SILENT WITNESS

Police looking for clues in 2014 murders of 3 in Phoenix’s West Valley

Jun 14, 2021, 10:30 AM

(Facebook Photo/Surprise Police Department)...

(Facebook Photo/Surprise Police Department)

(Facebook Photo/Surprise Police Department)

This article originally appeared June 27, 2016.

It was a crime that shocked the Surprise firefighters and police officers who thought they were responding to a vehicle fire in the desert.

Three bodies were found in the bed of the truck near 219th Avenue and Sun Valley Parkway.

It happened June 9, 2014. The victims were identified as 41-year-old Billy Kling, 57-year-old Lisa Baker and 25-year-old Garth Tuggle.

“They had been both shot and burned in the stolen truck,” Surprise Police Sgt. Norm Owens said.

Not much is known about the victims, but Tuggle’s dad said he was an aspiring artist who loved to paint and his career was just starting to take off.

From left: Lisa Baker, Garth Tuggle and Bill Kling. (Silent Witness Photos)

It still isn’t clear how the three victims knew each other.

“We’re really hoping that by getting this information back out to the public that someone might have seen something or heard someone talking about what happened,” Owens said.

He said it’s not unusual for people involved in these types of gruesome crimes to tell someone about it. They just can’t seem to help themselves.

Anything you might have heard could help investigators solve a horrific case.

Read more about this case here.

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Police looking for clues in 2014 murders of 3 in Phoenix’s West Valley