State law enforcement authorities in Arizona have resolved a nearly four-decade-old cold case involving the brutal 1987 homicide of a Glendale resident whose body was discovered abandoned in a local cemetery. The breakthrough brings a conclusive end to a long-standing investigation that had remained unresolved across multiple generations of detectives.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced that investigators have formally identified Gary Billups, a 68-year-old resident of Wittmann, as the individual responsible for the fatal attack on 54-year-old Orison "Jim" Chafin. However, Billups will not face legal prosecution or stand trial in a court of law, as he took his own life shortly after providing state investigators with a definitive genetic sample that linked him to the scene.
Addressing the outcome of the decades-long probe, Mayes emphasized the nuanced nature of the resolution. While acknowledging that the suspect's death precludes a formal criminal trial and eliminates the possibility of a courtroom conviction, she underscored that the findings deliver long-delayed clarity, allowing investigators to establish with reasonable certainty the events surrounding Chafin's violent death after thirty-nine years.
The homicide dates back to the early morning hours of August 8, 1987, at the Resthaven Park Cemetery, situated near the intersection of Northern Avenue and 63rd Avenue in Glendale. A group of young adults visiting the area noticed an unfamiliar vehicle rapidly driving away from the property before discovering Chafin's body on the grounds. When responding law enforcement officers arrived at the scene, they found the victim wearing only his socks and suffering from catastrophic cuts to his neck.
Subsequent inquiries into Chafin's final movements revealed that the victim had spent the hours preceding the homicide at a nearby neighborhood tavern. Witnesses reported that an argument had erupted at the establishment between Chafin and three other patrons, an altercation that preceded the lethal encounter at the cemetery grounds.
During the initial 1987 investigation, detectives identified two of the individuals present at the establishment as brothers Willie and Kenneth Mayfield, whom police successfully located and questioned at the time. However, authorities were unable to locate Billups, leaving his connection to the incident unexamined for decades as investigative leads eventually grew cold.
The case gained renewed momentum following the establishment of a dedicated cold case unit within the Arizona Attorney General's Office in early 2025. The specialized unit is headed by Roger Geisler, a former Glendale police detective who had originally participated in the homicide investigation during his earlier career in municipal law enforcement.
Upon reopening the investigative files, the cold case team recognized that Billups had never been interviewed during the initial inquiry, despite contemporaneous witness accounts establishing his presence alongside Chafin at the bar. Armed with this historical oversight, investigators tracked Billups down in Wittmann to finally conduct the interview that had eluded detectives in 1987.
When questioned by state investigators, Billups denied any knowledge of the incident and claimed that he had not resided in the Glendale area at the time of Chafin's murder. Despite his assertions of non-involvement, Billups voluntarily agreed in June to submit a reference DNA swab to the investigative team.
Forensic laboratory testing subsequently established that Billups' DNA was an exact match to genetic material preserved on discarded beer bottles and cigarette butts recovered directly adjacent to Chafin's remains at the cemetery crime scene. The scientific confirmation established a direct physical link placing Billups at the exact location where the victim was slain.
Following the collection of the forensic evidence, Billups died by suicide. In a handwritten note composed in cursive and later released by the Attorney General's Office, Billups maintained his innocence, writing that he had engaged in no wrongdoing. In the correspondence, he stated that he could not endure the ongoing inquiry, expressing distress that he possessed no documentation or memory to assist in his defense.
Geisler noted that Billups' behavioral patterns, statements during interviews, and the specific contents of his final message strongly pointed toward a conscious effort to avoid criminal accountability. Investigators concluded that Billups chose to end his life because he recognized the mounting strength of the evidence being gathered against him.
The other two individuals who accompanied Billups and Chafin that night, the Mayfield brothers, were treated as material witnesses during the probe. Authorities confirmed that both men have since died, preventing detectives from conducting further interviews regarding their exact movements and observations during the 1987 encounter.
Nick Klingerman, chief of the Attorney General's Criminal Division, explained that prosecutors possessed sufficient evidence to formally charge Billups with murder had he survived. Klingerman highlighted Billups' history of pulling a knife on a police officer prior to the 1987 homicide, demonstrating that he had access to bladed weapons. In contrast, forensic limitations prevented charges against the Mayfields, as DNA testing could not definitively differentiate between the two brothers at the scene.
Reflecting on the limitations inherent in historic inquiries, Mayes acknowledged that cold cases spanning four decades invariably retain certain unresolved details. Nevertheless, she maintained that the comprehensive forensic and circumstantial evidence gathered by the unit was sufficient to assign full responsibility to Billups and provide the public with an accurate accounting of the crime.
Chafin, who lived by himself in Glendale at the time of his death, was a veteran of the United States Navy. Representatives for Billups' family could not be reached for comment regarding the state's investigative findings and public announcements.
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