By Chuck Hustmyre
March 6, 2007
GILBERT, Ariz. (Crime Library) — Police have announced the arrest of murder suspect Jonathan Ian Burns's girlfriend and have charged her with providing him with the gun he allegedly used to kill 19-year-old Jackie Hartman.
Mandi Elaine Smith, 24, was charged with misconduct involving weapons, a class 3 felony under Arizona law, punishable by up to seven years in prison.
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Mandi Elaine Smith |
Police allege Smith bought the gun for Burns last year.
"She admitted to purchasing a 9mm semiautomatic handgun in May of 2006 while Jonathan Burns, a convicted felon, was present," said Gilbert police spokesman Lt. Joe Ruet. "She said he controlled and carried the gun for the past 10 months, except for a 46 day period when he was back in prison, and it was in his possession the last time she saw it."
Jackie Hartman's body was found in the desert east of Phoenix on February 18, three weeks to the day after she sneaked out of her parents' house to go to a late-night party with Burns, whom she had recently met at a gas station.
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