A jury found Luis Armando Vargas guilty, on August 3, 2016, of First Degree Murder, Burglary, Kidnapping, Arson, Theft of Means, and Theft of a Credit Card.
On Valentine’s Day 2008 Kay Read, a 62-year-old records clerk at TMC, left work, had dinner with her elderly mother, went home, and was never seen again. After Kay did not answer her mother’s phone calls on the morning of February 15th, her sister went to her house and found the front door unlocked, and Kay’s crutches by the front door (Kay was disabled as a result of childhood polio). Kay’s sister noticed a space heater knocked over in the living room and her turquoise Dodge Caravan was missing.
Kay’s van was found that morning in the area of Golf Links and Kolb. It had been set on fire with gasoline. Luis Armando Vargas was seen on surveillance tape less than one hour before the van was set ablaze, buying $1 worth of gas at a gas station on Golf Links and Kolb.
Vargas’ fingerprint matched two latent fingerprints lifted off the space heater in Kay’s home. Vargas fled Tucson and was later arrested in Bisbee. This case was prosecuted by Deputy County Attorneys Victoria Otto and Jonathan Mosher.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 6, 2016, in Pima County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Lee’s Courtroom.