Independent NewsMedia

Members of the Salt River Pima Lico Pine Indian Community were found to be guilty of first-degree murder along with other crimes last week in the 2020 murder.

Clifton Nez Hamarova, 47, was convicted after a seven-day trial in federal court for murder and a conspiracy to cause a fire in connection with a serious physical injury, assault with a dangerous weapon, serious assault, incidence of violence or crime of violence. He has not yet been sentenced, according to the US Lawyer’s Office for the Arizona area.

Hamarova was convicted of the murder on August 29, 2020, and authorities said there was a debate with the victim. After the shooting, he dumped the victim’s body in a remote area on the tribe’s land, according to the lawyer’s office.

Helping him hide the crime was his brother, Thomas Leon Hamarois and his sister, Devonne Beth Hamarois. His brother was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison for taking the victim’s car to Parker, and his sister, who cleaned the victim’s blood from the crime scene in the Gira River Indian Community, was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison. Both pleaded guilty to the crimes following the facts of the murder, according to the lawyer’s office.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Gira River Police Department jointly investigated the incident. Phoenix’s Arizona area aide Jennifer E. Lagrange and Travis L. Wheeler handled the prosecutors.