Fugitive Couple Wanted for Questioning in Multiple Murders Found Dead in Arizona

A man and a woman wanted in connection with multiple homicides were found dead in a remote patch of the Yucca desert after a four-hour standoff with law enforcement on Friday, authorities said. Hunter McGuire, 26, and his girlfriend Samantha Branek, 32, were discovered lying side by side with gunshot wounds to the head. They had taken shelter under a large tree after their vehicle was spotted by Arizona law enforcement, igniting a high-speed chase that ended in a crash, police said. The couple, accompanied by a third individual later identified as a woman called Brittany Conkling, climbed out of the vehicle and ran into the desert. Police said it appeared as though McGuire—found with a rifle resting on his chest—shot himself, though it was not immediately clear if Branek’s wounds were self-inflicted. Both were wanted for questioning in a double homicide in Kingman, Arizona on June 28, according to the Associated Press, while McGuire was also being sought separately for the murder of a woman in Las Vegas, Nevada on Monday. Conkling, hiding in another part of the desert, was later arrested and charged with hindering prosecution.