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Suspects in death of ASU professor now in Maricopa County custody

Posted 7/24/20

Maricopa County deputies say two people were arrested in connection with the death of an ASU professor.

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Suspects in death of ASU professor now in Maricopa County custody

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Maricopa County deputies say two people were arrested in connection with the death of an ASU professor.

In May, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office searched the Northwest Regional Landfill, near 195th Avenue and Deer Valley Road, Surprise, as part of an investigation into the disappearance of Jun Seok Chae, an ASU professor.

On July 17, MCSO deputies discovered his body at the landfill, according to a release.

MCSO said Mr. Chae was reported missing to the ASU Police Department after he did not return home from work. On March 30, detectives were contacted by the by Shreveport, Louisiana Police Department after officers there responded to a suspicious vehicle call and contacted Javian Ezell and Gabrielle Austin, both 18, and a third individual. Officers determined the vehicle belonged to Mr. Chae and obtained statements from the individuals which led them to believe the professor may have been the victim of a homicide.

On further investigation, MCSO determined Mr. Chae had been killed near Carefree Highway and 7th Street, within the jurisdiction of MCSO, the release states. MCSO Patrol and Homicide Unit personnel responded to the scene and conducted an investigation, during which several items of evidence were identified.

Detectives determined the professor’s body was placed in a dumpster by the suspects and was ultimately deposited at the landfill in Surprise, MCSO stated. The agency conducted a landfill search from May 11 to July 17, when human remains were located along with other evidence. The Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner positively identified the remains as Mr. Chae.

Javian C. Ezell and Gabrielle Austin were recently extradited to Arizona and are currently in MCSO custody. They were booked into MCSO jail in lieu of $1 million bond each on charges of first-degree murder, armed robbery and theft

“I continue to be impressed by the hard work of our deputies,” Sheriff Paul Penzone stated. “Their perseverance in an extremely complex and demanding case will now allow the victim’s family closure to what has surely been a difficult period. Investigative efforts to recover a body from a landfill are rarely successful. The Herculean efforts by deputies in this case cannot be overstated.”

MCSO received assistance from several other law enforcement agencies to include the Arizona State University Police Department, Phoenix Police Department, Surprise Police Department, and Buckeye Police Department. Detectives also received assistance from Army National Guard (Hazmat 91st), Waste Management Inc. and Rummel Construction, who provided heavy equipment and excavated the search area.

The search at the landfill took over 48 days of searching with an average of 10 hours and 15 people each day, according to MCSO. About 1,400 dump truck loads of material was moved.

The total cost of the search, not including man hours, was $304,500 — over $240,000 of that was for equipment rental from Rummel, per MCSO.