Sniper on the Loose (page 7 of 8)

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One mans confession led to another mans realization.

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Two people got shot Saturday night, and another guy on Monday night

"A Real Heartbreaker"

The obvious place to start the search for Dieteman was at the various bars where his crowd hung out. Horton buttonholed every friend he could find and casually asked about Dieteman. No one knew anything—he had done another disappearing act. Phone calls to other buddies came up empty as well.

Horton talked to Smith constantly, too, reviewing again and again all that he knew about Dieteman. On Sunday, July 23, he got an upsetting call from Smith: The previous morning before dawn, the Serial Shooter had injured a man who was riding his bike. "This thing was urgent," Horton says. "People weren't going out after dark in Phoenix. It changed damn near everyone's life."

It took a week more, but on Friday, July 28, Horton finally hit pay dirt. A fellow biker had gotten a text message from Dieteman and, knowing Horton had been looking for him, passed the number on. Right away Horton sent Dieteman a greeting. "Hi, Sammy—it's Ron. Are you alive?" No response. After several more unanswered text messages, Horton was about to give up. Finally, on Sunday night Dieteman responded. He'd been in Vegas, he wrote to Horton. Anxious to continue the conversation, Horton quickly typed, "Did you win or lose?" About 45 minutes later, Dieteman sent a two-word response. "I lost." After a few more attempts to engage Dieteman, Horton wrote, "You're obviously busy. Call me when you're free."

Horton phoned Smith and said, "He's up to something. Sammy always responds right away to text messages, writes a whole book." Stay on it, Smith told him, because Sundays and Tuesdays were big days for the Serial Shooter. Seven of the past 17 victims had been shot on one of those days.

The next morning, Smith called with news. The shooter had murdered a 22-year-old woman in the bedroom community of Mesa. She'd been shot in the back while walking to her boyfriend's house. "The scene was a real heartbreaker," Smith said quietly.

Even now, Horton can't talk about this death without breaking down. "He was hunting her when he was texting me," Horton says. "I could've stopped him from shooting her if I'd been more aggressive."

Horton fired off a text message to Dieteman that was like a friendly taunt. "What? Are you too good for your old friends?" A couple of more digs along those lines were followed by a suggestion that they meet for a beer. Sammy finally sent back a one-word response: "Can't." Horton asked him what was going on. Dieteman told him he was eating. They texted back and forth, Horton offering to pick him up and let him crash at his place that night if a ride was the obstacle. After a half hour, Horton got the response he'd wanted. Yes, Dieteman would meet him, but no, he didn't need a ride. They'd meet at the Stardust Bar in one hour.

Horton immediately got Darrell Smith on the phone. "It's on."

I had no idea the machine that would swing into motion," Horton says. There were officers in the bushes outside the bar, police tracing Dieteman's phone through his text messages and undercover officers at every cross street leading to the Stardust. Part of that intense police cover was protection for Horton. "I've never lost anyone in 28 years, and I don't want to start with you," a detective said to Horton.

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