Police arrest boyfriend for suspected murder of missing Phoenix woman
Jun 8, 2017, 7:56 PM | Updated: Jun 9, 2017, 11:46 am
(Phoenix Police and Silent Witness Photos)
(Phoenix Police and Silent Witness Photos)
PHOENIX — The Phoenix Police Department has arrested the boyfriend of a missing woman on suspicion of first-degree murder.
Robert John Interval Jr., 37, was arrested Thursday afternoon after police concluded that he killed his 34-year-old girlfriend Christine Mustafa.
“I think there were a couple of different searches that were performed over the past month and each day and each search led us to additional information that pointed us in the same direction, and that direction came to a head today when our detective developed enough probable cause to believe not only that Christine had been murdered, but that her longtime boyfriend, Robert Interval, was responsible for that murder,” Phoenix Police Sgt. and Public Information Officer Jonathan Howard told KTAR News.
Mustafa was last seen on May 10 and has not been heard from since the early hours of May 11.
She failed to show up for her scheduled work shift on May 11 and her family asked police to check on her welfare. They went to her home and there was no answer on the door.
Police say her boyfriend arrived at the home and told them Mustafa had earlier left for work on foot.
Howard said “there is a lot of witness evidence” in the case, including many accounts from the family, which has said they believe Interval is responsible for her disappearance. Howard added that Phoenix police is “confident” that what the family has been saying is accurate.
Mustafa’s body is still missing, and anyone who has information on this case is urged to call the Phoenix Police Department.
KTAR News’ Thomas Perumean and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
