Court in 1997, but that charge was dismissed a year later. He was also charged with disorderly conduct in the Payson Justice Court in 1995 to which he pled guilty.
The couple have a 25-year old son together, David Thomas Deay, who lives in Colorado and individually have four grown children from previous marriages.
Reach the reporter at mleiby@wmicentral.com
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