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Police have arrested the seventh person in connection with the murders of Paradise Valley couple Glenna and Lawrence Shapiro or Phoenix man Bruce Gaudet.
Maricela Sanchez has been arrested on a warrant for Gaudet’s murder — and related robbery and kidnapping charges — Maricopa County Attorney’s Office spokesman Jerry Cobb confirms to New Times.
Click here for previous details on the case.
Sanchez is the girlfriend of Michael Crane, who’s been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Gaudet and the Shapiros.
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Sanchez was rumored to have been the unnamed suspect indicted by a grand jury last month, although officials couldn’t confirm it was her until the charges were served.
That took a while because Sanchez had been in the Yuma County Jail since late January.
Sanchez was jailed in Yuma shortly after Gaudet was found dead in his condo, as she allegedly led police on a high-speed chase in Gaudet’s car.
A Yuma County Sheriff’s Office spokesman confirmed to New Times last week that Sanchez had an out-of-county, but in-state, warrant for her arrest, although it wasn’t clear what exactly those charges were.
Now we know it’s first-degree murder, kidnapping, burglary, armed robbery, and transportation theft.
Crane’s the only one charged in the death of the Shapiros, while both he and Sanchez are charged in Gaudet’s murder.
The other five people indicted — Kelly Steward, Brittany Beinhauer, Shawn Nicloy, Danielle Rossman, and Katherine Austin — face various charges including theft, trafficking in stolen property, and hindering prosecution in connection with both crime scenes.
Police are currently searching for two more people in connection with the case, but Cobb says the County Attorney’s Office doesn’t have any charges lined against them yet.
