Mesa police: Man killed after arranging computer purchase using OfferUp
A Phoenix man has been arrested on suspicion of killing a man he had agreed to meet outside a Mesa hotel to purchase electronic devices through an online exchange site, according to court documents.
Michael Alexander Abel, 24, was arrested Monday by Mesa police, who are seeking charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery with a deadly weapon against him, according to charging documents submitted by police to Maricopa County Superior Court.
He is being held in the shooting death of 32-year-old Austin David Parton, whose body was found about 5 a.m. Oct. 19 in the parking lot of the Ramada Inn, 1666 S. Dobson Road, court records said.
The man had been fatally shot in the upper left back, records said.
Investigators determined that Parton's two MacBook laptops, an iPhone, debit cards and his 2007 Nissan Altima were missing from the scene, court records said.
According to court records, detectives learned that Parton would routinely meet with people to arrange sales or purchases of Apple products through the mobile app OfferUp and then resell them on eBay.
Detectives learned that Parton had arranged through OfferUp to meet with a seller named Alex on Oct. 18 to purchase a MacBook for $500 and arranged to meet at the site where Parton's body was found, documents state.
Police were able to track down Abel through a phone number connected to an email linked to his OfferUp account, documents state.
That number led detectives to a Mesa address of a woman who knew Abel. That woman told police that Abel routinely would meet people to sell items through OfferUp, records said.
She told police that Abel had left with a friend on Oct. 18 and that she later received a phone call in which Abel sounded shaken up, court records state. The woman also identified the OfferUp post that lured Patron to his death and a picture of a hand with a tattoo as Abel's, court records said.
Police also were able to track Abel's movements through the phone number, which led them to find Parton's car in south Phoenix.
Abel was later interviewed by police where he admitted to listing items on OfferUp but never selling the laptop, court records stated. Abel refused to further discuss his OfferUp activity, court records stated.
A search warrant was served at the Mesa address and investigators found multiple Apple devices and ammunition matching the type used in the murder, records state.
Records state that Abel had been living with his parents in Phoenix.
Abel was arrested and booked with bond set at $750,000. A court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
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