Couple arrested in Arizona desert stabbing of registered sex offender, police say killing was pre-planned

A couple in Bullhead City, Arizona, has been arrested over the stabbing death of a registered sex offender in a desert area of the state. Police say the killing was planned in advance.

The two arrested are Jacob Middlebrook, 35, and his girlfriend, Layne McIntosh, 36. The man who died was Arron Christopher Warren, 29. Bullhead City Police gave the details in a statement posted on social media.

Police said a motorist found a dead man on the side of the road in the 3100 block of Silver Creek Road on Saturday. The circumstances looked suspicious, so detectives were called in and a homicide investigation began.

Detectives identified the dead man as Warren. Police described him as a Bullhead City transient. Investigators also found that Warren's vehicle was missing.

Hours later, Las Vegas Metro Police helped Bullhead City investigators locate Warren's vehicle parked at a casino in Laughlin, Nevada. Middlebrook and McIntosh were taken into custody there.

The pair were booked into the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, where they will be held until they can be extradited to Mohave County, Arizona. They were first held on second-degree homicide charges, which were upgraded to first-degree homicide on Monday.

Police say the two were also local transients who had known Warren for the past few months. Detectives discovered that the couple had expressed distaste for registered sex offenders and had planned the homicide in advance, police said.

Investigators say the couple had also pre-determined the desert location where they intended to leave Warren's body, and had even measured furniture and beds that could be large enough to cover the body along the side of the road. Warren was a registered Level 2 sex offender, police added.

After the case, Bullhead City Police Chief Paul George said the department shares information when a Level 2 or Level 3 sex offender moves into the area or changes address. Required notifications are mailed to residents living within an approximate 1,000-foot radius of an offender's registered address, and the department also shares them on social media to reach a broader audience.

George said the goal is to provide information, not create fear or alarm, and that he will not tolerate anyone using the information as a reason to threaten, intimidate, harass or harm another person. He said the department's Bureau of Criminal Investigations conducts monthly address verification checks to ensure registered sex offenders are complying with registration requirements.