Lauren Heike’s killer gave detectives a disturbing explanation after they put the slain Arizona hiker’s picture in front of him.
“That’s what I would want to look like,” Zion Teasley told police after his arrest, investigators said.
The 25-year-old admitted in court Friday that he murdered Heike in 2023, a plea that locked in life behind bars and removed a possible death sentence.
Heike, 29, was attacked during a walk near her Phoenix home and left with 15 stab wounds across her upper body.
She also suffered wounds to her hands and forearms while trying to defend herself.
Police say Teasley shadowed Heike along the trail before the camera no longer captured either of them.
A man was later recorded fleeing the area and climbing over a barbed-wire fence. Heike was discovered dead the following day.
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Teasley’s diary became part of the investigation after police found entries about gender identity, sexuality and envy of beautiful women, ABC15 reported.
“I have been battling with my gender identity and sexuality,” Teasley wrote, adding that he felt depressed “when I see a beautiful woman and I’m a man.”
Teasley’s attorney referred to the killer as “her” during the case.
Before Heike’s murder, Teasley had already been convicted in 2021 of armed robbery with a deadly weapon, robbery and disorderly conduct. He had been on probation before the hiking trail attack.
A former employer also told police Teasley had been fired after allegedly behaving aggressively toward female employees and was suspected of stealing merchandise.
The case against Teasley stretched from the trail to his phone, clothes, headphones and own words, ABC15 reported.
DNA matching Teasley was recovered from Heike’s shoe, adding to the cellphone-location data, surveillance, clothing and headphone identification, and statements that connected him to the murder.
Heike’s family backed the plea deal rather than face a trial that would force them back through the killing.
The family said it was relieved Teasley “will never be released.”
In a separate Washington state case, federal prosecutors say another person who identified as transgender had a chance to warn authorities about a planned school attack but instead assisted the shooter.
James Cody Bryant, 30, of Bellingham, was arrested Tuesday after prosecutors accused him of sending money, giving advice and agreeing to broadcast the Feb. 10 attack at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia.
Canadian authorities said the shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, killed eight victims.
Those killed included five students, an educator, Van Rootselaar’s mother and his 11-year-old stepbrother.
Van Rootselaar was later found dead inside the school from an apparent self-inflicted injury.
At a Seattle news conference, Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said Bryant could have contacted police but made the opposite choice.
“Bryant had the information and ability to alert law enforcement, and even discussed that possibility with the shooter, but he chose not to,” Floyd said. “Instead, he encouraged and offered assistance to a murderer.”
Federal prosecutors charged Bryant with conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country.
Prosecutors say Bryant helped Van Rootselaar get the vehicle running for the trip to the school after two family members were already dead.
“So even after the shooter had already tragically killed two family members, Bryant assisted the shooter in successfully traveling to the second location to take even more lives,” FBI Seattle Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington said.
Herrington confirmed that both Bryant and Van Rootselaar identified as transgender, with Bryant identifying as female.
Bryant and Van Rootselaar first connected through a random Omegle pairing roughly three years before the massacre, investigators said.
Herrington said investigators had no indication of what their transgender identities were, why they continued communicating or whether they ever met in person.
Their messages later shifted into months of talk about violence, Herrington said.
“This complaint was particularly difficult to read, in part because of the casual tone these two individuals used when discussing the mass taking of innocent lives that was being planned,” he said.
Federal officials say Bryant agreed to run the online broadcast meant to put the killings in front of viewers.
“Bryant even stayed awake after an overnight work shift to make sure this horrific act could be widely viewed online,” Herrington said.
The Twitch broadcast attempt lasted about 20 seconds before it cut out, according to Floyd.
Herrington said investigators do not know whether Van Rootselaar would have carried out the attack without Bryant agreeing to run the broadcast.
Weapons were also part of the pair’s discussions, though Floyd said Bryant was uncomfortable with sending them into Canada.
Herrington described the communications as focused partly on Van Rootselaar’s suffering and “a very keen focus on notoriety.”
The pair also compared other mass shootings, the public attention those attacks received and whether Tumbler Ridge could draw the same kind of notice, Herrington said.
Herrington warned that a person does not need to be at the scene to face prosecution for allegedly helping a mass attack.
“If you think you are safe from prosecution because you did not pull the trigger, or were not physically present at the scene of the crime, think again,” he said.
“The FBI and our partners will use all of the considerable investigative tools at our disposal to hold accountable those who enable or assist in acts of mass violence,” Herrington added.
