Man arrested in SLO County connected to 2017 homicide case in Tucson
PHOTO: SLO County Sheriff
SAN LUIS OBISPO — The SLO County Sheriff’s Office has announced identification of the second of two suspects in a 2017 homicide case out of Tucson, Arizona.
Earlier this month, on October 8, Tucson Police contacted the Sheriff’s Office Detective Division regarding 28-year-old Preston Scott Scruggs, who was already in custody in SLO County on unrelated charges.
Scruggs had been identified, along with a man by the name of James Russell Cook, as a primary suspect in an early 2017 homicide at the Travel Inn on E. Benson Highway.
Tucson Police had responded to the scene on January 19 and found a body under the bed, soon determined to have been a victim of murder.
Surveillance video showed the victim entering the room, later joined by Scruggs and Cook, who are later shown leaving the room. The third person is not seen again.
In January of 2018, Tucson Police obtained a confession from Cook. Further investigative leads eventually identified Scruggs as the second suspect.
On October 16 of this year, the SLO County Sheriff’s Office assisted Tucson Police in obtaining DNA evidence from and conducting an interview with Scruggs, concluding with his arrest on an extraditable homicide warrant out of Tucson.
At the conclusion of his current jail term in SLO County, he will be turned over to authorities from Tucson.
