Chandler man accused of murdering Nebraska teen has criminal past and shady business

CHANDLER, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) – It’s a disturbing case of an extremely brutal murder of a teenager visiting Arizona and a suspect whose motive remains a mystery. On Thursday, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of Anthonie Ruinard for killing 18-year-old Parker League in June. On the surface, it appeared Ruinard was a businessman running different companies and enterprises, but we’ve uncovered a history of violent crime and a bizarre path of problems left in his wake.

It’s impossible to understand how somebody could murder, mutilate, and burn a teenager, let alone one they apparently just met. Authorities say 18-year-old Parker League was visiting friends in Arizona after graduating from high school in Nebraska. Then he was found dead in a bonfire pit in June in Bulldog Canyon with his head and hands cut off.

The man police said was using his debit and credit cards after his death was Anthonie Ruinard. Investigators found evidence that Ruinard and League left a Phoenix club together and went to a gas station. They said it was the last time League was seen alive. The teen’s blood was also found in Ruinards car.

Questions are now swirling about who Ruinard is and why he allegedly murdered Parker League. He’s no stranger to criminal activity. His criminal history includes an armed robbery, theft, a bomb threat to a school, and leaving his dog in the backyard to die, adding an animal cruelty charge to his rap sheet. But all that happened between 2003 and 2007, so the challenge is piecing together what he did after that. It appears he has a slew of LLCs and recently owned a popular restaurant in Tucson, Pastiche.

Now, former employees have shared that things weren’t as they seemed there. “I worked there in, like, January, and there were people who still hadn’t gotten paid from Thanksgiving or November, said Alberto Oceguera, who was a server at the restaurant for several months. He said many were upset because they said Ruinard was withholding money and not giving them tips, yet always showing up to the restaurant in nice cars. “It’s kind of hard to believe that a guy that has that type of money and shows that off wouldn’t pay you,” Oceguera said. That restaurant closed in February after a mysterious fire, and the cause is still unknown.

Data shows most recently, Anthonie Ruinard was the CEO of Legacy Investors Group, an investment management company, and was functioning out of an office suite in Fountain Hills. A lockout notice is now on the door, and a source said MCSO searched his office suite last week with a warrant, likely as part of the Parker League murder case. Arizona’s Family also called Ruinard’s wife, who is listed on his investment business but told us “no comment.”

MCSO said they found a lot of cocaine in his Chandler home and in his car, and Ruinard told detectives he used cocaine and marijuana before meeting up with Parker League, which he said may have “blurred his memory.” Otherwise, the motive is still unknown.

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