More than two dozen felonies have been imposed upon a former Seattleite accused of dumping body parts throughout central Arizona.
According to a statement from the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office, a Yavapai County jury found Walter Harold Mitchell III guilty of 29 felony counts of concealing or abandoning a dead body on Thursday.
Tags and medical gauze found with human remains discovered on the outskirts of Prescott in late December 2020 allowed authorities to link Mitchell to the remains.
Mitchell had moved there earlier in 2020 from Washington state, where he owned a cadaver management company. According to prosecutors, his business ceased operations permanently in April 2020, and he transported the donor parts to Arizona in a U-Haul truck on dry ice when he relocated to Arizona.
Prosecutors say he kept the parts in a freezer in a shed in Chino Valley, north of Prescott, and later told authorities he dumped them in late November 2020. After selling the freezer and relocating to Scottsdale, he was arrested.
The remains, which included arms, legs, and heads, have been linked to nine individuals, according to Deputy Yavapai County Attorney Casi Harris.
The sentencing of Mitchell is scheduled for late October.
