Police arrest man suspected of strangling woman to death on Phoenix bus

Joshua Bagley, 26, was arrested Thursday in connection to a woman found dead on a Phoenix bus last week.

On May 6, Phoenix police responded to an emergency radio call of an injured person not breathing at a city bus stop on Baseline Road and 27th Avenue at 7:57 a.m., according to arrest documents. 

The bus driver reported an unresponsive woman, later identified as Diane Craig, 41, on the floor in the back of the bus. Phoenix fire arrived on scene and found Craig with the straps of a bag twisted around her neck. 

Craig was transported to a hospital where she later died, according to police. The medical examiner ruled she died by strangulation, court documents state.

According to court documents, the bus driver told a police officer on scene that he stopped the bus, believing that there were no passengers on board. It was not until he conducted a check on the bus that he found Craig on the bus floor in the back.

Bagley boarded the bus stop at 22nd Avenue, the driver told police. Bagley and Craig were the only two passengers on board.

The bus driver told police he heard a noise from the rear of the bus but did not think anything of it. After that, the driver noticed Bagley moving toward the front of the bus, arrest documents state.

The driver told police he stopped at QT gas station to use the restroom. When he walked out, he said he saw Bagley standing outside the bus and saw him walk away, court documents state.

Bagley exited the bus at a stop located on the southwest corner of 19th and Southern avenues, court documents state.

Upon inspection of video footage from the bus, police said it showed Bagley putting straps from a bag around Craig’s neck and strangling her. He was also shown stealing some of Craig’s belongings, arrest documents state.

He was initially booked into jail on May 1 and released two days later. Police were able to later arrest Bagley a week later on a felony warrant from Mohave County, arrest documents stated.

Bagley was eventually arrested on May 10 after police were able to identify him in the surveillance footage. 

Bagley was booked into Maricopa County Jail and was charged with one count of murder in the first degree, and held for a non-related felony warrant out of Mohave County.

His bond was set at $2 million. A preliminary hearing has been set for May 19.

Reach breaking news reporter Amaris Encinas at amaris.encinas@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @amarisencinas.

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