Look back: Shootings in 1996 rocked Tucson
- Updated
On May 30, 1996, two people were killed and another seriously wounded during a robbery at the Moon Smoke Shop. Two weeks later, four people were killed during a robbery at the Firefighters Union Hall.
- Ann McBride Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Two men were killed and another was injured early yesterday evening during an apparent robbery, police said.
The double homicide happened shortly after 6 p.m. at Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road, in the Grantstone Shopping Center.
One of the men killed was 36 years old and was a customer at the smoke shop. He died on the way to the hospital, police said.
The other man killed was an employee and was dead when police arrived, said Sgt. Eugene Mejia of the Tucson Police Department. His age was not available.
Another employee, who was 47 years old, was shot in the face and arm. He was taken to a local hospital, where police planned to interview him about the shooting, Mejia said.
Police are searching for two men suspected of committing the shootings, Mejia said.
The first man is described as Anglo, 6 feet tall, between 25 and 30 years old, wearing a cowboy hat and a black shirt with yellow writing.
The second suspect is described as Anglo or Hispanic, 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds and wearing dark clothing. His age was not available.
The men were seen leaving the area in a light-blue, older-looking pickup truck with possibly a step-side short bed, Mejia said.
Mejia did not know last night what the two men may have stolen from the store or whether the apparent robbers met with any resistance. He said it appeared that the pair entered the store through the front entrance.
The manager of Tucson Store Fixtures, which is next door to the shop, said he called police after an employee of the store came out screaming for help. The manager did not want to be identified.
Shopping center workers and neighborhood residents complained about crime in the area.
The manager of ColorTyme, also in the shopping center, said that he calls 911 an average of five times a week and that his store has been broken into five times in the past year.
A man who lives in the area with his family and did not want to be identified said they are moving because of crime. He said that two cars have been broken into in the family's driveway and that he worries for the safety of his 10-year-old son.
"You just can't have kids growing up in this neighborhood," he said.
The last armed robbery in Tucson that turned deadly occurred on Dec. 29. David Botz, 35, manager of the Speedway Schwinn store, 3575 E. Speedway, was fatally shot and a bicycle was taken during the midday robbery. Gary Roper, 15, was charged with first-degree murder, theft and armed robbery and will be tried as an adult, a juvenile court judge ruled in February.
- Carmen Duarte Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
A fast-food run may have saved the life of one Moon Smoke Shop employee.
He went to an El Taco on Thursday to fetch dinner for himself and the rest of the crew working at the business at 120 W. Grant Road.
When he returned to work, he encountered a swarm of police cars and death.
Two robbers walked into the business in the Grantstone Shopping Center, west of North Stone Avenue, and demanded money. The men got their hands on about $200 from cash registers and opened fire in the shop - killing two men and wounding a third.
"The shooting was unprovoked," said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, a Tucson Police Department spokesman. "These men are dangerous and need to be captured as soon as possible."
Yesterday, the bizarre and violent act was slowly sinking into the minds of those who knew Tom Lewis Hardman, 28, and Clarence Wilson Odell III, 47, who were killed.
Hardman, a native of Cedar Falls, Iowa, was hired at the smoke shop about eight months ago, and was planning to marry. Odell, whose girlfriend frequented the shop for two decades, had stopped to buy cigars.
Friends and relatives of the wounded employee were also trying to cope. The employee, 35, was shot in the face and arm. He ran from the store after the gunfire erupted. He was in fair condition yesterday at a local hospital.
Two other employees - one who had hidden under a register - ran out unharmed. One called 911. The other ran after the getaway truck, which headed toward North Stone.
The Arizona Daily Star is not identifying any of the smoke shop employees because the assailants are still at large.
Bouquets of carnations and wildflowers stood in jars of water near the front door of the shop yesterday.
Late yesterday afternoon, customers drove by the business to offer their condolences. The shop will not reopen until next week.
"I cannot understand this," said one employee. "We basically are a big family. The staff is traumatized, and we have received dozens of telephone calls from customers who offered their support."
At her northside home, Beth Hutchinson stroked a sick kitten while trying to grasp words to describe her friend Tom Hardman. "He was easygoing and liked to laugh," she said through tears.
"I, my boyfriend and him would play music together. Tom was really good at playing bass guitar. His death is not right. It doesn't seem real. There was no reason for it."
Police responded to a silent alarm that went off at the shop at 6:15 p.m., which also was the time 911 calls began coming in to dispatchers from area businesses and pay telephones, said Mejia.
"People were reporting shots being fired and multiple victims inside the store," Mejia said.
When officers arrived at the shop, Hardman was found dead inside the store. Paramedics tended to the other two victims, who were taken to a nearby hospital. Odell was pronounced dead about 25 minutes after the shooting.
According to witnesses, the robbers ran from the shop and jumped into a small, light-blue pickup truck parked in the rear of the business, police said. The truck was described as an older model with a step-side short bed.
One assailant is described as white, 6 feet tall and between 25 and 30 years old. He was last seen wearing a cowboy hat and a black shirt with yellow writing.
The second robber was described as white or Hispanic, 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. He was wearing dark clothing and witnesses could not estimate his age.
Investigators ask that anyone who has information about the robbery and double murder call 911, 88-CRIME or homicide at 791-4487.
Officer John Sainz said business owners interested in joining the department's crime-prevention, business-watch program can call 791-4450.
The program trains business employees to look out for each other and teaches them what suspicious activity to be aware of and report to police, Sainz said.
"We can train people how to react during a violent crime and how to work to prevent one," Sainz said.
- Ric Swats, John F. Rawlinson and Maureen O'Connell Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Four people were shot to death last night at the Tucson Firefighters Association union hall on the southside.
Police responded to a 911 call after the bodies were found at about 9:30 inside the bar area at the hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, just east of Kino Parkway.
One of the dead is bartender Lynn Noel, 50. Also dead is Arthur "Taco" Bell and his wife, Judy, said Jim Peterson, the manager of the union hall.
The fourth victim is Mary Beth Munn, in her 50s. Her husband, Ned Alicata, discovered the bodies and called police, according to a friend of Munn's.
None of the victims was a firefighter.
Sgt. Eugene Mejia, spokesman for the Tucson Police Department, said police haven't established a motive. But Munn's friend said the bar's two cash registers were open, even though only one was in use.
Police cars lined Benson Highway for about a quarter mile, and yellow police tape ringed the white brick building. Only three cars and a pickup truck were in the parking lot after the shooting.
Judy Reilly, a bartender at the union hall, said that when she left work at 7:45 p.m., only five people were in the bar.
"This doesn't make any sense. Everybody here watches out for everybody; everyone protects everyone," said Reilly, 45.
Peterson said the hall, built 22 years ago, has been "pretty much a trouble-free place."
"It's a private club," he said. "We've never had much problems."
Marty Mitchell, 23, a bartender who has worked at the hall for a year, said he's never seen any fights inside.
"I've never ever had to raise my voice," he said.
The hall does most of its business in the late afternoon. The small group was typical of a weeknight.
The hall holds up to 300 people and is often rented on weekends for weddings, he said.
John Springer, president of the Tucson Firefighters Association, said only members and guests are allowed in the bar area. The association has 480 members plus associate members.
Munn and the Bells were associate members. Associate members are not firefighters, but are recognized as union members and can participate in meetings and other activities.
Arthur "Taco" Bell was a race car driver in the 1960s and for the last 20 years had been a crew member for Donnie Sink, a Tucson race car driver. He was in his 50s.
Sink and Bell had just gotten together last weekend to discuss plans to race at a proposed new track - Saguaro National Speedway - to be built in Tucson this year.
Noel had worked at the union hall for about a year, said her longtime friend, Linda Brockman, 49. Previously, she was a bartender at Berky's Bar, Brockman said.
Noel's father, John Putney, is a retired firefighter. Her ex-husband, Carson Noel, is also a Tucson firefighter. The couple's daughter and son are both in their 20s.
Noel, a native Tucsonan, graduated from Rincon High School in 1964, said Brockman. She just celebrated her 50th birthday a few weeks ago, Brockman said.
"She was very, very well-liked around town," said Brockman.
"She was a generous, free-spirited, giving person, always ready to laugh. . . . She just loved to laugh and you'd know her laugh anywhere. She was a great gal."
Munn's daughter, Rebecka Ann Munn, 22, was shot to death by her ex-boyfriend in October 1994 in an apartment complex parking lot at South Campbell Avenue and East Irvington Road.
Roy Mendez Valenzuela was arrested that night. He was convicted in March 1995 of second-degree murder.
Two men were killed and another was injured May 30 during an apparent robbery at Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road, in the Grantstone Shopping Center. No one has been arrested.
But police spokesman Mejia said the only similarity between the incidents is the multiple victims.
The union hall is a limited-access building with little traffic, while the smoke shop is in a shopping center with a lot of traffic, he said. Visitors to the union hall must use a card or press a buzzer to be admitted.
The smoke shop slayings happened in the late afternoon.
Arizona Daily Star reporter Ron Somers contributed to this story.
- John F. Rawlinson Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The four people slain at a southside club Thursday apparently offered no resistance, but that didn't stop whoever shot them from using "extreme violence," police said yesterday.
Police who rushed to the scene shortly after 9:30 p.m. were struck by the severity of what they encountered.
"It was a very brutal scene," said Lt. Thomas McNally, of the Tucson Police Department's violent crimes section.
"The people who did this were able to go in there and be ruthless, callous, and very indifferent to human life.
"It didn't appear from the positions of the bodies that they put up any resistance. It appears they were complying with the demands of the robbers."
Police say they have no suspects in the case.
"There is the possibility they may strike again. It should have everybody worried," McNally said.
The four victims were found in the bar section of the Tucson Firefighters Association union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, one behind the bar and three lying by the bar stools where they had been sitting, McNally said.
The killing was the worst mass murder in Tucson since five men were found stabbed to death in March 1989 in a shed behind a tiny house in the 3300 block of South Mission Road. The slayings, believed to be drug-related, have never been solved.
McNally said the bodies at the union hall weren't tied up, but he refused to say if they had been shot at close range. A source close to the investigation, however, said at least one of the victims had been shot in the head.
Homicide detectives sifting through evidence at the scene suspect more than two weapons were used in the shooting deaths, said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, spokesman for the Police Department.
Different shell casings from the scene suggest the involvement of two persons, Mejia said.
McNally agreed that two persons could have been involved but added that "we're not ruling out the possibility that one person had two weapons."
Robbery appears to be the motive, he said.
About $850 was missing from a bar cash drawer and a reserve bank in the back, said Marty Mitchell, a bartender. There was no indication the victims were robbed, McNally said.
Police identified the victims as bartender Carol Lynn Noel, 50; Maribeth Munn, 53; Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; and his wife, Judy Bell, 46.
The killings are believed to have occurred between 7:45 p.m., when one of the union hall's bartenders left, and 9:36, when Ned Alicata, Munn's husband, discovered the bodies and called 911.
Detectives are now checking to see if the slayings Thursday are connected to the May 30 robbery of the Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road, in the Grantstone Shopping Center. Two men were killed and a third was wounded.
In that incident, two men came into the store in the afternoon and opened fire without provocation, Mejia said.
"Normally you don't have such extreme violence in robbery situations," McNally said.
McNally also said a weapon used in the shooting Thursday may be similar to one used in the Moon Smoke Shop killings. He declined to say what type of gun that might be, but agreed that a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol "is one that is commonly owned, pretty available."
In the smoke shop killings, one suspect was described as Anglo, 6 feet tall, between 25 and 30 years old, wearing a cowboy hat and a black shirt with yellow writing. The second suspect is described as Anglo or Hispanic, 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds and wearing dark clothing.
The two men were seen leaving the area in a light blue, older-looking pickup truck with possibly a step-side short bed.
The union hall slayings bring the 1996 homicide count for Pima County to 44. By June 14 last year - when 95 killings set a homicide record for Pima County - 39 had been slain.
Of the 44 slayings in Pima County this year, 21 were in Tucson. Of the 39 people slain in Pima County as of June 14 last year, 24 were in Tucson.
To conform with records kept by the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the FBI, The Arizona Daily Star's figures do not include suicides, traffic fatalities, accidental deaths or killings classified as justifiable.
- Carmen Duarte Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Tucson Police Department homicide and robbery detectives have no strong leads in the shooting deaths of four people Thursday night at a southside firefighters union hall.
Investigators pursued tips through the weekend and continued following leads yesterday, said Lt. Thomas McNally, commander of the department's violent crimes section.
McNally said two detectives have been assigned as the primary investigators in the case - an apparent armed robbery. They are working with patrol officers, forensics personnel and other detectives.
The bodies of bartender Carol Lynn Noel, 50; customers Maribeth Munn, 53, and Judy Bell, 46, and her husband Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54, were found in the bar of the Tucson Firefighters Association union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, shortly after 9:30 p.m.
Munn and the Bells were associate members at the hall.
The firefighters union is offering a $3,000 cash reward for information leading to arrest and conviction of the assailant (or assailants). Anyone with information is asked to call 911, 88-CRIME or the homicide unit at 791-4487.
The assailants made off with about $850 from a bar cash drawer and a reserve bank in the building, Marty Mitchell, a bartender at the hall, said last week.
Police said it appears from the positions of the bodies that the victims were not resisting the assailants.
Investigators said they found two different shell casings at the scene, which could mean more than one robber struck or one assailant fired two guns.
McNally said this case may be connected with the May 30 robbery and double-homicide that left two men dead and a third wounded at the Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road.
Two men entered the smoke shop on that afternoon and opened fire during the robbery - making off with about $200 from cash registers.
In that incident, one robber was described as Anglo, 6 feet tall, between 25 and 30 years old, wearing a cowboy hat and a black shirt with yellow writing. The other was described as Anglo or Hispanic, 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds and wearing dark clothing.
The men were seen leaving the area in a light blue, older-model pickup truck with possibly a step-side short bed.
Several memorial services are scheduled this week for the four victims slain at the southside club.
Noel, Munn and the Bells will be remembered at an event set for 5 p.m. Thursday at the union hall.
The firefighters union has set up an account at First Interstate Bank to help defray the costs of funeral arrangements. Donations may be made at any First Interstate branch, account No. 212615174.
Other services include:
A celebration of Noel's life, set for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Elks' Lodge, 615 S. Pantano Road. A reception will follow at about 1 p.m. at Berky's, 5769 E. Speedway.
For the Bells, a public viewing is scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at Emery Park Baptist Church, 6066 S. Nogales Highway. A memorial service will follow at the church at 1 p.m.
Family members have set up a fund in the Bells' name to benefit the Tucson Racer's Fund for injured race-car drivers. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Bell Memorial Fund at any Arizona Bank, account No. 120-0075-3.
For Munn, a public viewing is scheduled from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday at Tucson Mortuary, 204 S. Stone Ave. A memorial service will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday at Holy Hope Cemetery, 3555 N. Oracle Road. It will be followed by a procession at the cemetery.
- Inger Sandal, John Rawlinson, Alexa Haussler, Hipolito Corella and Ric Swats Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Police have arrested two Tucson brothers in the murders of six people, including four at the union hall where their mother once tended bar.
Police say Scott D. Nordstrom, 29, and his brother, David M. Nordstrom, 27, shot and killed two people at the Moon Smoke Shop May 30.
Two weeks later, police say, Scott Nordstrom gunned down four people at the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall.
The brothers are longtime Tucsonans whose mother was a bartender at the union hall for more than a decade.
Ric Bell, son of union hall victims Judy and Arthur "Taco" Bell, said his father knew the brothers and was a good friend of their mother, Cynthia M. Wasserburger. Taco Bell, a mechanic, had worked on their cars, Ric Bell said.
An 88-CRIME tip and other information led police to the brothers, a source said.
Detectives also are looking into "possible drug use by the suspects," Tucson police Sgt. Eugene Mejia said.
Both brothers had been released from prison within months of the shootings, and one may have been wearing an electronic monitoring device as part of a home arrest program, records show. Both served time for theft convictions.
Police sources say robbery and a desire to leave no witnesses apparently led to the unprovoked shootings at the smoke shop, 120 W. Grant Road, and the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway.
In the smoke shop killing, two gunmen walked into the store and opened fire, leaving with $200 from cash registers. Two employees escaped, but employee Tom Lewis Hardman, 28, and customer Clarence Wilson Odell III, 47, were killed. A second employee was wounded in the face and arm.
A bartender and three patrons were shot in the head the night of June 13 at the union hall, just east of Kino Parkway. Killed were bartender Carol Lynn Noel, 50; patron Maribeth Munn, 53, Taco Bell, 54, and his wife Judy Bell, 46. Police said about $850 was taken from a bar cash register and reserve bank in a back office.
"We're confident we have the major people responsible for these crimes in custody. There may be others in the periphery," Tucson police Lt. Tom McNally announced at an afternoon press conference at police headquarters.
"It has really pumped up a lot of people, law enforcement included, to know that we have these people in custody," McNally said.
However, he stressed that the investigation was far from over.
"There is a lot more we have to do beyond this," he said.
Asked if there would be other arrests, he said, "There's always that possibility. That will depend on further detective work."
At his initial appearance yesterday in Justice Court, Scott Nordstrom was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Judge Deborah J.S. Ward set bond at $2 million.
David Nordstrom was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in the smoke shop killings. He is being held in lieu of $2 million bond.
Ward set their preliminary hearing for 3:30 p.m. Jan. 27.
Arraignments in the jail are shown on courtroom video screens, but police asked that the brothers not be televised nor their pictures released because they may later go before witnesses in a lineup.
McNally said the now-familiar composite sketches of the suspects "had limited value."
But a close friend of the Bells disagreed.
"I'm not the only one who looked at those pictures and put a name on them," John Watson said yesterday. "We talked about it maybe being them a long time ago."
McNally said detectives exhausted thousands of leads before information from "several different sources" jelled. "Within the last couple of weeks we were able to narrow it down to the two particular suspects," he said.
A police source said investigators have seized a blue pickup truck. Witnesses saw a light-blue pickup with rust spots leaving the smoke shop after the shootings.
But investigators remained tight-lipped.
"I won't comment on any evidence that was found or not found," said McNally, who also would not say whether police recovered weapons when the department's SWAT team arrested both brothers Thursday.
David Nordstrom, of the 2300 block of South Calle Hohokam, was arrested about 3:30 p.m. at a trailer near South Kinney and West Bopp roads in the Tucson Mountains. Authorities found Scott Nordstrom, of the 2900 block of West Hermans Road, about 11:30 p.m. at a trailer on the southwest side.
Asked where any of the victims or the brothers had known each other, McNally said, "We're having to go back and look at prior background and histories."
Union hall manager Jim Peterson said the suspects' mother quit her bartending job about five years ago. Peterson said she refused to wait on patrons who weren't in her "clique."
"Cindy resigned because she was going to get fired," Peterson said.
"They (the brothers) were in here when she worked here," Peterson said. "I don't think they'd have come back here, but the rest of town ought to breathe a big sigh of relief."
In March 1996, Wasserburger sold the southwest-side trailer where the family had lived for many years and moved with her husband to New Mexico, according to several sources.
But she was back in town yesterday.
Wasserburger, appearing distraught, abruptly left a southside club yesterday afternoon when a television set in the bar carried the news of the arrests.
"It was really awful, actually. She came in and the news came on at about the same time," said a club employee who did not want her name used.
Many of about 15 patrons in the bar watched the news intently because they had known one or more of those slain at the union hall and had "been really touched by what had happened there."
"And we turn around and the mom was standing there. Everybody started whispering. She seemed real uncomfortable. She looked upset and she left."
Department of Corrections spokesman Michael Arra said the Nordstrom brothers had served prison time on theft convictions out of Pima County.
Scott Nordstrom was arrested in 1987 and again in 1990 for driving under the influence.
He was charged with DUI and assaulting a police officer on Feb. 2, 1991. In a June 1991 plea agreement, he entered a no contest plea to aggravated driving under the influence with a suspended license.
In 1994, a Pima County jury convicted him of aggravated robbery charges after he and a friend snatched a woman's purse.
Scott Nordstrom spent March 1995 through April 24, 1996, at a medium-security complex in Florence. He got a provisional release and was to be supervised by a parole officer until Sunday, Arra said.
According to a 1991 Department of Public Safety report, Scott Nordstrom was arrested at least five times for assault and theft charges between 1984 and 1988. All of the charges were dismissed.
Scott Nordstrom was born in Illinois and lived in Tucson most of his life, court records state. He worked as a drywall finisher and did not complete high school, records state.
David Nordstrom was arrested in May 1992 for helping steal four Datsun pickup trucks. He received four years' probation. He violated his probation in 1992, and was sentenced to three months in jail for failing to contact his probation officer, records state.
David Nordstrom, who already was on probation in Texas when the arrest occurred, admitted to being a cocaine and alcohol abuser, court records state.
David Nordstrom was at the state prison in Douglas from April 30, 1993, until Jan. 25, 1996, when he was released to the home arrest program. He was supposed to wear an electronic monitoring device until Aug. 24, 1996, Arra said.
David Nordstrom was born in Tucson and worked in construction.
Scott Nordstrom first enrolled in Tucson Unified School District in 1977. He later attended Senior High Accommodation from November 1982 to March 1983 and then transferred to Project MORE. He flunked out of school in November 1983 because he failed to show up for class, said Robert Mackay, the school's director.
David Nordstrom started in TUSD in 1981 at Lawrence Elementary School. No other records about his school history were available yesterday.
Dennis Lickliter, a neighbor of David Nordstrom, said he never met him, but he casually knew Arthur "Taco" Bell from the car racetrack.
Arizona Daily Star reporters Tim Steller, Sarah Tully Tapia and Joe Burchell contributed to this story.
MURDER CHRONOLOGY
Key dates in the investigation:
May 30, 1996 - Tom Lewis Hardman, 28, and Clarence Wilson Odell III, 47, are killed shortly after 6 p.m. during a robbery at the Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road, in the Grantstone Shopping Center. Another man is shot in the face and arm. Tucson Police release descriptions of two suspects.
June 13, 1996 - Four people are shot to death at the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway. The victims are customers Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; his wife, Judy, 46; Maribeth Munn, 53; and bartender Lynn Noel, 50. The victims, all shot in the head, were found shortly after 9:30 p.m. by Munn's companion, Ned Alicata.
June 14, 1996 - Detectives say robbery was the motive for the union hall killings. About $850 was missing from a bar cash register and a reserve bank in the back. A few days later, detectives say the union hall and smoke shop killings are related.
June 20, 1996 - A memorial service is held for the four union hall victims at the union hall. Sources say the victims were all shot in the head. Tucson Police Chief Douglas Smith and Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik announce a $28,500 reward to find the killers and release a more detailed description of the suspects.
June 24, 1996 - Police release sketches of the two suspects, drawn by nationally acclaimed artist Jeanne Boylan. Boylan worked with the FBI in the Unabomber and Oklahoma City bombing cases.
June 28, 1996 - Tucson detectives go to Phoenix to interview two bank robbery suspects, but decide they were not involved in the killings.
July 16, 1996 - Investigators check to see if the killings are related to the slaying of three people at a Mississippi furniture store.
Oct. 3, 1996 - Indiana authorities ask Tucson police whether two escaped Alabama prisoners match the suspects' descriptions. A Tucson police spokesman calls them "an investigative lead, one of 700 at this point."
Dec. 14, 1996 - Relatives of the union hall victims hold a press conference to mark the six months since the slaying and ask again for help in finding the killers.
Jan. 16, 1997 - Tucson brothers Scott and David Nordstrom are arrested. Scott, 29, is charged in both cases and David, 27, is charged in the smoke shop killings.
- Inger Sandal and Hanh Kim Quach Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Detectives investigating two brutal robbery-homicides in which six people were killed spent months pursuing thousands of leads provided by the community before they focused on two local brothers.
Yesterday, following the arrests of Scott D. Nordstrom, 29, and his brother, David M. Nordstrom, 27, police again appealed to the public for help.
"We want to stress to the public that it is necessary to continue to call in tips or any information on these suspects or acquaintances that may result in further charges or could be of great assistance in solidifying the case," said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, spokesman for the Tucson Police Department.
"It is not over. Our investigation is continuing. That is why we are requesting additional information from the public, now that we've named two suspects as being involved in both crimes," Mejia said.
Anyone with information can call 88-CRIME and remain anonymous, or 911 and an officer will be dispatched to take a report. A source credited an 88-CRIME tip and other information for leading police to the brothers.
"They're going to continue to follow up on leads that are developed as a result of the suspects being named," Mejia said. "We expect people to come forward with new information," he said, as detectives continued yesterday to work to "detail their movements, their acquaintances, and any other crimes they may have been involved in."
Police allege the brothers shot and killed two people and critically wounded a third May 30 at the Moon Smoke Shop. Two weeks later, police allege, Scott Nordstrom shot to death four people at the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall where the Nordstroms' mother once tended bar.
Arrested Thursday, the brothers remained jailed yesterday, each in lieu of a $2 million bond. They declined interview requests.
Scott Nordstrom is charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. David Nordstrom is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
As murder suspects, they are housed in the jail's most secure areas, and as co-defendants the brothers are kept separated, Pima County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Michael O'Connor said yesterday.
"The brothers will never be together. They won't be housed together, they won't dine together," O'Connor said.
The six shooting deaths made up one-third of the city's 21 unsolved homicides from last year. Police said they consider a case solved once an arrest is made. In 1996, there were 47 slaying deaths in Tucson city limits.
"There was a lot of hard work in this case, and our homicide unit is considered one of the best in the nation," Mejia said.
David Nordstrom, of the 2300 block of South Calle Hohokam, was arrested at a trailer near South Kinney and West Bopp roads in the Tucson Mountains. Authorities found his brother, of the 2900 block of West Hermans Road, at a trailer on the southwest side.
Yesterday was business as usual at the Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road, where last year employee Tom Lewis Hardman, 28, and customer Clarence Wilson Odell III, 47, were killed. An unidentified 35-year-old employee was shot in the face and arm, and two other employees escaped unharmed.
Police said two robbers walked into the shop in the Grantstone Shopping Center, took about $200 from cash registers and opened fire without provocation before fleeing in a light-blue pickup truck. A source has said police recovered a blue pickup truck.
Employees declined to comment yesterday, but several customers said last year's tragedy still remained in the back of their minds.
"I had some fear (about safety)," Michael Hurwitz, who buys cigarettes three times a week at the shop, said yesterday. "It was always at the back of my mind."
Hurwitz said he moved to Tucson from New York City six years ago. "Here, crime is more frightening. . . . Everything is in the neighborhood, so it's more immediate."
Preston Saurman, who visits the shop once a week, was pleased with the arrests.
"There's a little bit of justice. But there's plenty of crime around. That's the scary part," Saurman said.
Another regular, who declined to give his name, said he felt apprehensive about visiting the shop on Tucson's near northside after the shootings.
Even with an off-duty police officer patrolling the storefront, he said he parked by the Grantstone supermarket - on the other side of the shopping complex - then walked to the shop.
Because of the arrests, he parked three spaces away from the Moon Smoke Shop's door yesterday. "Hopefully it's done, and there isn't going to be anymore bloodshed," he said.
An employee at Colortyme, two doors down from the smoke shop, said he was working when the shootings occurred and was relieved to hear about the arrests.
The employee, who refused to be identified, said he was concerned about his own safety the first month after the incident, but increased security in the area calmed him.
None of the half-dozen people inside the dark union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, late yesterday afternoon wanted to be interviewed.
The union hall, which has since installed security cameras, closed briefly after the shootings - except for a gathering held there following the funeral of Judy and Arthur "Taco" Bell, two of the three customers killed there. Also killed were Maribeth Munn, 53, and bartender Carol Lynn Noel, 50.
About $850 was taken in the union hall robbery, including $400 in a change bag kept in a back liquor storage area.
Star reporter John F. Rawlinson contributed to this story.
- Inger Sandal Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
A man jailed in the robbery-slaying of a Phoenix retiree has surfaced in the investigation of six Tucson killings, according to court records obtained yesterday.
Tucson police have seized Robert G. Jones' truck, an older-model white pickup truck similar to one seen leaving the Moon Smoke Shop after two people were shot to death May 30. Police would not comment when asked if Jones was a suspect.
In addition to pointing to another lead in the Tucson killings, a search warrant affidavit also revealed why police have said the Moon Smoke Shop and Tucson Firefighters Union Hall slayings are related.
Ballistics tests confirmed that shell casings from a semi-automatic handgun found at both murder scenes came from the same weapon. Another semi-automatic weapon likely was used in both killings, according to the document.
Jones, 27, was arrested Aug. 24 after leading police on a 70-mile chase at speeds up to 130 mph through Phoenix, Tempe and Paradise Valley.
Jones is being held without bond in the Aug. 23 murder of Richard Roels, 58, a retired newspaper advertising manager described by police as the victim of a "burglary that went bad." Charges in a 33-count indictment against him include first-degree murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and burglary.
Jones lived with David M. Nordstrom during the time of the Tucson slayings, according to a search warrant request filed by Tucson police on Jan. 12.
Police sought permission to search Jones' 1962 white Ford pickup truck for evidence relating to the murders of two people at the smoke shop and the slayings of four people two weeks later at the Tucson Firefighters Union Hall.
Detectives searched the truck Jan. 13 at the Police Department's impound lot, seizing sections of carpeting, tools, paint samples and papers belonging to Jones.
On Friday, police accused David Nordstrom, 27, and his brother, Scott D. Nordstrom, 29, in the smoke shop killings. Scott Nordstrom also was charged with four more counts of first-degree murder in the union hall shootings.
Both brothers remain in the Pima County Jail on $2 million bond. They declined requests for interviews yesterday.
"We're not commenting on that," Tucson police Lt. Tom McNally said when asked yesterday about other suspects in the Tucson shootings.
"Any potential leads are being investigated at this point, including any additional possible suspects," McNally said. "Each day we get additional leads and information. . . . This is going to be a long-term investigation."
Investigators have released few details about the suspects or what led to their arrests. But McNally said they agreed not to seal the search warrant for Jones' truck, though he would not explain why.
Tucson police Sgt. Eugene Mejia said police didn't seal the warrant because it would have been too time-consuming.
"We want to spend our time trying to gather information, follow up on informational leads, and collect physical evidence as we locate it rather than spend it in court trying to fight the media over access," Mejia said.
According to the search warrant request, a confidential informant told police on Nov. 8 that he suspected brothers Scott and David Nordstrom in the union hall murders. The informant said the brothers matched the composite drawings of the gunmen and had discussed robbing the fire hall, according to the document.
The brothers grew up in Tucson and their mother, Cynthia M. Wasserburger, had tended bar at the union hall for about a decade before she was fired.
On Dec. 23, an 88-CRIME caller said Jones committed the union hall murders. The anonymous caller reported that Jones, who was jailed in Phoenix, had told the caller that he committed the murders, the warrant stated.
Police later determined that Jones had been living and working with David Nordstrom at the time of the murders, the warrant said.
Four people were found shot to death at the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, at about 9:30 p.m. on June 13. 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 had been taken.
Three people were shot in a robbery at the Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road. Killed were customer Clarence Odell III, 47, and employee Thomas Hardman, 26. A 34-year-old employee, shot in the face and arm, survived.
Two employees who escaped described the gunmen as white men, 25 to 35 years old, 5-foot-11 to 6 feet tall. One had a large build and wore a black cowboy hat and sunglasses. The other was slender with slicked, straight hair.
One of the witnesses described a truck that sped away from the area after the shooting as an older 1960s or 1970s light blue pickup.
Jones was one of two men arrested in the slaying of Roels, who was apparently killed after he interrupted a burglary at his Phoenix home. Jones and Stephen Coats, 35, of Scottsdale, were arrested after trying to escape from police in stolen cars in the 130 mph chase.
Scott Nordstrom also nearly lost his life last summer, about a week after the union hall killings.
Both brothers were stabbed during a June 21 fight at an apartment complex at 4200 E. Benson Highway, according to a Pima County Sheriff's Department report obtained yesterday.
Scott Nordstrom was stabbed in the stomach and spent more than a month in intensive care, the report said.
The man arrested in the stabbing, Wally L. Godfrey Jr., 27, claimed he acted in self defense and was acquitted, Pima County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Michael O'Connor said yesterday.
McNally said police had considered many scenarios that would have taken the suspects of the Moon Smoke Shop and union hall slayings off the streets.
"We were looking at a number of different possibilities when the homicides initially surfaced and shortly after that - one being that the possible suspects may have left town or been transient through Tucson," McNally said.
Instead of hindering the investigation, he said, "I think it was only to our benefit that the suspects in this crime . . . would have been incapacitated in some manner. . . . They didn't have the opportunity to commit further offenses."
Deputies who went to Kino Community Hospital, where two men had arrived with "numerous stab wounds," initially found the Nordstrom brothers uncooperative, the police report aid.
Scott Nordstrom later told deputies that he and his brother had stopped at Quick Mart, 4280 E. Benson Highway, near Columbus Boulevard and honked when they saw a cousin and her boyfriend in a truck with another man.
They got angry, however, when the cousin's boyfriend made an obscene gesture. The boyfriend, identified as Philip Melillo, later told deputies that he hadn't recognized the brothers when they honked.
The Nordstrom brothers, who were driving a light blue pickup, followed the other truck into Lakewood Townhomes, 4200 E. Benson Highway, and parked near the office, the report said.
David Nordstrom jumped out and went to the back of the other truck, while Scott Nordstrom went to the driver's side and swung at the driver, who was later identified as Godfrey. In turn, Scott Nordstrom said he was "stuck" twice in the stomach.
Scott Nordstrom told detectives at the time: "We didn't have no weapons, man. They went too far. There was no need to try and kill me."
Arizona Daily Star reporters Shaun McKinnon, Alexa Haussler and Hipolito Corella contributed to this story.
- Hipolito R. Corella, Tim Steller and Shaun McKinnon Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Authorities are searching a muddy pond near Nogales, Ariz., hoping to find two guns used in the Moon Smoke Shop and firefighter's union hall killings, a police source confirmed last night.
Meanwhile, a man jailed in Phoenix on a separate murder charge refused to talk to detectives yesterday about the six Tucson slayings.
Divers from the Pima County Sheriff's Department's Search and Rescue Team have been searching the pond near Arizona 83 since Monday.
A witness led detectives to the pond last Thursday. The witness said the guns used in the slayings - a 9mm handgun and a .380-caliber weapon - were dumped there after the June 13 killings at the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway.
Police were expected to continue their search today.
Robert G. Jones, 27, of Phoenix, refused to be questioned by Tucson detectives yesterday at the Maricopa County Jail, said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, a Tucson police spokesman.
Mejia said Jones' attorney told his client not to talk to police after a search warrant request reported in the media linked him to the investigation that already has implicated brothers Scott D. Nordstrom and David M. Nordstrom in the killings.
The brothers are each being held on $2 million bail at the Pima County Jail on murder and robbery charges.
Scott Nordstrom, 29, is charged with six counts of first-degree murder in the union hall and smoke shop killings. David Nordstrom, 27, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the smoke shop killings.
Jones is being held in Phoenix without bond on 33 counts stemming from the murder of a 58-year-old Phoenix man. Jones and another man were arrested Aug. 24 after a high-speed, 70-mile chase through Phoenix, Tempe and Paradise Valley.
Jones refused to talk to a reporter from his jail cell. Police say he was living and working with David Nordstrom at the time of the murders.
Detectives last week seized Jones' older-model white pickup truck, similar to the one witnesses saw leaving the Moon Smoke Shop after two people were killed there May 30.
Jones was born in Tyler, Texas, and as a teen-ager wound up living with relatives in Phoenix after an abusive home life, according to statements he made in Maricopa County Superior Court records.
Although he had worked as a salesman, repossessor and a cook at a McDonald's restaurant, most recently he said he was living on the streets, records show.
In March 1988, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served for a 1988 car theft case. Within the month, he was arrested again after police spotted him with a stolen vehicle.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years in prison. The sentence ran concurrently with another sentence for a 1988 case, in which he was charged with possession of stolen property and driving on a suspended license.
He was paroled May 5, 1990.
On Jan. 30, 1991, he was arrested in another car theft case. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
At the time, he said he wanted to quit crime, settle down, learn a trade other than burglary and theft and then get married, court records show.
In court records released yesterday, David Nordstrom admitted having a drug problem, specifically an expensive habit with crystal methamphetamine.
Arrested in March 1993 after trying to cash checks stolen from his employer, Pallet Recyclers, David Nordstrom told police he needed cash to support his drug use.
"He wanted the checks to support his crystal methamphetamine habit, since he was using an 'eight ball' . . . per day," according to a police statement. "He smoked, snorted and shot the substance and needed a lot of money to support the habit."
He told officials that he started using the drug in 1992 while participating in the Pima County jail's work furlough program.
He had been sentenced to three months in jail after violating the conditions of his probation. He was placed on probation after he admitted stealing three Datsun pickup trucks.
David Nordstrom was able to side-step urine testing that could detect the drug by telling officials at the jail that he was tested at the probation office and vice versa. Apparently, neither department confirmed his claims, according to the files.
"I'm tired of using drugs. I'm 24 years old, and I got nothing in my life," David Nordstrom said in a pre-sentencing report in the 1993 theft case.
"All I have is family and they are standing behind me now. I'm done. My criminal life has to close," he told the probation officer who wrote the report. "I'm tired of living in institutions. It's hard to stay out of the politics (gangs) . . . My time is over."
Pima County Juvenile Court records released yesterday also showed that Scott Nordstrom's legal troubles started in 1982 when at 14 years old he was charged with possession of marijuana.
In 1984, when he was 17, he was arrested for shooting another teen-ager with a shotgun after a dispute on "A" Mountain.
In that case, Scott Nordstrom was identified as the person who fired a shotgun at a group of five teens. Fragments struck one teen, but his injuries were not fatal.
The records said Nordstrom left the mountain after a dispute with the teens but returned several minutes later with the shotgun.
Scott Nordstrom, however, was not prosecuted as an adult because he already had been sentenced to the state Department of Juvenile Corrections for violating terms of his release on another case, according to the records.
In the shooting case, Deputy County Attorney Rick Unklesbay recommended that the case be dismissed because Scott Nordstrom was placed in a diversion program, records show. Last month, Unklesbay prosecuted a man accused of stabbing the Nordstrom brothers after a traffic dispute.
In a delinquency petition filed in November 1982, Scott Nordstrom was accused of burglary and theft of an 8-track player from a shed. He was placed on probation and ordered to participate in volunteer work.
In May 1994, Scott Nordstrom was charged in Juvenile Court with theft and criminal trespassing in connection with a stolen Honda ATC and a welder.
He was charged with the "A" Mountain shooting months later.
In April 1986, Scott Nordstrom was charged with domestic violence and assault for a fight he had with his father, Richard A. Nordstrom Sr. Those charges were dropped.
About a week after the union hall killings, the brothers found themselves in an unusual position with the law - victims.
On June 21, the Nordstroms were stabbed after a traffic dispute on East Benson Highway.
Yesterday afternoon, the man who stabbed them, Wally Godfrey Jr., 27, talked about the attack in the office of Alicia Cata, an assistant legal defender who represented him.
Cata said Godfrey stabbed the brothers in self-defense. A jury agreed in December, acquitting Godfrey of aggravated assault charges that could have sent him to prison for seven to 21 years.
Godfrey, a landscape worker, said he arranged to talk with reporters because he was tired of media queries at his home and work. He also asked that no information about his family be released because he worries about retribution from acquaintances of the Nordstrom brothers.
"It was real horrifying. It was a real bad feeling in my stomach," Godfrey said describing his actions in defending himself from the attack.
Godfrey said he was driving from a southside Chinese restaurant with two friends in the bed of his pickup truck when the Nordstrom's began honking and chasing his vehicle.
The stabbing left Scott Nordstrom hospitalized for a month. Police say he uses a colostomy bag and will need more intestinal surgery.
- Hipolito R. Corella Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
While Tucson police continue their investigation of the Moon Smoke Shop and firefighter union hall robbery-homicides, court records this week reveal some developments in the probe.
Requests for search warrants earlier this month outlined developments in the case - from Nov. 8, when an informant first told an officer brothers David and Scott Nordstrom were involved in the union hall killings, to the seizure last Thursday of a 9mm pistol from the home of the brothers' father.
Those search warrant requests, and a catalog of items seized, have been filed this week in Superior Court.
On Nov. 8, the informant first linked the Nordstrom brothers to the fatal shootings of four people June 13 at the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall, 2265 E. Benson Highway.
Scott Nordstrom, 29, is jailed on six counts of first-degree murder. David Nordstrom, 27, faces two counts of first degree murder. They are in the Pima County Jail on $2 million bond.
Court records indicate that David Nordstrom told police he was with another person May 30 when a 9mm pistol was stolen from a car parked at Tucson Medical Center, 5301 E. Grant Road.
A police report from a victim claimed that a loaded 9mm Jennings pistol was stolen from his parked car at the hospital sometime between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.
That same evening, about six miles away, two people were gunned down at the Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road.
Smoke shop employee Tom Hardman, 28, and customer Clarence W. Odell III, 47, were slain in the robbery shortly after 6 p.m. Another employee survived being shot in the face.
Casings found at the scene suggest that a 9mm Jennings is one of the gun makes that could have been used, according to court records.
The same 9mm gun, police believe, was used in both the smoke shop and union hall slayings. Bullet casings from a .380-caliber weapon also were found at both sites.
Police have refused to speculate if one of the guns used in the killings is the same weapon as the 9mm pistol detectives seized Jan. 16 from the southside home of the Nordstroms' father and stepmother. The brand of the seized weapon is not identified in a list of items seized from the house near East Drexel Road and South Alvernon Way.
"We're not commenting on any of the evidence issues," said Lt. Tom McNally, who is in charge of the Tucson Police Department's violent crimes section. "There's no formal comment I can give. We're still trying to pursue all angles at this point."
According to court files, David Nordstrom lived at his father's home during the time of the killings. He told police that two guns were dumped in a lake or pond near Highway 83 between Arivaca and Nogales.
Detectives obtained a warrant to search the pond last week. A search for a 9mm handgun and .380-caliber weapon has been under way since Monday.
Meanwhile, court documents show that a 1962 Ford pickup truck, seized by police Jan. 14 matches the description of the white or light-blue vehicle witnesses described leaving the smoke shop after the shootings.
The truck is owned by Robert G. Jones, 27, who is in jail in Phoenix on $1.4 million bond on murder and robbery charges stemming from a killing in that city. He has not been charged in the Tucson case.
The records say that at some time the truck may have been painted "turquoise blue."
Police gathered a section of the truck's carpet, various papers belonging to Jones, tools and a pair of sunglasses.
Victims at the union hall were: Carol Lynn Noel, 50, Arthur Bell, 54; his wife, Judy Bell, 46; and Mary Beth Munn, 53.
Among items detectives have been searching for is Arthur Bell's wallet, which apparently was taken in the robbery.
Also seized from the father's home were: a dark blue extra-large short sleeved shirt, black, size 6 drawstring pants and a black holster and magazine for the 9mm gun found there.
Items seized at Scott Nordstrom's home in the 2900 block of West Hermans Road include: two photographs, black pants and a black sweatshirt with a hood, black sweat pants and a check register.
A blue GMC pickup truck parked at the trailer west of Tucson in the 2300 block of South Calle Hohokam where David Nordstrom most recently lived also was searched, records show. Photographs, fingerprints, fibers and blood samples were taken from the truck.
A hat, wallet, photographs and an assortment of papers were seized from David Nordstrom's trailer, records show.
Police continue to ask for the public's help in the case to establish a time line for the brothers' whereabouts during the time of the slayings, said Lt. McNally.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
A defense attorney wants the trial of two brothers charged with six Tucson killings moved from Tucson because of publicity surrounding the case.
A Pima County grand jury indicted Scott and David Nordstrom Tuesday on first-degree murder charges in the slayings last year at the Moon Smoke Shop and the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall.
The brothers could face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted.
On Jan. 16, police arrested Scott Nordstrom, 29, and his brother David, 27, in the smoke shop killings. At the time, Scott Nordstrom also was accused of the union hall shootings.
David Nordstrom initially was not accused in the union hall shootings, but a grand jury Tuesday afternoon decided there was enough evidence to indict him in all six slayings.
"David was from the outset considered to be a suspect in both the firefighter hall and the Moon Smoke Shop robberies," Tucson police Lt. Tom McNally said. However, he would not disclose why David Nordstrom initially was accused only of the smoke shop slayings.
According to search warrant requests filed in Pima County Superior Court, David Nordstrom cooperated with investigators after his arrest.
He was devastated by news of the indictments, said his court-appointed attorney, Laura Udall.
"He can't believe it. He thought he was helping them solve the crime," Udall said. "He thought he was doing the right thing and now he's charged with it."
The brothers remain at the Pima County Jail on $2 million bond. They have repeatedly declined requests for interviews.
Tucson police detectives were prepared to present their case either to a grand jury or before a judge at a preliminary hearing scheduled for yesterday.
The preliminary hearing, at which defense attorneys could have cross-examined witnesses, was canceled after prosecutors decided on a grand jury.
Prosecutor David White, head of the county attorney's criminal division, declined to say why he decided to go to the grand jury rather than hold a preliminary hearing.
Udall suggested the state's case is weak and might not have held up in a preliminary hearing.
"He has no case against David and I think he has a weak case against Scott," Udall said. In the union hall shooting, "they've got no evidence at all that (David) was there."
She said, "a grand jury will indict just because the prosecutor asks."
Udall said she is unsure the Nordstroms can get a fair trial in Pima County and hopes the trial will be moved to "a large metropolitan area that hasn't heard about it," such as Phoenix.
The brothers will be arraigned Wednesday on six counts of first-degree murder, four counts of armed robbery, three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of burglary and one count of attempted first-degree murder.
Tucson attorney Richard Bock has been appointed to represent Scott Nordstrom. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The court documents indicate David Nordstrom told police he was with another person May 30 when a 9mm pistol was stolen from a car parked at Tucson Medical Center, 5301 E. Grant Road.
That same evening, 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.
Casings found at the scene suggest that a 9mm gun, similar to the one stolen, could have been used, court records state.
Nordstrom later admitted to "being present as a driver" when the smoke shop slayings occurred, according to court records.
Nordstrom also told investigators a friend came to his house on June 13 and told him he had just robbed the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, and killed several people, court documents state.
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 taken.
Meanwhile, court records show that a 1962 Ford pickup truck, seized by police on Jan. 14, matched the description of the white or light blue vehicle witnesses described leaving the smoke shop after the shootings.
The truck is owned by Robert G. Jones, 27, who is in jail in Phoenix on $1.4 million bond on murder and robbery charges stemming from the killing of a Phoenix retiree.
Jones has not been charged or indicted in the Tucson cases and police have not confirmed whether he is a suspect.
McNally, the Tucson police detective, said investigators also are looking into the fact that David Nordstrom was on home arrest and wore an electronic monitoring device when the robberies were committed.
"In our investigation we'll be talking with people from . . . the Department of Corrections really to educate ourselves on the technology that's used and how accurate and reliable that technology is and whether there were any methods they are aware of which enables a person to circumvent . . . their intended use," McNally said.
McNally said it was too early to comment on the program. "We don't know . . . if the system failed," he said.
Scott Nordstrom also was on parole at the time of the killings, but was not wearing a monitoring device.
Department of Corrections officials have refused to release the Nordstroms' parole records, but DOC spokesman Michael Arra said records show no violations.
Arizona Daily Star reporter Inger Sandal contributed to this story.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Investigators have seized letters and photos from an inmate's Phoenix jail cell as part of an investigation into six Tucson killings.
Police were searching for documents tying Robert Glenn Jones to two brothers indicted last week in the summertime slayings at the Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road, and the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, court records state.
Police arrested brothers Scott Nordstrom, 29, and David Nordstrom, 27, Jan. 16 in connection with the shootings.
The next day, police seized letters from Scott Nordstrom's home that showed Jones was corresponding with the brothers, the records state.
Jones, 27, is in jail in Phoenix in lieu of a $1.4 million bond on murder and robbery charges stemming from the killing of a Phoenix retiree.
Tucson Police Department investigators searched his cell Thursday at the Maricopa County Jail.
They gathered four cards, five letters, two photographs, two pages of phone numbers and addresses and 10 written pages, according to a search warrant return filed yesterday in Pima County Superior Court.
On Jan. 14, police seized a 1962 Ford pickup truck, owned by Jones, which police said matched the description of the white or light blue vehicle witnesses described leaving the smoke shop after the shootings.
Meanwhile, an initial appearance before a judge is scheduled today for Scott and David Nordstrom.
They are to be arraigned on six counts of first-degree murder, four counts of armed robbery, three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of burglary and one count of attempted first-degree murder.
Both brothers each are being held at the Pima County Jail in lieu of a $2 million bond.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
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.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
It's one brother's word against the other's.
And because of that, attorneys say, David and Scott Nordstrom should be tried separately in six Tucson killings last year.
A defense attorney has asked a judge to sever the case and move the trials out of Pima County.
"The only evidence presented to the grand jury implicating defendant Scott Nordstrom was the statements made by the defendant David Nordstrom," wrote Richard Bock, Scott Nordstrom's attorney, in a motion released yesterday.
A grand jury indicted David Nordstrom, 27, and his brother Scott Nordstrom, 29, last month in the May 30 Moon Smoke Shop and June 13 Firefighters Union Hall slayings.
The case is set to go to trial May 15.
Bock indicated in the court document that Scott Nordstrom will try to convince a jury that his brother and another man committed the killings.
And he said he will try to show David Nordstrom lied when he fingered his brother.
David Nordstrom called police in December or early January, identifying himself only as "John," and said he had information about the killings, according to a grand jury transcript.
He spoke with detectives several times and eventually identified himself.
Once the brothers were arrested, David Nordstrom again spoke with detectives.
Bock stated in the motion that the younger brother failed a lie-detector test the first time he talked to police.
According to a Tucson Police Department polygraph examiner's report, filed in court, David Nordstrom "was attempting deception," when asked whether he was present during the killings.
Bock also indicated he will argue that a witness described David Nordstrom, rather than Scott Nordstrom, as one of two gunmen in the smoke shop shootings.
He also suggested David was seeking money to support a crack habit when he went to the police.
"In the course of making these statements, he made it clear that he would only cooperate with police if he received reward money," Bock wrote.
David Nordstrom's attorney has stated in court filings that police gave her client $5,000 to direct them to the weapons used in the crimes.
Laura Udall has stated in court documents that David Nordstrom's conscience drove him to contact police and that police promised him he would be cleared of the charges if he cooperated.
Udall said she agrees the brothers should be tried separately, saying the men can't present opposing defenses during a single trial.
"In order for your defense to win, the other person's defense must lose," she said.
In a separate motion, Bock asked a judge to move the trial out of Pima County, saying the brothers would be unable to get a fair trial here.
"The shootings . . . terrified the city of Tucson as few crimes had ever done," Bock wrote.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
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.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
A detective says he lied to David Nordstrom before his arrest because he feared Nordstrom would clam up and leave police with six unsolved murders.
"I wanted him to keep talking to me," said Detective Ed Salgado of the Tucson Police Department. Salgado investigated the Moon Smoke Shop and Firefighters' Union Hall slayings last year.
Salgado took the stand during a four-hour hearing yesterday to determine whether Nordstrom's statements can be used at his trial next month.
Nordstrom's lead attorney, Laura Udall, argued in a motion last week that police coerced him to talk with promises of cash and leniency.
But Salgado said yesterday that he simply needed to keep Nordstrom talking.
The detective admitted he misled Nordstrom by indicating he would be cleared if he showed police the murder weapons.
"He is the only link I have to the suspect or suspects in this case, and I needed more information from him," Salgado said.
Yesterday's hearing is set to continue Monday. Michael Cruikshank, Pima County Superior Court judge pro tem, then will decide whether jurors will hear Nordstrom's statements to police, which so far appear to be the key to the prosecutors' case.
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 driving 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 arm, survived.
But the younger brother insisted he was not involved in the union hall slayings. He told police it was his brother and another man who shot to death four people that night.
Killed were bartender Carol Lynn Noel, 50, and three customers - Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; his wife, Judy Bell, 46; and Maribeth Munn, 53. A union hall manager estimated $850 was taken.
David Nordstrom and his girlfriend contacted Salgado in December, saying they had information about the slayings, Salgado said yesterday.
The detective said David Nordstrom, who identified himself only as "John," paged him several times and asked to be placed in a witness protection program and avoid prosecution.
"He advised that he had information, he knew all and would tell all," Salgado said.
The detective said he promised David Nordstrom $5,000 to show investigators where the guns used in the slayings had been dumped.
"At that point, I felt like I was losing him. I didn't want to lose contact with him, and I wanted the gun," Salgado said.
On Jan. 16, David Nordstrom led detectives to a pond west of Tucson where he said he helped toss the guns.
Salgado then drove Nordstrom back to a westside restaurant where SWAT officers arrested him, he said.
After hours of interviews and failing a lie detector test, David Nordstrom confessed to some involvement.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
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.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
A grand jury heard testimony yesterday against a Phoenix inmate suspected in six Tucson killings last year, sources said.
The panel is expected to decide whether to indict Robert Jones as soon as tomorrow on murder charges in the Moon Smoke Shop and Firefighters' Union Hall slayings, according to sources close to the investigation.
Christopher Bell, whose parents were killed at the union hall, said he's glad the long-anticipated grand jury proceeding is under way.
"I want everyone that was involved in this whole ordeal put behind bars."
Deputy County Attorney David White declined to confirm whether the grand jury heard a case against Jones yesterday. He said Jones, 27, has not been indicted.
Police have called Jones a suspect in the cases for several months.
But the prosecutor did not pursue formal charges until he secured the testimony of David Nordstrom, who agreed last week to take the stand against Jones and his brother, Scott Nordstrom, as part of a plea deal.
Police arrested David Nordstrom, 27, and Scott Nordstrom, 29, in January, and a Pima County grand jury indicted both on six counts of murder.
David Nordstrom told police Scott Nordstrom and Robert Jones killed two people at the smoke shop May 30, 1996, and four at the union hall two weeks later, court records state.
Scott Nordstrom is scheduled to stand trial Aug. 12.
David Nordstrom pleaded guilty to armed robbery in the smoke shop case and a judge dismissed the union hall counts because of a lack of evidence. He faces five years in prison.
Jones is in jail in Phoenix, awaiting trial in a separate murder case - the death of a Phoenix retiree.
On Aug. 24, 1996, Phoenix police arrested him after Richard Roels, 58, a retired newspaper advertising manager, was slain in a botched burglary in his home. Phoenix police also arrested Stephen Coats, 35, of Scottsdale.
Jones is being held in lieu of a $1.4 million bond, facing murder and robbery charges stemming from the Phoenix killing.
David Nordstrom said he met Robert Jones in prison in Douglas and introduced him to his brother in April 1996 - a month before the Tucson killings began, court records state.
Court documents indicate David Nordstrom told police he was with Jones, who he called a close friend, May 30 when they stole a 9 mm pistol from a car parked at Tucson Medical Center, 5301 E. Grant Road.
That same evening, 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.
Casings found at the scene suggest a 9 mm gun, similar to the one stolen, could have been used, court records state.
Nordstrom also told investigators Jones came to his house June 13 and told him he had just robbed the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, and killed several people, court documents state.
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.
After David Nordstrom came forward, police learned Jones was living and working with David Nordstrom at the time of the Tucson slayings, court records state.
Investigators determined Jones fit a description given to police by the survivor in the smoke shop shootings. However, his hair appeared to be naturally red and the victim described the men as having dark hair.
When Phoenix police arrested Jones in the Phoenix slaying, they found a bottle of dark hair dye, records state.
On Jan. 14, Tucson police seized a 1962 Ford pickup truck, owned by Jones, that matched the description of a vehicle witnesses described leaving the smoke shop after the shootings.
Detectives also seized letters and photos from Jones' Phoenix jail cell. Police searched his cell for documents tying him to the Nordstrom brothers and the killings, court documents show.
- Alexa Haussler and Inger Sandal Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
In a long-anticipated move, a grand jury indicted Phoenix inmate Robert Jones yesterday in the slayings of six people in two Tucson robberies last year.
He now stands accused along with Scott Nordstrom in the Moon Smoke Shop and Firefighters Union Hall killings.
"We've all been waiting for this for quite some time," said Carson Noel, whose mother, Carol Lynn Noel, was shot to death at the union hall June 13, 1996.
Police and prosecutors have called Jones, 27, a suspect in the local case for several months.
But he was not charged until prosecutors secured the testimony of David Nordstrom, who agreed to take the stand against his brother, Scott Nordstrom, and Jones as part of a plea deal.
A Pima County grand jury first heard testimony against Jones on June 17, sources said. However, the proceedings were not completed until yesterday, when the panel handed up a 15-count indictment against him.
He faces six first-degree murder charges and nine counts of attempted murder, armed robbery, burglary and aggravated assault, according to a statement released yesterday by Deputy County Attorney David White. Jones could face the death penalty if convicted.
Detectives will serve an arrest warrant on Jones at the Maricopa County Jail, where he is being held on an unrelated murder charge.
Tucson police arrested David Nordstrom, 27, and his brother Scott Nordstrom, 29, in January, and a Pima County grand jury indicted both on six counts of murder.
David Nordstrom went to police late last year and told them his older brother and Robert Jones killed two people at the smoke shop May 30, 1996, and four at the union hall two weeks later, court documents indicate.
He pleaded guilty to armed robbery in the smoke shop case and a judge dismissed the union hall counts against him because of a lack of evidence. He faces five years in prison.
David Nordstrom, Scott Nordstrom and Jones all declined interviews last night.
Jones is jailed in Phoenix in lieu of $1.4 million bond, awaiting trial in the Aug. 23, 1996, death of a Phoenix retiree. Richard Roels was killed during the burglary of his upper middle-class home in central Phoenix.
Police arrested Jones and Stephen Coats, 35, of Scottsdale the next day after a 70-mile chase, with speeds up to 130 mph, through Phoenix, Tempe and Paradise Valley.
"It brings it right back again. You try to deal with it every day . . . but when his name keeps coming back again and thinking about the whole thing again it's hard to swallow," Roels' daughter, Ryanne Costello said of Jones' indictment. She was stunned when she recently learned of the Tucson murders.
"I'm everywhere from sad to angry. The first thing I thought of is six other families having to go through what I've gone through," said Costello, who was six months pregnant when her father was killed. "There's been a lot of people affected."
David Nordstrom said he met Robert Jones in prison in Douglas and introduced him to his brother in April of 1996, court records state.
Court documents indicate David Nordstrom told police he was with Jones, whom he called a close friend, on May 30 when they stole a 9mm pistol from a car parked at Tucson Medical Center, 5301 E. Grant Road.
That same evening, a smoke shop customer, Clarence Odell III, 47, and an employee, Thomas Hardman, 26, were killed at the shop, 120 W. Grant Road. A 34-year-old employee, shot in the face and the arm, survived.
Casings found at the scene suggest that a 9mm gun, similar to the one stolen, could have been used, court records state.
Nordstrom also told investigators Jones came to his house on June 13 and told him he had just robbed the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, and killed several people, court documents state.
Slain were bartender Noel, 50; and customers Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; his wife, Judy Bell, 46; and Maribeth Munn, 53.
Investigators determined that Jones fit a description given to police by the surviving victim of the Moon Smoke Shop shootings. However, his hair appeared to be naturally red and the victim described the men as having dark hair.
When Phoenix police arrested Jones in the Phoenix slaying, they found a bottle of dark hair dye, records state.
On Jan. 14, Tucson police seized a 1962 Ford pickup truck, owned by Jones, which matched the description of a vehicle witnesses described leaving the smoke shop after the shootings.
For the following months, Jones remained an unindicted suspect, although David Nordstrom's plea agreement specifically referred to Jones' alleged involvement in the slayings.
Julee Sanchez, a bartender at the union hall, said a close-knit crowd of regulars talks about the case daily. And, she said, the indictment came as no surprise.
"I think everyone knew it was going to happen," she said.
Harley Kurlander, one of two attorneys representing Scott Nordstrom, said he believes Jones will stand trial separately from the older brother, who has denied being involved in the slayings.
Victims' relatives said they can wait even if it takes years to try the accused killers.
"I want it done correctly. I don't want it screwed up because it's being done quickly," said Noel, the union hall bartenders' son.
He said the indictment is simply the first step in what promises to be a drawn-out event.
"It's going to be a rocky year coming up."
And the pain simply hasn't let up.
"They said the first year would be the hardest. So far, I've found the second year is. I just miss my mom more and more every day."
- Jon Burstein Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
David Nordstrom accuses Scott of killing 6
David and Scott Nordstrom faced each other yesterday in an emotionless family reunion with one brother accusing the other of six slayings.
David Nordstrom testified that his brother and another man, Robert G. Jones, are responsible for last year's robberies at the Moon Smoke Shop and Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall.
As the state's chief witness, David Nordstrom said he was the getaway driver in the smoke shop robbery and both Scott Nordstrom, 30, and Jones, 27, confessed to him their roles in the union hall slayings.
When a prosecutor asked him what he thought as he heard gunfire in the smoke shop, David Nordstrom simply said, "People were dying."
David Nordstrom, 28, spent more than five hours testifying yesterday in Scott Nordstrom's trial in the two smoke shop slayings and four union hall killings. Scott Nordstrom and Jones, who goes to trial in March, could face the death penalty if they are convicted of murder.
The younger Nordstrom is scheduled to return to the witness stand this morning.
The brothers rarely made eye contact yesterday, with David Nordstrom turning his chair away from Scott Nordstrom when the jury left the Pima County courtroom for breaks. The brothers' parents and stepmother watched silently in the audience.
David Nordstrom agreed to testify against his brother and plead guilty to an armed robbery charge after prosecutors dropped two counts of first-degree murder related to the smoke shop robbery.
He admitted yesterday that he lied repeatedly to police detectives after his January arrest to avoid implicating himself and and his brother in the slayings.
Harley Kurlander, one of Scott Nordstrom's attorneys, has argued that David Nordstrom, a convicted felon, is one of the killers who turned in his brother to save himself.
David Nordstrom testified that the day of the smoke shop robbery, he was with his brother and Jones when Jones broke into a car at the Tucson Medical Center and stole a gun.
After taking the gun, the three were heading down Grant Road in Jones' truck when Jones suggested they rob the smoke shop, 120 W. Grant, David Nordstrom said.
David Nordstrom said that although he protested, his brother agreed to rob the store.
"He (Scott Nordstrom) told me to drive and it was just going to take a second," David Nordstrom said.
David Nordstrom said he waited in the truck while his brother and Jones went into the store and opened fire.
"Were you scared?" prosecutor David White asked.
"Yeah," David Nordstrom said.
"Why didn't you leave?" White queried.
"Because my brother was in there," David Nordstrom said.
Jones and Scott Nordstrom came running back to the truck and they left the parking lot, David Nordstrom said.
Thomas Hardman, 28, and Clarence W. Odell III, 47, were killed in the smoke shop robbery, while a third man was shot in the face.
David Nordstrom said that the night of the June 13, 1996, union hall slayings, he was at the house he shared with his father and stepmother.
Sometime after 10 p.m., Jones woke him up by coming into his bedroom unannounced and turning on the lights, he testified.
Jones had a strange look on his face, appearing "real pale-like," David Nordstrom said.
Then Jones told him about what had happened at the union hall, David Nordstrom said. He did not go into details about what Jones said.
David Nordstrom said that the next day, when his brother came to pick him up for work, he confronted his older brother about what had happened.
"He told me he walked into the fire hall, grabbed the bartender, took her in the back and told her to open the safe," David Nordstrom testified. "She told him several times she couldn't open the safe. . . . He kicked her in the face and then . . . shot her."
David Nordstrom admitted he helped his brother and Jones dispose of the two guns used in both robberies.
The weapons were tossed in a pond southeast of Tucson, he testified.
Killed at the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, were bartender Carol Lynn Noel, 50, and customers Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; his wife, Judy Bell, 46; and Maribeth Munn, 53.
David Nordstrom said he went to police with information about the two robberies because he felt bad after watching the victims' families plead for help in a Christmastime news broadcast.
"I knew who did it," he said. "I wasn't saying anything at the time. It was getting to me."
Kurlander spent about an hour yesterday hammering away at inconsistent statements David Nordstrom made to police the day he was arrested.
David Nordstrom didn't deny repeatedly lying to police or threatening not to cooperate if he didn't receive reward money.
In his first interview after his arrest, David Nordstrom lied about not being involved in the smoke shop robbery and never mentioned his brother.
He confessed to his and his brother's involvement only in subsequent interviews. Even in those sessions, he didn't admit he knew how the second gun used in the robberies was obtained.
David Nordstrom maintained yesterday that the second gun was "borrowed" by Jones from one of their friends.
The gun's owner has told police that David Nordstrom stole it from her.
He also admitted that he violated conditions of his home arrest by doing drugs, drinking, associating with felons and possessing a gun. He was on home arrest after serving time in prison for felony theft. He also has been convicted of burglary and forgery.
Kurlander is set to continue questioning David Nordstrom this morning at about 10:30 a.m. before Judge Pro Tem Michael Cruikshank of Pima County Superior Court.
- Jon Burstein Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Faces death penalty for slayings of six
A trial that pitted brother against brother in Tucson's worst multiple-slaying case in recent history ended yesterday when a jury convicted Scott Nordstrom in six slayings.
Nordstrom shook his head "no" as the first verdict was read, and remained stoic as he heard the word guilty 11 more times.
After deliberating 10 hours over two days, jurors found him guilty of six first-degree murder charges and six other felony counts related to last year's robberies at the Moon Smoke Shop and Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall.
Nordstrom faces the death penalty when he is sentenced March 9 by Judge Pro Tem Michael Cruikshank of Pima County Superior Court.
Nordstrom, 30, is the first person in the last 25 years to be found guilty by a Pima County jury of six or more killings.
Nordstrom's mother, Cynthia Wasserburger, broke down in tears but refused to comment as she left the courtroom.
Victims' family members in the packed courtroom released a collective sigh as some fought back tears and others smiled.
"I feel in my heart that it was Scott who killed my sister," said Toni Schneider, whose sister, Carol Lynn Noel, was shot to death at the union hall. "The whole thing is such an unbelievable tragedy."
But while prosecutor David White, police and victims' families said they were relieved with the verdict, they observed their court ordeal is not close to over.
Robert G. Jones, the suspected second gunman in both robberies, is set to go to trial in March on six first-degree murder charges and nine other felony counts.
"(With the verdict) I thought 'Thank God,' " said Teresa Anagnostos, the daughter of union hall victim Maribeth Munn.
"For a second, I thought it was finally over, and then I remembered we had to do it all over again this spring."
Jurors found that Scott Nordstrom executed two people in each of the robberies last year. They also found that under the felony murder law, he is responsible for four other deaths during the heists.
The felony murder law allows prosecutors to charge defendants with first-degree murder if someone died during the commission of a crime.
Jurors decided the evidence showed Scott Nordstrom forced Tom Lewis Hardman, 28, to lie down during the May 30, 1996, smoke shop robbery and shot him twice in the back of his head.
Two weeks later, Nordstrom executed union hall bartender Noel, 50, shooting her once in the head and again in the back, the jury found.
A second gunman - believed to be Jones - killed Clarence Odell, 47, during the smoke shop robbery and Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; his wife, Judy Bell, 46; and Munn, 53, in the June 13, 1996, union hall robbery.
Nordstrom's defense attorneys said yesterday that the jury convicted the wrong Nordstrom.
The defense team maintained during the trial that the state's chief witness - David Nordstrom - committed the robberies with Jones and framed his older brother to avoid prosecution.
"Take a look at the composite," said defense attorney Richard Bock outside the courtroom, referring to a sketch of a gunman at the smoke shop, 120 W. Grant Road.
The defense argued the sketch looked more like David Nordstrom than Scott Nordstrom.
David Nordstrom, 28, testified last month that he drove the getaway truck in the smoke shop robbery. He agreed to testify against his brother in exchange for prosecutors dropping two first-degree murder charges in the smoke shop robbery.
He pleaded guilty to an armed robbery charge and faces up to 12 years in prison.
Prosecutor White hailed the guilty verdict as a testament to the Tucson Police Department's tenacity in investigating the crimes.
"They (the police) worked like dogs before and during the trial," White said. "The people of Tucson ought to be happy."
He declined to comment specifically about the case, citing the upcoming Jones trial.
Scott Nordstrom's conviction came despite no physical evidence linking him to either robbery.
White's case was largely based on the testimony of three witnesses - David Nordstrom, an eyewitness to the smoke shop robbery and one of Scott Nordstrom's childhood friends.
The eyewitness said she was positive Scott Nordstrom was one of the smoke shop gunmen, while the childhood friend testified Scott Nordstrom plotted as early as 1994 to rob the union hall and kill all witnesses.
But ultimately the one and only person who placed Scott Nordstrom at both robberies was his younger brother.
David Nordstrom approached police in January, saying Jones committed the two robberies and offering to lead police to the two guns used in the slayings.
The younger Nordstrom said he came forward because his conscience was bothering him to the point he couldn't eat or sleep.
He told police about his brother's involvement in the robberies only after he was arrested in the crimes.
Police never found the guns in the pond near Sonoita southeast of Tucson, where David Nordstrom said they were tossed.
Juror Preston Hesterlee said no single piece of evidence or testimony was the deciding factor for the 12 jurors.
Jurors spent most of their time digesting hundreds of exhibits and testimony from 68 witnesses during the five-week trial, he said.
"I think that we all as jurors discussed it, and we came out with a decision," Hesterlee said last night. "We had a lot of notes to look at. We had a lot of exhibits to look at."
Scott Nordstrom's conviction automatically will be appealed. Defense attorney Harley Kurlander said the appeal, in part, may center on admissibility of David Nordstrom's parole records.
White contended David Nordstrom couldn't have committed the robbery of the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, because electronic monitoring records for his house arrest prove he was home that night.
Kurlander also said the testimony of the smoke shop witness, Carla Whitlock, shouldn't have been allowed because she positively identified Scott Nordstrom only after she saw a news broadcast about his arrest.
Kurlander said yesterday that he also plans to argue that Scott Nordstrom shouldn't receive the death penalty because of "residual doubt."
"It's basically a determination by the judge if there may be lingering doubt," Kurlander said.
Scott Nordstrom's father, who was not present for the verdict, refused to comment when contacted at his home last night.
Nordstrom's conviction makes him the first person in Pima County to be convicted of six or more killings since Lary J. Melcher was convicted in 1971 of six counts of vehicular manslaughter.
A year later, a Maricopa County jury found Louis Cuen Taylor guilty of 28 first-degree murder counts in the 1970 fire at Tucson's Pioneer International Hotel.
Two pre-sentencing hearings will be held on Feb. 23 and March 2.
About 20 people gathered last night at the union hall, with some applauding and others calling out victims' names as a television broadcast recapped the guilty verdicts.
"All we want to see is that anyone involved (in the killings) gets what they got coming," said Sue Franklin, a friend of Arthur Bell. "They didn't have to kill those folks."
Franklin gazed at pictures of the four union hall victims on a memorial plaque inside the union hall.
"There's Taco, Judy, Maribeth and Lynn," Franklin said. "They wouldn't want us to abandon this bar. It's a family operation."
She paused for a moment, then gently stroked Bell's photo.
"We got 'em Taco. We got 'em."
- Jon Burstein Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Convicted murderer Scott Nordstrom received six death sentences yesterday for his role in a pair of bloody robberies that left Tucson reeling two years ago.
An emotionless Nordstrom didn't flinch as a Pima County judge ordered a half-dozen times within a minute that he be put to death. After the sentences, Nordstrom took one long swallow, but remained mute as he stared straight ahead.
A jury convicted Nordstrom, 30, in December of six first-degree murder counts in the 1996 robberies at the Moon Smoke Shop and Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall. He became the first person in Pima County within the past 25 years to be found guilty of six or more slayings.
Judge Pro Tem Michael Cruikshank of Pima County Superior Court called the robberies "barbarous, arrogant and ruthless in the extreme."
The sentencing came after an emotional half-hour in which victims' family members had their first and only opportunities to address Cruikshank.
The families described with quaking voices the legacy of anguish Nordstrom has left behind. One victim's son made a personal vow to his mother's killer.
"I will do everything within my power to make sure that you never, ever set foot on the face of the Earth as a free man," said Carson Noel, son of Carol Lynn Noel. She was one of four victims in the June 13, 1996, union hall robbery.
Yesterday's sentence elicited hugs, tears and a few cheers among the victims' family members, but many said they recognized their time in court is far from over.
"This is round one," Noel said after the sentencing.
Robert Jones - the alleged second gunman in both robberies - is set to be tried June 17 on the same murder charges. He could face the death penalty if convicted of any of the first-degree murder counts.
Scott Nordstrom's mother, Cindy Wasserburger, and his stepfather, James Wasserburger, left the courtroom without comment yesterday.
Harley Kurlander, one of Nordstrom's attorneys, said his client had braced himself for the death sentences.
"Being realistic, he knew it was a very possible outcome," Kurlander said. "He remains very optimistic in regard to his appeal."
Kurlander maintained yesterday - as he did during the trial - that the jury convicted the wrong Nordstrom. Scott Nordstrom said at a hearing last week that his younger brother - the state's key witness - framed him for the murders.
David Nordstrom, 28, testified he was the getaway driver in the May 30, 1996, smoke shop robbery and that his brother and Jones separately confessed to him that they committed the union hall robbery.
Jurors found that Scott Nordstrom killed Tom Lewis Hardman, 28, in the smoke shop robbery and Carol Lynn Noel during the union hall robbery. They also found under the felony murder law that he was responsible for the other four deaths during the heists.
The felony murder law allows prosecutors to charge defendants with first-degree murder if someone dies during the commission of a crime.
The other gunman - who authorities say was Jones - killed Clarence "Chip" Odell III, 47, during the smoke shop robbery; and Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; his wife, Judy Bell, 46; and Maribeth Munn, 53.
Nordstrom also was convicted of six other felony counts, including attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of another smoke shop employee.
Cruikshank found that death sentences were warranted because Scott Nordstrom had committed the murders for monetary gain and was convicted of multiple murders in separate robberies.
The defense argued for leniency, saying residual doubt exists that Scott Nordstrom - and not his brother - committed the robberies.
But Cruikshank said guilt had clearly been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
"While David Nordstrom was central to the state's case, he did not comprise the state's entire case, and the core of his testimony was corroborated at least circumstantially by other witnesses and items of evidence," Cruikshank said.
Scott Nordstrom's attorneys also had argued that he had a difficult childhood and suffers from an anti-social personality disorder.
Cruikshank said he found that neither one of those factors played a role in the murders.
"While not idyllic, the defendant's early years were not marked by abuse, unhappiness or misfortune sufficient to constitute mitigation," the judge said.
Toni Schneider, Carol Lynn Noel's sister, told Cruikshank yesterday that Scott Nordstrom was the evil that chose to kill her sister. She was the first of five victims' family members who addressed the court.
"We are all responsible for the choices we make in our lives," Schneider said. ". . . My choice is that I will not allow my life to become about Scott Nordstrom and the people he represents. . . . I chose to remember the good things about my sister that evil cannot take away from me."
Leann Bell, who lost both her parents, ran out of the courtroom crying after addressing Scott Nordstrom.
"You will no longer have my life . . . you will go away," Bell yelled at Scott Nordstrom. "You will never come back. You will die."
Throughout the speeches, Scott Nordstrom never looked at the people talking or the misty-eyed courtroom spectators.
Theresa Anagnostos, one of Maribeth Munn's daughters, said, "He stole from her life from this Earth. . . . He knew right from wrong, and he chose wrong."
Odell's family did not address the court, but in a letter to Cruikshank, 11 family members asked that Scott Nordstrom receive the death penalty.
"Chip Odell was a hard-working man who dearly loved his family and has been taken out of our lives by this ruthless individual," the Odell family wrote. "The void this crime has left in our lives cannot be comprehended."
Clarence Odell Jr., Chip Odell's father, said yesterday that he was satisfied that Scott Nordstrom received the death penalty.
"I hope I live long enough to see the sentence carried out," he said.
Before handing down the sentence yesterday, Cruikshank offered a quiet prediction.
"Some people will leave here with some sense of relief," he said. "Some people will leave here with some disappointment. No one will leave here with cause for rejoicing."
- Tim Steller Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
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."
- Keith Bagwell Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
'It's finally over,' says son of 1 victim
Family members of six people killed in Tucson's deadliest robbery spree hugged and wept yesterday as a Pima County Superior Court judge sentenced the last of the killers to death.
Robert G. Jones remained silent and showed no emotion as Judge John Leonardo sentenced him to join his accomplice, Scott Nordstrom, on death row at the Arizona State Prison at Florence.
"I'm glad it's finally over," said Carson Noel, son of victim Carol Lynn Noel, 50.
He was among several people to speak before Leonardo sentenced Jones, 28. Noel showed a video of his mother, with Garth Brooks' "The Dance" playing in the background.
Leonardo made it clear from the outset that his mind was made up: "The mitigating circumstances are insufficient to call for leniency," he said. "The murders were clearly brutal and savage. The defendant is without remorse."
In separate trials, Jones and Nordstrom, 30, were each convicted of six counts of first-degree murder for killing two people in a robbery of the Moon Smoke Shop in May 1996 and four people while robbing the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall in June 1996.
The key witness against the pair was Nordstrom's younger brother, David, who drove the getaway car in the smoke shop heist. In exchange for his testimony, David Nordstrom was sentenced in August to four years in prison; he could be free in two years.
"There is nothing that can be done to bring back the victims," Leonardo said yesterday. "But the court hopes that in this final sentencing, their families can come to some form of closure."
For many, though, the healing process has only begun.
"I hurt every time I think that she never got to hold her grandson," said Teresa Anagnostos, whose mother, Maribeth Munn, 53, was among those killed in the union hall robbery. Anagnostos was eight months pregnant at the time with her mother's first grandchild.
"I'm on medication, I'm afraid to go out at night and I'm afraid of strangers. I've been through hell for two years," she said.
Jerry Plumb, whose sister, Judy Bell, 45, and her husband, Arthur Bell, 54, were killed at the union hall, said the murders have "literally torn our family apart." Some family members have moved to get away from Tucson memories.
"We miss them a great deal this time of year, but we still have our memories," he said.
According to testimony at their trials, Jones and Scott Nordstrom entered the smoke shop, 120 W. Grant Road, on May 30, 1996, while David Nordstrom waited in a vehicle outside.
Jones shot and killed customer Clarence Odell, 47, with a 9 mm gun. Scott Nordstrom took employee Thomas Hardman, 28, into a back room and shot him with a .38-caliber handgun.
They then emptied the cash registers and fled in the car with David Nordstrom.
Two weeks later Jones and Scott Nordstrom entered the union hall bar, 2264 E. Benson Highway, and forced the Bells and Munn to put their heads down on the bar.
Each was shot with the 9 mm handgun used in the smoke shop murders. Noel, who was bartending at the union hall, was taken to the back of the bar and shot with the .38-caliber handgun used at the smoke shop.
Neither gun was found.
In pre-sentencing hearings last month, Jones' attorney, Eric Larsen, argued that Jones' role in the robberies and murders was not clear. He said Jones' claim that his role was minor - that David Nordstrom was actually the second gunman at the scenes - could be true.
Both Jones and David Nordstrom have shoulder-length red hair.
Larsen also said Jones suffered from an anti-social personality disorder as a result of parental abuse and later drug abuse.
Leonardo said the defense attack on David Nordstrom's credibility "was skillfully presented at trial, but the jury found unanimously and beyond reasonable doubt that (Jones) was guilty."
The Arizona Supreme Court automatically reviews all death-penalty cases. The process usually takes years.
Jones has a criminal history in Maricopa County dating back to 1988, when he was convicted in Maricopa County of attempted burglary and sentenced to four years in prison, according to a pre-sentence report.
Jones was convicted again in Maricopa County on burglary and theft charges in May 1991, and sentenced to eight years in prison. He was released on parole in February 1995.
He was an unemployed laborer when he was arrested for the Tucson murders in July 1997.
- Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services
- Updated
PHOENIX - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to give Scott Nordstrom another chance to escape the death penalty.
Without comment, the justices rejected his plea for a new sentencing for multiple shooting deaths during a pair of 1996 robberies in Tucson. That leaves Nordstrom on death row.
Nordstrom was not challenging the conviction itself.
Nordstrom and Robert Jones were charged with killing two men while robbing the Moon Smoke Shop. Two weeks later, they shot and killed four people during a robbery at the Firefighters' Union Hall, a social club. Both were sentenced to death.
But in 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling in another Arizona murder case, said the death penalty cannot be imposed solely by a judge, if a defendant objects. The justices said defendants are entitled to make their case for being spared to a jury.
In 2009, a jury resentenced him to die.
In his petition to the nation's high court, Nordstrom said it was wrong for the judge presiding over the resentencing to preclude him from introducing evidence from his original trial he claimed would show his innocence. The judge in that case said such evidence is inadmissible for purposes of sentencing.
The Arizona Supreme Court already had rejected Nordstrom's argument.
Both robberies were solved when Scott's brother, David Nordstrom, contacted police. He had been the driver in the getaway vehicle.
Jones' death sentence imposed by a judge was upheld before that 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. He remains on death row.
Note: As of May 30, 2016, Scott Nordstrom is still on Death Row.
- By Patrick McNamara Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The man convicted of gunning down six people in cold blood in a pair of 1996 robberies died quietly Wednesday in Housing Unit 9 at the Arizona Department of Corrections prison in Florence.
In stark contrast to the violent and bloody deaths Robert Glen Jones’ inflicted upon his victims, Jones appeared to fall peacefully asleep after prison officials administered the lethal dose of phenobarbital.
“I think it was too easy,” said Carson Noel, whose mother was one of the people Jones and accomplice Scott Nordstrom shot and killed.
Noel said Jones wasn’t made to suffer the way his victims were.
Jones, 43, and Nordstrom were found guilty of the Moon Smoke Shop and Firefighter’s Union Hall murders in 1998 and sentenced to die for the crimes. Nordstrom remains on death row.
Arthur “Taco” Bell, 54; Judy Bell, 46; Maribeth Munn, 53; and Carol Lynn Noel, 50, were shot and killed during a robbery at the Firefighter’s Union Hall.
Clarence Odell III, 47; and Thomas Hardman, 26, were killed in the Moon Smoke Shop.
“All I could think of was my mom and dad,” said Christopher Bell, son of Arthur and Judy Bell.
Bell said the 17 years since his parents were slain was too long to wait for the death sentence to be carried out.
Even with one of the killers of his parents dead, Bell said his family would always bear the scars left by their deaths .
“It’s never going to heal — it never will,” Bell said.
Following the murders, Bell said he moved to Texas to escape some of the memories and make a new start.
Jones steadfastly maintained his innocence over the years. Prior to the execution, however, he declined to attend his clemency board hearing, where an attorney represented him in a plea for a stay.
He also refused a special meal the day before the death sentence was carried out, eating instead the same meal other death-row inmates had: beef patties, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, two slices of wheat bread, glazed cake and a powdered-juice drink.
Before the administration of the lethal dose, Jones offered no apologies and expressed no remorse.
“Love and respect my family and friends and I hope my friends are never here,” were the last words Jones spoke.
At times he even joked with prison staffers as they struggled to find viable veins to insert the IVs, suggesting with his years of experience shooting “dope” he could find the vein himself if they freed his hand.
Witnesses watched on television monitors as prison and medical staff worked for nearly an hour around Jones before opting to administer the lethal injection drugs into the femoral artery of his right leg.
When the curtains that block out the glass between the observation room and death chamber were opened, the death warrant was read to Jones.
The drugs were administered at 10:35 a.m.
Jones lay nearly motionless with his eyes closed moving only his right hand periodically.
His chest made one upward heave before he stopped moving completely. As the drug worked its way through his system, the muscles in his face relaxed and his mouth fell slightly slack.
Soon the color began to run from his face, taking on a pale gray shade.
After nearly 10 minutes of silence, a medical technician checked Jones’ vital signs and pronounced him “officially sedated.”
A few minutes later, Arizona Department of Corrections Director Charles L. Ryan stepped into the chamber and pronounced Jones officially dead at 10:52 a.m.
For Noel, attending the execution was a difficult decision.
“This is probably the second-hardest thing I’ve had to do,” he said. “The first was laying my mom to rest.”
It was Arizona’s 36th execution since 1992.
Wednesday’s execution was the second in Arizona this month. Edward Schad, 71, was executed Oct. 9 for killing a Bisbee man in 1978.
No execution date has been set for Nordstrom.
- Ann McBride Arizona Daily Star
Two men were killed and another was injured early yesterday evening during an apparent robbery, police said.
The double homicide happened shortly after 6 p.m. at Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road, in the Grantstone Shopping Center.
One of the men killed was 36 years old and was a customer at the smoke shop. He died on the way to the hospital, police said.
The other man killed was an employee and was dead when police arrived, said Sgt. Eugene Mejia of the Tucson Police Department. His age was not available.
Another employee, who was 47 years old, was shot in the face and arm. He was taken to a local hospital, where police planned to interview him about the shooting, Mejia said.
Police are searching for two men suspected of committing the shootings, Mejia said.
The first man is described as Anglo, 6 feet tall, between 25 and 30 years old, wearing a cowboy hat and a black shirt with yellow writing.
The second suspect is described as Anglo or Hispanic, 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds and wearing dark clothing. His age was not available.
The men were seen leaving the area in a light-blue, older-looking pickup truck with possibly a step-side short bed, Mejia said.
Mejia did not know last night what the two men may have stolen from the store or whether the apparent robbers met with any resistance. He said it appeared that the pair entered the store through the front entrance.
The manager of Tucson Store Fixtures, which is next door to the shop, said he called police after an employee of the store came out screaming for help. The manager did not want to be identified.
Shopping center workers and neighborhood residents complained about crime in the area.
The manager of ColorTyme, also in the shopping center, said that he calls 911 an average of five times a week and that his store has been broken into five times in the past year.
A man who lives in the area with his family and did not want to be identified said they are moving because of crime. He said that two cars have been broken into in the family's driveway and that he worries for the safety of his 10-year-old son.
"You just can't have kids growing up in this neighborhood," he said.
The last armed robbery in Tucson that turned deadly occurred on Dec. 29. David Botz, 35, manager of the Speedway Schwinn store, 3575 E. Speedway, was fatally shot and a bicycle was taken during the midday robbery. Gary Roper, 15, was charged with first-degree murder, theft and armed robbery and will be tried as an adult, a juvenile court judge ruled in February.
- Carmen Duarte Arizona Daily Star
A fast-food run may have saved the life of one Moon Smoke Shop employee.
He went to an El Taco on Thursday to fetch dinner for himself and the rest of the crew working at the business at 120 W. Grant Road.
When he returned to work, he encountered a swarm of police cars and death.
Two robbers walked into the business in the Grantstone Shopping Center, west of North Stone Avenue, and demanded money. The men got their hands on about $200 from cash registers and opened fire in the shop - killing two men and wounding a third.
"The shooting was unprovoked," said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, a Tucson Police Department spokesman. "These men are dangerous and need to be captured as soon as possible."
Yesterday, the bizarre and violent act was slowly sinking into the minds of those who knew Tom Lewis Hardman, 28, and Clarence Wilson Odell III, 47, who were killed.
Hardman, a native of Cedar Falls, Iowa, was hired at the smoke shop about eight months ago, and was planning to marry. Odell, whose girlfriend frequented the shop for two decades, had stopped to buy cigars.
Friends and relatives of the wounded employee were also trying to cope. The employee, 35, was shot in the face and arm. He ran from the store after the gunfire erupted. He was in fair condition yesterday at a local hospital.
Two other employees - one who had hidden under a register - ran out unharmed. One called 911. The other ran after the getaway truck, which headed toward North Stone.
The Arizona Daily Star is not identifying any of the smoke shop employees because the assailants are still at large.
Bouquets of carnations and wildflowers stood in jars of water near the front door of the shop yesterday.
Late yesterday afternoon, customers drove by the business to offer their condolences. The shop will not reopen until next week.
"I cannot understand this," said one employee. "We basically are a big family. The staff is traumatized, and we have received dozens of telephone calls from customers who offered their support."
At her northside home, Beth Hutchinson stroked a sick kitten while trying to grasp words to describe her friend Tom Hardman. "He was easygoing and liked to laugh," she said through tears.
"I, my boyfriend and him would play music together. Tom was really good at playing bass guitar. His death is not right. It doesn't seem real. There was no reason for it."
Police responded to a silent alarm that went off at the shop at 6:15 p.m., which also was the time 911 calls began coming in to dispatchers from area businesses and pay telephones, said Mejia.
"People were reporting shots being fired and multiple victims inside the store," Mejia said.
When officers arrived at the shop, Hardman was found dead inside the store. Paramedics tended to the other two victims, who were taken to a nearby hospital. Odell was pronounced dead about 25 minutes after the shooting.
According to witnesses, the robbers ran from the shop and jumped into a small, light-blue pickup truck parked in the rear of the business, police said. The truck was described as an older model with a step-side short bed.
One assailant is described as white, 6 feet tall and between 25 and 30 years old. He was last seen wearing a cowboy hat and a black shirt with yellow writing.
The second robber was described as white or Hispanic, 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. He was wearing dark clothing and witnesses could not estimate his age.
Investigators ask that anyone who has information about the robbery and double murder call 911, 88-CRIME or homicide at 791-4487.
Officer John Sainz said business owners interested in joining the department's crime-prevention, business-watch program can call 791-4450.
The program trains business employees to look out for each other and teaches them what suspicious activity to be aware of and report to police, Sainz said.
"We can train people how to react during a violent crime and how to work to prevent one," Sainz said.
- Ric Swats, John F. Rawlinson and Maureen O'Connell Arizona Daily Star
Four people were shot to death last night at the Tucson Firefighters Association union hall on the southside.
Police responded to a 911 call after the bodies were found at about 9:30 inside the bar area at the hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, just east of Kino Parkway.
One of the dead is bartender Lynn Noel, 50. Also dead is Arthur "Taco" Bell and his wife, Judy, said Jim Peterson, the manager of the union hall.
The fourth victim is Mary Beth Munn, in her 50s. Her husband, Ned Alicata, discovered the bodies and called police, according to a friend of Munn's.
None of the victims was a firefighter.
Sgt. Eugene Mejia, spokesman for the Tucson Police Department, said police haven't established a motive. But Munn's friend said the bar's two cash registers were open, even though only one was in use.
Police cars lined Benson Highway for about a quarter mile, and yellow police tape ringed the white brick building. Only three cars and a pickup truck were in the parking lot after the shooting.
Judy Reilly, a bartender at the union hall, said that when she left work at 7:45 p.m., only five people were in the bar.
"This doesn't make any sense. Everybody here watches out for everybody; everyone protects everyone," said Reilly, 45.
Peterson said the hall, built 22 years ago, has been "pretty much a trouble-free place."
"It's a private club," he said. "We've never had much problems."
Marty Mitchell, 23, a bartender who has worked at the hall for a year, said he's never seen any fights inside.
"I've never ever had to raise my voice," he said.
The hall does most of its business in the late afternoon. The small group was typical of a weeknight.
The hall holds up to 300 people and is often rented on weekends for weddings, he said.
John Springer, president of the Tucson Firefighters Association, said only members and guests are allowed in the bar area. The association has 480 members plus associate members.
Munn and the Bells were associate members. Associate members are not firefighters, but are recognized as union members and can participate in meetings and other activities.
Arthur "Taco" Bell was a race car driver in the 1960s and for the last 20 years had been a crew member for Donnie Sink, a Tucson race car driver. He was in his 50s.
Sink and Bell had just gotten together last weekend to discuss plans to race at a proposed new track - Saguaro National Speedway - to be built in Tucson this year.
Noel had worked at the union hall for about a year, said her longtime friend, Linda Brockman, 49. Previously, she was a bartender at Berky's Bar, Brockman said.
Noel's father, John Putney, is a retired firefighter. Her ex-husband, Carson Noel, is also a Tucson firefighter. The couple's daughter and son are both in their 20s.
Noel, a native Tucsonan, graduated from Rincon High School in 1964, said Brockman. She just celebrated her 50th birthday a few weeks ago, Brockman said.
"She was very, very well-liked around town," said Brockman.
"She was a generous, free-spirited, giving person, always ready to laugh. . . . She just loved to laugh and you'd know her laugh anywhere. She was a great gal."
Munn's daughter, Rebecka Ann Munn, 22, was shot to death by her ex-boyfriend in October 1994 in an apartment complex parking lot at South Campbell Avenue and East Irvington Road.
Roy Mendez Valenzuela was arrested that night. He was convicted in March 1995 of second-degree murder.
Two men were killed and another was injured May 30 during an apparent robbery at Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road, in the Grantstone Shopping Center. No one has been arrested.
But police spokesman Mejia said the only similarity between the incidents is the multiple victims.
The union hall is a limited-access building with little traffic, while the smoke shop is in a shopping center with a lot of traffic, he said. Visitors to the union hall must use a card or press a buzzer to be admitted.
The smoke shop slayings happened in the late afternoon.
Arizona Daily Star reporter Ron Somers contributed to this story.
- John F. Rawlinson Arizona Daily Star
The four people slain at a southside club Thursday apparently offered no resistance, but that didn't stop whoever shot them from using "extreme violence," police said yesterday.
Police who rushed to the scene shortly after 9:30 p.m. were struck by the severity of what they encountered.
"It was a very brutal scene," said Lt. Thomas McNally, of the Tucson Police Department's violent crimes section.
"The people who did this were able to go in there and be ruthless, callous, and very indifferent to human life.
"It didn't appear from the positions of the bodies that they put up any resistance. It appears they were complying with the demands of the robbers."
Police say they have no suspects in the case.
"There is the possibility they may strike again. It should have everybody worried," McNally said.
The four victims were found in the bar section of the Tucson Firefighters Association union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, one behind the bar and three lying by the bar stools where they had been sitting, McNally said.
The killing was the worst mass murder in Tucson since five men were found stabbed to death in March 1989 in a shed behind a tiny house in the 3300 block of South Mission Road. The slayings, believed to be drug-related, have never been solved.
McNally said the bodies at the union hall weren't tied up, but he refused to say if they had been shot at close range. A source close to the investigation, however, said at least one of the victims had been shot in the head.
Homicide detectives sifting through evidence at the scene suspect more than two weapons were used in the shooting deaths, said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, spokesman for the Police Department.
Different shell casings from the scene suggest the involvement of two persons, Mejia said.
McNally agreed that two persons could have been involved but added that "we're not ruling out the possibility that one person had two weapons."
Robbery appears to be the motive, he said.
About $850 was missing from a bar cash drawer and a reserve bank in the back, said Marty Mitchell, a bartender. There was no indication the victims were robbed, McNally said.
Police identified the victims as bartender Carol Lynn Noel, 50; Maribeth Munn, 53; Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; and his wife, Judy Bell, 46.
The killings are believed to have occurred between 7:45 p.m., when one of the union hall's bartenders left, and 9:36, when Ned Alicata, Munn's husband, discovered the bodies and called 911.
Detectives are now checking to see if the slayings Thursday are connected to the May 30 robbery of the Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road, in the Grantstone Shopping Center. Two men were killed and a third was wounded.
In that incident, two men came into the store in the afternoon and opened fire without provocation, Mejia said.
"Normally you don't have such extreme violence in robbery situations," McNally said.
McNally also said a weapon used in the shooting Thursday may be similar to one used in the Moon Smoke Shop killings. He declined to say what type of gun that might be, but agreed that a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol "is one that is commonly owned, pretty available."
In the smoke shop killings, one suspect was described as Anglo, 6 feet tall, between 25 and 30 years old, wearing a cowboy hat and a black shirt with yellow writing. The second suspect is described as Anglo or Hispanic, 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds and wearing dark clothing.
The two men were seen leaving the area in a light blue, older-looking pickup truck with possibly a step-side short bed.
The union hall slayings bring the 1996 homicide count for Pima County to 44. By June 14 last year - when 95 killings set a homicide record for Pima County - 39 had been slain.
Of the 44 slayings in Pima County this year, 21 were in Tucson. Of the 39 people slain in Pima County as of June 14 last year, 24 were in Tucson.
To conform with records kept by the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the FBI, The Arizona Daily Star's figures do not include suicides, traffic fatalities, accidental deaths or killings classified as justifiable.
- Carmen Duarte Arizona Daily Star
Tucson Police Department homicide and robbery detectives have no strong leads in the shooting deaths of four people Thursday night at a southside firefighters union hall.
Investigators pursued tips through the weekend and continued following leads yesterday, said Lt. Thomas McNally, commander of the department's violent crimes section.
McNally said two detectives have been assigned as the primary investigators in the case - an apparent armed robbery. They are working with patrol officers, forensics personnel and other detectives.
The bodies of bartender Carol Lynn Noel, 50; customers Maribeth Munn, 53, and Judy Bell, 46, and her husband Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54, were found in the bar of the Tucson Firefighters Association union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, shortly after 9:30 p.m.
Munn and the Bells were associate members at the hall.
The firefighters union is offering a $3,000 cash reward for information leading to arrest and conviction of the assailant (or assailants). Anyone with information is asked to call 911, 88-CRIME or the homicide unit at 791-4487.
The assailants made off with about $850 from a bar cash drawer and a reserve bank in the building, Marty Mitchell, a bartender at the hall, said last week.
Police said it appears from the positions of the bodies that the victims were not resisting the assailants.
Investigators said they found two different shell casings at the scene, which could mean more than one robber struck or one assailant fired two guns.
McNally said this case may be connected with the May 30 robbery and double-homicide that left two men dead and a third wounded at the Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road.
Two men entered the smoke shop on that afternoon and opened fire during the robbery - making off with about $200 from cash registers.
In that incident, one robber was described as Anglo, 6 feet tall, between 25 and 30 years old, wearing a cowboy hat and a black shirt with yellow writing. The other was described as Anglo or Hispanic, 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds and wearing dark clothing.
The men were seen leaving the area in a light blue, older-model pickup truck with possibly a step-side short bed.
Several memorial services are scheduled this week for the four victims slain at the southside club.
Noel, Munn and the Bells will be remembered at an event set for 5 p.m. Thursday at the union hall.
The firefighters union has set up an account at First Interstate Bank to help defray the costs of funeral arrangements. Donations may be made at any First Interstate branch, account No. 212615174.
Other services include:
A celebration of Noel's life, set for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Elks' Lodge, 615 S. Pantano Road. A reception will follow at about 1 p.m. at Berky's, 5769 E. Speedway.
For the Bells, a public viewing is scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at Emery Park Baptist Church, 6066 S. Nogales Highway. A memorial service will follow at the church at 1 p.m.
Family members have set up a fund in the Bells' name to benefit the Tucson Racer's Fund for injured race-car drivers. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Bell Memorial Fund at any Arizona Bank, account No. 120-0075-3.
For Munn, a public viewing is scheduled from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday at Tucson Mortuary, 204 S. Stone Ave. A memorial service will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday at Holy Hope Cemetery, 3555 N. Oracle Road. It will be followed by a procession at the cemetery.
- Inger Sandal, John Rawlinson, Alexa Haussler, Hipolito Corella and Ric Swats Arizona Daily Star
Police have arrested two Tucson brothers in the murders of six people, including four at the union hall where their mother once tended bar.
Police say Scott D. Nordstrom, 29, and his brother, David M. Nordstrom, 27, shot and killed two people at the Moon Smoke Shop May 30.
Two weeks later, police say, Scott Nordstrom gunned down four people at the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall.
The brothers are longtime Tucsonans whose mother was a bartender at the union hall for more than a decade.
Ric Bell, son of union hall victims Judy and Arthur "Taco" Bell, said his father knew the brothers and was a good friend of their mother, Cynthia M. Wasserburger. Taco Bell, a mechanic, had worked on their cars, Ric Bell said.
An 88-CRIME tip and other information led police to the brothers, a source said.
Detectives also are looking into "possible drug use by the suspects," Tucson police Sgt. Eugene Mejia said.
Both brothers had been released from prison within months of the shootings, and one may have been wearing an electronic monitoring device as part of a home arrest program, records show. Both served time for theft convictions.
Police sources say robbery and a desire to leave no witnesses apparently led to the unprovoked shootings at the smoke shop, 120 W. Grant Road, and the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway.
In the smoke shop killing, two gunmen walked into the store and opened fire, leaving with $200 from cash registers. Two employees escaped, but employee Tom Lewis Hardman, 28, and customer Clarence Wilson Odell III, 47, were killed. A second employee was wounded in the face and arm.
A bartender and three patrons were shot in the head the night of June 13 at the union hall, just east of Kino Parkway. Killed were bartender Carol Lynn Noel, 50; patron Maribeth Munn, 53, Taco Bell, 54, and his wife Judy Bell, 46. Police said about $850 was taken from a bar cash register and reserve bank in a back office.
"We're confident we have the major people responsible for these crimes in custody. There may be others in the periphery," Tucson police Lt. Tom McNally announced at an afternoon press conference at police headquarters.
"It has really pumped up a lot of people, law enforcement included, to know that we have these people in custody," McNally said.
However, he stressed that the investigation was far from over.
"There is a lot more we have to do beyond this," he said.
Asked if there would be other arrests, he said, "There's always that possibility. That will depend on further detective work."
At his initial appearance yesterday in Justice Court, Scott Nordstrom was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Judge Deborah J.S. Ward set bond at $2 million.
David Nordstrom was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in the smoke shop killings. He is being held in lieu of $2 million bond.
Ward set their preliminary hearing for 3:30 p.m. Jan. 27.
Arraignments in the jail are shown on courtroom video screens, but police asked that the brothers not be televised nor their pictures released because they may later go before witnesses in a lineup.
McNally said the now-familiar composite sketches of the suspects "had limited value."
But a close friend of the Bells disagreed.
"I'm not the only one who looked at those pictures and put a name on them," John Watson said yesterday. "We talked about it maybe being them a long time ago."
McNally said detectives exhausted thousands of leads before information from "several different sources" jelled. "Within the last couple of weeks we were able to narrow it down to the two particular suspects," he said.
A police source said investigators have seized a blue pickup truck. Witnesses saw a light-blue pickup with rust spots leaving the smoke shop after the shootings.
But investigators remained tight-lipped.
"I won't comment on any evidence that was found or not found," said McNally, who also would not say whether police recovered weapons when the department's SWAT team arrested both brothers Thursday.
David Nordstrom, of the 2300 block of South Calle Hohokam, was arrested about 3:30 p.m. at a trailer near South Kinney and West Bopp roads in the Tucson Mountains. Authorities found Scott Nordstrom, of the 2900 block of West Hermans Road, about 11:30 p.m. at a trailer on the southwest side.
Asked where any of the victims or the brothers had known each other, McNally said, "We're having to go back and look at prior background and histories."
Union hall manager Jim Peterson said the suspects' mother quit her bartending job about five years ago. Peterson said she refused to wait on patrons who weren't in her "clique."
"Cindy resigned because she was going to get fired," Peterson said.
"They (the brothers) were in here when she worked here," Peterson said. "I don't think they'd have come back here, but the rest of town ought to breathe a big sigh of relief."
In March 1996, Wasserburger sold the southwest-side trailer where the family had lived for many years and moved with her husband to New Mexico, according to several sources.
But she was back in town yesterday.
Wasserburger, appearing distraught, abruptly left a southside club yesterday afternoon when a television set in the bar carried the news of the arrests.
"It was really awful, actually. She came in and the news came on at about the same time," said a club employee who did not want her name used.
Many of about 15 patrons in the bar watched the news intently because they had known one or more of those slain at the union hall and had "been really touched by what had happened there."
"And we turn around and the mom was standing there. Everybody started whispering. She seemed real uncomfortable. She looked upset and she left."
Department of Corrections spokesman Michael Arra said the Nordstrom brothers had served prison time on theft convictions out of Pima County.
Scott Nordstrom was arrested in 1987 and again in 1990 for driving under the influence.
He was charged with DUI and assaulting a police officer on Feb. 2, 1991. In a June 1991 plea agreement, he entered a no contest plea to aggravated driving under the influence with a suspended license.
In 1994, a Pima County jury convicted him of aggravated robbery charges after he and a friend snatched a woman's purse.
Scott Nordstrom spent March 1995 through April 24, 1996, at a medium-security complex in Florence. He got a provisional release and was to be supervised by a parole officer until Sunday, Arra said.
According to a 1991 Department of Public Safety report, Scott Nordstrom was arrested at least five times for assault and theft charges between 1984 and 1988. All of the charges were dismissed.
Scott Nordstrom was born in Illinois and lived in Tucson most of his life, court records state. He worked as a drywall finisher and did not complete high school, records state.
David Nordstrom was arrested in May 1992 for helping steal four Datsun pickup trucks. He received four years' probation. He violated his probation in 1992, and was sentenced to three months in jail for failing to contact his probation officer, records state.
David Nordstrom, who already was on probation in Texas when the arrest occurred, admitted to being a cocaine and alcohol abuser, court records state.
David Nordstrom was at the state prison in Douglas from April 30, 1993, until Jan. 25, 1996, when he was released to the home arrest program. He was supposed to wear an electronic monitoring device until Aug. 24, 1996, Arra said.
David Nordstrom was born in Tucson and worked in construction.
Scott Nordstrom first enrolled in Tucson Unified School District in 1977. He later attended Senior High Accommodation from November 1982 to March 1983 and then transferred to Project MORE. He flunked out of school in November 1983 because he failed to show up for class, said Robert Mackay, the school's director.
David Nordstrom started in TUSD in 1981 at Lawrence Elementary School. No other records about his school history were available yesterday.
Dennis Lickliter, a neighbor of David Nordstrom, said he never met him, but he casually knew Arthur "Taco" Bell from the car racetrack.
Arizona Daily Star reporters Tim Steller, Sarah Tully Tapia and Joe Burchell contributed to this story.
MURDER CHRONOLOGY
Key dates in the investigation:
May 30, 1996 - Tom Lewis Hardman, 28, and Clarence Wilson Odell III, 47, are killed shortly after 6 p.m. during a robbery at the Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road, in the Grantstone Shopping Center. Another man is shot in the face and arm. Tucson Police release descriptions of two suspects.
June 13, 1996 - Four people are shot to death at the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway. The victims are customers Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; his wife, Judy, 46; Maribeth Munn, 53; and bartender Lynn Noel, 50. The victims, all shot in the head, were found shortly after 9:30 p.m. by Munn's companion, Ned Alicata.
June 14, 1996 - Detectives say robbery was the motive for the union hall killings. About $850 was missing from a bar cash register and a reserve bank in the back. A few days later, detectives say the union hall and smoke shop killings are related.
June 20, 1996 - A memorial service is held for the four union hall victims at the union hall. Sources say the victims were all shot in the head. Tucson Police Chief Douglas Smith and Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik announce a $28,500 reward to find the killers and release a more detailed description of the suspects.
June 24, 1996 - Police release sketches of the two suspects, drawn by nationally acclaimed artist Jeanne Boylan. Boylan worked with the FBI in the Unabomber and Oklahoma City bombing cases.
June 28, 1996 - Tucson detectives go to Phoenix to interview two bank robbery suspects, but decide they were not involved in the killings.
July 16, 1996 - Investigators check to see if the killings are related to the slaying of three people at a Mississippi furniture store.
Oct. 3, 1996 - Indiana authorities ask Tucson police whether two escaped Alabama prisoners match the suspects' descriptions. A Tucson police spokesman calls them "an investigative lead, one of 700 at this point."
Dec. 14, 1996 - Relatives of the union hall victims hold a press conference to mark the six months since the slaying and ask again for help in finding the killers.
Jan. 16, 1997 - Tucson brothers Scott and David Nordstrom are arrested. Scott, 29, is charged in both cases and David, 27, is charged in the smoke shop killings.
- Inger Sandal and Hanh Kim Quach Arizona Daily Star
Detectives investigating two brutal robbery-homicides in which six people were killed spent months pursuing thousands of leads provided by the community before they focused on two local brothers.
Yesterday, following the arrests of Scott D. Nordstrom, 29, and his brother, David M. Nordstrom, 27, police again appealed to the public for help.
"We want to stress to the public that it is necessary to continue to call in tips or any information on these suspects or acquaintances that may result in further charges or could be of great assistance in solidifying the case," said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, spokesman for the Tucson Police Department.
"It is not over. Our investigation is continuing. That is why we are requesting additional information from the public, now that we've named two suspects as being involved in both crimes," Mejia said.
Anyone with information can call 88-CRIME and remain anonymous, or 911 and an officer will be dispatched to take a report. A source credited an 88-CRIME tip and other information for leading police to the brothers.
"They're going to continue to follow up on leads that are developed as a result of the suspects being named," Mejia said. "We expect people to come forward with new information," he said, as detectives continued yesterday to work to "detail their movements, their acquaintances, and any other crimes they may have been involved in."
Police allege the brothers shot and killed two people and critically wounded a third May 30 at the Moon Smoke Shop. Two weeks later, police allege, Scott Nordstrom shot to death four people at the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall where the Nordstroms' mother once tended bar.
Arrested Thursday, the brothers remained jailed yesterday, each in lieu of a $2 million bond. They declined interview requests.
Scott Nordstrom is charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. David Nordstrom is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
As murder suspects, they are housed in the jail's most secure areas, and as co-defendants the brothers are kept separated, Pima County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Michael O'Connor said yesterday.
"The brothers will never be together. They won't be housed together, they won't dine together," O'Connor said.
The six shooting deaths made up one-third of the city's 21 unsolved homicides from last year. Police said they consider a case solved once an arrest is made. In 1996, there were 47 slaying deaths in Tucson city limits.
"There was a lot of hard work in this case, and our homicide unit is considered one of the best in the nation," Mejia said.
David Nordstrom, of the 2300 block of South Calle Hohokam, was arrested at a trailer near South Kinney and West Bopp roads in the Tucson Mountains. Authorities found his brother, of the 2900 block of West Hermans Road, at a trailer on the southwest side.
Yesterday was business as usual at the Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road, where last year employee Tom Lewis Hardman, 28, and customer Clarence Wilson Odell III, 47, were killed. An unidentified 35-year-old employee was shot in the face and arm, and two other employees escaped unharmed.
Police said two robbers walked into the shop in the Grantstone Shopping Center, took about $200 from cash registers and opened fire without provocation before fleeing in a light-blue pickup truck. A source has said police recovered a blue pickup truck.
Employees declined to comment yesterday, but several customers said last year's tragedy still remained in the back of their minds.
"I had some fear (about safety)," Michael Hurwitz, who buys cigarettes three times a week at the shop, said yesterday. "It was always at the back of my mind."
Hurwitz said he moved to Tucson from New York City six years ago. "Here, crime is more frightening. . . . Everything is in the neighborhood, so it's more immediate."
Preston Saurman, who visits the shop once a week, was pleased with the arrests.
"There's a little bit of justice. But there's plenty of crime around. That's the scary part," Saurman said.
Another regular, who declined to give his name, said he felt apprehensive about visiting the shop on Tucson's near northside after the shootings.
Even with an off-duty police officer patrolling the storefront, he said he parked by the Grantstone supermarket - on the other side of the shopping complex - then walked to the shop.
Because of the arrests, he parked three spaces away from the Moon Smoke Shop's door yesterday. "Hopefully it's done, and there isn't going to be anymore bloodshed," he said.
An employee at Colortyme, two doors down from the smoke shop, said he was working when the shootings occurred and was relieved to hear about the arrests.
The employee, who refused to be identified, said he was concerned about his own safety the first month after the incident, but increased security in the area calmed him.
None of the half-dozen people inside the dark union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, late yesterday afternoon wanted to be interviewed.
The union hall, which has since installed security cameras, closed briefly after the shootings - except for a gathering held there following the funeral of Judy and Arthur "Taco" Bell, two of the three customers killed there. Also killed were Maribeth Munn, 53, and bartender Carol Lynn Noel, 50.
About $850 was taken in the union hall robbery, including $400 in a change bag kept in a back liquor storage area.
Star reporter John F. Rawlinson contributed to this story.
- Inger Sandal Arizona Daily Star
A man jailed in the robbery-slaying of a Phoenix retiree has surfaced in the investigation of six Tucson killings, according to court records obtained yesterday.
Tucson police have seized Robert G. Jones' truck, an older-model white pickup truck similar to one seen leaving the Moon Smoke Shop after two people were shot to death May 30. Police would not comment when asked if Jones was a suspect.
In addition to pointing to another lead in the Tucson killings, a search warrant affidavit also revealed why police have said the Moon Smoke Shop and Tucson Firefighters Union Hall slayings are related.
Ballistics tests confirmed that shell casings from a semi-automatic handgun found at both murder scenes came from the same weapon. Another semi-automatic weapon likely was used in both killings, according to the document.
Jones, 27, was arrested Aug. 24 after leading police on a 70-mile chase at speeds up to 130 mph through Phoenix, Tempe and Paradise Valley.
Jones is being held without bond in the Aug. 23 murder of Richard Roels, 58, a retired newspaper advertising manager described by police as the victim of a "burglary that went bad." Charges in a 33-count indictment against him include first-degree murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and burglary.
Jones lived with David M. Nordstrom during the time of the Tucson slayings, according to a search warrant request filed by Tucson police on Jan. 12.
Police sought permission to search Jones' 1962 white Ford pickup truck for evidence relating to the murders of two people at the smoke shop and the slayings of four people two weeks later at the Tucson Firefighters Union Hall.
Detectives searched the truck Jan. 13 at the Police Department's impound lot, seizing sections of carpeting, tools, paint samples and papers belonging to Jones.
On Friday, police accused David Nordstrom, 27, and his brother, Scott D. Nordstrom, 29, in the smoke shop killings. Scott Nordstrom also was charged with four more counts of first-degree murder in the union hall shootings.
Both brothers remain in the Pima County Jail on $2 million bond. They declined requests for interviews yesterday.
"We're not commenting on that," Tucson police Lt. Tom McNally said when asked yesterday about other suspects in the Tucson shootings.
"Any potential leads are being investigated at this point, including any additional possible suspects," McNally said. "Each day we get additional leads and information. . . . This is going to be a long-term investigation."
Investigators have released few details about the suspects or what led to their arrests. But McNally said they agreed not to seal the search warrant for Jones' truck, though he would not explain why.
Tucson police Sgt. Eugene Mejia said police didn't seal the warrant because it would have been too time-consuming.
"We want to spend our time trying to gather information, follow up on informational leads, and collect physical evidence as we locate it rather than spend it in court trying to fight the media over access," Mejia said.
According to the search warrant request, a confidential informant told police on Nov. 8 that he suspected brothers Scott and David Nordstrom in the union hall murders. The informant said the brothers matched the composite drawings of the gunmen and had discussed robbing the fire hall, according to the document.
The brothers grew up in Tucson and their mother, Cynthia M. Wasserburger, had tended bar at the union hall for about a decade before she was fired.
On Dec. 23, an 88-CRIME caller said Jones committed the union hall murders. The anonymous caller reported that Jones, who was jailed in Phoenix, had told the caller that he committed the murders, the warrant stated.
Police later determined that Jones had been living and working with David Nordstrom at the time of the murders, the warrant said.
Four people were found shot to death at the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, at about 9:30 p.m. on June 13. 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 had been taken.
Three people were shot in a robbery at the Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road. Killed were customer Clarence Odell III, 47, and employee Thomas Hardman, 26. A 34-year-old employee, shot in the face and arm, survived.
Two employees who escaped described the gunmen as white men, 25 to 35 years old, 5-foot-11 to 6 feet tall. One had a large build and wore a black cowboy hat and sunglasses. The other was slender with slicked, straight hair.
One of the witnesses described a truck that sped away from the area after the shooting as an older 1960s or 1970s light blue pickup.
Jones was one of two men arrested in the slaying of Roels, who was apparently killed after he interrupted a burglary at his Phoenix home. Jones and Stephen Coats, 35, of Scottsdale, were arrested after trying to escape from police in stolen cars in the 130 mph chase.
Scott Nordstrom also nearly lost his life last summer, about a week after the union hall killings.
Both brothers were stabbed during a June 21 fight at an apartment complex at 4200 E. Benson Highway, according to a Pima County Sheriff's Department report obtained yesterday.
Scott Nordstrom was stabbed in the stomach and spent more than a month in intensive care, the report said.
The man arrested in the stabbing, Wally L. Godfrey Jr., 27, claimed he acted in self defense and was acquitted, Pima County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Michael O'Connor said yesterday.
McNally said police had considered many scenarios that would have taken the suspects of the Moon Smoke Shop and union hall slayings off the streets.
"We were looking at a number of different possibilities when the homicides initially surfaced and shortly after that - one being that the possible suspects may have left town or been transient through Tucson," McNally said.
Instead of hindering the investigation, he said, "I think it was only to our benefit that the suspects in this crime . . . would have been incapacitated in some manner. . . . They didn't have the opportunity to commit further offenses."
Deputies who went to Kino Community Hospital, where two men had arrived with "numerous stab wounds," initially found the Nordstrom brothers uncooperative, the police report aid.
Scott Nordstrom later told deputies that he and his brother had stopped at Quick Mart, 4280 E. Benson Highway, near Columbus Boulevard and honked when they saw a cousin and her boyfriend in a truck with another man.
They got angry, however, when the cousin's boyfriend made an obscene gesture. The boyfriend, identified as Philip Melillo, later told deputies that he hadn't recognized the brothers when they honked.
The Nordstrom brothers, who were driving a light blue pickup, followed the other truck into Lakewood Townhomes, 4200 E. Benson Highway, and parked near the office, the report said.
David Nordstrom jumped out and went to the back of the other truck, while Scott Nordstrom went to the driver's side and swung at the driver, who was later identified as Godfrey. In turn, Scott Nordstrom said he was "stuck" twice in the stomach.
Scott Nordstrom told detectives at the time: "We didn't have no weapons, man. They went too far. There was no need to try and kill me."
Arizona Daily Star reporters Shaun McKinnon, Alexa Haussler and Hipolito Corella contributed to this story.
- Hipolito R. Corella, Tim Steller and Shaun McKinnon Arizona Daily Star
Authorities are searching a muddy pond near Nogales, Ariz., hoping to find two guns used in the Moon Smoke Shop and firefighter's union hall killings, a police source confirmed last night.
Meanwhile, a man jailed in Phoenix on a separate murder charge refused to talk to detectives yesterday about the six Tucson slayings.
Divers from the Pima County Sheriff's Department's Search and Rescue Team have been searching the pond near Arizona 83 since Monday.
A witness led detectives to the pond last Thursday. The witness said the guns used in the slayings - a 9mm handgun and a .380-caliber weapon - were dumped there after the June 13 killings at the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway.
Police were expected to continue their search today.
Robert G. Jones, 27, of Phoenix, refused to be questioned by Tucson detectives yesterday at the Maricopa County Jail, said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, a Tucson police spokesman.
Mejia said Jones' attorney told his client not to talk to police after a search warrant request reported in the media linked him to the investigation that already has implicated brothers Scott D. Nordstrom and David M. Nordstrom in the killings.
The brothers are each being held on $2 million bail at the Pima County Jail on murder and robbery charges.
Scott Nordstrom, 29, is charged with six counts of first-degree murder in the union hall and smoke shop killings. David Nordstrom, 27, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the smoke shop killings.
Jones is being held in Phoenix without bond on 33 counts stemming from the murder of a 58-year-old Phoenix man. Jones and another man were arrested Aug. 24 after a high-speed, 70-mile chase through Phoenix, Tempe and Paradise Valley.
Jones refused to talk to a reporter from his jail cell. Police say he was living and working with David Nordstrom at the time of the murders.
Detectives last week seized Jones' older-model white pickup truck, similar to the one witnesses saw leaving the Moon Smoke Shop after two people were killed there May 30.
Jones was born in Tyler, Texas, and as a teen-ager wound up living with relatives in Phoenix after an abusive home life, according to statements he made in Maricopa County Superior Court records.
Although he had worked as a salesman, repossessor and a cook at a McDonald's restaurant, most recently he said he was living on the streets, records show.
In March 1988, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served for a 1988 car theft case. Within the month, he was arrested again after police spotted him with a stolen vehicle.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years in prison. The sentence ran concurrently with another sentence for a 1988 case, in which he was charged with possession of stolen property and driving on a suspended license.
He was paroled May 5, 1990.
On Jan. 30, 1991, he was arrested in another car theft case. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
At the time, he said he wanted to quit crime, settle down, learn a trade other than burglary and theft and then get married, court records show.
In court records released yesterday, David Nordstrom admitted having a drug problem, specifically an expensive habit with crystal methamphetamine.
Arrested in March 1993 after trying to cash checks stolen from his employer, Pallet Recyclers, David Nordstrom told police he needed cash to support his drug use.
"He wanted the checks to support his crystal methamphetamine habit, since he was using an 'eight ball' . . . per day," according to a police statement. "He smoked, snorted and shot the substance and needed a lot of money to support the habit."
He told officials that he started using the drug in 1992 while participating in the Pima County jail's work furlough program.
He had been sentenced to three months in jail after violating the conditions of his probation. He was placed on probation after he admitted stealing three Datsun pickup trucks.
David Nordstrom was able to side-step urine testing that could detect the drug by telling officials at the jail that he was tested at the probation office and vice versa. Apparently, neither department confirmed his claims, according to the files.
"I'm tired of using drugs. I'm 24 years old, and I got nothing in my life," David Nordstrom said in a pre-sentencing report in the 1993 theft case.
"All I have is family and they are standing behind me now. I'm done. My criminal life has to close," he told the probation officer who wrote the report. "I'm tired of living in institutions. It's hard to stay out of the politics (gangs) . . . My time is over."
Pima County Juvenile Court records released yesterday also showed that Scott Nordstrom's legal troubles started in 1982 when at 14 years old he was charged with possession of marijuana.
In 1984, when he was 17, he was arrested for shooting another teen-ager with a shotgun after a dispute on "A" Mountain.
In that case, Scott Nordstrom was identified as the person who fired a shotgun at a group of five teens. Fragments struck one teen, but his injuries were not fatal.
The records said Nordstrom left the mountain after a dispute with the teens but returned several minutes later with the shotgun.
Scott Nordstrom, however, was not prosecuted as an adult because he already had been sentenced to the state Department of Juvenile Corrections for violating terms of his release on another case, according to the records.
In the shooting case, Deputy County Attorney Rick Unklesbay recommended that the case be dismissed because Scott Nordstrom was placed in a diversion program, records show. Last month, Unklesbay prosecuted a man accused of stabbing the Nordstrom brothers after a traffic dispute.
In a delinquency petition filed in November 1982, Scott Nordstrom was accused of burglary and theft of an 8-track player from a shed. He was placed on probation and ordered to participate in volunteer work.
In May 1994, Scott Nordstrom was charged in Juvenile Court with theft and criminal trespassing in connection with a stolen Honda ATC and a welder.
He was charged with the "A" Mountain shooting months later.
In April 1986, Scott Nordstrom was charged with domestic violence and assault for a fight he had with his father, Richard A. Nordstrom Sr. Those charges were dropped.
About a week after the union hall killings, the brothers found themselves in an unusual position with the law - victims.
On June 21, the Nordstroms were stabbed after a traffic dispute on East Benson Highway.
Yesterday afternoon, the man who stabbed them, Wally Godfrey Jr., 27, talked about the attack in the office of Alicia Cata, an assistant legal defender who represented him.
Cata said Godfrey stabbed the brothers in self-defense. A jury agreed in December, acquitting Godfrey of aggravated assault charges that could have sent him to prison for seven to 21 years.
Godfrey, a landscape worker, said he arranged to talk with reporters because he was tired of media queries at his home and work. He also asked that no information about his family be released because he worries about retribution from acquaintances of the Nordstrom brothers.
"It was real horrifying. It was a real bad feeling in my stomach," Godfrey said describing his actions in defending himself from the attack.
Godfrey said he was driving from a southside Chinese restaurant with two friends in the bed of his pickup truck when the Nordstrom's began honking and chasing his vehicle.
The stabbing left Scott Nordstrom hospitalized for a month. Police say he uses a colostomy bag and will need more intestinal surgery.
- Hipolito R. Corella Arizona Daily Star
While Tucson police continue their investigation of the Moon Smoke Shop and firefighter union hall robbery-homicides, court records this week reveal some developments in the probe.
Requests for search warrants earlier this month outlined developments in the case - from Nov. 8, when an informant first told an officer brothers David and Scott Nordstrom were involved in the union hall killings, to the seizure last Thursday of a 9mm pistol from the home of the brothers' father.
Those search warrant requests, and a catalog of items seized, have been filed this week in Superior Court.
On Nov. 8, the informant first linked the Nordstrom brothers to the fatal shootings of four people June 13 at the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall, 2265 E. Benson Highway.
Scott Nordstrom, 29, is jailed on six counts of first-degree murder. David Nordstrom, 27, faces two counts of first degree murder. They are in the Pima County Jail on $2 million bond.
Court records indicate that David Nordstrom told police he was with another person May 30 when a 9mm pistol was stolen from a car parked at Tucson Medical Center, 5301 E. Grant Road.
A police report from a victim claimed that a loaded 9mm Jennings pistol was stolen from his parked car at the hospital sometime between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.
That same evening, about six miles away, two people were gunned down at the Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road.
Smoke shop employee Tom Hardman, 28, and customer Clarence W. Odell III, 47, were slain in the robbery shortly after 6 p.m. Another employee survived being shot in the face.
Casings found at the scene suggest that a 9mm Jennings is one of the gun makes that could have been used, according to court records.
The same 9mm gun, police believe, was used in both the smoke shop and union hall slayings. Bullet casings from a .380-caliber weapon also were found at both sites.
Police have refused to speculate if one of the guns used in the killings is the same weapon as the 9mm pistol detectives seized Jan. 16 from the southside home of the Nordstroms' father and stepmother. The brand of the seized weapon is not identified in a list of items seized from the house near East Drexel Road and South Alvernon Way.
"We're not commenting on any of the evidence issues," said Lt. Tom McNally, who is in charge of the Tucson Police Department's violent crimes section. "There's no formal comment I can give. We're still trying to pursue all angles at this point."
According to court files, David Nordstrom lived at his father's home during the time of the killings. He told police that two guns were dumped in a lake or pond near Highway 83 between Arivaca and Nogales.
Detectives obtained a warrant to search the pond last week. A search for a 9mm handgun and .380-caliber weapon has been under way since Monday.
Meanwhile, court documents show that a 1962 Ford pickup truck, seized by police Jan. 14 matches the description of the white or light-blue vehicle witnesses described leaving the smoke shop after the shootings.
The truck is owned by Robert G. Jones, 27, who is in jail in Phoenix on $1.4 million bond on murder and robbery charges stemming from a killing in that city. He has not been charged in the Tucson case.
The records say that at some time the truck may have been painted "turquoise blue."
Police gathered a section of the truck's carpet, various papers belonging to Jones, tools and a pair of sunglasses.
Victims at the union hall were: Carol Lynn Noel, 50, Arthur Bell, 54; his wife, Judy Bell, 46; and Mary Beth Munn, 53.
Among items detectives have been searching for is Arthur Bell's wallet, which apparently was taken in the robbery.
Also seized from the father's home were: a dark blue extra-large short sleeved shirt, black, size 6 drawstring pants and a black holster and magazine for the 9mm gun found there.
Items seized at Scott Nordstrom's home in the 2900 block of West Hermans Road include: two photographs, black pants and a black sweatshirt with a hood, black sweat pants and a check register.
A blue GMC pickup truck parked at the trailer west of Tucson in the 2300 block of South Calle Hohokam where David Nordstrom most recently lived also was searched, records show. Photographs, fingerprints, fibers and blood samples were taken from the truck.
A hat, wallet, photographs and an assortment of papers were seized from David Nordstrom's trailer, records show.
Police continue to ask for the public's help in the case to establish a time line for the brothers' whereabouts during the time of the slayings, said Lt. McNally.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
A defense attorney wants the trial of two brothers charged with six Tucson killings moved from Tucson because of publicity surrounding the case.
A Pima County grand jury indicted Scott and David Nordstrom Tuesday on first-degree murder charges in the slayings last year at the Moon Smoke Shop and the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall.
The brothers could face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted.
On Jan. 16, police arrested Scott Nordstrom, 29, and his brother David, 27, in the smoke shop killings. At the time, Scott Nordstrom also was accused of the union hall shootings.
David Nordstrom initially was not accused in the union hall shootings, but a grand jury Tuesday afternoon decided there was enough evidence to indict him in all six slayings.
"David was from the outset considered to be a suspect in both the firefighter hall and the Moon Smoke Shop robberies," Tucson police Lt. Tom McNally said. However, he would not disclose why David Nordstrom initially was accused only of the smoke shop slayings.
According to search warrant requests filed in Pima County Superior Court, David Nordstrom cooperated with investigators after his arrest.
He was devastated by news of the indictments, said his court-appointed attorney, Laura Udall.
"He can't believe it. He thought he was helping them solve the crime," Udall said. "He thought he was doing the right thing and now he's charged with it."
The brothers remain at the Pima County Jail on $2 million bond. They have repeatedly declined requests for interviews.
Tucson police detectives were prepared to present their case either to a grand jury or before a judge at a preliminary hearing scheduled for yesterday.
The preliminary hearing, at which defense attorneys could have cross-examined witnesses, was canceled after prosecutors decided on a grand jury.
Prosecutor David White, head of the county attorney's criminal division, declined to say why he decided to go to the grand jury rather than hold a preliminary hearing.
Udall suggested the state's case is weak and might not have held up in a preliminary hearing.
"He has no case against David and I think he has a weak case against Scott," Udall said. In the union hall shooting, "they've got no evidence at all that (David) was there."
She said, "a grand jury will indict just because the prosecutor asks."
Udall said she is unsure the Nordstroms can get a fair trial in Pima County and hopes the trial will be moved to "a large metropolitan area that hasn't heard about it," such as Phoenix.
The brothers will be arraigned Wednesday on six counts of first-degree murder, four counts of armed robbery, three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of burglary and one count of attempted first-degree murder.
Tucson attorney Richard Bock has been appointed to represent Scott Nordstrom. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The court documents indicate David Nordstrom told police he was with another person May 30 when a 9mm pistol was stolen from a car parked at Tucson Medical Center, 5301 E. Grant Road.
That same evening, 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.
Casings found at the scene suggest that a 9mm gun, similar to the one stolen, could have been used, court records state.
Nordstrom later admitted to "being present as a driver" when the smoke shop slayings occurred, according to court records.
Nordstrom also told investigators a friend came to his house on June 13 and told him he had just robbed the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, and killed several people, court documents state.
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 taken.
Meanwhile, court records show that a 1962 Ford pickup truck, seized by police on Jan. 14, matched the description of the white or light blue vehicle witnesses described leaving the smoke shop after the shootings.
The truck is owned by Robert G. Jones, 27, who is in jail in Phoenix on $1.4 million bond on murder and robbery charges stemming from the killing of a Phoenix retiree.
Jones has not been charged or indicted in the Tucson cases and police have not confirmed whether he is a suspect.
McNally, the Tucson police detective, said investigators also are looking into the fact that David Nordstrom was on home arrest and wore an electronic monitoring device when the robberies were committed.
"In our investigation we'll be talking with people from . . . the Department of Corrections really to educate ourselves on the technology that's used and how accurate and reliable that technology is and whether there were any methods they are aware of which enables a person to circumvent . . . their intended use," McNally said.
McNally said it was too early to comment on the program. "We don't know . . . if the system failed," he said.
Scott Nordstrom also was on parole at the time of the killings, but was not wearing a monitoring device.
Department of Corrections officials have refused to release the Nordstroms' parole records, but DOC spokesman Michael Arra said records show no violations.
Arizona Daily Star reporter Inger Sandal contributed to this story.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
Investigators have seized letters and photos from an inmate's Phoenix jail cell as part of an investigation into six Tucson killings.
Police were searching for documents tying Robert Glenn Jones to two brothers indicted last week in the summertime slayings at the Moon Smoke Shop, 120 W. Grant Road, and the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, court records state.
Police arrested brothers Scott Nordstrom, 29, and David Nordstrom, 27, Jan. 16 in connection with the shootings.
The next day, police seized letters from Scott Nordstrom's home that showed Jones was corresponding with the brothers, the records state.
Jones, 27, is in jail in Phoenix in lieu of a $1.4 million bond on murder and robbery charges stemming from the killing of a Phoenix retiree.
Tucson Police Department investigators searched his cell Thursday at the Maricopa County Jail.
They gathered four cards, five letters, two photographs, two pages of phone numbers and addresses and 10 written pages, according to a search warrant return filed yesterday in Pima County Superior Court.
On Jan. 14, police seized a 1962 Ford pickup truck, owned by Jones, which police said matched the description of the white or light blue vehicle witnesses described leaving the smoke shop after the shootings.
Meanwhile, an initial appearance before a judge is scheduled today for Scott and David Nordstrom.
They are to be arraigned on six counts of first-degree murder, four counts of armed robbery, three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of burglary and one count of attempted first-degree murder.
Both brothers each are being held at the Pima County Jail in lieu of a $2 million bond.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
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.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
It's one brother's word against the other's.
And because of that, attorneys say, David and Scott Nordstrom should be tried separately in six Tucson killings last year.
A defense attorney has asked a judge to sever the case and move the trials out of Pima County.
"The only evidence presented to the grand jury implicating defendant Scott Nordstrom was the statements made by the defendant David Nordstrom," wrote Richard Bock, Scott Nordstrom's attorney, in a motion released yesterday.
A grand jury indicted David Nordstrom, 27, and his brother Scott Nordstrom, 29, last month in the May 30 Moon Smoke Shop and June 13 Firefighters Union Hall slayings.
The case is set to go to trial May 15.
Bock indicated in the court document that Scott Nordstrom will try to convince a jury that his brother and another man committed the killings.
And he said he will try to show David Nordstrom lied when he fingered his brother.
David Nordstrom called police in December or early January, identifying himself only as "John," and said he had information about the killings, according to a grand jury transcript.
He spoke with detectives several times and eventually identified himself.
Once the brothers were arrested, David Nordstrom again spoke with detectives.
Bock stated in the motion that the younger brother failed a lie-detector test the first time he talked to police.
According to a Tucson Police Department polygraph examiner's report, filed in court, David Nordstrom "was attempting deception," when asked whether he was present during the killings.
Bock also indicated he will argue that a witness described David Nordstrom, rather than Scott Nordstrom, as one of two gunmen in the smoke shop shootings.
He also suggested David was seeking money to support a crack habit when he went to the police.
"In the course of making these statements, he made it clear that he would only cooperate with police if he received reward money," Bock wrote.
David Nordstrom's attorney has stated in court filings that police gave her client $5,000 to direct them to the weapons used in the crimes.
Laura Udall has stated in court documents that David Nordstrom's conscience drove him to contact police and that police promised him he would be cleared of the charges if he cooperated.
Udall said she agrees the brothers should be tried separately, saying the men can't present opposing defenses during a single trial.
"In order for your defense to win, the other person's defense must lose," she said.
In a separate motion, Bock asked a judge to move the trial out of Pima County, saying the brothers would be unable to get a fair trial here.
"The shootings . . . terrified the city of Tucson as few crimes had ever done," Bock wrote.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
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.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
A detective says he lied to David Nordstrom before his arrest because he feared Nordstrom would clam up and leave police with six unsolved murders.
"I wanted him to keep talking to me," said Detective Ed Salgado of the Tucson Police Department. Salgado investigated the Moon Smoke Shop and Firefighters' Union Hall slayings last year.
Salgado took the stand during a four-hour hearing yesterday to determine whether Nordstrom's statements can be used at his trial next month.
Nordstrom's lead attorney, Laura Udall, argued in a motion last week that police coerced him to talk with promises of cash and leniency.
But Salgado said yesterday that he simply needed to keep Nordstrom talking.
The detective admitted he misled Nordstrom by indicating he would be cleared if he showed police the murder weapons.
"He is the only link I have to the suspect or suspects in this case, and I needed more information from him," Salgado said.
Yesterday's hearing is set to continue Monday. Michael Cruikshank, Pima County Superior Court judge pro tem, then will decide whether jurors will hear Nordstrom's statements to police, which so far appear to be the key to the prosecutors' case.
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 driving 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 arm, survived.
But the younger brother insisted he was not involved in the union hall slayings. He told police it was his brother and another man who shot to death four people that night.
Killed were bartender Carol Lynn Noel, 50, and three customers - Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; his wife, Judy Bell, 46; and Maribeth Munn, 53. A union hall manager estimated $850 was taken.
David Nordstrom and his girlfriend contacted Salgado in December, saying they had information about the slayings, Salgado said yesterday.
The detective said David Nordstrom, who identified himself only as "John," paged him several times and asked to be placed in a witness protection program and avoid prosecution.
"He advised that he had information, he knew all and would tell all," Salgado said.
The detective said he promised David Nordstrom $5,000 to show investigators where the guns used in the slayings had been dumped.
"At that point, I felt like I was losing him. I didn't want to lose contact with him, and I wanted the gun," Salgado said.
On Jan. 16, David Nordstrom led detectives to a pond west of Tucson where he said he helped toss the guns.
Salgado then drove Nordstrom back to a westside restaurant where SWAT officers arrested him, he said.
After hours of interviews and failing a lie detector test, David Nordstrom confessed to some involvement.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
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.
- Alexa Haussler Arizona Daily Star
A grand jury heard testimony yesterday against a Phoenix inmate suspected in six Tucson killings last year, sources said.
The panel is expected to decide whether to indict Robert Jones as soon as tomorrow on murder charges in the Moon Smoke Shop and Firefighters' Union Hall slayings, according to sources close to the investigation.
Christopher Bell, whose parents were killed at the union hall, said he's glad the long-anticipated grand jury proceeding is under way.
"I want everyone that was involved in this whole ordeal put behind bars."
Deputy County Attorney David White declined to confirm whether the grand jury heard a case against Jones yesterday. He said Jones, 27, has not been indicted.
Police have called Jones a suspect in the cases for several months.
But the prosecutor did not pursue formal charges until he secured the testimony of David Nordstrom, who agreed last week to take the stand against Jones and his brother, Scott Nordstrom, as part of a plea deal.
Police arrested David Nordstrom, 27, and Scott Nordstrom, 29, in January, and a Pima County grand jury indicted both on six counts of murder.
David Nordstrom told police Scott Nordstrom and Robert Jones killed two people at the smoke shop May 30, 1996, and four at the union hall two weeks later, court records state.
Scott Nordstrom is scheduled to stand trial Aug. 12.
David Nordstrom pleaded guilty to armed robbery in the smoke shop case and a judge dismissed the union hall counts because of a lack of evidence. He faces five years in prison.
Jones is in jail in Phoenix, awaiting trial in a separate murder case - the death of a Phoenix retiree.
On Aug. 24, 1996, Phoenix police arrested him after Richard Roels, 58, a retired newspaper advertising manager, was slain in a botched burglary in his home. Phoenix police also arrested Stephen Coats, 35, of Scottsdale.
Jones is being held in lieu of a $1.4 million bond, facing murder and robbery charges stemming from the Phoenix killing.
David Nordstrom said he met Robert Jones in prison in Douglas and introduced him to his brother in April 1996 - a month before the Tucson killings began, court records state.
Court documents indicate David Nordstrom told police he was with Jones, who he called a close friend, May 30 when they stole a 9 mm pistol from a car parked at Tucson Medical Center, 5301 E. Grant Road.
That same evening, 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.
Casings found at the scene suggest a 9 mm gun, similar to the one stolen, could have been used, court records state.
Nordstrom also told investigators Jones came to his house June 13 and told him he had just robbed the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, and killed several people, court documents state.
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.
After David Nordstrom came forward, police learned Jones was living and working with David Nordstrom at the time of the Tucson slayings, court records state.
Investigators determined Jones fit a description given to police by the survivor in the smoke shop shootings. However, his hair appeared to be naturally red and the victim described the men as having dark hair.
When Phoenix police arrested Jones in the Phoenix slaying, they found a bottle of dark hair dye, records state.
On Jan. 14, Tucson police seized a 1962 Ford pickup truck, owned by Jones, that matched the description of a vehicle witnesses described leaving the smoke shop after the shootings.
Detectives also seized letters and photos from Jones' Phoenix jail cell. Police searched his cell for documents tying him to the Nordstrom brothers and the killings, court documents show.
- Alexa Haussler and Inger Sandal Arizona Daily Star
In a long-anticipated move, a grand jury indicted Phoenix inmate Robert Jones yesterday in the slayings of six people in two Tucson robberies last year.
He now stands accused along with Scott Nordstrom in the Moon Smoke Shop and Firefighters Union Hall killings.
"We've all been waiting for this for quite some time," said Carson Noel, whose mother, Carol Lynn Noel, was shot to death at the union hall June 13, 1996.
Police and prosecutors have called Jones, 27, a suspect in the local case for several months.
But he was not charged until prosecutors secured the testimony of David Nordstrom, who agreed to take the stand against his brother, Scott Nordstrom, and Jones as part of a plea deal.
A Pima County grand jury first heard testimony against Jones on June 17, sources said. However, the proceedings were not completed until yesterday, when the panel handed up a 15-count indictment against him.
He faces six first-degree murder charges and nine counts of attempted murder, armed robbery, burglary and aggravated assault, according to a statement released yesterday by Deputy County Attorney David White. Jones could face the death penalty if convicted.
Detectives will serve an arrest warrant on Jones at the Maricopa County Jail, where he is being held on an unrelated murder charge.
Tucson police arrested David Nordstrom, 27, and his brother Scott Nordstrom, 29, in January, and a Pima County grand jury indicted both on six counts of murder.
David Nordstrom went to police late last year and told them his older brother and Robert Jones killed two people at the smoke shop May 30, 1996, and four at the union hall two weeks later, court documents indicate.
He pleaded guilty to armed robbery in the smoke shop case and a judge dismissed the union hall counts against him because of a lack of evidence. He faces five years in prison.
David Nordstrom, Scott Nordstrom and Jones all declined interviews last night.
Jones is jailed in Phoenix in lieu of $1.4 million bond, awaiting trial in the Aug. 23, 1996, death of a Phoenix retiree. Richard Roels was killed during the burglary of his upper middle-class home in central Phoenix.
Police arrested Jones and Stephen Coats, 35, of Scottsdale the next day after a 70-mile chase, with speeds up to 130 mph, through Phoenix, Tempe and Paradise Valley.
"It brings it right back again. You try to deal with it every day . . . but when his name keeps coming back again and thinking about the whole thing again it's hard to swallow," Roels' daughter, Ryanne Costello said of Jones' indictment. She was stunned when she recently learned of the Tucson murders.
"I'm everywhere from sad to angry. The first thing I thought of is six other families having to go through what I've gone through," said Costello, who was six months pregnant when her father was killed. "There's been a lot of people affected."
David Nordstrom said he met Robert Jones in prison in Douglas and introduced him to his brother in April of 1996, court records state.
Court documents indicate David Nordstrom told police he was with Jones, whom he called a close friend, on May 30 when they stole a 9mm pistol from a car parked at Tucson Medical Center, 5301 E. Grant Road.
That same evening, a smoke shop customer, Clarence Odell III, 47, and an employee, Thomas Hardman, 26, were killed at the shop, 120 W. Grant Road. A 34-year-old employee, shot in the face and the arm, survived.
Casings found at the scene suggest that a 9mm gun, similar to the one stolen, could have been used, court records state.
Nordstrom also told investigators Jones came to his house on June 13 and told him he had just robbed the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, and killed several people, court documents state.
Slain were bartender Noel, 50; and customers Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; his wife, Judy Bell, 46; and Maribeth Munn, 53.
Investigators determined that Jones fit a description given to police by the surviving victim of the Moon Smoke Shop shootings. However, his hair appeared to be naturally red and the victim described the men as having dark hair.
When Phoenix police arrested Jones in the Phoenix slaying, they found a bottle of dark hair dye, records state.
On Jan. 14, Tucson police seized a 1962 Ford pickup truck, owned by Jones, which matched the description of a vehicle witnesses described leaving the smoke shop after the shootings.
For the following months, Jones remained an unindicted suspect, although David Nordstrom's plea agreement specifically referred to Jones' alleged involvement in the slayings.
Julee Sanchez, a bartender at the union hall, said a close-knit crowd of regulars talks about the case daily. And, she said, the indictment came as no surprise.
"I think everyone knew it was going to happen," she said.
Harley Kurlander, one of two attorneys representing Scott Nordstrom, said he believes Jones will stand trial separately from the older brother, who has denied being involved in the slayings.
Victims' relatives said they can wait even if it takes years to try the accused killers.
"I want it done correctly. I don't want it screwed up because it's being done quickly," said Noel, the union hall bartenders' son.
He said the indictment is simply the first step in what promises to be a drawn-out event.
"It's going to be a rocky year coming up."
And the pain simply hasn't let up.
"They said the first year would be the hardest. So far, I've found the second year is. I just miss my mom more and more every day."
- Jon Burstein Arizona Daily Star
David Nordstrom accuses Scott of killing 6
David and Scott Nordstrom faced each other yesterday in an emotionless family reunion with one brother accusing the other of six slayings.
David Nordstrom testified that his brother and another man, Robert G. Jones, are responsible for last year's robberies at the Moon Smoke Shop and Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall.
As the state's chief witness, David Nordstrom said he was the getaway driver in the smoke shop robbery and both Scott Nordstrom, 30, and Jones, 27, confessed to him their roles in the union hall slayings.
When a prosecutor asked him what he thought as he heard gunfire in the smoke shop, David Nordstrom simply said, "People were dying."
David Nordstrom, 28, spent more than five hours testifying yesterday in Scott Nordstrom's trial in the two smoke shop slayings and four union hall killings. Scott Nordstrom and Jones, who goes to trial in March, could face the death penalty if they are convicted of murder.
The younger Nordstrom is scheduled to return to the witness stand this morning.
The brothers rarely made eye contact yesterday, with David Nordstrom turning his chair away from Scott Nordstrom when the jury left the Pima County courtroom for breaks. The brothers' parents and stepmother watched silently in the audience.
David Nordstrom agreed to testify against his brother and plead guilty to an armed robbery charge after prosecutors dropped two counts of first-degree murder related to the smoke shop robbery.
He admitted yesterday that he lied repeatedly to police detectives after his January arrest to avoid implicating himself and and his brother in the slayings.
Harley Kurlander, one of Scott Nordstrom's attorneys, has argued that David Nordstrom, a convicted felon, is one of the killers who turned in his brother to save himself.
David Nordstrom testified that the day of the smoke shop robbery, he was with his brother and Jones when Jones broke into a car at the Tucson Medical Center and stole a gun.
After taking the gun, the three were heading down Grant Road in Jones' truck when Jones suggested they rob the smoke shop, 120 W. Grant, David Nordstrom said.
David Nordstrom said that although he protested, his brother agreed to rob the store.
"He (Scott Nordstrom) told me to drive and it was just going to take a second," David Nordstrom said.
David Nordstrom said he waited in the truck while his brother and Jones went into the store and opened fire.
"Were you scared?" prosecutor David White asked.
"Yeah," David Nordstrom said.
"Why didn't you leave?" White queried.
"Because my brother was in there," David Nordstrom said.
Jones and Scott Nordstrom came running back to the truck and they left the parking lot, David Nordstrom said.
Thomas Hardman, 28, and Clarence W. Odell III, 47, were killed in the smoke shop robbery, while a third man was shot in the face.
David Nordstrom said that the night of the June 13, 1996, union hall slayings, he was at the house he shared with his father and stepmother.
Sometime after 10 p.m., Jones woke him up by coming into his bedroom unannounced and turning on the lights, he testified.
Jones had a strange look on his face, appearing "real pale-like," David Nordstrom said.
Then Jones told him about what had happened at the union hall, David Nordstrom said. He did not go into details about what Jones said.
David Nordstrom said that the next day, when his brother came to pick him up for work, he confronted his older brother about what had happened.
"He told me he walked into the fire hall, grabbed the bartender, took her in the back and told her to open the safe," David Nordstrom testified. "She told him several times she couldn't open the safe. . . . He kicked her in the face and then . . . shot her."
David Nordstrom admitted he helped his brother and Jones dispose of the two guns used in both robberies.
The weapons were tossed in a pond southeast of Tucson, he testified.
Killed at the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, were bartender Carol Lynn Noel, 50, and customers Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; his wife, Judy Bell, 46; and Maribeth Munn, 53.
David Nordstrom said he went to police with information about the two robberies because he felt bad after watching the victims' families plead for help in a Christmastime news broadcast.
"I knew who did it," he said. "I wasn't saying anything at the time. It was getting to me."
Kurlander spent about an hour yesterday hammering away at inconsistent statements David Nordstrom made to police the day he was arrested.
David Nordstrom didn't deny repeatedly lying to police or threatening not to cooperate if he didn't receive reward money.
In his first interview after his arrest, David Nordstrom lied about not being involved in the smoke shop robbery and never mentioned his brother.
He confessed to his and his brother's involvement only in subsequent interviews. Even in those sessions, he didn't admit he knew how the second gun used in the robberies was obtained.
David Nordstrom maintained yesterday that the second gun was "borrowed" by Jones from one of their friends.
The gun's owner has told police that David Nordstrom stole it from her.
He also admitted that he violated conditions of his home arrest by doing drugs, drinking, associating with felons and possessing a gun. He was on home arrest after serving time in prison for felony theft. He also has been convicted of burglary and forgery.
Kurlander is set to continue questioning David Nordstrom this morning at about 10:30 a.m. before Judge Pro Tem Michael Cruikshank of Pima County Superior Court.
- Jon Burstein Arizona Daily Star
Faces death penalty for slayings of six
A trial that pitted brother against brother in Tucson's worst multiple-slaying case in recent history ended yesterday when a jury convicted Scott Nordstrom in six slayings.
Nordstrom shook his head "no" as the first verdict was read, and remained stoic as he heard the word guilty 11 more times.
After deliberating 10 hours over two days, jurors found him guilty of six first-degree murder charges and six other felony counts related to last year's robberies at the Moon Smoke Shop and Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall.
Nordstrom faces the death penalty when he is sentenced March 9 by Judge Pro Tem Michael Cruikshank of Pima County Superior Court.
Nordstrom, 30, is the first person in the last 25 years to be found guilty by a Pima County jury of six or more killings.
Nordstrom's mother, Cynthia Wasserburger, broke down in tears but refused to comment as she left the courtroom.
Victims' family members in the packed courtroom released a collective sigh as some fought back tears and others smiled.
"I feel in my heart that it was Scott who killed my sister," said Toni Schneider, whose sister, Carol Lynn Noel, was shot to death at the union hall. "The whole thing is such an unbelievable tragedy."
But while prosecutor David White, police and victims' families said they were relieved with the verdict, they observed their court ordeal is not close to over.
Robert G. Jones, the suspected second gunman in both robberies, is set to go to trial in March on six first-degree murder charges and nine other felony counts.
"(With the verdict) I thought 'Thank God,' " said Teresa Anagnostos, the daughter of union hall victim Maribeth Munn.
"For a second, I thought it was finally over, and then I remembered we had to do it all over again this spring."
Jurors found that Scott Nordstrom executed two people in each of the robberies last year. They also found that under the felony murder law, he is responsible for four other deaths during the heists.
The felony murder law allows prosecutors to charge defendants with first-degree murder if someone died during the commission of a crime.
Jurors decided the evidence showed Scott Nordstrom forced Tom Lewis Hardman, 28, to lie down during the May 30, 1996, smoke shop robbery and shot him twice in the back of his head.
Two weeks later, Nordstrom executed union hall bartender Noel, 50, shooting her once in the head and again in the back, the jury found.
A second gunman - believed to be Jones - killed Clarence Odell, 47, during the smoke shop robbery and Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; his wife, Judy Bell, 46; and Munn, 53, in the June 13, 1996, union hall robbery.
Nordstrom's defense attorneys said yesterday that the jury convicted the wrong Nordstrom.
The defense team maintained during the trial that the state's chief witness - David Nordstrom - committed the robberies with Jones and framed his older brother to avoid prosecution.
"Take a look at the composite," said defense attorney Richard Bock outside the courtroom, referring to a sketch of a gunman at the smoke shop, 120 W. Grant Road.
The defense argued the sketch looked more like David Nordstrom than Scott Nordstrom.
David Nordstrom, 28, testified last month that he drove the getaway truck in the smoke shop robbery. He agreed to testify against his brother in exchange for prosecutors dropping two first-degree murder charges in the smoke shop robbery.
He pleaded guilty to an armed robbery charge and faces up to 12 years in prison.
Prosecutor White hailed the guilty verdict as a testament to the Tucson Police Department's tenacity in investigating the crimes.
"They (the police) worked like dogs before and during the trial," White said. "The people of Tucson ought to be happy."
He declined to comment specifically about the case, citing the upcoming Jones trial.
Scott Nordstrom's conviction came despite no physical evidence linking him to either robbery.
White's case was largely based on the testimony of three witnesses - David Nordstrom, an eyewitness to the smoke shop robbery and one of Scott Nordstrom's childhood friends.
The eyewitness said she was positive Scott Nordstrom was one of the smoke shop gunmen, while the childhood friend testified Scott Nordstrom plotted as early as 1994 to rob the union hall and kill all witnesses.
But ultimately the one and only person who placed Scott Nordstrom at both robberies was his younger brother.
David Nordstrom approached police in January, saying Jones committed the two robberies and offering to lead police to the two guns used in the slayings.
The younger Nordstrom said he came forward because his conscience was bothering him to the point he couldn't eat or sleep.
He told police about his brother's involvement in the robberies only after he was arrested in the crimes.
Police never found the guns in the pond near Sonoita southeast of Tucson, where David Nordstrom said they were tossed.
Juror Preston Hesterlee said no single piece of evidence or testimony was the deciding factor for the 12 jurors.
Jurors spent most of their time digesting hundreds of exhibits and testimony from 68 witnesses during the five-week trial, he said.
"I think that we all as jurors discussed it, and we came out with a decision," Hesterlee said last night. "We had a lot of notes to look at. We had a lot of exhibits to look at."
Scott Nordstrom's conviction automatically will be appealed. Defense attorney Harley Kurlander said the appeal, in part, may center on admissibility of David Nordstrom's parole records.
White contended David Nordstrom couldn't have committed the robbery of the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, because electronic monitoring records for his house arrest prove he was home that night.
Kurlander also said the testimony of the smoke shop witness, Carla Whitlock, shouldn't have been allowed because she positively identified Scott Nordstrom only after she saw a news broadcast about his arrest.
Kurlander said yesterday that he also plans to argue that Scott Nordstrom shouldn't receive the death penalty because of "residual doubt."
"It's basically a determination by the judge if there may be lingering doubt," Kurlander said.
Scott Nordstrom's father, who was not present for the verdict, refused to comment when contacted at his home last night.
Nordstrom's conviction makes him the first person in Pima County to be convicted of six or more killings since Lary J. Melcher was convicted in 1971 of six counts of vehicular manslaughter.
A year later, a Maricopa County jury found Louis Cuen Taylor guilty of 28 first-degree murder counts in the 1970 fire at Tucson's Pioneer International Hotel.
Two pre-sentencing hearings will be held on Feb. 23 and March 2.
About 20 people gathered last night at the union hall, with some applauding and others calling out victims' names as a television broadcast recapped the guilty verdicts.
"All we want to see is that anyone involved (in the killings) gets what they got coming," said Sue Franklin, a friend of Arthur Bell. "They didn't have to kill those folks."
Franklin gazed at pictures of the four union hall victims on a memorial plaque inside the union hall.
"There's Taco, Judy, Maribeth and Lynn," Franklin said. "They wouldn't want us to abandon this bar. It's a family operation."
She paused for a moment, then gently stroked Bell's photo.
"We got 'em Taco. We got 'em."
- Jon Burstein Arizona Daily Star
Convicted murderer Scott Nordstrom received six death sentences yesterday for his role in a pair of bloody robberies that left Tucson reeling two years ago.
An emotionless Nordstrom didn't flinch as a Pima County judge ordered a half-dozen times within a minute that he be put to death. After the sentences, Nordstrom took one long swallow, but remained mute as he stared straight ahead.
A jury convicted Nordstrom, 30, in December of six first-degree murder counts in the 1996 robberies at the Moon Smoke Shop and Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall. He became the first person in Pima County within the past 25 years to be found guilty of six or more slayings.
Judge Pro Tem Michael Cruikshank of Pima County Superior Court called the robberies "barbarous, arrogant and ruthless in the extreme."
The sentencing came after an emotional half-hour in which victims' family members had their first and only opportunities to address Cruikshank.
The families described with quaking voices the legacy of anguish Nordstrom has left behind. One victim's son made a personal vow to his mother's killer.
"I will do everything within my power to make sure that you never, ever set foot on the face of the Earth as a free man," said Carson Noel, son of Carol Lynn Noel. She was one of four victims in the June 13, 1996, union hall robbery.
Yesterday's sentence elicited hugs, tears and a few cheers among the victims' family members, but many said they recognized their time in court is far from over.
"This is round one," Noel said after the sentencing.
Robert Jones - the alleged second gunman in both robberies - is set to be tried June 17 on the same murder charges. He could face the death penalty if convicted of any of the first-degree murder counts.
Scott Nordstrom's mother, Cindy Wasserburger, and his stepfather, James Wasserburger, left the courtroom without comment yesterday.
Harley Kurlander, one of Nordstrom's attorneys, said his client had braced himself for the death sentences.
"Being realistic, he knew it was a very possible outcome," Kurlander said. "He remains very optimistic in regard to his appeal."
Kurlander maintained yesterday - as he did during the trial - that the jury convicted the wrong Nordstrom. Scott Nordstrom said at a hearing last week that his younger brother - the state's key witness - framed him for the murders.
David Nordstrom, 28, testified he was the getaway driver in the May 30, 1996, smoke shop robbery and that his brother and Jones separately confessed to him that they committed the union hall robbery.
Jurors found that Scott Nordstrom killed Tom Lewis Hardman, 28, in the smoke shop robbery and Carol Lynn Noel during the union hall robbery. They also found under the felony murder law that he was responsible for the other four deaths during the heists.
The felony murder law allows prosecutors to charge defendants with first-degree murder if someone dies during the commission of a crime.
The other gunman - who authorities say was Jones - killed Clarence "Chip" Odell III, 47, during the smoke shop robbery; and Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; his wife, Judy Bell, 46; and Maribeth Munn, 53.
Nordstrom also was convicted of six other felony counts, including attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of another smoke shop employee.
Cruikshank found that death sentences were warranted because Scott Nordstrom had committed the murders for monetary gain and was convicted of multiple murders in separate robberies.
The defense argued for leniency, saying residual doubt exists that Scott Nordstrom - and not his brother - committed the robberies.
But Cruikshank said guilt had clearly been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
"While David Nordstrom was central to the state's case, he did not comprise the state's entire case, and the core of his testimony was corroborated at least circumstantially by other witnesses and items of evidence," Cruikshank said.
Scott Nordstrom's attorneys also had argued that he had a difficult childhood and suffers from an anti-social personality disorder.
Cruikshank said he found that neither one of those factors played a role in the murders.
"While not idyllic, the defendant's early years were not marked by abuse, unhappiness or misfortune sufficient to constitute mitigation," the judge said.
Toni Schneider, Carol Lynn Noel's sister, told Cruikshank yesterday that Scott Nordstrom was the evil that chose to kill her sister. She was the first of five victims' family members who addressed the court.
"We are all responsible for the choices we make in our lives," Schneider said. ". . . My choice is that I will not allow my life to become about Scott Nordstrom and the people he represents. . . . I chose to remember the good things about my sister that evil cannot take away from me."
Leann Bell, who lost both her parents, ran out of the courtroom crying after addressing Scott Nordstrom.
"You will no longer have my life . . . you will go away," Bell yelled at Scott Nordstrom. "You will never come back. You will die."
Throughout the speeches, Scott Nordstrom never looked at the people talking or the misty-eyed courtroom spectators.
Theresa Anagnostos, one of Maribeth Munn's daughters, said, "He stole from her life from this Earth. . . . He knew right from wrong, and he chose wrong."
Odell's family did not address the court, but in a letter to Cruikshank, 11 family members asked that Scott Nordstrom receive the death penalty.
"Chip Odell was a hard-working man who dearly loved his family and has been taken out of our lives by this ruthless individual," the Odell family wrote. "The void this crime has left in our lives cannot be comprehended."
Clarence Odell Jr., Chip Odell's father, said yesterday that he was satisfied that Scott Nordstrom received the death penalty.
"I hope I live long enough to see the sentence carried out," he said.
Before handing down the sentence yesterday, Cruikshank offered a quiet prediction.
"Some people will leave here with some sense of relief," he said. "Some people will leave here with some disappointment. No one will leave here with cause for rejoicing."
- Tim Steller Arizona Daily Star
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."
- Keith Bagwell Arizona Daily Star
'It's finally over,' says son of 1 victim
Family members of six people killed in Tucson's deadliest robbery spree hugged and wept yesterday as a Pima County Superior Court judge sentenced the last of the killers to death.
Robert G. Jones remained silent and showed no emotion as Judge John Leonardo sentenced him to join his accomplice, Scott Nordstrom, on death row at the Arizona State Prison at Florence.
"I'm glad it's finally over," said Carson Noel, son of victim Carol Lynn Noel, 50.
He was among several people to speak before Leonardo sentenced Jones, 28. Noel showed a video of his mother, with Garth Brooks' "The Dance" playing in the background.
Leonardo made it clear from the outset that his mind was made up: "The mitigating circumstances are insufficient to call for leniency," he said. "The murders were clearly brutal and savage. The defendant is without remorse."
In separate trials, Jones and Nordstrom, 30, were each convicted of six counts of first-degree murder for killing two people in a robbery of the Moon Smoke Shop in May 1996 and four people while robbing the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall in June 1996.
The key witness against the pair was Nordstrom's younger brother, David, who drove the getaway car in the smoke shop heist. In exchange for his testimony, David Nordstrom was sentenced in August to four years in prison; he could be free in two years.
"There is nothing that can be done to bring back the victims," Leonardo said yesterday. "But the court hopes that in this final sentencing, their families can come to some form of closure."
For many, though, the healing process has only begun.
"I hurt every time I think that she never got to hold her grandson," said Teresa Anagnostos, whose mother, Maribeth Munn, 53, was among those killed in the union hall robbery. Anagnostos was eight months pregnant at the time with her mother's first grandchild.
"I'm on medication, I'm afraid to go out at night and I'm afraid of strangers. I've been through hell for two years," she said.
Jerry Plumb, whose sister, Judy Bell, 45, and her husband, Arthur Bell, 54, were killed at the union hall, said the murders have "literally torn our family apart." Some family members have moved to get away from Tucson memories.
"We miss them a great deal this time of year, but we still have our memories," he said.
According to testimony at their trials, Jones and Scott Nordstrom entered the smoke shop, 120 W. Grant Road, on May 30, 1996, while David Nordstrom waited in a vehicle outside.
Jones shot and killed customer Clarence Odell, 47, with a 9 mm gun. Scott Nordstrom took employee Thomas Hardman, 28, into a back room and shot him with a .38-caliber handgun.
They then emptied the cash registers and fled in the car with David Nordstrom.
Two weeks later Jones and Scott Nordstrom entered the union hall bar, 2264 E. Benson Highway, and forced the Bells and Munn to put their heads down on the bar.
Each was shot with the 9 mm handgun used in the smoke shop murders. Noel, who was bartending at the union hall, was taken to the back of the bar and shot with the .38-caliber handgun used at the smoke shop.
Neither gun was found.
In pre-sentencing hearings last month, Jones' attorney, Eric Larsen, argued that Jones' role in the robberies and murders was not clear. He said Jones' claim that his role was minor - that David Nordstrom was actually the second gunman at the scenes - could be true.
Both Jones and David Nordstrom have shoulder-length red hair.
Larsen also said Jones suffered from an anti-social personality disorder as a result of parental abuse and later drug abuse.
Leonardo said the defense attack on David Nordstrom's credibility "was skillfully presented at trial, but the jury found unanimously and beyond reasonable doubt that (Jones) was guilty."
The Arizona Supreme Court automatically reviews all death-penalty cases. The process usually takes years.
Jones has a criminal history in Maricopa County dating back to 1988, when he was convicted in Maricopa County of attempted burglary and sentenced to four years in prison, according to a pre-sentence report.
Jones was convicted again in Maricopa County on burglary and theft charges in May 1991, and sentenced to eight years in prison. He was released on parole in February 1995.
He was an unemployed laborer when he was arrested for the Tucson murders in July 1997.
- Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to give Scott Nordstrom another chance to escape the death penalty.
Without comment, the justices rejected his plea for a new sentencing for multiple shooting deaths during a pair of 1996 robberies in Tucson. That leaves Nordstrom on death row.
Nordstrom was not challenging the conviction itself.
Nordstrom and Robert Jones were charged with killing two men while robbing the Moon Smoke Shop. Two weeks later, they shot and killed four people during a robbery at the Firefighters' Union Hall, a social club. Both were sentenced to death.
But in 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling in another Arizona murder case, said the death penalty cannot be imposed solely by a judge, if a defendant objects. The justices said defendants are entitled to make their case for being spared to a jury.
In 2009, a jury resentenced him to die.
In his petition to the nation's high court, Nordstrom said it was wrong for the judge presiding over the resentencing to preclude him from introducing evidence from his original trial he claimed would show his innocence. The judge in that case said such evidence is inadmissible for purposes of sentencing.
The Arizona Supreme Court already had rejected Nordstrom's argument.
Both robberies were solved when Scott's brother, David Nordstrom, contacted police. He had been the driver in the getaway vehicle.
Jones' death sentence imposed by a judge was upheld before that 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. He remains on death row.
Note: As of May 30, 2016, Scott Nordstrom is still on Death Row.
- By Patrick McNamara Arizona Daily Star
The man convicted of gunning down six people in cold blood in a pair of 1996 robberies died quietly Wednesday in Housing Unit 9 at the Arizona Department of Corrections prison in Florence.
In stark contrast to the violent and bloody deaths Robert Glen Jones’ inflicted upon his victims, Jones appeared to fall peacefully asleep after prison officials administered the lethal dose of phenobarbital.
“I think it was too easy,” said Carson Noel, whose mother was one of the people Jones and accomplice Scott Nordstrom shot and killed.
Noel said Jones wasn’t made to suffer the way his victims were.
Jones, 43, and Nordstrom were found guilty of the Moon Smoke Shop and Firefighter’s Union Hall murders in 1998 and sentenced to die for the crimes. Nordstrom remains on death row.
Arthur “Taco” Bell, 54; Judy Bell, 46; Maribeth Munn, 53; and Carol Lynn Noel, 50, were shot and killed during a robbery at the Firefighter’s Union Hall.
Clarence Odell III, 47; and Thomas Hardman, 26, were killed in the Moon Smoke Shop.
“All I could think of was my mom and dad,” said Christopher Bell, son of Arthur and Judy Bell.
Bell said the 17 years since his parents were slain was too long to wait for the death sentence to be carried out.
Even with one of the killers of his parents dead, Bell said his family would always bear the scars left by their deaths .
“It’s never going to heal — it never will,” Bell said.
Following the murders, Bell said he moved to Texas to escape some of the memories and make a new start.
Jones steadfastly maintained his innocence over the years. Prior to the execution, however, he declined to attend his clemency board hearing, where an attorney represented him in a plea for a stay.
He also refused a special meal the day before the death sentence was carried out, eating instead the same meal other death-row inmates had: beef patties, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, two slices of wheat bread, glazed cake and a powdered-juice drink.
Before the administration of the lethal dose, Jones offered no apologies and expressed no remorse.
“Love and respect my family and friends and I hope my friends are never here,” were the last words Jones spoke.
At times he even joked with prison staffers as they struggled to find viable veins to insert the IVs, suggesting with his years of experience shooting “dope” he could find the vein himself if they freed his hand.
Witnesses watched on television monitors as prison and medical staff worked for nearly an hour around Jones before opting to administer the lethal injection drugs into the femoral artery of his right leg.
When the curtains that block out the glass between the observation room and death chamber were opened, the death warrant was read to Jones.
The drugs were administered at 10:35 a.m.
Jones lay nearly motionless with his eyes closed moving only his right hand periodically.
His chest made one upward heave before he stopped moving completely. As the drug worked its way through his system, the muscles in his face relaxed and his mouth fell slightly slack.
Soon the color began to run from his face, taking on a pale gray shade.
After nearly 10 minutes of silence, a medical technician checked Jones’ vital signs and pronounced him “officially sedated.”
A few minutes later, Arizona Department of Corrections Director Charles L. Ryan stepped into the chamber and pronounced Jones officially dead at 10:52 a.m.
For Noel, attending the execution was a difficult decision.
“This is probably the second-hardest thing I’ve had to do,” he said. “The first was laying my mom to rest.”
It was Arizona’s 36th execution since 1992.
Wednesday’s execution was the second in Arizona this month. Edward Schad, 71, was executed Oct. 9 for killing a Bisbee man in 1978.
No execution date has been set for Nordstrom.
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