ChiccoDodiFC/iStock/Thinkstock(SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) — As authorities in neighboring Arizona cities ramp up their investigations into the killings of a famed forensic psychiatrist and two paralegals, police have identified the victim of another fatal shooting — which may be connected the others.
Marshall Levine was found shot to death just after midnight on Saturday, according to the Scottsdale Police Department.
The 72-year-old man’s body was discovered by an acquaintance inside of his Scottsdale office in a neighborhood known as The Greens at Gainey Ranch — some 17 minutes away from where the paralegals were shot — and located on East Morgan Trail.
The acquaintance called 911, but by the time emergency responders arrived, Levine was pronounced dead, police said.
His ex-wife, Carol Kleinman, told ABC News that Levine was a psychiatrist, but only licensed to practice in New Jersey.
Since moving to Arizona, Kleinman said Levine worked as a life coach and hypnotherapist and dealt with clients who often “are angry.”
It’s unclear if Levine’s homicide is connected to the killings of famed Phoenix-based forensic psychiatrist Steven Pitt and the paralegals, Veleria Sharp, 48, and Laura Anderson, 49, the following evening.
“We’re still trying to determine what involvement if any, it has,” Scottsdale Police Department’s Sgt. Ben Hoster told reporters on Saturday.
Pitt, who earned acclaim as a forensic psychiatrist by consulting with law enforcement on a number of high-profile cases, most notably the mysterious death of JonBenet Ramsey back in 1996, was shot and killed at around 5:30 p.m. on May 31 as he was leaving his Phoenix office.
He locked up his office and was “on his way out” when he engaged in an argument with another person by the elevator, Phoenix Police Department spokesman Sgt. Vince Lewis told ABC News.
Lewis said a witness came forward who claimed to hear the verbal dispute before multiple shots were fired. No weapon was recovered from the scene, he added.
Steven Pitt & Associates is headquartered in Phoenix, but Pitt worked on a number of nationally known cases, including Ramsey’s murder. The murder of the 6-year-old child beauty pageant competitor who was found dead in the basement of her family’s Boulder, Colorado home has never been solved.
Pitt was brought on by Boulder police and the district attorney to consult on the case in February 1997.
Meanwhile, the bodies of Sharp and Anderson bodies were both found by responding police officers about 2:15 p.m. Friday near the law offices where they worked, located on East 1st near North 75th Streets in the Old Town section of Scottsdale.
One of the women was shot in the head and attempted to get help by flagging down a bus parked at a nearby intersection near the law firm, police said. That woman was rushed to a local hospital and pronounced dead, according to a police release.
Responding officers followed a blood trail, which led them to her coworker. Police said in a statement she “was deceased from a gunshot wound.”
On Saturday, investigators in Scottsdale say the killings of Sharp and Anderson were tied to Pitt’s murder.
“We are confident that both crime scenes are related,” Lewis said.
A sketch was released depicting the suspected shooter as a bald man wearing a dark hat with a short brim.
A combined reward worth $21,000 been offered by multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office leading to the capture and conviction of the shooter.
So far, cops confirmed that they have fielded hundreds of tips.
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