Shortly before his arrest in an Alaska slaying, a former Arizona lawmaker raised concerns among his Facebook friends with messages saying he was looking for work, even odd jobs.
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Mark DeSimone, 53, is accused of shooting 34-year-old Duilio Antonio “Tony” Rosales, an immigrant from Nicaragua, twice in the back of the head during a hunting trip at a private cabin in Alaska, according to documents filed in Juneau District Court.
Paige said DeSimone told investigators that he was a former state lawmaker in Arizona.
The former Phoenix businessman, who had lived in Juneau in the 1980s, had been back in Alaska for a month, working as a day laborer.
He attended Arizona State University in Tempe before opening a cafe and bar in Phoenix in 1990, according to his LinkedIn profile. “I shot him. It’s my fault”, according to an affidavit filed in court. His entry into politics came after he led opposition to a ballot measure that would ban smoking in businesses. He was essentially homeless this time around, couch-surfing at the home of the owner of a local jewelry store, The Jewel Box, where Desimone worked as a salesman in the summer of 1989. Rosales was a jeweler at the store, according to Paige and a donation page set up for his family. Paige said it is a hard weapon to fire and requires 8 pounds of pressure to pull the trigger just once. “He was out running around at the capitol and I asked him if he was thinking of ever running again and he said, ‘Oh, maybe sometime, but this is not the time, ‘ and that’s the last I saw of him”, Pitzl told the Empire. “It’s unfortunate it’s a sad story”. He then locked himself in a room with their two young children, the Arizona Republic reported. His bar, the Hidden House Cocktail Lounge, also fell by the wayside, the subject of tax delinquency violations.
According to the police report of DeSimone’s 2008 assault charge, Mali DeSimone had called 911 after an argument got out of control and, she said, her husband “grabbed her by the shoulders with both of his hands…[threw] her to the floor in the bedroom…sat on top of her around the stomach area and started punching her with his closed right hand in the face and arms”. DeSimone is not to drink alcohol and he can not have contact with witnesses in the case.
Troopers arrested DeSimone on a first-degree murder charge and arraigned him Tuesday during what spiraled into an emotional court hearing for the victim’s wife. Desimone’s lawyer, assistant Public Defender Timothy Ayer, said Thursday it’s still very early in the case and he had no comment at this time. Rosales’ widow, Maria, later posed a question to DeSimone asking, “Why did you do this to my husband?” At first, she said they took DeSimone’s claim with a grain of salt.
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