A 44-year-old man who served prison time for auto theft and fraud is facing two counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of a Phoenix couple who came to Tucson to buy a motorcycle in 2002.
Brian Ferry was booked into the Pima County jail in connection with the deaths of Charles Russell, 58, and Catherine Nelson, 42, said Sgt. Pete Dugan, a Tucson police spokesman.
On Feb. 2, 2002, the couple traveled to Tucson to purchase a motorcycle, and never returned home, Dugan said. Four days later, a missing-persons report was filed with the Phoenix Police Department when Russell and Nelson did not show up for work, said Dugan.
Their bodies have not been found, Dugan said.
Family members said at the time the couple had a passion for vintage vehicles and motorcycles. They had come to Tucson with a cashier’s check for the purchase.
On Feb. 7, 2002, Tucson police found the couple’s red Ford F-150 truck abandoned in the parking lot of Santa Cruz Catholic Church at East 22nd Street and South Sixth Avenue, according to a 2010 Star article.
Detectives continued the investigation but were not able to locate the couple.
Investigators believed foul play was involved in the couple’s disappearance, but did not have additional leads to follow. The case was assigned as an unsolved missing persons case, Dugan said.
New leads developed over the past five years, and the cold-case homicide unit reopened the case, Dugan said.
He said follow-up, forensic evidence and assistance from the Pima County Attorney’s Office led to Ferry’s arrest. Dugan declined to reveal further details because of the ongoing investigation.
Detectives believe there are more people in Tucson who have information about the case and are asking they come forward or call 88-CRIME.
Ferry was imprisoned in 2004 and served a 3½-year sentence for auto theft and fraud convictions, according to Arizona Department of Corrections records.
