A 56-year-old man, D. Bollwinkel, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, and burglary after killing his 82-year-old neighbor, L. Baran, and using her debit card to withdraw thousands of dollars just minutes after her death.
The shocking crime took place in Arizona in February 2024, and Bollwinkel was apprehended on June 2, 2025, following his extradition from Utah.
The Murder and Investigation
Bollwinkel, known for his lengthy criminal past, was a former neighbor of Baran, having lived near her until three weeks prior to the murder when he was evicted from a nearby property.
According to court records, Baran’s body was discovered in the back seat of her car, inside the garage of her home, on February 11, 2024. Investigators revealed that Baran had been shot to death, with evidence of a struggle in her home, including disarranged furniture near the front door.
Before her death, Baran had been harassed by Bollwinkel for money. A neighbor reported seeing him park his van near Baran’s home on February 9, the evening she went missing.
Another witness later saw Bollwinkel running from the house and speeding off in his van around 7:00 p.m. That same night, Baran’s family, unable to reach her, requested a welfare check. Police responded and found her lifeless body, which had been fatally shot in the left side of her torso.
ATM Withdrawal and Cellphone Data
In a disturbing twist, surveillance footage and transaction records revealed that just 30 minutes after Baran’s murder, Bollwinkel used her debit card at an ATM to attempt to withdraw $10,000.
He successfully withdrew $4,000, according to police. Cellphone data placed him at the scene of the crime during the time of the murder, further strengthening the case against him.
Bollwinkel fled Arizona shortly after the killing and was on the run for nearly four months before being located and arrested at an international airport. The authorities did not disclose how they tracked him down in Utah, but confirmed that his fleeing Arizona had sparked a manhunt.
Bollwinkel’s Criminal History
This is not Bollwinkel’s first run-in with the law. His criminal record stretches back more than a decade and includes convictions for forgery and criminal impersonation. In 2014, he and his wife were involved in a high-profile consumer fraud case, scamming dozens of individuals through a fake house-sitting program.
They had offered renters lists of foreclosure properties that turned out to be either occupied or unavailable. In 2015, Bollwinkel and his wife were ordered to pay $2.1 million in damages by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office for their role in the housing scam. Bollwinkel also served time following a 2008 arrest for similar offenses.
Now, Bollwinkel faces the most serious charges of his life. He is currently being held in the county jail on a $1 million cash-only bond. If convicted, Bollwinkel could spend the rest of his life in prison, and possibly face the death penalty due to the severity of the crime.
The Victim: L. Baran
The tragedy has left Baran’s family and neighbors in shock. Baran was remembered by loved ones as a kind and generous woman, and her violent death has devastated those who knew her. The fact that she was allegedly killed while trying to surrender or negotiate with her assailant has deepened the emotional toll on her family.
Legal Proceedings and Future Investigation
Bollwinkel has not yet entered a plea, and his preliminary hearing is still pending. Prosecutors are preparing for a high-profile trial, as the community waits for justice to be served. Authorities are also continuing to investigate whether additional charges might apply or if any other individuals were involved in Baran’s death.
The case highlights the extreme lengths to which Bollwinkel went, from committing fraud and scams to resorting to murder for a few thousand dollars, in what has turned into a deeply disturbing sequence of events.