An Arizona man confessed during a police interrogation to shooting a man after an argument and then recruiting his brother to help destroy the body, according to the Phoenix Police Department.
Brothers Jose and Roberto Lomeli were booked in the Maricopa County Jail over the weekend, nearly two months after 26-year-old Jose De Jesus Loeza was found dead.
Loeza's body was discovered in a car engulfed in flames on April 1. Medical examiners later determined that he died of a gunshot wound - prompting the city's homicide unit to take control of the case.
During a jailhouse interrogation, 40-year-old Jose confessed to pulling the trigger after an argument with Loeza. He was charged with second-degree murder, arson and abandoning a body. Thirty-five-year-old Robert was implicated in the case and charged with arson and abandoning a body, according to KTVK.
"One of [the Lomeli brothers] was responsible for the murder of the victim," said Sgt. Brian Bower, according to KTVK. "His brother was responsible for helping, hindering the investigation as well as causing the fire and helping with the arson aspect."
The incident is still under investigation. Police have not yet shared the suspects' connection to Loeza or what the alleged argument was regarding.
Neither of the brothers has entered a guilty or not guilty plea. Innocent people will sometimes give false confessions during police interrogation, particularly when under duress, according to the Innocence Project. The pair are expected to appear in court again later this week.
