PD: Cold case detectives make arrest in murder case nearly 5 years later

PHOENIX - Detectives booked and jailed a suspect Wednesday in connection with a case that is nearly five years old, police said.

Joseph I. Sesmas, 27, was charged with one count of second-degree murder of in the case of Stephanie M. Trotter after detectives found new information, Sgt. Steve Martos with the Phoenix Police Department said.

A Maricopa County Flood Control employee found Trotter’s body near a canal at 7600 West Baseline Road on the morning of September 11, 2006, Martos said.

Martos said despite forensic evidence and Sesmas’ possession of Trotter’s stolen vehicle, Sesmas denied ever knowing the victim and there was not enough information to make an arrest.

According to Martos, detectives from the Cold Case Homicide Squad began following leads in 2010.

An indictment was handed down in May 2011 after the detectives found new information and presented it to a grand jury, Martos said.

Sesmas was already serving prison time in Florence for an unrelated aggravated assault charge.