Weeks before he allegedly killed half a dozen people around Scottsdale, Arizona, Dwight Lamon Jones uploaded more than 10 hours of video on YouTube, revealing his rage at his ex-wife—and burning desire for revenge.
Police on Monday found the 56-year-old dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at an Extended Stay hotel. His death marked the end of a killing spree that put a community on edge—and left six people dead, four of whom had ties to Jones’ divorce proceedings.
Authorities have identified all six victims, which include Mary Simmons, 70, and Byron Thomas, 72, who were found dead in a home over the weekend, according to Arizona’s Family. Jones allegedly killed his first victim on Thursday, a prominent forensic psychologist, 59-year-old Steven Pitt. Paralegals Veleria Sharp, 48, and Laura Anderson, 49, were found dead the next day, while the body of psychologist Marshal Levine, 72, was discovered early Saturday.
In Jones’ videos, which were removed by YouTube on Monday, he tells a rambling, grudge-filled narrative, claiming that ex-wife Connie Phillips Jones, 52, abused their son and made him appear mentally unstable in family court. According to court documents, a judge in his divorce proceedings, which began in 2009, claimed Jones’ allegations against his former wife, a radiologist, were “egregious and unsubstantiated,” The Arizona Republic reported on Tuesday.
The videos were uploaded between May 19 and May 26 under the username “exposing lowlifes.” In them, the camera focuses in on a white mask, as Jones narrates his many grievances over their divorce proceedings, beginning with a domestic abuse incident that ended with a SWAT team surrounding their home.
“I told her if you don’t stop badgering me, I’m going to drown you in the pool,” Jones said in the video, adding that he never “threatened to kill her with a gun.” According to The Arizona Republic, Jones, who was arrested on domestic-abuse charges in 2009, was involuntarily committed at Connie Jones’ request after the incident, but psychiatrists found him to be mentally sound.
Jones also railed against his ex-wife for hiring Richard Anglin, a private investigator who is now Connie Jones’ husband, to track his movements and follow him to strip clubs. Anglin, a retired police officer, was involved in the divorce case, court records show—and he was the person who tipped off local police that the Arizona slayings could be related to Jones and his divorce. Jones referred to Anglin as “trailer-trash” in one of the clips.
In the hours-long videos, Jones alleges that psychiatrists changed his statements throughout the divorce proceedings and conspired against him, ultimately allowing Connie Jones to win full custody of their son.
“She knows how people are in America—black man, gun, hysteria, that’s basically how she got away with it but that was only the first part,” he insisted in one of the recordings.
In April 2010, Pitt, who’s worked on high-profile cases like the murder of child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey, said in family court that “without psychiatric intervention and treatment, Mr. Jones’ mental state is going to continue to unravel,” The Arizona Republic reported.
“Dr. Steven Pitt, I call him Steven shit cause he’s full of shit. He knew Connie lied because he did a two-hour interview with her,” Jones says in one of his videos.
Some of Jones’ victims were not directly related to the divorce battle: Sharp and Anderson were paralegals at the law firm of Elizabeth Feldman, who served as Connie Jones’ attorney during the divorce, police said. “Her attorney told her to plant those tapes and do all that devious stuff she did,” Jones said of his ex-wife in one of the YouTube recordings, according to CBS News.
Psychologist and life coach Levine shared an office with Karen Kolbe, a counselor who evaluated Jones’ son. In another video clip, Jones insisted Kolbe had tried to convince his son to fear him.
Jones’ connection to Simmons and Thomas has yet to be revealed.
“Personally, I have feared for my safety for the past nine years,” Connie Jones said in a statement Monday evening. “I cannot express the emotions I feel for the innocent families touched by this senseless violence.”