David Nordstrom's conscience drove him to go to police with information about six killings last year, according to a document his attorney filed in court yesterday.
David Nordstrom told police he "couldn't take it no more," after he saw the victims' grieving relatives on television at Christmastime, according to a motion to dismiss murder charges.
"Seen it on TV on the fire hall. The family was on, and they wanted to know why. It was so sad," Nordstrom told Tucson Police Department Homicide Detective Ed Salgado, the document states.
David Nordstrom's lawyer, Laura Udall, asked a judge yesterday to dismiss murder charges against him in the four Tucson Firefighter's Association Union Hall slayings, saying Salgado misled the grand jury.
She also contends detectives promised David Nordstrom he would not be prosecuted and gave him $5,000 to direct them to the weapons used in the crimes.
David Nordstrom and his brother, Scott, stand accused in the May 30 Moon Smoke Shop and June 13 union hall slayings. A trial is scheduled for May 15 before Superior Judge Pro Tem Michael Cruikshank.
On Jan. 16, police arrested Scott Nordstrom, 29, and David Nordstrom, 27, in the smoke shop killings.
At the time, Scott Nordstrom also was charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the shooting at the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway.
Police initially did not arrest David Nordstrom in connection with the union hall slayings, but the grand jury decided enough evidence existed to indict him in all six killings.
In the motion, defense attorney Udall contends the panel would have cleared David Nordstrom of the union hall charges if they had heard the whole story.
According to Udall, David Nordstrom went to homicide detectives Jan. 12, four days before his arrest, and told them a friend committed the June union hall slayings.
Victims at the union hall were bartender Carol Lynn Noel, 50, and customers Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; his wife, Judy Bell, 46; and Maribeth Munn, 53.
David Nordstrom also said he was with that friend and his brother May 30 when a 9 mm pistol was stolen from a car parked at Tucson Medical Center.
David Nordstrom told police the friend brought up the idea to rob somebody about an hour after the gun was stolen, the document states.
That same evening, a customer, Clarence Odell III, 47, and an employee, Thomas Hardman, 26, were killed at the smoke shop, 120 W. Grant Road. A 34-year-old employee, shot in the face and the arm, survived.
Casings found at the scene suggest a 9 mm gun, similar to the one stolen, could have been used, court records state.
David Nordstrom told police he waited in the car when the friend and his brother went in to rob the smoke shop.
He said his brother and the friend came out of the smoke shop and told him they had shot three people.
In addition, a Tucson woman told police she suspected David Nordstrom swiped a .38-caliber gun from her house, according to the grand jury transcript.
Salgado told grand jurors David Nordstrom told the woman he could not return her gun because he threw the guns used in the crimes in a lake or pond, according to the motion.
But Udall contends David Nordstrom in fact simply said, "It's at the bottom of a lake."
Also, Udall states, police made promises to David Nordstrom, indicating he wouldn't be charged if he talked.
"Salgado promised David Nordstrom, 'If you get us the guns, you'll get completely out of it,' " the motion states. "I'm not trying to force you to testify. If you came up with the guns . . . you wouldn't have to."
David Nordstrom took detectives to the lake where the guns were dumped, after Salgado gave him $5,000 to direct him to the weapons, the motion states.
Salgado declined to comment on whether he gave David Nordstrom $5,000 or other specifics mentioned in yesterday's motion.
He said detectives still are searching the pond for the weapons used in the killings. Difficulties with equipment used in the search caused the delay, he said.
Meanwhile, detectives still are investigating a possible connection between the Nordstroms and a Phoenix inmate, who was charged with first-degree murder in a Phoenix slaying.
Last month, detectives seized letters and photos from Robert Glenn Jones' Phoenix jail cell. They were searching for documents linking him to the Nordstrom brothers or the shootings.
The day after they arrested the Nordstroms, police gathered letters from Scott Nordstrom's home that showed Jones was corresponding with the brothers, according to court records.
And, Jan. 14, police seized a 1962 Ford pickup truck belonging to Jones, which police said matched the description of the white or light-blue vehicle witnesses described leaving the smoke shop after the shootings.
Salgado said the County Attorney's Office must ultimately decide whether to charge Jones in the crimes.
"But he definitely is a suspect," Salgado said.
