Fast jury closes smoke shop, union hall cases
A Pima County jury pinned the remaining blame for six shocking murders on Robert G. Jones yesterday.
Jones pulled the trigger in the 1996 murders of four people during robberies at the Moon Smoke Shop and Tucson Firefighters' Association Union Hall, the panel decided.
The 12-member jury also found Jones, 28, guilty of two other murders under a felony-murder theory. His partner in the shootings, Scott Nordstrom, was convicted in December of actually shooting those victims to death.
The verdicts satisfied relatives of Jones' victims.
"This is the one we were waiting for," said Lisa Dickey, niece of Clarence "Chip" Odell III, the first person to die at the smoke shop. "He's the one who apparently was the shooter."
Jones showed no emotion as a courtroom clerk reeled off 15 felony verdicts, all guilty. His attorney said Jones read the verdict in the jurors' faces as they re-entered the courtroom after just three hours of deliberation.
"Robert, while not expecting it, was not surprised. I think the emotions of Mr. Jones were very complicated," defense attorney Eric Larsen said. "I felt (the jury) had grounds to proceed in either direction."
The speed of the deliberations reflected a fast-paced trial. It lasted only five days, while Nordstrom's trial spanned about five weeks.
Prosecutor David White said Nordstrom's conviction helped accelerate the case. Even more important was the fact that Larsen did not try to present an alibi for Jones, as Nordstrom's attorney's had done, the deputy county attorney said.
"The majority of the defense case was presented through cross-examining the three witnesses who made any difference in this case," Larsen said.
Larsen's next task will be to try to save his client's life when Superior Court Judge John Leonardo sentences Jones Oct. 26. White will ask for the death penalty, the same sentence that Nordstrom received last month.
A death sentence would satisfy Chris Bell. Jones shot and killed his parents, Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54, and Judy Bell, 46, at the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, on June 13, 1996.
"There are many times I wanted to jump up over the banister in the courtroom and go after Scott or Robert," Bell said.
Nordstrom and Jones robbed the smoke shop, 120 W. Grant Road, on May 30, 1996. Thomas Hardman, 28, who worked at the shop, and Odell, 47, a customer, were killed there. Employee Steve Vetter was shot in the arm, and a bullet grazed his lower lip.
In addition to the Bells, Carol Lynn Noel, 50, and Maribeth Munn, 53, died at the union hall robbery two weeks later.
Tucson police got their first strong lead when a confidential informant named Scott Nordstrom and his younger brother, David, as suspects in November 1996. Two months later, David Nordstrom called Tucson police and named Jones as the murderer, but he and his brother soon were arrested, too.
At the time, Jones already was in jail in Maricopa County on a separate murder charge.
A Pima County grand jury indicted Jones last July. In addition to the six murder convictions, the jury yesterday found Jones guilty of one count of attempted murder, three counts of armed robbery, three counts of aggravated assault and two counts of burglary.
As at Scott Nordstrom's trial, one of the key witnesses during Jones' trial was David Nordstrom. The younger Nordstrom testified he waited outside the smoke shop in Robert Jones' pickup truck while his brother and Jones robbed and murdered inside, then drove them away.
David Nordstrom agreed to testify and plead guilty to armed robbery in exchange for prosecutors' dropping two first-degree murder charges against him. He faces three to 10 years in prison when sentenced.
Although Nordstrom's testimony was a near-repeat of what he said during his brother's trial, White brought in a few new witnesses for Jones' trial.
Lana Irwin testified that Jones spoke of killing four people during two robberies in conversations with her former boyfriend in 1996. That man, Steven Coats, and Jones are awaiting trial for another murder, the killing of a Phoenix retiree during a botched robbery on Aug. 23, 1996.
Another witness, David Evans, testified that Jones, a former friend of his, made various incriminating comments.
White credited Tucson police Detectives Brenda Woolridge and Ed Salgado with tireless work in turning up new witnesses even after Scott Nordstrom's trial.
"They spent hundreds of hours looking for people who knew Robert Jones. That's how they came up with Lana Irwin," White said. That made the Jones trial easier than the Scott Nordstrom trial, he added.
"It was a stronger case," White said. "My role was just not to screw it up."
