Man admits murdering roommate who had just moved cross-country to start a new life

Timothy J. Sullivan (Chandler Police Department).

Timothy J. Sullivan (Chandler Police Department).

An Arizona man has pleaded guilty to murdering and dismembering his roommate and scattering her remains in trash bags, a desert area, and even a river bottom.

Timothy J. Sullivan, 66, is scheduled for sentencing to occur Oct. 7, online records show. Trial was set to begin Wednesday for the killing of Amy “Ruby” Leagans, 49. Sullivan ultimately copped to charges of second-degree murder and concealing a body.

Leagans had moved from Illinois to the city of Chandler, Arizona, in April 2020 for a new start on life.

“Her comment was on Christmas she’d be in a bathing suit, while we’re all hunkered down in our winter clothes,” her sister, Christa Holton, said, according to Mesa NBC affiliate KPNX in a November 2020 report.

But Sullivan, Leagans’ roommate and erstwhile lover, stole her life in brutal fashion in October of that year.