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PHOENIX — Samuel John Dieteman, a former Minnesotan accused in the “Serial Shooter” case that has kept the Phoenix area on edge for more than a year, never seemed like a cold-blooded killer, the other man arrested in the case said Monday.

“Sam has kind of a low self-esteem problem,” said Dale Shawn Hausner. “I don’t know if he did this stuff, (but if he did) it would be for recognition. And if he didn’t and he’s confessing that he did, it would be for the recognition.”

With local media clamoring to interview Hausner on Monday, the 33-year-old man called a news conference at the downtown Phoenix jail where he was being held and continued to proclaim his innocence.

“Why I’m here is because I have Sam Dieteman staying with me for about five weeks. And apparently at night Sam had been taking my car out and using various weapons that I have in my house to commit crimes and apparently they tracked it through my car. … I guess I’m just guilty by association, even though I did not shoot anybody or kill anybody.”

Hausner — who presented himself as a man who worked three jobs to make ends meet, has a terminally ill daughter and took Dieteman in because the man was “down on his luck” — said he always kept his car keys by the front door. Because Hausner slept in a back bedroom and Dieteman on an air mattress in the front of his Mesa, Ariz., apartment, Dieteman could have taken the keys without his knowledge, Hausner said.

Contacted at the jail where he was being held, Dieteman declined to comment Saturday. He apparently hadn’t been assigned a public defender as of Monday afternoon.

Court documents said Dieteman admitted he and Hausner were involved in some of the crimes and that they took turns driving and shooting pedestrians and bicyclists. A person whom police didn’t identify said Dieteman would drive through Phoenix-area cities selecting random targets in a practice he called “RV,” short for “random recreational violence.”

“If he is doing this stuff, it’s absolutely terrible,” Hausner said. “I have no idea why he would do this and most of all, I have no idea why he would want to implicate me in this kind of stuff.”

Authorities on Monday said they have found another possible victim of the “Serial Shooter,” which would bring the list to seven dead and 17 wounded. Phoenix police have said the serial killings first began May 24, 2005, but are now revising the date to May 17, 2005.

Hausner and Dieteman, who were arrested Thursday after several days of surveillance, are only being held in connection with two of the homicides and 13 attempted murders. Police continue to build their case against the men, said Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill.

Phoenix investigators have traveled to Minnesota to develop their case and federal authorities in Minnesota are investigating whether Dieteman, 30, was involved in any crimes in Minnesota.

Hausner and Dieteman are suspects in arsons at two Wal-Marts in suburban Glendale in June, a case that helped authorities connect the men to the “Serial Shooter” case.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ St. Paul field office is now looking into whether Dieteman could be connected to any cold cases in Minnesota, said Sherry Duval, the agency’s spokeswoman.

Authorities in Phoenix located Dieteman early last week, according to a federal affidavit in the case. The affidavit said a witness told federal agents that Dieteman was drinking at the Stardust Country bar, a pool hall in a Glendale strip mall.

Sherry Vandervolt, a Stardust bartender, said Dieteman had been coming in at least twice a week, mostly by day.

“He was really quiet, he kept to himself a lot,” Vandervolt said, though she described a considerate man who would always help her out around the bar without being asked — cleaning tables, icing beer and taking out the garbage. He also watched to make sure she got to her car OK after work.

“He was that kind of guy,” Vandervolt said.

The bartender also said Dieteman shared his troubles, including a lost job and a failed marriage that ended with his family moving back to Minnesota.

And he rooted hard for the Twins and Vikings.

“He liked it there,” said Vandervolt, who is from Fargo, N.D. “I thought he wanted to go back. We always talked about how dang cold it was.”

Describing her reaction to his arrest, she said: “I don’t know what to think.”

Another Stardust bartender, Kelly Hottowe, first met Dieteman in 2002 and also expressed disbelief at his arrest.

Hottowe told the Associated Press they remained friends until last summer, when Dieteman seemed to change.

Dieteman’s mother kicked him out of her Phoenix-area house and he lost his job as an electrician, Hottowe said.

“He started drinking a lot,” she said. “He’d be at the bar as soon as it opened.”

“When all that (stuff) happened, I just backed off and left him alone.”

Dieteman attended high school in St. Peter, Minn., and in May 1997 married his high school sweetheart, Dorothy M. Iverson. They had two daughters, one of their own and one from his wife’s previous relationship.

The two legally separated four years later. After Iverson officially divorced Dieteman in 2003 amid allegations of domestic abuse, a Washington County judge granted the Cottage Grove woman sole custody of their daughter, who was born in 1992. Dieteman received supervised parenting rights.

Iverson’s divorce petition alleges “some of the abuse occurred in the presence of the children.”

At the time of the filing, court documents show, Dieteman had warrants out for his arrest in Blue Earth County in connection with the alleged abuse and probation violations.

In a handwritten response to the divorce petition, Dieteman acknowledged his marriage was “irretreivably (sic) broken” but denied abusing his wife.

Minnesota records indicate Dieteman had more than 30 contacts with police around Mankato and St. Peter between 1992 and 1999, including allegations of shoplifting, possession of drug paraphernalia and domestic abuse, but no propensity for random violence. He was convicted of trespassing in Waseca County in 1994 and of DWI in Blue Earth County in 1998.

Dieteman moved to Arizona to be closer to his mother and stepfather, who live in Phoenix, Hausner said Monday during his news conference.

One of Hausner’s brothers introduced him to Dieteman about nine months ago. Dieteman had done electrical work for his brother and was staying with him, Hausner said. Hausner started letting Dieteman stay in his Mesa apartment about five weeks ago, he said.

Authorities have said their evidence against the men includes weapons and a map marking the shooting locations. Hausner said he kept the map, along with news clippings about the “Serial Shooter” case, because it was interesting to him.

Hausner said he and Dieteman had talked about the case before they were arrested.

“We just kind of chatted back and forth, and wondered why if there’s 150 police on the case, why they couldn’t collar him a little bit faster,” Hausner said. “Is it that hard to catch people doing this kind of stuff?”

About 10 minutes into Monday’s news conference, a man rushed into the room and whispered into Hausner’s ear.

The man was Garrett Simpson, a public defender assigned to the case about 15 minutes earlier, who had just learned that Hausner was talking to the media. On Simpson’s advice, Hausner called an end to the questions.

As he was led out of the room, a reporter shouted at him, “Are you the ‘Serial Shooter’?”

“Absolutely not,” Hausner said.

Staff writers Frederick Melo and Shannon Prather contributed to this report.
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