David Nordstrom cut a long-expected deal yesterday that clears him of murder charges if he testifies against his brother and another man.
He pleaded guilty to armed robbery and admitted driving a getaway truck in a deadly heist last year.
"I drove the truck away from the Moon Smoke Shop," Nordstrom told a judge at a hearing yesterday.
Now, he's looking at five years in prison, as long as he takes the stand at his brother's murder trial, scheduled for July 15.
David Nordstrom, 27, and Scott Nordstrom, 29, were arrested in January after David started talking with Tucson police detectives about six murders last year.
He said Scott Nordstrom and another man killed two people at the Moon Smoke Shop last May 30 and four people at the Firefighters Union Hall June 13.
"He just couldn't live knowing that his brother had done something that bad," Laura Udall, Nordstrom's lead attorney, said yesterday.
Smoke shop employee Thomas Hardman, 26, and customer Clarence W. Odell III, 47, were slain in the robbery. Another employee survived being shot in the face.
Killed 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 originally denied involvement in either robbery, but later admitted driving the truck from the smoke shop.
Last week, a judge dropped four murder counts against David Nordstrom in the union hall slayings, citing lack of evidence.
Udall successfully argued that David Nordstrom, who was on electronically monitored parole, was at home the night they occurred.
Scott Nordstrom still stands accused of six first-degree murder charges, for which he faces the death penalty if convicted.
The state's case appears to hinge on David Nordstrom's testimony. Because of that, many relatives of the victims said they can accept the plea agreement.
Under the agreement, prosecutors will recommend David Nordstrom be sentenced to five years in prison if he testifies truthfully. He is ineligible for probation under the deal.
David Nordstrom will be eligible for release after serving 85 percent of his sentence, which means he could be out in four years and three months.
"He's relieved to a certain extent because he's no longer (in danger of being) on death row," Udall said. "He doesn't want to go back to prison, but he knows that he has to because of his role in this crime."
He was released from prison in January 1996 after serving a three-year term for theft convictions outside Pima County.
David Nordstrom politely concurred as Pima County Superior Court Judge John Leonardo asked him a series of questions, including whether he concurred with the plea agreement.
"I agree with everything," he said.
Leonardo filled in yesterday for Judge Pro Tem Michael Cruikshank, who is presiding over the case and will sentence David Nordstrom.
A sentencing date has not been set, but Udall said it probably will occur after Scott Nordstrom's trial.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed David Nordstrom should serve his sentence in another state because he could be in danger in an Arizona prison.
"Anytime you testify against anybody in the prison system, that's a violation of some type of code that people live by. And especially in this case, he's testifying against his brother," Udall said.
The state Department of the Corrections ultimately decides where to house inmates, Udall said.
Deputy County Attorney David White declined to say whether the third man, who has been named as a suspect several times in court proceedings, will be indicted in the slayings.
The suspect, a Maricopa County Jail inmate, is being held in the August murder of a Phoenix retiree.
Tucson police Lt. Tom McNally declined to comment on specifics of the case, but said the plea deal will help at trial.
"From our viewpoint, it simply enhances the ability to successfully prosecute the case in court against Scott Nordstrom and . . . any other suspect who may be indicted in the homicide," McNally said.
McNally said David Nordstrom probably will not collect the $30,000 88-CRIME reward offered in the case.
Arizona Daily Star reporter Inger Sandal contributed to this story.
