Tucson Man Convicted Of 2002 Murder Of Phoenix Couple

TUCSON, AZ — A Tucson man who lured a Phoenix couple to Tucson more than 15 years ago with a fake ad for a motorcycle was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder Wednesday. Brian Ferry’s first murder trial ended in a mistrial in February after the jury was unable to reach a verdict.

The bodies of Charles Russell, 58, and Cathy Nelson, 42, who were last seen on Feb. 2, 2002, were never found, but Ferry’s DNA was found in their truck, according to court records. They had answered an ad for a motorcycle that Ferry had placed in the Arizona Republic.

Police suspected foul play, but stopped investigating when they couldn’t find the couple.

Colleagues reported the couple missing when they didn’t show up for work on Feb. 6, 2002, according to an Arizona Daily Independent report. The case was cold until 2015, when new evidence emerged.

Police said Ferry shot and killed the couple inside his home. Their pickup was found in a church parking lot on Tucson’s South Side.

During the trial, which began in mid-April, prosecutors said they had found several “burner phones” Ferry owned and used to talk with the couple as part of the plan to lure them to Tucson and kill them, according to Tucson News Now. Prosecutors also said that Ferry’s father went to a landfill with his son and helped him dispose of some possibly incriminating items after the couple were reported to be missing. (Sign up for Tucson Patch for real-time news alerts and free morning newsletters. Like us on Facebook. Also, download the free Patch iPhone app or free Patch Android app.)

Ferry’s attorney had argued that 16 years had passed since the couple disappeared, and that witnesses’ memories of what took place are unreliable after so much time. The defense also said that the presence of Ferry’s DNA in the victims’ truck doesn’t mean he was in the truck, and that DNA isn't an exact science.

"Your DNA can be in a room even if you were never in it,"

The couple’s deaths were considered unsolved homicides until January 2015, when Ferry was arrested on two counts of first-degree murder.

Ferry will be sentenced on July 23.

Lead photo via Shutterstock