Murder-suicide ruled in deaths of pair found at wildlife refuge

The shotgun deaths of two Phoenix men whose bodies were found in a remote wildlife refuge north of Las Vegas resulted from a murder-suicide, a Nevada sheriff said Tuesday.

But the exact circumstances surrounding the deaths of William Joshua Kim, 27, and James Joseph Dyer, 33, may never be known, Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee said.

Lee said one man shot the other, then shot himself. But the sheriff wouldn't say which fired the gun.

Lee said detectives found no signs of a struggle and no suicide notes. Investigators were still trying to determine whether both men planned to die.

"We still don't know why they came where they came, why they did what they did," Lee said. "We're still trying to get to what their actual relationship was."

Lee said Dyer, who had a criminal history in Arizona and had been identified by the FBI based on fingerprints, cashed about $10,000 out of a retirement fund before the trip.

Kim was identified through his tattoos and by his family in Illinois, Lee said.

Their bodies were found Thursday off a dirt road near a lake in the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, about 80 miles north of Las Vegas.

Investigators learned the men rented a car in Phoenix and spent the night of June 11 at the MGM Grand.

Authorities were working with MGM grand security officials to use surveillance tapes to piece together how the pair spent their time at the resort and whom they encountered while there, Lee said.

Lee said authorities still hadn't determined where the gun found near the bodies was purchased.

Dyer and Kim had separate addresses in Phoenix but may have worked together at a large retail chain store, Lee said.