Driving around the quiet, tony neighborhoods of this city, you would hardly guess that this has been quite a year from crime in Scottsdale.
Residents were shocked by two double murders – apparently random, “stranger vs. stranger” crimes that took four young lives.
Many praised the work of detectives on those two and other violent crimes – as well as a huge “crime tourists” bust.
Meanwhile, in two separate fraud cases, three people who used scammed funds to enjoy a ritzy lifestyle are behind bars.
A big change in leadership was also part of Scottsdale’s “Law & Order” 2025.
The 10 biggest Scottsdale crime stories of the year:
1. Double murder I
Pandora Kjolsrud, 18, and Evan Clark, 17, were slain May 26 in a rugged area near Mount Ord – roughly halfway between Mesa and Payson.
The two attended Scottsdale Unified School District’s Arcadia High, which is in east Phoenix just outside Scottsdale.
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department detectives arrested Thomas Brown, 31, at his Chandler home Oct. 2.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office held a press conference Oct. 3, but declined to provide details of the investigation – or a motive.
But, according to the MCSO, Brown and the victims did not know each other – though Brown allegedly acknowledged to detectives he met them as he was camping nearby.
Simone Schultz, the slain girl’s mother, spoke at the press conference, describing her daughter as a “beautiful, brilliant light in this world.
2. Double murder II
Barely a month after the camping teens were murdered, another double murder shocked Scottsdale.
The night of June 30, a quiet neighborhood near Frank Lloyd Wright and Shea boulevards erupted in gunshots and – soon after – sirens: Police found 21-year-old Nadia Mysliwiec and her fiancé Ramon Moraga, 20, shot dead.
Nadia’s mother, Brandy Perry, praised the Scottsdale Police Department’s homicide unit when three suspects were arrested July 29.
Video footage, an anonymous call, investigations of the apps used to set up the fatal vape sale, phone and a social media trail led to the arrest of Lebron Rogers, 18, Davion Hunter, 16, and Deon Thompson, a juvenile whose age has not been released.
The three face first- and second-degree murder as well as attempted armed robbery charges.
3. ‘Glam-flam’ couple sentenced
In the summer of 2024, months after their glamorous wedding, Scottsdale glammy newlyweds Alexandra Gehrke and Jeffrey King got ready to board a plane to Europe.
Instead, they left Sky Harbor International Airport in handcuffs.
Federal prosecutors said the two bilked insurance companies for nearly a billion dollars, targeting elderly patients – often literally on their death beds – for unnecessary, overpriced bandages.
Government agents seized millions of dollars as well as the Scottsdale mansion where they lived and nearly a dozen expensive cars.
After entering guilty pleas in the hope of lighter prison stays, the two were sentenced in October.
Gehrke will spend 15-and-a-half years behind bars; King was sentenced to serve 14 years in prison.
4. ‘Crime Tourists’ nailed
Just before an unusually crime-filled Memorial Day weekend, Scottsdale Police squashed a potential sequel to last year’s “dinner-time bandits.”
After a tip from California law enforcement, the Scottsdale Police Department tracked two cars loaded with suspects to a short-term rental.
“Bulldogging” detectives did round-the-clock surveillance – watching an alleged gang of international crooks using an actual bulldog as cover while casing homes.
After watching the group burglarize Tempe and Mesa homes, Scottsdale officers who were closely monitoring the “crime tourists” arrested seven suspects believed to be part of the South American Theft Group.
5. Good Samaritan murdered
Frank Quaranta, a retired financial analyst, kept busy as a volunteer at his church helping homeless people.
The 67-year-old man invited into his Scottsdale house Matthew Dieringer, a homeless man later described by Scottsdale Police as “charismatic and manipulative.”
Just after noon on Labor Day, responding police officers found a battered Quaranta dead inside his home.
After determining “a very strong support for inclusion” of Quaranta’s DNA on Dieringer’s blood-soaked socks and a T-shirt, police arrested Dieringer.
He faces a trial for first-degree murder.
6. Leadership change
On Jan. 21, interim City Manager Greg Caton appointed former Police Chief Jeff Walther as interim assistant city manager.
Assistant Chief Joe LeDuc was promoted to interim police chief.
In April, after City Council made Caton’s position permanent, the new city manager took the “interim” off Walther’s and LeDuc’s job titles.
LeDuc has been with Scottsdale Police for over 33 years. He became an officer in 1991, has worked as a detective in property crimes and homicide Detective and served in the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force. He was promoted in 2021 to assistant chief.
7. French fugitive busted
In 2008, Scottsdale detectives followed complaints of suspicious activity around children with an investigation and subsequent arrest of Michael Wiseman for sexual exploitation of a minor.
Rather than face trial, he cut off a monitoring ankle bracelet and fled the country, living abroad for two years
Wiseman was captured in Spain, but, after two years in confinement, the former airline pilot took off again.
Wiseman was on the run for more than a decade – until Scottsdale Police detectives tracked him down in Paris.
Over the fall, detectives obtained warrants for his email activity.
When they found a video of Wiseman apparently abusing a child, they turned the case over to the FBI.
French authorities were contacted and arrested the double-fugitive.
8. STR woes continue
Back in 2023, then-Police Chief Jeff Walther grew fed up with his officers fielding complaints of “that Airbnb next door is totally out of hand again” – so he launched a short-term rental task force, tapping Sgt. Eric Bolles to lead it.
Two years later, short-term rentals appear to be a long-term problem for Scottsdale.
After the state legislature passed laws severely limiting cities’ powers over Airbnb, VRBO and other short-term rentals, Scottsdale has struggled to follow the state regulations – while listening to ongoing complaints from residents.
LeDuc, who replaced Walther as Scottsdale’s top cop, doesn’t think this issue is going away soon.
“It appears short-term rentals will be part of Scottsdale’s community landscape for the foreseeable future,” he said.
9. Police pay pushed
Backed by the support of newly-elected members, City Council passed a 2025-26 budget that boosted police pay.
As a city release put it, “A significant adjustment to the department’s overall pay structure moves Scottsdale Police from the sixth-highest paid agency in the Valley to among the top three.”
Prior to this year’s increase, officer base pay peaked at $98,696 annually.
As of July 1, that figure increased to $106,100.80.
10. Loving looters lassoed
Not far from Scottsdale’s famous “LOVE” sculpture, a couple apparently took that as a directive.
On Oct. 25, the two broke into an Old Town restaurant, robbed the store … and then engaged in “amorous activities.”
Corrisa K. Sucanick, 30, and Brian H. Morrow, 39, were later arrested and charged with busting into the Mon Cheri Restaurant.
The “my dear” translation of the French phrase may have been what detectives who watched the tape uttered.