Lake Havasu City man arrested, booked for Mesa murder

PHOENIX — A 19-year-old man was arrested at his home in Lake Havasu City on Thursday for a murder committed in Mesa, authorities said.

Officers responded to the area of Broadway and Power roads on Tuesday at around 7:30 p.m. to reports of a shooting, the Mesa Police Department said in a press release.

They found 44-year-old Jacques Bourdeau in a bathtub with gunshot wounds, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

Police learned from witnesses at the residence that the suspect, Elliot Bennett, arrived after contacting Bourdeau on the phone, and the victim described the visitor as his friend, according to the probable cause statement.

Witnesses said the defendant entered the house with the victim before they both went outside. Shots were allegedly fired, and Bourdeau ran inside to hide in the bathroom claiming he was shot at.

Bennett allegedly forced his way into the residence and the bathroom, shot the victim multiple times in front of a witness and fled the scene in a gray sedan with a spoiler.

Detectives located traffic photos of the vehicle which matched the description, and surveillance caught a male subject driving a gray sedan at a high rate of speed away from the crime scene, according to the probable cause statement.

The defendant reported his mother’s vehicle was stolen in Lake Havasu City at approximately 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, and the vehicle was described as a gray sedan with a spoiler.

The defendant’s parents said on video they could not locate their son for multiple hours on Tuesday, according to the probable cause statement.

Bennett was booked on first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and first-degree burglary counts.

He denied having traveled to Mesa to commit the murder in an interview at the Lake Havasu Police Department, according to the probable cause statement.

Bennett has a prior conviction for disorderly conduct.

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