Glendale Police have cracked a cold case from 2016 with the arrest of Joseph Adam Keller, 32, linked to the murder of father Jose Sanchez during a burglary at a Glendale apartment complex. According to FOX 10 Phoenix, Keller was nabbed by authorities on April 25, 2024, bringing a dramatic turn to a case that remained unsolved for nearly eight years.
Cell doors had previously shut behind Keller, who was released just over a year ago in April 2023 after serving time for two prior convictions. Now he faces charges of first-degree murder, burglary, and armed robbery with a deadly weapon in a case that has haunted Sanchez's family. The suspect was seen, described by court documents, as one of four Hispanic males fleeing to a distinct white Dodge Avenger shortly after a loud bang that marked the brutal slaying of Sanchez.
It was Sanchez's wife and daughter, returning to their home near 57th Avenue and Camelback Road before 3 p.m., who were met with the grim sight of the husband and father, lifeless with gunshot wounds. A maintenance employee had reported the bang, seemingly subsumed by the everyday symphony that muddles the lines between the mundane and the tragic. The apartment bore the chaos of a ransacked lair, with its toilet tank lid lifted, signaling a frenzied search for cash or contraband, though no evidence of either was found in Sanchez's clean record, AZ Family reports.
While the Dodge Avenger ultimately led law enforcement to Keller's arrest. Sporting a distinctive white paint job with a black roof and rims, it caught the immediate attention of a concerned couple, parents of Keller's girlfriend, who recognized the sedan and contacted police. Despite Keller's assertion in January 2023 that he had never driven the car, his fingerprints told another, undeniable story upon the tank and the Avenger itself.
Investigators had persisted in piecing together this mosaic of memories and evidence, interviewing Keller thrice before finally obtaining the physical proof that placed him at the disheveled scene. With the motive still shrouded in mystery, the cold case's thaw may yet reveal the other suspects who, eight years ago, shattered the sanctity of a family's home in pursuit of elusive spoils.
