Attorney General Mayes Announces DNA Evidence Has Identified Suspect in 1987 Murder of Navy Veteran Orison James "Jim" Chafin
PHOENIX — Attorney General Kris Mayes today, in partnership with the Glendale Police Department, announced that DNA evidence has identified Gary Wayne Billups as the suspect in the August 8, 1987, murder of Orison James "Jim" Chafin, whose deceased body was found in Resthaven Cemetery near 63rd Avenue and Northern Avenue in Glendale.
Billups, 68, of Wittmann, took his own life on June 24, 2026, five days after he provided a DNA sample to investigators. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office investigated Billups death. Laboratory analysis subsequently confirmed that Billups' DNA profile matched DNA recovered from evidence at the murder scene nearly four decades earlier.
"For over 39 years, Jim Chafin's murder went unsolved,” said Attorney General Kris Mayes. “He was a veteran who served his country and he died alone in a cemetery. For a long time, it seemed the person responsible would never be named. Today we can say who was involved in his death. 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. I am grateful for the partnership and collaboration with Glendale Police Department on this case."
“We are proud of the detectives who not only worked on this case almost four decades ago, but to those who were most recently involved. This is a prime example of the importance of preserving critical evidence. That meticulous preservation, along with the diligence of our partners with the Attorney General's Office, not only led to this DNA match but closure for the families impacted by this case,” said the Glendale Police Department.
Background:
In the early morning hours of Saturday, August 8, 1987, a group of four people driving through Resthaven Cemetery saw a midsize sedan stopped with its headlights on in the northwest section of the grounds. As they approached, the vehicle fled across the dirt and sidewalk onto Northern Avenue, heading west. Witnesses reported seeing two men in and around the car before leaving.
Where the car had been parked, witnesses observed the body of a man lying in the roadway. This body, later identified by Glendale police, as 54-year-old Chafin, a Navy veteran of the Korean War who lived alone in a trailer park in the West Valley. Chafin had been discovered with his throat cut, wearing only socks; the rest of his clothing was never recovered. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide.
Investigators learned that Chafin had spent the previous afternoon and evening at Critters Lounge near 59th Avenue and Glendale Avenue. Witnesses placed Billups and two others at the bar that evening with Chafin.
Detectives collected beer bottles and cigarette butts from the scene which later through forensic testing produced three male DNA profiles from that evidence. These profiles were entered into the national CODIS database. No DNA match or arrest have ever been made until recently.
In 2025, the Attorney General's Office Cold Case Unit reopened the case alongside Glendale PD Investigators and re-examined the original file, re-interviewed surviving witnesses, and identified Billups, who had lived in Glendale in 1987 but was never interviewed by police at the time.
Investigators first attempted to contact Billups in March 2026, but he declined the meeting request. On June 19, 2026, investigators located him in the West Valley. Billups voluntarily accompanied investigators to the Surprise Police Department for an interview, during which he denied knowing Chafin and denied living in Glendale in 1987, despite arrest records placing him in the city in 1986 and 1987. He provided the DNA sample and was released.
Billups died on June 24, 2026. The DNA results confirming the match were returned August 6, 2026.
Because the suspect is now deceased, no criminal charges will be filed. Two other individuals investigated in connection with the case have also since died and could not be contacted further.
The Attorney General's Office and the Glendale Police Department both consider this case closed. Mr. Chafin is survived by his niece and nephew.
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