4/11/13 - 25 years later, the man believed to be responsible for a Phoenix homicide is on trial and Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezotte is looking forward to justice. 41-year-old Steven Michael Humelhans is facing first-degree murder for the 1988 armed robbery and fatal shooting of Eric Rice, a 25-year-old Dominoâs Pizza night manager. Rice was taken from the store, shot in the desert and later died on the operating table at a hospital. Bezote worked as a security director for Dominos when Rice was killed and assisted in the investigation although it wasnât until ten years later that a suspect was developed. Bezotte says he received information in 1997 from the father of a woman who was going through a nasty divorce with Humelhans when she turned him in. While they were able to match fingerprints on checks and items taken from the store, prosecutors felt there wasnât enough for a conviction. Then last April, an arrest was finally made. The father who originally reported the information to Bezotte has since passed away so he will be testifying about how he received the information and developed a suspect. He tells WHMI it will be nice to see the family and hopefully provide some closure and justice. Bezotte says it was pretty ironic who brought the case forward into the courts all these years later. He says the arresting officer was actually the son of Pastor Richard Alberta with Cornerstone Church in Brighton. He says J.J. Alberta with the Phoenix Police Department has been working cold cases there and was assigned to the Rice murder. The trial is underway in Maricopa County Superior Court. (JM)
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Sheriff Bezotte Testifying in 1988 Phoenix Murder Sheriff Bezotte Testifying in 1988 Phoenix Murder
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