Barbara Codman was 46 when her naked, decomposing body was found in an alley in Phoenix on September 11, 2002. Her death later became linked to a series of killings that unfolded in the area the following months.

Investigators eventually connected the case to 24-year-old karaoke disc jockey Cory Morris after his uncle discovered a decomposing body in the camper where Morris lived in April 2003. Morris confessed to the murders of five women, including Codman. His statements about Barbara’s death changed during questioning; he first said she overdosed while he was away, then said she had asked him to choke her during sex and that her death was accidental. Police described a pattern in which Morris lured vulnerable women to his trailer, sexually assaulted and killed them, kept bodies for a period, then dumped them in alleys or on sidewalks.

Morris was charged with five counts of first-degree murder; a jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to death. Friends remembered Barbara as a kind and gentle person. If anyone knew Barbara or saw anything in Phoenix around September 2002 that might help researchers, please share what is known.