New details emerge as suspect in deadly cold case returns to Phoenix | Crime Files

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Jose Juan Vergara Ortiz

PHOENIX - Court documents are providing new details on a cold case involving a deadly stabbing that happened in the Phoenix area over a decade ago.

The suspect in this case was recently found, and he has been taken back to the Valley.

Here are the details.

Who's the suspect?

Court documents identified the suspect as Jose Vergara Ortiz. Meanwhile, a statement released by Tempe Police on Nov. 15 lists the suspect's full name as Jose Juan Vergara Ortiz.

Ortiz, per court documents, was 32 years old at the time he returned to the Valley. At the time the deadly incident happened, Ortiz was 16.

What happened?

(Related Video) Police arrest stabbing suspect from 2008 cold case

2008

In court documents, investigators wrote that the cold case happened during the evening hours on Dec. 27, 2008, at an apartment in the area of McKellips and Scottsdale Roads in Tempe.

The victim, per court documents, was stabbed inside his apartment, and died after he was taken to the hospital. While court documents did not mention the victim's name, Tempe Police identified the victim as 20-year-old David Lopez.

Per Tempe Police, Lopez showed up on the doorstep of a neighbor, asking them to call 911.

"Before his death, he told police and a neighbor that he was stabbed by an unknown Hispanic male who stole $1,000 from him," read a portion of the court documents. "It was learned from victim's family and friends that he did not own a vehicle, but possessed $1,000 due to him being in the market to purchase a vehicle."

Investigators say surveillance video shows the victim entering the bus at Scottsdale Fashion Square with an unknown Hispanic male who was wearing a sweatshirt that matched one that was found at the scene. That sweatshirt, when found by detectives at the scene, was bloody and had the name of a business on it.

"The victim allowed this [Hispanic male] to use his cellphone. The victim and the [Hispanic male] exit the bus at Scottsdale and McKellips, near the victim's apartment," read a part of the court documents.

Police say according to the victim's roommate, she saw the victim with a Hispanic male as she was leaving from work.

"The victim told her to tell the [Hispanic male] that he was able to get ‘pounds’ of drugs, and was not a cop," investigators wrote. "[The victim] also told the roommate he was going to show the [Hispanic male] the car he was going to buy."

The roommate, per investigators, said she had viewed the bus surveillance video, and believed the Hispanic male in the video was the same person she saw the victim with. However, she was not able to make an identification during a lineup.

2014

The suspect, according to court documents, was later identified after investigators made contact with a woman in 2014 who had ties with the suspect's family members. That woman, at the time she was contacted by investigators, was working at the business whose name was on the bloody sweatshirt investigators found in the area where the incident happened.

Per court documents, investigators also found that Scottsdale Police had obtained a court-ordered swab from Ortiz in connection with a prior car theft case.

"Police submitted [Ortiz's] buccal swab and found that it matched the profile of the sweatshirt, as well one of the shoe insoles located at the scene," investigators wrote "Jose Vergara Ortiz also looked like the suspect on the bus video."

Investigators say they later contacted a person who was close to Ortiz, who said Ortiz "had admitted to committing a murder prior to going to Mexico with his family, and was using an alias."

"Police were told that [Ortiz] stated he stole money from the victim after stabbing the victim," read a portion of the court documents. "Police learned he was arrested in Mexico for armed robbery, and was incarcerated in Mexico City."

2021-2024

Per court documents, a grand jury warrant was issued for Ortiz's arrest in March 2021, and Ortiz was returned to Phoenix by the U.S. Marshals on Nov. 15, 2024.

Investigators say during an interview that took place after Ortiz was read his Miranda rights, Ortiz admitted to going to the victim's apartment with the intent to buy drugs that Ortiz said he might smoke or sell.

"[Ortiz] said he paid the victim $50, which the victim took into his apartment. When the victim met [Ortiz] back at his door, [Ortiz] stated that the victim joked with him about stabbing him if he was a cop, while waving a knife in his direction," read a portion of the court documents. "[Ortiz] stated that he then grabbed the knife with his left hand and held on to it, and began fighting the victim. [Ortiz] said that as they fell to the ground, another knife fell out of the victim's pocket, and he stabbed the victim in the stomach, hand, head, and leg."

Ortiz, according to investigators, said he took the $50 he paid the victim, as well as the $1,000 that was on the court before fleeing. He also admitted to throwing the sweatshirt in a dumpster and tossing one of the knives, possibly over a backyard wall.

"Jose stated that if he [had] seen the money, he would have taken it and ran, but did not see it before fighting," read a portion of the court documents.