Alan Champagne: Long criminal past for suspect in buried bodies case

PHOENIX - The ABC15 Investigators have discovered a man suspected of killing two people and burying their bodies outside a Valley home has a lengthy criminal past.

Human remains found in a Phoenix backyard are now at the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner for identification and an autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.

Meanwhile, a convicted killer who used to live in the home has been identified as a suspect in connection with the grisly discovery .

Alan Champagne is currently in jail awaiting his next court hearing for charges related to a police standoff last year .

CRIMINAL HISTORY

Champagne's legal troubles started when he was 15 years old. According to court documents, he began sniffing paint during his early teens.

Champagne was also convicted for second degree murder in 1992. The 42-year-old was also accused of being a member of the Thirteenth Street East Side Loco Gang in the 1990s.

According to court records, Champagne was convicted of stabbing Ricky Marquez to death during a fight at a party. Court documents indicate he may have done so “because of his extreme intoxication induced by his consumption of alcohol and drugs.”

He served 13 years in prison and was released in 2005.

Last year, Champagne was arrested again after he was involved in a standoff with the police at the home in which he was raised , at 16th Street and Indian School Road.

Court records show Champagne had an arrest warrant for aggravated assault and trespassing charges.  When police tried to contact him, he fired more than two dozen rounds at them with an AR15.

Champagne “admitted to holding his son and girlfriend as hostages and that it was against their wills.”

He told the negotiator "that he would shoot any officer that came into his house and that he was not going to surrender…(Champagne) told the investigator he would rather die a free man than die a caged animal,” records show.

Champagne was indicted on 52 criminal counts, including attempt to commit first degree murder, misconduct involving weapons, aggravated assault, and kidnapping.

His trial is set to begin April 18.

Police on Thursday confirmed Champagne is now considered a suspect in a double homicide following the discovery of human remains in a Phoenix backyard.