David Nordstrom's attorney said yesterday that he has a solid alibi for four killings last summer: He was at home when they happened.
Laura Udall plans to argue that Nordstrom wasn't involved in the slayings at the Firefighters' Union Hall last June, she indicated during a hearing yesterday.
She will argue Nordstrom was wearing an electronic monitoring device that confirms he was not at the union hall.
"The monitor cannot be defeated," Udall said. "It proves that he was at home at the time the firefighters occurred."
"That's my ironclad alibi for this crime," she said.
David Nordstrom, 27, is scheduled to stand trial next month in the May 30 Moon Smoke Shop and June 13 union hall slayings.
His brother Scott Nordstrom, 29, also is charged with murder in the killings. His trial is set for July.
David Nordstrom admitted he drove a getaway truck from the Moon Smoke Shop. A smoke shop customer, Clarence Odell III, 47, and an employee, Thomas Hardman, 26, were killed at the business, 120 W. Grant Road. A 34-year-old employee, shot in the face and the arm, survived.
But the younger brother insisted he was not involved in the union hall slayings. He told police his brother and another man shot four people that night.
Killed were bartender Carol Lynn Noel, 50; and customers Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; his wife, Judy Bell, 46; and Maribeth Munn, 53. A union hall manager estimated $850 was stolen.
David Nordstrom wore a monitoring device as part of a home arrest program from Jan. 25, 1996 to Aug. 24. He entered the program after serving a three-year prison term in Douglas on theft convictions outside Pima County.
Deputy County Attorney David White, who is prosecuting the case, refused to comment on the alibi defense.
David Nordstrom smiled several times during yesterday's hour-long hearing, joking with his lawyers and appearing at ease. His brother waived his right to attend.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Pro Tempore Michael Cruikshank will hear arguments Wednesday about Udall's recent request to prevent prosecutors from using statements David Nordstrom made to police before and after his Jan. 16 arrest.
Udall argued in a motion filed Monday that police misled David Nordstrom by promising him money and leniency to implicate his brother.
