TUCSON, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- The investigation into the unsolved March slaying of a 60-year-old man on a Tucson, Ariz. area golf course was re-opened after the Washington-area sniper task force determined that accused snipers John Muhammad and John Lee Malvo had been in the area at the time.
Tucson police announced Tuesday they had been informed by the FBI last week the Montgomery County Task Force had learned that the accused snipers had passed through the Arizona city at the time Jerry R. Taylor was found shot to death on the Fred Enke Golf Course.
Muhammad and Malvo allegedly terrorized the area around the nation's capital last month.
"Investigators have learned that John Muhammad and John Lee Malvo were in Tucson in mid-March visiting John Muhammad's sister who was then a Tucson resident," police said in a statement. "The weapon involved in the homicide is believed to be a rifle."
Taylor was found dead March 19 at practice holes where he had been polishing his chip shots on his own. Although fellow golfers found Taylor's body, there were apparently no witnesses to his shooting.
Police said that they were working with the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in "jointly re-evaluating the evidence associated with this case, including the crime scene."
The Arizona Daily Star said the golf course was being searched, along with the assistance of tracking dogs, for evidence such as shell casings that might link Taylor's death to the rifle allegedly used in the sniper attacks.
The newspaper said no ballistic evidence was recovered during the initial investigation, and that police confirmed Tuesday that an item that officers wouldn't identify appeared to have been taken from the victim.
Muhammad, 41, and Malvo, 17, remained in custody Tuesday on a long list of charges stemming from the string of random shootings that left 10 people dead and three injured in the Washington area.
They also face charges in slayings in Baton Rouge, La., and Montgomery, Ala. Muhammad is also considered a suspect in the shooting death of a 21-year-old woman in Tacoma, Washington.
The two were arrested Oct. 24 in Maryland.
