Man dismembered, remains found in closet, suitcase in ‘brutal’ Phoenix murder

PHOENIX – A 32-year-old is accused of stabbing a man to death, then dismembering his body after an argument escalated. When he was done, he allegedly forced the victim’s girlfriend to help clean it up.

What we know:

The recent murder at an apartment complex near 24th and Oak streets on May 7 is gruesome, police say.

“I think brutal’s a good word, but almost one that doesn’t give it enough for a case like this,” Sgt. Rob Scherer with the Phoenix Police Department Public Affairs Bureau said. 

Court documents say 32-year-old Christopher Ebanks was drinking with the victim and the victim’s girlfriend. When an argument escalated, police say Ebanks fatally stabbed the man. 

“It did appear that the victim had been partially dismembered,” Ashley Stetson, a prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, said. “The victim’s hands and head were dismembered.”

The girlfriend told police Ebanks made her clean up the scene and help hide the body in a closet. 

“The victim was wrapped in kind of a blanket and an air mattress,” Scherer said.

Dig deeper:

The girlfriend said Ebanks then took her to his apartment and forced her to shower at knife or gunpoint to destroy evidence. 

“Really it’s kind of profound, her strength to kind of go through some of the stuff that she went through, and witnessing what she witnessed,” Scherer said.

Police later found the victim’s head and hands in Ebanks’ apartment. 

“It sounds like the dismembered body parts that were missing from the you know, original scene, were inside of a suitcase,” Scherer added.

What’s next:

Ebanks was arrested on charges including murder and kidnapping and is being held on a $1 million bond despite his plea to lower it. 

The suspect asked the court, “Is there any way that you can reduce that million-dollar bond to maybe $500,000? A million dollars is just not doable.” The judge denied the request, stating, “Well at this point sir, I’m comfortable with the bond.”

Map of the area.

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