NARRATOR: Dale Hausner grew up on the streets
of Phoenix, Arizona, the youngest of five brothers.
Despite his family's financial hardships,
Dale had big dreams of being a boxing promoter.
Welcome to the best of boxing, everybody.
I'm your host Dale Hausner.
[cheering]
NARRATOR: But after a life of dramatic ups and downs,
the streets of Phoenix became his hunting ground.
REPORTER: As the sun goes down, concern rises,
and cops hit the streets, hoping to stop
the serial shooter before he takes aim and fires again.
[gunshot]
[sirens wailing]
NARRATOR: In a 15-month shooting spree,
Dale Hausner terrorized the city.
Among those stunned by Dale's arrest
was the brother who thought he knew him best.
I was second to the youngest, so I did look out for him.
Growing up, I never would have suspected
there was that much wrong.
I mean, he had his moments where he was hard to be around.
I helped him the best I could.
I never really sensed any major danger.
Growing up, we were very poor, but didn't quite know it.
Dale, as a young child, was just kind
of a silly, slap-happy kid.
We got along relatively good, although he
did like his alone time.
I always joke-- genetically, in one way,
we inherited the weak, puny gene, but as we got older,
we learned to exercise more, at least
get stronger for what we had.
NARRATOR: For the Hausner brothers,
a favorite exercise is boxing.
But the sport also offers a glimpse into Dale's dark side.
We had a punching bag.
Dale would talk to the punching bag.
And he would say, I don't want any problems.
And he'd throw a punch at it.
And then he'd stop.
And he'd say, really, I don't want any problems.
And he'd practice this quick, sharp, punch movement out
of the blue.
He came home one day, and he was, like, really fired up.
And I said, what's going on?
He says, well, this kid's been picking on me every day,
so I finally took care of it.
I did what I did to the punching bag.
I said, well, I'm proud of you for defending yourself.
And he looked at me.
He said, well, but there's something more.
When my hand hit his face and I saw the blood, it felt good.
NARRATOR: It's a glimpse into Dale's secret life, a life
that Randy would only learn about
much later when he discovers Dale's private journal.
Here's a part where he says, "I
started stealing and starting fires when I was nine.
My one passion was destroying things.
I loved it-- breaking windows, slashing
tires, spraying bleach on people's clothes
while they hung to dry."
Is this the brother you knew?
No.
It makes you wonder, did he just choose evil?
Is something wrong with his brain?
A lot of things go through your mind.
NARRATOR: In May of 2005, Dale starts
a new nocturnal activity.
He joyrides the quiet streets of Phoenix with a gun.
[suspenseful music]
CLARK SCHWARTZKOPF: Nobody reported
a shot being fired in the area.
When he was found in the street by passers-by on a car,
they thought he'd been the victim
of a motor vehicle accident.
And again, it wasn't until paramedics arrived here,
we found the gunshot wound in the middle of his back.
Tony Mendez was shot in the back while he's riding his bicycle.
He was actually going to take candles to a family
that had no electricity.
And he used to ride this bike everywhere.
That's when he was taken.
No leads, no suspects, no known reason--
this quiet, residential neighborhood
where a guy on a bicycle was shot and killed
was the start of this whole case.
JUSTIN MENDEZ: I was 17 years old.
I never thought I would lose my dad.
I remember one time when I was little,
we were watching a movie and somebody died,
and I said, Dad, when are you going to die?
And he said, never.
Just-- I don't know.
That's very tough.
I'm sorry.
When I meet Justin, I would like
to let him know that I understand one thing,
and that is that when somebody is killed,
it affects the sons, the daughters, the family
of everyone that's involved.
REPORTER: Phoenix Police have arrested the man
they believe is the city's serial shooter,
responsible for multiple deaths.
When I first heard the news, the first thing
me and my mom and everybody else thought is, it can't be true.
NARRATOR: The trial is a painful reminder
to the victim's loved ones of just how much they've lost.
So when your brother ultimately went to trial,
did you go in his defense?
Or did you go just to hear what the testimonies
were or the trial in general because you're curious?
To begin with, I went there out of curiosity.
There was a process of, I got to give
him the benefit of the doubt.
And it started to change.
And more stuff started adding up till eventually I knew that I
was dealing with a madman.
NARRATOR: Randy Hausner is in court with his parents
when the verdict comes in.
Dale Hausner receives the death penalty six times.
I actually felt good about it.
When you do that kind of evil, the best thing
that could happen is you be put out of your misery
for the sake of the victims and even for himself.
I told him that to his face.
NARRATOR: On June 19, 2013, Dale Hausner
commits suicide by overdosing on medications
he stored up in prison.
And I got to admit, at that time, I shed no tears.
I actually felt relief.
I said, it's over.
JUSTIN MENDEZ (VOICEOVER): Justice
for me would have been for him to be in a cell
for the rest of his life.
Dale never took responsibility for what he did.
It never seemed like he showed to me regret for what he did.
NARRATOR: For Randy, there's still unfinished business--
expressing his family's sorrow to his brother's victims.
When you have all these questions like who did it
and why, it holds you back from getting over it and healing
and getting through it.
NARRATOR: Justin Mendez is seeking
answers for why his father was murdered by Dale Hausner.
He did a lot of pain to my family,
especially my little brothers and sisters.
It hit them the most because they barely got to know my dad.
Justin, me and my family in no way
justify the behavior that my brother did,
his evil acts toward your innocent father.
It disgusts us.
And our heart goes out to you.
And we just want you to know that.
You lost your father.
And that's a heart-wrenching thing.
How did you find the strength to deal with that?
My father wouldn't want me to fall off track
because of him being gone.
He'd want me to be a better man.
So I did my best to try to make him
proud because I know somewhere he's looking down on me.
My dad-- he was a very, very good person.
And he loved his family.
That's him with my little sister.
He always had her in his arms.
So Justin is also a dad now.
Yeah, that also helped me get through losing my dad--
was my kids.
So those are his grandkids.
Oh, what a little doll.
[laughing]
And that's something I think about every day, you know,
that they're never going to meet their grandpa.
But your brother didn't just take my dad away.
He took a brother, a son--
A grandpa.
--a grandpa, mm-hmm.
Something that I wanted to tell you about
was one time I went to visit Dale on death row.
And I guess they were talking about, oh,
that prisoner over there, he killed a child
and that's worse.
And I said, yeah, that's horrible.
JUSTIN MENDEZ: Mm-hmm.
But when you kill an adult, if they have a child,
you are harming that child.
JUSTIN MENDEZ: Yeah, and it's not like you ever
get over something like this.
There's days you just--
you let go, and you break down.
Or there's days, like, I compare all the time,
oh, look at that kid with his dad,
or look at that guy with his daughter and his dad.
My family-- they just want to know why somebody would take
somebody as good as my dad.
[sighs] I wish I could have give you more justice.
You deserve better than what I've brought to the table
today, to be honest.
You deserve answers, and I can't give them.
If the situation was reversed, I could only
hope I would be half the man you are
and be able to come and talk and be at peace with it.
So I really appreciate meeting you.
I'm sorry.
You're very, very, very not what I expected,
like, you sound like you have a, like, a good heart yourself.
And I'm just kind of like shocked by that, you know?
Because seeing someone like Dale,
you figure he comes from something that's similar.
But, I mean, you just--
you seem a lot different.
And I think it's very brave of you and big of you
to come out here and do this knowing you're practically
taking ownership of what your brother did when it's not
your fault. But hearing from you as his brother, you know,
sorry.
And I think this whole experience
was a good experience.
[emotional melodic music]
It takes a really big person to step forward
for what his brother did even though it's not his fault.
But it's still nice to know that his family is sorry,
and they are wishing the best for us
and just wanting to make the world a better place.
And I know one person in a big world is not much,
but it's at least something.
It's at least something.