Category: Court News

KINGMAN – A Kingman man who killed his girlfriend’s mother was given a “life prison” sentence during a June 5 hearing at the Mohave County courthouse. The punishment is mandated in the plea agreement for Mark Baldonado, 32. Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle explained that Baldonado may never get out of prison but he would have to serve 25 calendar years before his release becomes possible. Baldonado told the Court that he was messed up on drugs in the period leading up to the homicide. He said getting off drugs and finding God while jailed will help him rehabilitate and…

KINGMAN – A serial arsonist whom police dubbed the “Burning Bush Bandit” is going to the Arizona Department of Corrections for seven years. Charlie Balluff, 40, Kingman, was sentenced Monday by Mohave County Superior Court Judge Doug Camacho. Kingman Police Chief Rusty Cooper said Balluff had been connected to more than 400 area arson incidents dating back to 2013 at the time of his arrest a year ago. No one was hurt and damage was minimal from the fires, most of them set in dumpsters or brush. Detective Heath Mosby wrote a presentencing letter noting that Balluff’s arson blitz endangered…

LAKE HAVASU CITY – A Lake Havasu City man was arrested last month following an investigation of child pornography that began early this year. Daniel Knight, 27, was booked into the Mohave County Adult Detention facility for sexual exploitation of a minor. The investigation began in February after a woman contacted Lake Havasu police. She said she discovered dozens of images of child porn in a file in the phone that was returned after she allowed Knight to borrow it. Police reports show Knight first denied using the phone, before he subsequently said that he thought the downloaded images were…

KINGMAN – A local judge has rejected a plea agreement proposed for the Henderson man who used a modified armored vehicle that served as his home to block the U.S. 93 Colorado River bridge linking Arizona with Nevada north of Kingman. It was nearly two years ago when Matthew Wright, 32, stopped traffic on the bridge during a 90-minute ordeal that ended when he drove south into the Arizona desert where his big rig was immobilized. It was revealed during Monday’s hearing in Kingman that Wright claims he was protesting government handling of the shooting massacre that killed 58 people…