A man stands accused of a grisly crime following the discovery of an 18-year-old's dismembered and charred remains in Tonto National Forest's debris pile, officials reported. Anthonie Ruinard Jr., 37, has been indicted on charges including second-degree murder and abandonment/concealment of a body. This comes after the body of Nebraska teen Parker League was found last June in a morbid scene northeast of Phoenix, described as a burned debris pile in Bulldog Canyon.
Ruinard Jr.'s indictment by a Maricopa County grand jury marks another step in a months-long investigation. To clearly establish the identity of the deceased, who was found stabbed and burned beyond recognition, dental records were necessitated. The cause of disbelief and horror stretches back to June 2023, when League decided to travel to Arizona in order to meet friends. "It's hard to accept because he was the nicest kid in the world," Hunter League, Parker's brother, recounted in an interview with ABC15 last year.
Evidence linking Ruinard to the crime includes video surveillance of League and the suspect leaving a store together, this being the last time the victim was captured on video alive. Furthermore, DNA belonging to League was located on the exterior and in the trunk of a vehicle seized from Ruinard Jr.'s property. "The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office submitted a case on Ruinard Jr. to the MCAO for review," reported AZFamily.
County Attorney Rachel Mitchell stressed the extent to which due diligence was exercised to carefully move the case forward. "Experienced homicide prosecutors in my office combed through nearly 4,000 pages of material submitted in this homicide case. After five months of careful review, we were able to secure this indictment," Mitchell said. This step is seen as crucial to eventually bring Ruinard to trial and potentially deliver justice for the young victim and his grieving family. Ruinard, who allegedly attempted to use League's credit cards after his death, is scheduled to face trial in July 2024. He also admitted to using drugs on the night of the murder, which "may have blurred his memory," according to court documents obtained by AZFamily.
