Inmate Convicted In Fake Motorcycle Ad Murders Found Dead At Jail

TUCSON, AZ — A 47-year-old man jailed in the 2002 death of a Phoenix couple who traveled to Tucson to buy a motorcycle was found dead in his cell Saturday morning, the Pima County Sheriff’s Office said.

Brian Ferry was unresponsive when corrections officers found him during regular rounds about 1:30 a.m. Saturday. They attempted to resuscitate him while waiting for paramedics from the Tucson Fire Department to arrive, but were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Homicide detectives said he died by suicide.

Ferry was convicted in May of murdering the Phoenix couple, Charles Russell, 58, and Catherine Nelson, 42, after luring them to Tucson with a fake ad for a motorcycle. (Get Tucson Patch’s real-time news alerts and free morning newsletters. Like us on Facebook. Also, download the free Patch iPhone app or free Patch Android app.)

The couple's deaths were considered unsolved homicides until January 2015, when Ferry was arrested on two counts of first-degree murder. Their bodies were never found, but Ferry was convicted on DNA and other evidence. Investigators found several “burner phones” Ferris owned and used to talk to the couple as part of his plan to lure them to Tucson and kill them, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also said Ferry’s father went to a landfill with his son to dispose of some possibly incriminating items after the couple were reported missing.

Ferry was to have been sentenced next month. His first trial in February ended when the jury was unable to come to a verdict and the judge declared a mistrial.

Photo via Pima County Sheriff's Office