Family: Double Murder Suspect Was Schizophrenic

PHOENIX - After more than 24 hours of searching, 35-year-old Erick Lampert was apprehended. The Phoenix man, who has a history of mental illness, disappeared Saturday night after police say he murdered his mother and 14-year-old nephew.

Police finally took the man into custody Monday morning just before 10 a.m. in Tempe.

Lampert's family says he was bipolar and schizophrenic, and that over the years his illness transformed him.

"When everyone else had turned -- not turned their backs, but didn't know what to do with him, my mother was the only person who was unconditionally always there for him," says the suspect's brother, Vince Lampert.

Lampert's brother says that's what makes the events of Saturday night so inconceivable. "We never ever thought he would harm my mother."

Sheila Lampert, 61, and her grandson Loggan, 14, were found dead Saturday, bludgeoned to death by a shovel. Loggan's body was found hours later, in a backyard garbage can.

Their home is now the site of a memorial -- Sheila's car still in the driveway -- license plate reading LUV-M-ALL.

"My mom's a wonderful person. She loved. She never hurt anyone; all she wanted to do was help everyone," says Vince choking up.

The suspect's father, Bronko, says his son had gone through violent episodes before, and that he once barricaded himself inside a home and threatened police with a samurai sword. Lampert was jailed for only a day.

"They should have put him away at that time. But they didn't. This is the consequences. Which I will never live down," says Bronko Lampert.

Bronko Lampert went so far as to say that if his son had showed up at his house while on the run, he "was going to leave a few ounces heavier because I was going to load him up with lead."

Sheila Lampert was an animal lover who worked for the Arizona Humane Society. Loggan was a goodhearted young teen who was well-liked in his neighborhood.

Lampert's been booked into the 4th Ave Jail for two counts of first degree murder.