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Suspects identified after man found dead at Tempe warehouse

Posted at 2:16 PM, Feb 28, 2020
and last updated 2020-02-28 16:41:49-05

TEMPE, AZ — Two suspects are facing murder charges after a man was found dead inside a business space in Tempe last week.

On February 17, Tempe police were called to the area of McClintock Drive and Curry Road after a friend said they hadn't heard from the person who was renting an office space.

Responding officers found the property's door open, and inside they found a dead man who had been bound with tape and wrapped in a tarp.

He was later identified as 64-year-old Steven Dowd.

According to police, friends of the victim went to the warehouse to visit Dowd, who was living in the space while his home was being renovated. When they arrived, they reportedly saw a white box truck near the victim's car.

The friends knocked on the door and allegedly saw two people inside, and a large tarp inside the doorway to the victim's office.

One suspect, later identified as Steven Lojek, 43, said that he was there to clean the warehouse. Lojak and the friends entered the warehouse, and when the friends saw that things had been re-arranged, Lojek ran out to the box truck and drove away.

Another friend called the police once they found Dowd's hair sticking out of the tarp.

Outside the warehouse, another person drove up and told the friends to leave. When they questioned the driver, later identified as 38-year-old Matthew Steven Anderson, he said Dowd was at the casino.

When the friends called police, Anderson reportedly left the area.

The medical examiner determined that Dowd had a broken arm, a broken neck, and multiple head fractures. Police say they found two stun batons, one with blood on it and a second that was broken. Investigators would later learn that Anderson had recently purchased the batons online.

When police opened the warehouse safe, they reportedly found "numerous guns and various large quantities of drugs, along with $100,000 in cash."

Anderson and Lojek are on the run and have been tracked outside of the Valley.

They both have been given a $1,000,000 bond and were charged this week with first-degree murder, kidnapping, and aggravated assault.