Arizona investigators have yet to determine a motive in the fatal shooting of two New Hampshire residents visiting the Sedona area.
James Johnson, 63, from Jaffrey, N.H., and Carol Raynsford, 63, from Nelson, N.H., were found shot to death in an idling late-model red Subaru wagon around 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 6. Their bodies were discovered at the scenic overlook at Milepost 364 between Forest Road 89B and Page Springs Road, along State Route 89A between Cottonwood and Sedona.
The double murder was quickly connected, through a ballistics report, to the murder of 20-year veteran Maricopa County Sheriff’s Deputy William Coleman. Coleman was shot in Anthem two days after the Sedona-area murders by suspected killer Drew Ryan Maras, who was also killed in the altercation.
MCSO deputies engaged Maras at the scene of the Anthem shooting. He exited his vehicle firing a weapon, according to authorities.
Maras, 30, a former Marine and conspiracy theorist, self-published a book on the Mayan 2012 prophecies in 2010. He’s believed to have been a frequent visitor to the Sedona area, but his whereabouts in the city during the time frame of the crimes have yet to be determined.
Maras’ Facebook page, as of Jan. 2, showed over 4,000 friends, with some from the Sedona area. As of Wednesday, Jan. 18, his page was deleted from the popular social network. Attempts to contact Facebook representatives for comment on their policy were unsuccessful as of press time.
According to Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Dwight D’Evelyn, Maricopa County investigators are doing the bulk of the work when it comes to Maras’ background.
“They talked to his father in Chicago. I have not been told of an outright motive that we know that’s clear for us to understand,” D’Evelyn said.
No connection has been made between the two Sedona victims and Maras, D’Evelyn added. Neither of the victims were friends with Maras on Facebook.
“We’re still going with they were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” D’Evelyn said. “What happened between the suspect and these two, if anything, goes with this guy to the grave. Whether he happened upon them or they pulled in and he felt they were encroaching on his ground we just don’t know. We just don’t know his motivation and there’s a lot of speculation.”
YCSO detectives are waiting to hear if MCSO investigators found any evidence, such as writing, in Maras’ vehicle following his death. Family members of the suspect and the victims have been interviewed as well.
“We know he’d written a book and done some other things with kind of a doomsday scenario, 2012 being the year things may culminate with the world ending, that kind of thing. That is being discussed as a factor in why he was upset, but we’re not sure why this couple and why this place. It’s baffling,” D’Evelyn said.
D’Evelyn said Johnson was considering a move to the Sedona area and brought Raynsford with him on the trip from New Hampshire. Raynsford also has family in the Phoenix area.
“Whether he was going to move here or not remains to be seen,” D’Evelyn said.
While investigators initially sought a white truck they thought may have been in the area at the time of the homicide, that truck was eventually found and its owner determined to be innocent of any involvement.
“They did locate the truck, and it turned out not to be involved. It had been present at the turnout but was not involved in any fashion,” D’Evelyn said.
