Background: Footage from the news depicts the location where a couple from Peoria, Arizona was discovered dead in November 2023 (KPHO). Inset: Image of Alexander Lee Smith provided by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
An Arizona man who shot a couple dead in their home after a sports car purchase went south will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Alexander Lee Smith, aged 21, has confessed to two charges of first-degree murder and one charge of burglary, as per a statement from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office released on Friday. Smith was found guilty of the November 2023 murders of Walter Mitchell, 52, and Susie Ephrem, 42. The incident arose from a failed attempt by Smith to buy a sports car from the couple, leading to their deaths.
The couple’s 8-year-old grandson had been in the home at the time of the fatal shooting, but he was unharmed.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office reported that Smith and Mitchell were in communication regarding the possible sale of a Ford Shelby GT500. The deal fell through after Smith’s attempt to pay via wire transfer didn’t succeed. Following this, Mitchell canceled the agreement and opted to sell the vehicle to a dealership instead.
The next day, Mitchell and Ephram were both dead after being shot by Smith.
According to the Peoria Police Department, officers arrived at the home of Mitchell and Ephram at 4:12 a.m. on Nov. 11, 2023, after Ephram called 911 to report that she and her husband had been shot. When police got to the scene, Mitchell was already dead, and lifesaving measures were performed on Ephram. She died of her injuries at the hospital.
Police said at the time that there were signs of forced entry into the home.
More from Law&Crime: ‘Smallest daughter found them’: Teen murdered her mother and stepfather while her 6-year-old sister was home with them, cops say
The attorney’s office stated that Smith came back to the home the next day while detectives were performing the investigation into the double homicide. Smith told them that he was a car collector who had purchased a Ford Shelby GT500 from Mitchell, and he was there to pick it up. He walked away empty-handed.
Two weeks later, he went to the Peoria Police Department to once again try to claim the car. But this time, according to the attorney’s office, “[h]is story did not match what he told detectives at the crime scene the day after the shooting.” Authorities found that while Smith was texting Mitchell about buying the car, he was also “posing as the car’s owner” with the intent to sell it to a third party.
Smith had continued to promise the car to the third party after Mitchell called off the sale. His proposed delivery date was the day after the double murder.
Smith was arrested exactly one year after the murders, on Nov. 11, 2024.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in the press release, “This was an act driven by greed; even after taking two lives this defendant continued to lie to police to try to get the car.”
On Friday, Smith was sentenced to two life sentences plus 21 years “for murdering a couple during a home invasion.”
