A Sudden Shot: The Phoenix Serial Shooter

by Camille Kimball

Arizona never experienced a summer like this, as snipers Dale Hausner and Sam Dieteman took aim at anything?and everything?in their path. Phoenix was a city in terror as the deadly spree ultimately claimed 37 vicitims, people and pets? until one detective began to put the pieces together to nail the murderous duo.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

325 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Camille Kimball is an Emmy winning investigative reporter. In addition to television, she has an extensive background in the rapid fire world of radio. Kimball has also been a major market newspaper columnist and has reported for various print publications. A Sudden Shot: the Phoenix Serial Shooter is her first book.

Reviews

[Diane in Australia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was rivetting. I felt the author did a superb job. It must have been a difficult decision as to how to bring this multifaceted story together into a coherent narrative. and, yes, you have to be on your toes, and follow her train of thought, but all in all, an excellent job.

This took place in/near Phoenix, Arizona USA in 2005-2006. Phoenix was held in a vise of total terror. The author lived there during this time, and experienced the fear for herself.

When it was all over the tally of victims looked like this:
Humans
8 murders
18 injured by gun
2 injured by knife
1 uninjured - shot missed

Horses
3 dead
2 injured (1 horse, 1 burro)

Dogs
5 dead
2 injured
1 uninjured (human victim intervened)

Property Damage
2 buildings burned
2 buildings shot at
1 car shot at

If you like true crime, I recommend this book.

In honour of the dead, here are their details:
Tony Mendez, 38 - 17 May 2005
Reginald Remillard, 57 - 24 May 2005
David Estrada, 20 -29 June 2005
Nathaniel Schoffner, 45 - 11 Nov 2005
Jose Ortis, 44 - 29 Dec 2005
Marco Carillo, 28 - 29 Dec 2005
Claudia Gutierrez Cruz, 20 - 2 May 2006
Robin Blasnek, 22 - 30 July 2006

Sara Moon - bay quarter horse - 29 June 2005
Whiskey - Akita dog - 20 July 2005
Little Man - mini-horse - 25 July 2005
Unnamed quarter horse - 25 July 2005
Shep - Anatolian shepherd dog - 11 Nov 2005
Cherokee - Australian shepherd dog - 29 Dec 2005
Peyton - Transylvanian hound dog - 29 Dec 2005
Peanut - shepherd mixed dog - 29 Dec 2005

4 Stars = It gave me much food for thought.

[Brenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It deals with the morbid side of people," Dale Hausner told the investigators shortly after his arrest. "People are always reading about the serial killer. It's everywhere."

The serial killer of which he spoke was he himself - though, of course, Hausner never did admit this. Not when questioned during the investigation, nor when facing the evidence up close during the trial, nor during his interviews granted after the jury had found him guilty of several counts of murder and aggravated assault. Eighty guilty verdicts, to which Hausner claimed innocence of each.

The year 2006 is still recent in the minds of Americans, even though the serial shooting spree in Arizona of that year has been overshadowed by literally dozens of other crimes and murders since. The reason the case of Dale Hausner (and his brother Jeff, and their partner-in-crime Sam Dieteman) still matters is due to the prolonged nature of the suffering inflicted upon an entire populace. Of the more than one-and-a-half million residents living in Phoenix during that year, the majority were affected directly in some manner by the shootings; either someone dear to the heart of a resident was shot (including, in many instances, pet dogs and horses living peacefully within their own yards or pens), or else the resident knew somebody else who was affected as such.

Journalist Camille Kimball herself later found reason to wonder as to whether or not she had been affected - her own pet dog was found to have been shot some time prior, unbeknownst to anybody prior to the dog's falling ill with an unrelated malady. While the evidence (i.e. the bullet) had degraded too much to be of any evidentiary value, the chilling effect it had upon her was almost unbearable.

In short, over the run of a few months, Dale Hausner and Sam Dieteman had utterly compromised the happiness and security of an entire city's population - and then some. America's Most Wanted had profiled the case during the height of the attacks - and as far as Hausner was concerned, the attention gave him the breadth of a god.

Kimball's portrayal of this series of "recreational violence" is somewhat unique in the true crime genre. Unlike many paperback publications, Kimball manages to humanize the victims and their families - up to, and including, familial pets. The reader is moved by her recreation of events (based on trial evidence, witnesses, nearby security footage, cell phone records, etc.) to feel as if the victim is more than just a secondary character in an unfortunate set of circumstances. Kimball breaths life into people who, frequently, were robbed of their precious life beyond the pages of A Sudden Shot. Even the unfortunate burro Buddy had a biography, which Kimball takes the time to present with as much compassion as possible never downplaying the shooting in the face of so many, many others. And her presentation of this information does not drag the natural flow of the book's narrative of events.

On occasion, Kimball does allow herself to fall into the common true crime "cliche" of fictionalization through artistic license. For instance, Kimball attributes ironic internal asides (which will, tragically, remain forever unspoken) to the final victim, 22-year-old Robin Blasnek ("This was going to be the best summer ever!"). At other times, Kimball attempts to put the reader in the place of other victims through similar literary methods known to omniscient narrators. However, these instances are the exception to the regular pacing of the book, and not abused to the point of frivolity.

Also, Kimball allows the individual attacks themselves to remain aloof from the real-time chronology of the shootings. She begins the story with the final murder, and delves into each other attack on the basis of that particular story itself. While she does remain true to the facts (by providing not only the date, but the time of day and also the atmospheric setting at that specific time), the presentation of the stories are non-linear according to their timeline setting. While this can add to some confusion to those who follow step-by-step the degeneration of the psychological status of the killers and those whom they have infinitely injured, Kimball takes the extra effort to paint the people as real human beings, beyond mere characterizations to link with a name.

Kimball does great justice to each person within her retelling of the horror, including the guilty ones. She does not resort to judgement calls, allowing instead the people to speak (whenever possible) for themselves. And by allowing the justice system to do its job without her own editorial interjections. Kimball does not have to tell the reader how - or what - to feel. She manages to stir emotions just through a presentation of these victims as fellow living beings, humans and animals alike.

A Sudden Shot was written with great care, not just to cover the story for an information-hungry audience, but to do it properly so as to adequately instill some sense of this great fear, these great holes left within the fabric of Phoenician society, that was brought on by the actions of three men.

This book has the appearance of any typical true crime paperback, yet it remains one of the classier specimens from its genre.

[Robin Mandell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a heartbreaking, horrifying, anger-making story, but Camille Kimball's writing is here is brilliant. She's taken a complicated series of crimes and police investigation and crafted an easy-to-follow, memorable book. Don't get me wrong - this is not an easy book to read. There's intense violence against people and animals and Kimball didn't shy away from describing that. But, these descriptions aren't gratuitous. Kimball doesn't describe the bloody reality so that we can be titillated or otherwise entertained. No. She describes it so that we can know...the bloody reality. And, we're told why we should care. We learn about every single victim, and while I sometimes thought it was a bit of a reach to guess what the victim might have been thinking about before they were attacked, I love the work that was done to show the true impact of violence. If you're a fan of "true crime" books, you should read this. Be prepared to cry (I sobbed several times). Be prepared to feel rage. But, also be prepared to smile, and even laugh every once in a while.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a riveting, brutal story about murder and mayhem in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Very detailed which I love and well written with interesting results of the many
victims and of course the aftermath of such horror in the time period of the killings.
Anyone and any animal was a target which had the community terrified for months. I recommend this book to all TC addicts.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've seen reviews on Amazon and elsewhere with complaints about how this author skips back and forth in time too often. I would have preferred a more straightforward approach as well (the case is complex enough to begin with); but for all its' faults this book was still quite compelling, even the second time around.

[Literary_Octopus · Rating 2 out of 5]

I seriously was not prepared for the number of dogs which are shot in this book.

The syntax is slightly awkward, having been written by a journalist rather than someone accustomed to writing longer prose. It is also missing important developments, such as the killer committing suicide in jail shortly after sentencing, which feels downright negligent not to add to later printings.

[Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! The tragedy that fell on the Phoenix area was hard to read but everyone involved brought redemption to the community. Author really brought this tragedy to life.