Suspect Arrested in Homicide Investigation
July 25, 2011
On Sunday, July 24, at approximately 2:15 pm, the Mesa Police
Department received a telephone call from a female (later
identified as the 25-year-old victim of sexual assault). She
told police that she had fled her apartment with her two small
children and noticed blood "everywhere." She reported that her
friend (28-year-old male victim) was still inside the apartment
and she believed he was dead. She was able to provide a
description of the suspect and advised he was covered in blood
as well. Patrol officers responded and conducted a protective
sweep of the apartment and found the lower level flooring and
portions of the walls covered in blood. The officers found the
deceased victim on the floor in the kitchen area.
The female victim told investigators that the suspect, Jared
Noonkester, arrived at her apartment sometime after midnight on
July 24. She returned to her bedroom upstairs and slept while
the suspect and male victim remained downstairs talking. She
said she woke up during the night, exited her bedroom and saw
the suspect walking up the stairs toward her. The suspect told
her that someone had broken into the apartment and he had "taken
care of it" and was about to call the police. The suspect then
took her cell phone and directed the victim and her 19-month-old
daughter into her 5-year-old son's bedroom. The suspect told her
that she needed to cooperate with him or he would kill her.
The suspect began walking up and down the stairs and proceeded
to sexually assault the female victim. When the suspect ended
the sexual assault, he washed up in the downstairs bathroom and
changed his clothes, using clothing he obtained from the
victim's bedroom. The suspect forced the female victim and her
children into the bathroom and tied the door closed. The suspect
then fled the apartment . After a short time, the female victim
was able to free herself from the bathroom and fled with her
children to a neighbor's apartment. As she was leaving, she
observed a large amount of blood on the ground floor of the
apartment.
At approximately 5:30 pm, Mesa police officers responded to a
call at 454 West Brown Road reference a male subject urinating
in the swimming pool area. Officers arrived and made contact
with the male subject, identified as Jason Noonkester (see below
in photo). They observed reddish stains on Noonkester's clothing
and shoes, consistent with blood. Noonkester also had several
tattoos that had been described by the female victim in this
case. Noonkester was found to have an outstanding parole
violation warrant and he was taken into custody without
incident. Several items of blood-soaked clothing were located
inside his backpack that officers located in the pool area. The
suspect did not provide any details of the incident to
investigators when he was interviewed.
Jason Noonkester, 35, was arrested and charged with one count of
First Degree Murder, three counts of Kidnapping and two counts
of Sexual Assault.
