DesertSleuth
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2020
- Messages
- 13
- Reaction score
- 6
Hello everyone...
I am new to this forum and joined because I am an aspiring writer with an interest in cold cases. In my spare time I like to research cold cases in my area (which is the Phoenix metro area) and I found a few that I would love to share. I'm most interested in ones where there is very little media coverage or information available online. One method I use to obtain information beyond a simple Google search is I go to the police departments and pay for copies of the case records. Thats what I did for this Robert Trimborn murder from 1992.
On September 22nd of that year his body was discovered in his home, deceased of a gun shot wound. He was an openly gay computer repairman who worked at Honeywell in Phoenix. His house was just north of West Greenway Road and North 61st avenue but the bar he was last seen was in Phoenix on 7th avenue and Camelback. This bar which is called Charlies still exists today and is actually the biggest gay bar in the Phoenix area. He was last spotted alive on the afternoon of September 20th and was there with his longtime friend Dale Martin Degner.
When police were performing the welfare check of Robert on the afternoon of the 22nd they spotted Degner drive by the home in his blue Mazda, pulled him over and took him down to the police station for an interview. According to the police records Degner claimed he was also openly gay and a long time friend of Roberts but never was in a relationship with him. He also claimed he was to be traveling to San Diego with him on Monday September 28th and their discussion at Charlies was about that trip. He claimed Robert invited him home for dinner but he declined and went home. He said he returned to Roberts home Monday evening but nobody answered.
On that same Monday evening a next door neighbor claimed he put out a fire in Roberts backyard by reaching over a fence and spraying it with a garden hose but did not alert authorities until officers began interviews when they discovered his body on the 22nd. The neighbor said he tried knocking on Roberts front door to get his attention but there was no answer. Police reported this was a gasoline fire that was lit in a trail to lead up to the Arcadia door in the back of the residence as if someone wanted to call attention to Robert's body.
Workers at Charlies reported Robert and Dale acted normal at the bar that Sunday and simply socialized with friends. Neighbors of Robert and Degner himself told police Robert's home was burglarized and guns were taken from the residence about a year prior to his murder. They also reported Robert did not ever use curtains and you could see into his house from the street.
During their search of his home they discovered Robert's .22 revolver was missing. This gun was thought to be the murder weapon. They also found many photographs of naked men and a house littered with beer cans in addition to finding paper plates with chicken bones at the top of the trash can.
Without a witness to the murder, a murder weapon or a confession from Degner the case went cold. In a 2004 Arizona Republic article it was announced it would be re-opened. Fingerprinting analysis lead them to a convicted felon named Thomas Ray Reasons. Reasons lived with his Aunt and Uncle in Trimborns neighborhood 2 blocks directly north in 1992. His fingerprints were found on a beer can and a polaroid camera inside Robert's home. In an interview his wife claimed she once caught Reasons in bed with another man. In another interview his uncle claimed Thomas told him he knew Robert and he also claimed Robert hung out at a bar Robert was known to frequent: the Cheers bar at Bell and 59th avenue.
Upon being interviewed in prison in 2005 Reasons denied involvement or even knowing Robert.
The case remains cold to this day. An obituary can be found in a google search for Dale Martin Degner claiming he passed away in Phoenix on March 2019. Thomas Ray Reasons was serving a 12 year prison sentence for DUI at the time of his 2005 interview but I could not find new information pertaining to his current whereabouts online. No other suspects were ever named in Roberts death.
I hope in sharing this a breakthrough can be made leading to an arrest or at least some answers for Roberts family and friends.
https://www.glendaleaz.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_15209001/File/Live/Police Department/Cold Case PDFs/Robert Trimborn.pdf
I am new to this forum and joined because I am an aspiring writer with an interest in cold cases. In my spare time I like to research cold cases in my area (which is the Phoenix metro area) and I found a few that I would love to share. I'm most interested in ones where there is very little media coverage or information available online. One method I use to obtain information beyond a simple Google search is I go to the police departments and pay for copies of the case records. Thats what I did for this Robert Trimborn murder from 1992.
On September 22nd of that year his body was discovered in his home, deceased of a gun shot wound. He was an openly gay computer repairman who worked at Honeywell in Phoenix. His house was just north of West Greenway Road and North 61st avenue but the bar he was last seen was in Phoenix on 7th avenue and Camelback. This bar which is called Charlies still exists today and is actually the biggest gay bar in the Phoenix area. He was last spotted alive on the afternoon of September 20th and was there with his longtime friend Dale Martin Degner.
When police were performing the welfare check of Robert on the afternoon of the 22nd they spotted Degner drive by the home in his blue Mazda, pulled him over and took him down to the police station for an interview. According to the police records Degner claimed he was also openly gay and a long time friend of Roberts but never was in a relationship with him. He also claimed he was to be traveling to San Diego with him on Monday September 28th and their discussion at Charlies was about that trip. He claimed Robert invited him home for dinner but he declined and went home. He said he returned to Roberts home Monday evening but nobody answered.
On that same Monday evening a next door neighbor claimed he put out a fire in Roberts backyard by reaching over a fence and spraying it with a garden hose but did not alert authorities until officers began interviews when they discovered his body on the 22nd. The neighbor said he tried knocking on Roberts front door to get his attention but there was no answer. Police reported this was a gasoline fire that was lit in a trail to lead up to the Arcadia door in the back of the residence as if someone wanted to call attention to Robert's body.
Workers at Charlies reported Robert and Dale acted normal at the bar that Sunday and simply socialized with friends. Neighbors of Robert and Degner himself told police Robert's home was burglarized and guns were taken from the residence about a year prior to his murder. They also reported Robert did not ever use curtains and you could see into his house from the street.
During their search of his home they discovered Robert's .22 revolver was missing. This gun was thought to be the murder weapon. They also found many photographs of naked men and a house littered with beer cans in addition to finding paper plates with chicken bones at the top of the trash can.
Without a witness to the murder, a murder weapon or a confession from Degner the case went cold. In a 2004 Arizona Republic article it was announced it would be re-opened. Fingerprinting analysis lead them to a convicted felon named Thomas Ray Reasons. Reasons lived with his Aunt and Uncle in Trimborns neighborhood 2 blocks directly north in 1992. His fingerprints were found on a beer can and a polaroid camera inside Robert's home. In an interview his wife claimed she once caught Reasons in bed with another man. In another interview his uncle claimed Thomas told him he knew Robert and he also claimed Robert hung out at a bar Robert was known to frequent: the Cheers bar at Bell and 59th avenue.
Upon being interviewed in prison in 2005 Reasons denied involvement or even knowing Robert.
The case remains cold to this day. An obituary can be found in a google search for Dale Martin Degner claiming he passed away in Phoenix on March 2019. Thomas Ray Reasons was serving a 12 year prison sentence for DUI at the time of his 2005 interview but I could not find new information pertaining to his current whereabouts online. No other suspects were ever named in Roberts death.
I hope in sharing this a breakthrough can be made leading to an arrest or at least some answers for Roberts family and friends.
https://www.glendaleaz.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_15209001/File/Live/Police Department/Cold Case PDFs/Robert Trimborn.pdf
