Sun City murder suspect arrested after estranged wife named him prior to death | Crime Files
SUN CITY, Ariz. - The suspect in a murder investigation in the Northwest Valley was arrested, according to investigators, after a victim named him prior to her death.
The incident happened in Sun City on June 25, and the suspect was arrested on the same day.
Here are the details on the case.
Who's the suspect?
Robert Alan McGrath
Court documents identify the suspect as 60-year-old Robert Alan McGrath.
What allegedly happened?
Per court documents, MCSO received an emergency call for service at a home near the intersection of 111th Avenue and Grand at 3:07 a.m. on Tuesday, June 25.
"The complainants stated at approximately 0300 hours, they heard a loud banging noise coming from the apartment above them and thought it may have been from a person falling on the ground," read a portion of the court documents. "The complainants grabbed their cell phone and began walking up the stairs to the second story apartment to do a welfare check when they noticed the front door of the upstairs apartment was open. Around that same time, a white male subject wearing all dark clothing and gloves appeared from the apartment with the open door, and was holding a black handgun."
That person, investigators say, pointed a handgun at the complainants, and told them to lay on the ground.
"The armed subject then took a cell phone from one of the complainants and told them if they moved, he would shoot them. This cell phone was later located on the side of the road, less than one mile away from the scene," investigators wrote.
The complainants, police say, eventually ran back to their apartment and called 911.
"While retreating back to their downstairs apartment, the armed male subject again yelled and threatened to kill them," investigators wrote.
When deputies arrived at the scene, investigators say they discovered that the front door of the apartment unit appeared to have been forced open. Two women were found inside the apartment, one of whom, identified as 77-year-old Thea Merlino, was found dead. Merlino was the suspect's mother-in-law.
As for the other woman, investigators say she could be heard yelling for help inside. That woman, identified as 53-year-old Marcia McGrath, suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and was later declared dead at a hospital.
"Prior to this female dying, [Marcia] made statements to MCSO deputies while they were providing medical attention to her on scene that her ex-husband ‘Robert McGrath’ was the suspect who shot her," read a portion of the court documents. "She continued to state, 'I'm divorced' and ‘he lives in El Mirage.’"
Investigators say the victim was also able to provide McGrath's address, as well as the car he was driving at the time.
Per court documents, Marcia filed for divorce from McGrath on June 17. Marcia had also called the police on McGrath a few weeks prior, in a separate incident that also involved a threat to kill.
Detectives say when they arrested McGrath, they also found live ammunition of the same caliber as the spent ammo casing found at the shooting scene.
"Robert McGrath was interviewed by a homicide detective. Robert McGrath requested an attorney without knowing the topic of the interview. McGrath also made a statement about being prescribed sleep medication and at the time of the interview, being under the effects of the prescribed sleep medication," detectives wrote.
Neighbors said they were warned about suspect
People living in the area say the suspect was not well-liked in the neighborhood.
"All I can say is when we first moved here, we were warned about the gentleman on the corner for many reasons," said Richard Terlez. "It's unfortunately, what happened. It really is. It just breaks your heart that there are lost lives for no reason."
"There's been so many instances with the guy, that to find out that he was capable of something like this, it could have happened at any point," said Jeff Everett. "At one point, there were loose dogs in the neighborhood, and instead of handling it like a normal person would, he just opened the door and started shooting a gun."
Neighbors, however, said Marcia was always friendly.
What is the suspect accused of?
Court documents state the suspect is accused of a count of 1st degree burglary (A.R.S. 13-1508A), two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (A.R.S. 13-1204A2), two counts of kidnapping (A.R.S. 13-1304A4), a count of armed robbery with a deadly weapon (A.R.S. 13-1904A1), and two counts of premeditated 1st degree murder (A.R.S 13-1105A1).
A judge has set a cash-only bond of $2 million for McGrath. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 5.