Man sentenced to more than 22 years in Apache Junction double murder

(FLORENCE, AZ) - On Thursday, August 18th, Demian Joseph Blu, 44, was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for the killings of Keith Long and Renae Gardner after pleading guilty to two counts of Second Degree Murder. The families of both victims were present during the hearing.

Blu was indicted in September 2018, on multiple counts stemming from the 2016 murders of Long and Gardner, due to his involvement with a local outlaw motorcycle gang, The Loose Cannons. In August of 2021, after a six week trial, a jury convicted Blu of two counts of Hindering Prosecution in the First Degree, one count of Assisting a Criminal Street Gang, and two counts of Abandonment or Concealment of a Dead Body. Superior Court Judge Robert C. Olson sentenced Blu to 27.5 years in the Arizona Department of Corrections in October of 2021, on the trial counts.

In his allocution to the Court on August 18th, 2022, Blu said:

“To the families of Keith Long and Renae Gardner, there is nothing I can say to take away the pain I have caused. Not a day goes by that I don’t live with regret. I know sorry is not enough, but it’s all I can say.”

This case was investigated by the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office in connection with the Apache Junction Police Department and prosecuted by Deputy County Attorneys Patrick Chapman and Gina Cucuzella.

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