The Glendale Police Department arrested Joseph Keller for the alleged murder of Jose Sanchez in 2016, putting an end to an eight-year cold case.
On April 22, 2016, officers responded to a call with “lots of screaming on the line” at an apartment complex near 57th Avenue.
Upon arrival, officers located the victim’s wife and young daughter waiting outside the complex. The family had been notified that there was a “loud bang” and that four men were seen running out of their apartment, toward a white Dodge Avenger with what was later identified as a laptop and an Xbox.
After entering the scene, they located Sanchez with two gunshot wounds to his right arm and left chest area, leaning against a wall. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
They also observed that the apartment was ransacked, with every room in disarray.
It was also noted that within the guest bathroom, the toilet tank lid was removed from its position and all cabinet doors were left opened.
Video surveillance showed the suspect vehicle arriving at the apartment complex roughly 50 minutes before the original 911 call. The vehicle tailed another upon entering the complex, and left from a northbound gate that opened automatically for oncoming traffic.
On April 25, 2016, the department released information to the public, asking for assistance and information on the case. The next day, a mother and father called in, stating they recognized the vehicle as their daughter’s, and were cooperative with police. They stated that the vehicle was their daughter’s and that she was dating Keller at the time of the homicide.
“At the time of this incident, detectives learned that (Keller) commonly drove this vehicle, and that he had it on the day of, and during the hours the homicide occurred,” the official probable cause statement said. “Keller was identified as having possession of the car between (11 a.m. and 3 p.m.).
“(Keller’s girlfriend) claimed that Keller never told her anything about the murder, nor did she know anything independent about the murder.”
From the interview with Keller’s girlfriend, detectives were also informed that she lived in the same complex and building as the homicide until September 2015, but that Keller had never been into the complex with her. This was due to him serving his first of two prison sentences in Arizona.
When the victim’s family was interviewed, nobody knew of Keller or his girlfriend. They said that there wouldn’t be any logical reason for Keller to be in that apartment.
The family was confronted about the toilet tank lid, as it could have been a possible connection for Keller’s appearance, due to a suspicion of money or drugs being held inside the toilet. But the victim had no criminal record, “nor did he live a high-risk lifestyle.”
The toilet tank lid provided detectives two positive fingerprint impressions, both consistent with Keller’s, and the Dodge Avenger provided several more fingerprints.
Keller was interviewed three times up until his arrest — in 2016, 2021 and 2023. Each time he denied any involvement in the case and requested his attorney, but he was compliant with a court order to provide DNA samples.
“The week of April 22, 2024, detectives began attempting to locate (Keller) to arrest him,” the document said following detectives gaining information that the victim and Keller had no connection to one another, and that the victim’s daughter had seen him three hours prior, to which nothing was out of order.
“Keller was located entering his vehicle at an apartment complex near (redacted). He was followed to the area of 75th Avenue and Weldon Street, where a traffic stop was conducted, and he was arrested without incident.”