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Additional charges have been filed in two Flagstaff homicide cases from 2024. Samuel Lionel Lee and Menalek Anthony Dressler, arrested in October in unrelated incidents, both now face charges of first-degree murder after new indictments were filed in Coconino County Superior Court.

Coconino County Attorney Ammon Barker could not comment on the specific circumstances of either ongoing case. Speaking generally, however, Barker said there can be multiple reasons for new charges in criminal investigations.

“The important thing to remember is that the investigation doesn’t end when the case is charged � investigations and evidence collection continue during the pendency of a case,� Barker said.

New evidence or a revised analysis of existing evidence may lead attorneys to add, modify or dismiss charges as a case progresses, he noted.

“At the end of the day, we want every charge to meet our office standard, which is ‘a reasonable likelihood of conviction at trial,’� Barker said.

Lee was previously charged with second-degree murder and four counts of sexual assault. Police first encountered Lee after receiving a report of a man placing an unconscious woman into a car outside a hotel on South Beulah Boulevard on the afternoon of Oct. 1, 2024. Officers stopped the vehicle on Milton Road and began resuscitation efforts on the woman, but she was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical personnel.

Police questioned Lee, but did not arrest him at that time. A warrant for his arrest was issued the next day and he was ultimately arrested on Oct. 18.

The rationale for escalating Lee’s charge to first-degree murder was not immediately clear: a court filing notes that the new charge “is based on the same evidence.� (The new indictment also includes all charges from the original indictment.) Proceedings in the case had previously been delayed while waiting for an autopsy report from the county medical examiner’s office.

Prosecutors have filed a notice of intent to proceed to trial in Lee’s case. “There will be no plea offered," it states, "nor accepted.� According to that filing, prosecutors are seeking the earliest possible trial date. A trial scheduling conference is set for mid-March, and Lee is being held in custody with cash-only bond set at $500,000.

Dressler, meanwhile, was arrested less than one week after Lee. Deputies with the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office took Dressler into custody in Doney Park on Oct. 23, 2024, following reports of a stabbing incident at a residence. Two of the victims died, and one was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.

In their original indictment, prosecutors charged Dressler with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault on the surviving victim. Now he faces two counts of first-degree murder for the deceased victims. During a case management conference on Jan. 21, deputy county attorney Jonathan Mosher indicated that new evidence, including DNA analysis, was the basis for the additional charges.

Though Dressler has no prior convictions in Arizona, Mosher noted that Dressler has a criminal history in California -- which includes aggravated assault, elder abuse and animal abuse.

Dressler also faces public sexual indecency charges from an incident in Williams that occurred on Aug. 2, 2024. According to the Williams Police Department arrest report, witnesses said Dressler had been masturbating in public and in view of a minor.

During processing at the Williams Police Department’s holding facility, Dressler “continued to yell, insult and threaten� the arresting officer, the report notes.

In addition to making threats, Dressler claimed to be associated with “the Central Intelligence Agency, Kamala Harris and his grandfather Vladimer [sic] Putin.� He had marijuana and baby oil in his pockets at the time.

Following his arrest in Williams, Dressler was released from the county detention facility on Aug. 7. No charges were filed in Coconino County Superior Court from that incident until after his October arrest.

In addition to the murder and sexual misconduct cases, Dressler has been charged with destruction of jail property and making terroristic threats, both of which allegedly occurred during his current incarceration at the Coconino County Detention Facility. In January 2025, according to the prosecution, Dressler allegedly threatened to carry out a mass shooting and claimed to be an expert rifleman.

Mosher asked the court on Jan. 21 to raise Dressler’s bond to $2 million, cash only. He cited Dressler’s criminal history and multiple pending cases, and argued that keeping Dressler in custody was “absolutely critical� to public safety. Judge Dan Slayton granted that request.

Dressler’s bond was raised again to $5 million cash during his latest arraignment on Feb. 18.

Mosher also stated on Jan. 21 that the prosecution would seek a trial in the murder case and would not negotiate a plea agreement for those charges. As of Feb. 24, there had been no formal filing of a notice of intent to proceed to trial in Dressler’s case, and a trial scheduling conference had not yet been arranged.

A third Flagstaff homicide case from October 2024 concluded abruptly last week when the defendant, who allegedly struck and killed a motorcyclist while driving drunk on Lake Mary Road, was found dead at his residence in Phoenix after failing to appear in court. The cause of death is believed to be suicide, according to the defendant's attorney.