2026年9月16日 / 美国东部时间上午8:53 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
当局表示，一名美国海军退伍军人的谋杀案在其遗体在亚利桑那州一处公墓被发现近40年后终于告破。亚利桑那州总检察长克里斯·梅斯称，被确认为谋杀嫌疑人的男子在今年6月自杀前几天刚向调查人员提供了DNA样本。
奥里森·詹姆斯·“吉姆”·查芬的遗体于1987年8月8日在菲尼克斯郊外的格伦代尔市被发现。54岁的查芬曾在朝鲜战争期间服役于海军，独自住在当地一处拖车公园。当天，一名驾车途经公墓的路人发现了他的尸体。他的喉部被割伤，身上只穿了袜子。
目击者称，他们看到一辆轿车停在公墓的一处区域，车灯亮着，在他们靠近时该车驶离了现场。后来，侦探从现场收集的证物中提取到三份男性DNA图谱，其中一些来自啤酒瓶和烟头，但直到最近才将其中任何一份与嫌疑人匹配成功。
查芬的悬案在2025年重新开启调查。此次调查最终将嫌疑人锁定为加里·韦恩·比勒普斯，他在最初针对查芬被杀案的调查中从未被警方约谈过。
梅斯表示，比勒普斯最初在3月调查人员联系时拒绝会面。今年6月，调查人员在菲尼克斯都会区的西谷找到了他，他自愿接受了约谈。
据总检察长办公室透露，在约谈期间，尽管有逮捕记录显示比勒普斯1987年就在格伦代尔，但他否认认识查芬，也否认当年在当地居住。调查人员此前还发现，查芬、比勒普斯和另外两人在查芬遇害前一天下午曾在该市的一家酒吧共度时光。
比勒普斯在被警方释放前提供了DNA样本，该样本后来与案发现场提取到的DNA完全匹配。几天后，比勒普斯自杀身亡，因此尽管案件现已告破，但无法对其提起刑事指控。
“39多年来，吉姆·查芬的谋杀案一直悬而未决，”梅斯在一份声明中说道，他还提到查芬是“一名为国效力的退伍军人”。
“很长一段时间里，人们似乎永远都无法确认凶手的身份。今天，我们终于可以说出导致他死亡的涉案人员是谁了，”他补充道，“这一切之所以能够实现，是因为格伦代尔的侦探们在1987年妥善保存了证物，也是因为我们的调查人员拒绝让这起案件永远成为悬案。在亚利桑那州，任何受害者都不应被遗忘，无论需要花费多长时间才能找到真相。”
Navy veteran’s 1987 murder solved after suspect who gave DNA sample dies by suicide
September 16, 2026 / 8:53 AM EDT / CBS News
A U.S. Navy veteran’s murder has been solved nearly four decades after his body was discovered in a cemetery in Arizona, authorities said. The man identified as the murder suspect had provided a DNA sample to investigators just days before dying by suicide in June, according to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.
Orison James “Jim” Chafin was found dead in Glendale, a city outside of Phoenix, on Aug. 8, 1987. Chafin, 54, had served in the Navy during the Korean War and lived alone in a trailer park in the area. A group driving through the cemetery saw his body on the ground that day. His throat was cut, and he was only wearing socks.
The witnesses said they’d spotted a sedan stopped in one part of the cemetery with its headlights on, and it drove away when they approached it. Later, detectives produced three male DNA profiles from evidence collected at the scene, including some pulled from beer bottles and cigarette butts, but none were ever matched to anyone until recently.
Chafin’s cold case was reopened in 2025. At that point, the investigation led to Gary Wayne Billups, the eventual suspect, who had never been interviewed by police during the original probe into Chafin’s killing.
Billups initially declined to meet with investigators after they reached out in March, said Mayes. In June, he was located in West Valley, in the Phoenix metropolitan area, and voluntarily participated in an interview with them.
Orison James “Jim” Chafin Arizona Attorney General
During that interview, Billups denied knowing Chafin and living in Glendale in 1987, despite arrest records placing him there that year, according to the attorney general. Investigators also previously found that Chafin, Billups and two other people had spent the afternoon before Chafin’s killing at a bar in the city.
Billups gave a DNA sample before being released by the police department, which later matched DNA recovered from the scene of the murder. He died by suicide several days after that, so no criminal charges could be filed even though the case has now been solved.
“For over 39 years, Jim Chafin’s murder went unsolved,” Mayes said in a statement, noting how Chafin was “a veteran who served his country.”
“For a long time, it seemed the person responsible would never be named. Today we can say who was involved in his death,” he added. “That is possible because Glendale detectives preserved the evidence in 1987 and because our investigators refused to let this case stay cold. No victim in Arizona should be forgotten, no matter how long it takes to find answers.”
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