RESULT OF COMPUTER SEARCH FOR "WAT PROMKUNARAM" FOR ARIZONA REPUBLIC/PHOENIX GAZETTE ARTICLES FOR 1991!!

Editors note: This article provides the context of events that were major to the Arizona landscape when the Wat Promkunaram murders took place. bdq 9-5-97

The Arizona Republic 1991

Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: STATE'S IMAGE BATTERED AGAIN TOP STORIES ACROSS ARIZONA

Date: December 29, 1991

Section: Perspective

Page: C4

Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 1701

Graphic: Photo by The Arizona Republic

Photo by Paul F. Gero/The Arizona Republic

Photo by Douglas C. Pizac/The Associated Press

Photo by Michael Meister/The Arizona Republic

Chart

Index Terms: ARIZONA

QUOTE

YEAREND

EVENT

LIST

Text:

Arizona's already bruised reputation took another beating in 1991.

Five of the state's top 10 news stories are tales of politics and greed, slayings, freeway shootings and securities fraud. Leading the pack is the seamy story of how politics and greed collided in the far reaching ''AzScam'' scandal, in which seven state lawmakers were indicted on corruption charges.

The slaying of six monks and three other people at Wat Promkunaram, a Buddhist temple west of Phoenix, also shocked the nation and the world.

Arizona's image dulled even more when Charles H Keating Jr., a formerly highflying Phoenix financier, was convicted of securities fraud and its two U.S. senators were among five rebuked by the Senate Ethics Committee over allegedly improper dealings with Keating, a major campaign contributor. 1.

Just when turmoil over the impeachment and ouster of former Gov. Evan Mecham is ending, state government goes topsy-turvy again when The Arizona Republic reveals that seven legislators and 11 other people have been nabbed in a yearlong political-corruption ''sting'' operation.

The ''AzScam'' investigation, run by Phoenix police and Maricopa County prosecutors, used Joseph Stedino, a felon and part-time actor, to pose as ''J. Anthony Vincent,'' an underworld figure promoting legalized gambling.

Hidden cameras captured sizzling scenes of legislators, lobbyists, and political hangers-on stuffing their pockets with money from Stedino. The last indictments in the probe, those of two political activists, were made in August.

State lawmakers indicted were Sens. Carolyn Walker, South Phoenix, and Jesus ''Chuy'' Higuera, D-Tucson, plus Reps. Don Kenney, northwest Phoenix; Jim Meredith, east Phoenix; Sue Laybe, central Phoenix; Jim Hartdegen, Casa Grande; and Bobby Raymond, west Phoenix.

All of the legislators except Walker resigned and pleaded guilty. Kenney and Raymond were sentenced to prison. Higuera and Laybe were given jail sentences, and Meredith and Hartdegen were given probation. Walker was removed from office and will be tried in March.

2. The worst mass slaying in modern Arizona history, which led to one of the state's most tangled mysteries, is carried out as attackers gun down nine people at Wat Promkunaram, a Buddhist temple west of Phoenix. The killings drew international attention. The victims were six Buddhist monks, an elderly nun, a temple helper and a monkŽinŽtraining.

On Sept. 13, a task force led by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of five Tucson men. One was released quickly, but the four others were charged with murder and held for trial. The four confessed to the killings but later recanted the confessions. No physical evidence could be found linking them to the crime scene, and with the emergence of two Valley suspects, the charges were dismissed.

On Oct. 28, Phoenix area teens Alex Garcia, 16, and Jonathan Doody, 17, were accused of the killings. Both confessed, and a rifle and shotgun used in the slayings were linked to them.

3. Charles H Keating Jr., 68, long one of Arizona's richest and most influential men, faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in jail.

December was the cruelest month for Keating, who presided over the 1989 collapse of Phoenix based American Continental Corp. and its thrift subsidiary, Lincoln Savings and Loan Association of Irvine, Calif.

On. Dec. 4, he was found guilty of California securities fraud charges in the sale of more than $250 million in American Continental junk bonds that became virtually worthless. He faces up to 10 years in prison when sentenced Feb. 7.

On Dec. 12, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles returned a fraud and racketeering indictment alleging that Keating masterminded the looting of Lincoln, whose failure is expected to cost taxpayers $2.6 billion. If convicted, he could face up to 510 years in prison and forfeiture of all of his assets.

4. America West Airlines, employer of 9,000 workers in the Phoenix area and a linchpin of state commerce and tourism, can't keep up with its bills. It takes refuge from creditors with a Chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

In the next six months, the company cut its 15,000 member national work force by 2,200, shed 15 of its 115 aircraft, ended service to 16 destinations and borrowed $78 million from two foreign leasing companies and Northwest Airlines (and its Vice President of Opperations, its Chief Pilot and a Captain pleaded guilty to multiple counts of narcotics trafficking in a federal case reported by myself and few other! bdq 9-5-97.

. Hundreds of the state's civilian reservists and National Guard members take part in the Persian Gulf war as U.S. led Operation Desert Storm frees Kuwait from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Five Arizonans are killed.

The state's contribution to the 42 day war became a rallying point for thousands of Arizonans, and servicemen and servicewomen were honored with homecoming parades throughout the state.

6. Republican Fife Symington defeats Democrat Terry Goddard for the second time in two elections, this time definitively, to become Arizona's 19th governor.

Goddard and Symington were forced into the state's first ever gubernatorial runoff election when a third candidate, a write in, grabbed enough votes in the November 1990 election to deny the other two the required majority of votes.

Symington and Goddard entered Round 2 of their protracted campaigns with teeth bared. The tenor of the overtime race was one of personal assaults more than a discussion of the state's problems. By Election Day, pundits feared that voters would be so turned off by the candidates' mudslinging that voters would stay home to register their disapproval.

But the single issue ballot drew an impressive 49 percent of the registered voters to the polls, and gave Symington a 44,000 edge. He won with 52.4 percent of the ballots cast. Symington was inaugurated March 6.

7. Phoenix-area freeways ring with gunshots in May, when two people and an unborn child are killed and one person is injured in three shooting incidents. On May 14, Jennifer Lynn Montgomery, 19, was shot fatally while riding in a pickup truck on the Black Canyon Freeway. Charges of murdering Montgomery and her 6-month-old fetus were filed against Nghia Hugh Vo, 21, and Richard Paradez, 20, both of Phoenix. Michael Bingham, 28, died after being shot once in the head May 11 while driving on the Papago Freeway. Murder charges were filed against two Phoenix youths in that case.

Patrick Diaz, 23, was injured critically in a May 4 shooting on the Black Canyon Freeway. Two juveniles were detained. Diaz recovered.

8. Both of the state's U.S. senators in February are rebuked by the Senate Ethics Committee, along with three other senators who make up the ''Keating Five,'' for their intervention with federal savings and loan regulators in behalf of Charles H Keating Jr., a major campaign contributor.

Sen. Dennis DeConcini, a Democrat, was criticized by the committee for his ''aggressive conduct'' with regulators from 1987 to 1989, which was described as ''inappropriate.'' Sen. John McCain, a Republican, was chastised for ''poor judgment.''

9. With public opinion running more than 2-1 against a multimillion-dollar wasteŽincinerator plant, Gov. Fife Symington and Attorney General Grant Woods announce a $44 million buyout of the project.

The deal, unveiled in May, put a halt to the plant, which had been under construction southwest of Phoenix by Environmental Systems Co. of Little Rock, Ark. But the deal left unresolved how Arizona will dispose of hazardous wastes.

10. Five years of rollerŽcoaster negotiations over the fate of the Phoenix Indian School property end in December, with a swap that will give Phoenix a 73-acre park at the site and FloridaŽbased Barron Collier Co. two city-owned blocks downtown.

Barron Collier will give the federal government 108,000 acres of environmentally sensitive Florida swampland, plus $35 million for a Native American education trust fund, in exchange for 88 acres of Indian School land. The city's parkland will come from the 88 acres, leaving the developer 15 acres for an office and retail project.

Caption:

In August, members of Wat Promkunaram mourned nine Buddhists who were slain at the temple west of Phoenix. The worst mass slaying in modern Arizona history drew international attention.

Fife Symington, his wife, Ann, and supporters celebrated victory in Arizona's gubernatorial runoff election. Symington defeated Terry Goddard on Feb. 26.

The end of 1991 found Charles H Keating Jr. (right, with attorney Stephen Neal) in a Los Angeles courtroom. On Dec. 5, Keating was found guilty of securities fraud. Eight days later, a federal grand jury indicted him on other charges.

Dante Parker (left) was charged in the BuddhistŽtemple killings. Charges later were dropped.

''There is not an issue in this world that I give a (expletive) about. I do deals.''

THEN REP. BOBBY RAYMOND, WEST PHOENIX DEMOCRAT TO JOSEPH STEDINO DURING THE ''AZSCAM'' POLITICAL-CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION

''How's this for the vision thing?''

PRESIDENT BUSH, ON VISITING THE GRAND CANYON

''That photo should be in every boardroom. . . and every state and local legislative body in the United States as a grim reminder of the price you pay for influence-peddling.''

IRA REITNER, LOS ANGELES COUNTY

DISTRICT ATTORNEY ON THE BOOKING PHOTO TAKEN OF CHARLES H KEATING JR.

WHEN HE WAS ARRESTED ON STATE SECURITIES-FRAUD CHARGES ''I spend so much time on social issues I can't even spell 'curriculum.''

KINO FLORES, PRINCIPAL OF CARL HAYDEN COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL

''I know how Clarence Thomas feels.''

GOV. FIFE SYMINGTON, ON A LEAKED MEMORANDUM FROM FEDERAL ATORNEYS THAT ACCUSED HIM OF ''BLATANT SELF-DEALING'' WHILE ON THE BOARD OF SOUTHWEST SAVINGS & LOAN ASSOCIATION

Memo:

1991 / YEAR IN REVIEW

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: 3RD CLAIM IS FILED ON TEMPLE ARRESTS FREED SUSPECT PUTS DAMAGES AT $20 MILLION

Date: December 29, 1991

Section: Valley And State

Page: B1

Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 419

Author: By David Schwartz, The Arizona Republic

Contributing to this article was The Associated Press.

Index Terms: LAWSUIT

ARREST

ERROR

ARIZONA

Text:

A Tucson man has filed a $20 million wrongful-arrest claim against Maricopa County in the Aug. 10 slaying of nine people at a west Valley Buddhist temple.

Victor Perez Zarate, 28, who was arrested Sept. 13 and released four days later, said Saturday that the claim is an attempt to make county officials pay for ''the hell they put me through.''

Among the allegations contained in the claim are false arrest, false imprisonment, assault and battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Zarate is the third of five Tucson men arrested in the case to file claims against the county in connection with the worst mass slaying in Arizona. Killed at Wat Promkunaram were six monks, a monk-in-training, a 75-year-old nun and a temple helper.

Although arrested, Zarate was not charged in the murders. ''Justice has to be done,'' Zarate said Saturday by telephone from Tucson.

''People shouldn't have to go through what I had to go through. They should have evidence before they take people in. There was no reason for them to do this.''

Zarate was released when a videotape from Tucson Greyhound Park showed him working at the same time authorities claimed he was in Phoenix.

According to state law, the county has 60 days to respond to Zarate's claim, which was filed Tuesday with the county Board of Supervisors. He can proceed with a civil lawsuit if there is no response by the deadline.

Included in the claim are allegations that county investigators denied two requests by Zarate for a lawyer; kept him awake 44 hours; forced him to urinate into empty soda cans; and tried to pick a fight with him.

Zarate's claim says his life ''is now filled with fear, doubt and anxiety.'' The claim says that although money cannot buy back his selfŽesteem, reputation or peace of mind, ''money is the only thing the law allows him to recover.''

Authorities have arrested Alex Garcia, 16, and Jonathan Doody, 17, in the slayings. Garcia and Doody have confessed to the killings, and weapons used in the slayings have been linked to them, authorities say.

The two teens remain in custody pending hearings on whether they should be tried as adults in the case.

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: SHERIFF DEFENDS TEMPLE STANCE SAYS ROMLEY 'DID WHAT HE HAD TO DO'

Date: December 13, 1991

Section: Valley And State

Page: B1

Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 495

Author: By Frederick Bermudez The Arizona Republic

Index Terms: MURDER

VALLEY

RELIGION

POLICE

MARICOPA COUNTY

Text:

Maricopa County Sheriff Tom Agnos on Thursday defended the decision to release four Tucson men believed to be involved in the Buddhist temple massacre as something County Attorney Rick Romley had to do.

''We simply disagree on the case,'' said Agnos, who vehemently opposed releasing the four and dropping the charges against them. ''He (Romley) felt that what he had to do, he had to do, from his perspective.

''And what I had to do in opposing the release of these individuals is what I felt I had to do.''

The comments were made during an hourlong, callŽ-n radio talk show Thursday on KTAR (620 AM).

Callers told Agnos that they supported him and disagreed with Romley's decision to drop the charges against Dante Parker, Leo Valdez Bruce, Michael Lawrence McGraw and Mark Felix Nunez on Nov. 22. All have been released except Parker, who is in the custody of California authorities for an alleged parole violation.

The four were arrested in September and charged with the Aug. 10 shooting deaths of nine people, including six monks, at Wat Promkunaram, a Buddhist temple west of Phoenix. Despite confessing to the crime and later recanting, the group subsequently was let go because of a lack of physical evidence.

Investigators could not link the Tucson men to Jonathan Doody, 17, and Alex Garcia, 16, who also confessed to the slayings. The two told detectives they borrowed a .22-caliber rifle that was matched with bullets used in the killings.

''I felt the criminal-justice system should be allowed to work in this particular case,'' Agnos said.

He said it will be difficult to re-arrest the Tucson group.

''The level of evidence that I believe we're going to have to have to get them back into custody is going to have to be overwhelming,'' Agnos said. ''It's probably unlikely that we'll get them back unless we get a major, major break.''

Agnos made a similar radio appearance on KFYI (910 AM) on Monday. During Thursday's call-in show, Agnos said the four should have been held on the value of their confessions and because three grand juries found that there was enough evidence to hold Bruce, Nunez and McGraw for trial. A Maricopa Superior Court judge heard several days' testimony in Parker's case before ruling he should stand trial.

''Why would four streetwise individuals, two of them ex-convicts, make statements about their participation in a crime of this magnitude? It just doesn't make any sense that they would do that, under any conditions,'' Agnos said.

Earlier Thursday, he gave an interview for a television show that will be broadcast Sunday. The interview will air on Arizona Today on KPNX-TV (Channel 12) at 6:30 a.m.

The Arizona Republic Ž 1991 Ž Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: TEMPLE VICTIM ALLEGEDLY KNEW ASSAILANT

SUSPECT: CALLING NAME LED TO KILLING

Date: December 12, 1991

Section: Valley And State

Page: B1

Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 950

Author: By Abraham Kwok, Paul Brinkley-Rogers and Frederick Bermudez

The Arizona Republic

Index Terms: MURDER

VALLEY

RELIGION

INVESTIGATE

Text:

The nine victims at Wat Promkunaram were slaughtered systematically after one of them recognized an assailant and called to him by name, according to statements made by one of two Valley juveniles detained in the massacre.

The youth, 17-year-old Jonathan Doody, also insisted that the crime began simply as a challenge: ''To beat the (sensor-alarm) system'' of the temple.

''It just went downhill,'' Doody said.

The statements are contained in 950 pages of transcripts obtained by The Arizona Republic in which Doody and Alex Garcia, 16, detail their roles in the Aug. 10 massacre of six monks, a 75-year-old nun, a monk-in-training and a temple helper.

Although the two youths' accounts of the slayings offer additional insight into the case, they also leave unanswered persistent questions and, in some instances, even clash.

Among the still muddy issues are whether four Tucson men charged with murder and later released actually were involved, a theory bolstered by Garcia's vague references to two of the men, the transcripts show.

The Tucson men - Dante Parker, Leo Valdez Bruce, Mark Felix Nunez and Michael Lawrence McGraw Ž-were arrested in September, charged in the slayings and released when the charges were dismissed Nov. 22. Bruce and Nunez since have filed wrongfulŽarrest claims totaling $26 million against Maricopa County.

Although investigators admit they have found no physical evidence linking the Tucson men to the killings, detectives on the Major Crimes Task Force, which is handling the temple case, said Monday that they believe the four somehow are connected to the case.

Among their reasons are Garcia's statements that others, including ''a black man'' from Tucson, also were involved.

''I think I saw, I think I saw Parker,'' Garcia told Capt. Jerry White of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office on Oct. 26.

''You think you saw (Dante) Parker?'' White asked.

''Yeah, I remember the name Parker,'' Garcia said. ''Someone said

Parker, and, I don't know, there was a black man.''

Later in the interview, he said, ''Well, I remember, I remember we were in the temple. I can remember, you know, like names being called or something like George or, you know, I don't know. George Willis.''

''Was Willis there?'' White asked.

Garcia replied, ''Or Bruce, ah, maybe Bruce. . . . I don't know.

Like right now, I'm just like trying to recall things.''

TaskŽforce investigators told The Republic this week that Garcia was referring to Dante Parker and Leo Bruce.

In addition, according to a police document obtained by The Republic, Garcia told his girlfriend, Michelle Leslie Hoover, that he, Doody and ''some of his friends'' were involved in the temple slayings.

Detective D.D. Griffiths of the Maricopa County sheriff's generalŽinvestigations squad wrote, ''Alex told her (Hoover) that a 'whole bunch of us' had gone to the temple, but never told her the number of people present.''

In the transcripts, Doody and Garcia named two friends, George Gonzales and Rolando ''Rollie'' Caratachea, as being accomplices in the temple robbery. Gonzales and Caratachea were picked up and questioned for hours but apparently denied any involvement.

They have not been charged or named in a complaint in the killings.

Still puzzling to investigators are Doody's and Garcia's confessions regarding the planned crime and their roles.

Garcia told detectives, according to court documents, that the robbery was planned weeks in advance and that Doody had insisted that ''we can't have no witnesses -just go and shoot everybody.''

He identified Doody as the triggerman who executed all nine people with a .22-caliber Marlin rifle they had borrowed from Caratachea.

But in the transcripts released this week, Doody said that the robbery was a challenge of the temple's sensor system and that he did not shoot or kill any of the victims.

He offered no reason why he and Garcia were dressed in camouflage ''battle-dress uniforms'' and armed with knifes or why the other accomplices carried firearms for the purpose of trespassing, as had been revealed in earlier accounts.

Doody said that when he entered the temple, others, whom he could not identify, already had ordered most of the nine victims to kneel on the floor with their hands raised, according to the transcripts.

Several others of the robbery group then ransacked the living quarters, removing cameras, electronic equipment and about $2,600 in bills from underneath mattresses, Doody said.

At one point, he said, one of the monks recognized and called Gonzales by name. Doody said he then was sent out of the temple to determine whether its walls were ''soundproof'' from gunshots.

When he re-entered, the transcripts quote Doody as saying, he heard three shotgun blasts followed by a succession of rifle shots.

''Somebody panicked or something and started firing, and then constant .22 (caliber rifle) fire,'' he said.

Most of the planning was based on information unknowingly supplied by Doody's brother, David, who was a monk at the temple just before the killings, according to Garcia's statements.

The group then drove to an area on Camelback Road near the Agua Fria River bottom, where Doody said he was told to keep quiet about the events or the group would kill him, his girlfriend and his family.

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: EXŽTEMPLE SUSPECT SEEKS RESTITUTION CLAIM ASKS $16 MILLION FROM COUNTY

Date: December 7, 1991

Section: Valley And State

Page: B1

Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 354

Author: By Abraham Kwok The Arizona Republic

Contributing to this article was The Associated Press.

Index Terms: LAWSUIT

Text:

A second Tucson man who was charged in the Buddhist temple massacre and later released filed claims Friday seeking $16 million from Maricopa County, accusing the Sheriff's Office of wrongful arrest and prosecution.

The actions, a $15 million claim on behalf of Mark Felix Nunez and a $1 million claim on behalf of his family, were filed with the Board of Supervisors, Phoenix attorney William J. Friedl said.

Nunez's mother, Romalia Duarte, said Friday that the $16 million figure is justified because ''what Sheriff (Tom) Agnos and his men did to my son was a planned execution, to try and convict him without a trial.''

The claims came 10 days after Leo Valdez Bruce filed a $10 million claim alleging that investigators violated his civil rights and defamed him.

Bruce, 28; Nunez, 19; Dante Parker, 20; and Michael Lawrence McGraw, 24, were arrested in September in the Aug. 10 slaughter of nine people at Wat Promkunaram, a Buddhist temple west of Phoenix.

Each was charged with murder and robbery based on confessions he almost immediately recanted. The charges were dismissed Nov. 22 without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled later.

Investigators failed to produce any physical evidence linking the four to the crime.

Duarte said her son's adjustment to normal life after more than two months in jail has been difficult.

''Markie doesn't leave home anymore,'' she said.

''He's confused often and scared.''

Duarte said that Mark has decided against continuing pre-medical studies at Pima Community College after being shown gruesome pictures of the temple victims during questioning.

Two Avondale juveniles, Jonathan Doody, 17, and Alex Garcia, 16, have been named in a complaint accusing them of the massacre. They are awaiting hearings to determine whether they can be tried as adults.

The Arizona Republic Ž 1991 Ž Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: RULING EXPECTED IN TEMPLE CASE TUCSON MEN MAY BE FREED FOR NOW

Date: November 22, 1991

Section: Valley And State

Page: B3

Edition: State

Length: 585

Author: By Abraham Kwok, The Arizona Republic

Index Terms: RELIGION

MURDER

INVESTIGATE

Text:

Their fates long debated in law-enforcement and media circles, four Tucson suspects in the Aug. 10 slaughter at a Buddhist temple are expected to learn today whether another entity --the courts --will free them. At least for now.

''We may feel confident, but I haven't instilled any great hope into him that this thing is over until it happens,'' said Stanley Slonaker, a Phoenix attorney representing one of the suspects, Dante Parker.

''I think he has adopted the same cynical view of mine in this case.'' Maricopa County Superior Court judges are expected to rule this morning on motions by County Attorney Rick Romley to dismiss murder charges against Parker, 20; Mark Felix Nunez, 19; Leo Valdez Bruce, 28; and Michael Lawrence McGraw, 24.

However, Parker may not see immediate freedom even if the motion to dismiss is granted, authorities said. There's a hold on Parker for California prison officials for a parole violation on a conviction of burglary, Romley said.

Slonaker confirmed that Parker violated conditions of his parole by leaving California without informing his parole officer, but added that it's a minor infraction and California authorities have told him that they would not seek Parker's extradition.

Romley's decision to recommend dismissal came after a weeklong dispute in the media with Sheriff Tom Agnos, who argued that the four should remain jailed until investigators can link them to two west Valley teenŽage boys who also are suspects in the massacre of nine people at Wat Promkunaram.

Agnos wants a 60-day extension to produce a link and had convened a panel of attorneys and former police chiefs in an unsuccessful bid this week to get Gov. Fife Symington to intervene.

Romley said Thursday that Agnos and his special task force of 66 investigators have had ''enough time'' to establish a connection between the two groups.

He and others have questioned the way detectives elicited confessions from the men, the only evidence investigators have obtained. The Tucson suspects have since recanted.

''Our system of justice is not the kind in which we lock up people and then hope to get the evidence,'' the county attorney said. ''What if we give him (Agnos) two more months and there's no additional evidence? Another two months? Then two more months?''

The motions, expected to be filed with judges Frank T. Galati and Gregory Martin, will ask them to dismiss the charges without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled later.

Agnos maintains that the special task force will unlikely be able to produce enough new evidence to take the Tucson suspects back into custody, a contention that Romley ''totally disagrees with.''

The county attorney said the investigators need ''to restructure'' the focus of their efforts.

''They need to shift their priorities and concentrate now on the juveniles,'' Romley said, adding that he still has ''faith in the task force investigators.''

Two juveniles---Jonathan Doody, 17, and Alex Garcia, 16 --have been named in a complaint accusing them of murder during a robbery gone awry.

A .22-caliber Marlin rifle and a shotgun that investigators said they tested positively as one of the two weapons used in the killings were confiscated and linked to the youths.

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: SHERIFF TO KEEP PROBING TUCSON TEMPLE SUSPECTS

Date: November 21, 1991

Section: Front

Page: A1

Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 896

Author: By Paul Brinkley-Rogers and Randy Collier, The Arizona Republic

Graphic: Color photos (2)

Index Terms: MURDER

ARREST

CONTROVERSY

TUCSON

Text:

Investigators will continue to probe the possible involvement of four Tucson men in nine slayings at a Buddhist temple west of Phoenix even if the charges against the four are dismissed, Sheriff Tom Agnos said Wednesday.

''I feel it is my duty and my obligation to do everything I can to pursue this,'' Agnos said. ''We're going to continue on with this investigation. . . . There is no doubt in my mind we are going to make this case.''

Reacting to Agnos' determination to tie the Tucson men to the Aug. 10 killings, Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said, ''I think that is great.''

But Romley, who said Tuesday that he intends to ask Maricopa County Superior Court judges Friday to dismiss charges against the Tucson men, said Agnos did not help him by forming a panel of attorneys and former police chiefs.

The panel requested Tuesday that Gov. Fife Symington ask Romley for an additional 60 days to complete the investigation. Symington turned down the request Wednesday through an aide.

In separate interviews, Romley and Agnos acknowledged that they are in sharp disagreement over the case but said it was a professional dispute that would not interfere with their jobs.

The Tucson suspects---Dante Parker, 20, Leo Bruce, 28, MarkNunez, 19, and Mike McGraw, 24 --are charged in the slaying of six Thai monks, a nun, a monk-in-training and a temple helper at Wat Promkunaram.

Also being detained are two Phoenix-area juveniles, Jonathan Doody, 17, and Alex Garcia, 16, who were friends and classmates at Agua Fria High School.

A .22-caliber Marlin rifle that investigators believe was used in the killings has been tied to the juveniles who, like the Tucson defendants, have confessed to the crime.

In the case of the Tucson men, however, no physical evidence has been found placing them at the temple. The Tucson men have recanted their confessions.

Romley said that Agnos' use of the advisory panel could interfere with the prosecution's case against the two juveniles. Their defense attorneys, for example, could call panel members as witnesses to counter the prosecution.

''I understand it is to help Tom determine whether the investigation was adequate,'' Romley said. ''But I hope he realizes that it complicates my case. They (the panel members) are in the position of being potential witnesses, maybe against me.''

Aides for Symington said earlier Wednesday that the governor decided, after meeting with the panel Tuesday night, not to intervene in the case.

Panel members asked Symington to tell Romley to give Agnos 60 more days before dropping the case against the Tucson men or to appoint a special prosecutor in the case or to give the case to state Attorney General Grant Woods. The panel was led by Agnos and former U.S. Attorney Melvin McDonald.

Romley said Wednesday that Agnos also should remember that ''there are moreŽcomplex things at work here, for example, the ethical and moral issue. If I am the prosecutor and I do not believe there is sufficient evidence for likelihood of prosecution, how can I continue to hold them in jail?

''Tom says he 'hopes' they will uncover evidence'' linking the Tucson men with the Agua Fria juveniles, Romley said. ''I've been hearing this 'I hope' for months. But that's not how our system of government works. We just can't hold people like that.''

Romley will ask that the charges be dismissed ''without prejudice,'' meaning they could be refiled.

Agnos said he had good reasons for asking Symington to give him more time.

''One of my concerns is that if these guys (the Tucson defendants) are released, these leads we have which we have not yet developed are going to dry up,'' he said.

''We've got indications from one lead that that will be the case. We have to protect people like that for their own safety.''

Agnos said hundreds of pieces of evidence have yet to be examined. There are hairs and fibers from the scene of the crime still being studied by the FBI in Washington, he said.

''Richard Romley and I are having a professional disagreement on this case,'' Agnos said. ''He is viewing it from his perspective as county attorney, and I am viewing it as a lawŽenforcement officer. ''He's concerned about the admissions made (by the Tucson defendants). I don't have a very clear indication of what his concerns are. That is why we put together the panel. I have asked it for an objective report on the way we handled this investigation. I want to hear the bad news and the good news about it.''

Romley said the panel and Agnos' determination to pursue leads ''mean that we could lose the whole ball of wax, including the case against the juveniles.''

''We're going to have the defense attorneys (for the juveniles) say, 'Well, the Tucson people confessed to this crime,' '' he said. ''To say you have to stay with the same tactics is not good law enforcement. You've got to adapt to changes.''

Caption:

1) Rick Romley / Will ask that charges against four Tucson men be dismissed.

2) Tom Agnos / ''There is no doubt in my mind we are going to make this case,'' the sheriff says.

The Arizona Republic Ž 1991 Ž Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: DISMISSAL SOUGHT IN MONK CASE NO TIE FOUND AMONG 2 SETS OF SUSPECTS

Date: November 20, 1991

Section: Front

Page: A1

Edition: State

Length: 1195

Author: By Randy Collier and Paul BrinkleyŽRogers, The Arizona

Republic; Contributing to this article was Dee Ralles of The Arizona Republic.

Index Terms: RELIGION

MULTIPLE

MURDER

ARREST

CONTROVERSY

Text:

Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley will ask two Superior Court judges Friday to dismiss charges against four Tucson men who have been held since September on charges of slaying nine Buddhists at a temple west of Phoenix.

Meanwhile, The Arizona Republic has learned that Maricopa County Sheriff Tom Agnos and a committee of attorneys and former lawmen intended to meet with Gov. Fife Symington behind closed doors Tuesday night in an effort to keep the Tucson men in jail.

Romley said Tuesday that he had decided to wait no longer for sheriff's deputies to come up with evidence that would link the four with two Agua Fria High School youths who also have been charged with the killings.

''I advised Sheriff Agnos of my decision in a letter on Monday,'' Romley said. ''I told Agnos that he would have to supply me with a critical link by Friday. They don't have that link now, and I'll be surprised if they have one Friday.

''They (sheriff's investigators) just wouldn't accept the fact that the Tucson men and the PhoenixŽarea boys did not know each other and had never known each other.''

In the Aug. 10 massacre, nine people were shot with a .22Žcaliber Marlin rifle and a 20-gauge Stevens shotgun at the temple, Wat Promkunaram. The victims were six Buddhist monks, a monk-in-training, a temple helper and an elderly nun.

Former U.S. Attorney Melvin McDonald confirmed Tuesday that he is chairman of the committee that planned to meet with the governor, but he refused to disclose the reason for the gathering. However, Symington has the power to ask state Attorney General Grant Woods to take over the investigation involving the Tucson men, or to appoint a special prosecutor for the case.

McDonald would not say when the committee was formed or how its members were selected, but he said each member is participating as a public service and is not being paid. The committee received detailed briefings on the case Monday night and Tuesday from Sheriff's Office investigators.

Also on the committee are former U.S. Attorney Michael Hawkins, criminal attorney Jeremy Toles, former Phoenix Police Chief Ruben Ortega, former FBI Agent Bud Gaskill and Bernard Garmire, former police chief of Tucson and Miami, Fla., McDonald said.

: The four Tucson residents charged in the massacre are Dante Parker, 20; Mark Nunez, 19; Leo Bruce, 28; and Mike McGraw, 24. They confessed to the slayings in September after several hours of interrogation, but later recanted.

No sense to wait

Romley said that it made no sense to wait any longer than Friday because a bail hearing already was scheduled for one of the Tucson men and he felt certain a judge would release the four anyway.

Romley said Agnos replied to his letter and told him he didn't think a ''link'' was necessary to hold the four.

Efforts were made to interview Agnos, but his spokesman, Duane Brady, said the sheriff would have no comment.

The sheriff's case against the Tucson four fell apart last month when it was learned that the two Valley youths, Jonathan Doody, 17, and Alex Garcia, 16, not only confessed to the slayings but were linked to the crime weapons.

Romley said Tuesday that Agnos and his deputies had told him that they thought the confessions of the Tucson four were sufficient to make a case against them in court.

''But I read all those confessions, and I have to question how they were obtained,'' Romley said. ''I told Agnos that I thought he should take the time to read each of the confessions and I thought he would come up with the same conclusion. I don't think he's bothered reading them wordŽbyŽword.''

Romley said he also had read the confessions of Doody and Garcia, and he said he had problems with the way deputies tried for hours to get them to admit that they were connected with the Tucson men.

Investigators' complaints

A member of the Major Crimes Task Force who asked not to be identified said that investigators attending briefing sessions given for Romley complained that he also had not read the transcripts.

He said Romley's dissatisfaction with the case against the Tucson defendants began when the two Agua Fria juveniles were detained Oct. 14 in connection with the slayings.

Up to that point, he said, Romley's staff vigorously pressed the case. In late September, they received a preliminary hearing for Tucson suspect Parker in which they based their argument that he should be held for trial on Parker's confession.

But when the Valley juveniles were arrested, the investigator said, ''all hell broke loose.''

The investigator said task force members spent four days preparing an allŽday briefing for Romley on Nov. 9 so that statements given by the Tucson suspects could be examined minutely to determine how strong a case existed. But Romley, he said, left after staying only an hour, telling Agnos on that day that he intended to drop the charges and leaving investigators embittered.

He said that although investigators were divided on whether a link between the two sets of suspects existed, they agreed that there were enough unchecked leads remaining to continue holding the Tucson men.

Expensive investigation

Agnos has spent thousands of dollars trying to establish a connection between the two sets of suspects. He sent two detectives to Tucson about a month ago, and they reportedly have been working night and day, with no success.

Another team of detectives has been working exclusively on the case in Phoenix. Sources inside the Sheriff's Office said there has been ''a lot of dissension'' between deputies who want to hang on to the Tucson men and deputies who think that they should be released.

One source was critical of the sheriff's handling of the entire investigation. He said Agnos and his chief deputy, George Leese, bypassed veteran officers who had investigated numerous homicides and put Capt. Jerry White in charge of the investigation.

Romley or one of his prosecutors will go before Judges Frank T. Galati and Gregory Martin and ask for the dismissals.

Among those most vocal about the innocence of the four Tucson men and the person clamoring the loudest for their release has been Romilia Duarte, Nunez's mother.

She told members of the media in Tucson on Tuesday that ''Agnos and some prosecutors are still holding the misconception that our sons have some involvement in the temple murders. They are playing with our sons' lives; they are using our sons on a wheel of fortune, a game.''

Duarte has held numerous news conferences since the arrest of her son. At the sessions, the woman has verbally attacked Maricopa County authorities, especially Agnos.

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: DISMISSALS SOUGHT IN MONK CASE BUT PANEL ASKS GOVERNOR TO STEP IN

Date: November 20, 1991

Section: Front

Page: A1

Edition: Final Chaser Length: 1382

Author: By Randy Collier and Paul BrinkleyŽRogers, The Arizona Republic; Contributing to this article was Dee Ralles of The Arizona Republic.

Graphic: Color photos (4)

Index Terms: RELIGION

MULTIPLE MURDER ARREST CONTROVERSY

Text:

Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley will ask Superior Court judges Friday to dismiss charges against four Tucson men who have been held since September on charges of slaying nine Buddhists at a temple west of Phoenix.

Meanwhile, Maricopa County Sheriff Tom Agnos and a committee of attorneys and former lawmen pressed Gov. Fife Symington to head off Romley's attempt to have the charges dismissed.

According to sources at the 75-minute closed-door meeting, the committee outlined the sheriff's case against the Tucson men and presented three options to Symington:

Appoint a special prosecutor for the case.

Transfer the case to the office of Attorney General Grant Woods.

Ask Romley for a 60-day delay in seeking dismissal.

Criminal attorney Jeremy Toles, a member of the committee, told the governor and several of his aides that the case is ''too important to the state, the international community and to Thailand to allow it to go away without being completely explored.''

After the meeting, Symington would not reveal what had been discussed or whether he will take action.

Late Tuesday, Romley said he had not heard from Symington but would be glad to meet with him about the case. However, he said the ultimate decision is his, adding that he will not be swayed by political pressure.

Earlier in the day, Romley said he had decided to wait no longer for deputies to come up with evidence that would link the four with two Agua Fria High School youths who also have been charged with the killings.

''They (sheriff's investigators) just wouldn't accept the fact that the Tucson men and the Phoenix-area boys did not know each other and had never known each other.''

In the Aug. 10 massacre, nine people were shot with a .22-caliber Marlin rifle and a 20-gauge Stevens shotgun at the temple, Wat Promkunaram. The victims were six Buddhist monks, a monk-in-training, a temple helper and an elderly nun.

Former U.S. Attorney Melvin McDonald, chairman of the committee that met with Symington, said the governor has the power to ask Woods to take over the investigation involving the Tucson men, or to appoint a special prosecutor for the case.

McDonald would not say when the committee was formed or how its members were selected, but he said each member is participating as a public service and is not being paid.

The committee received detailed briefings on the case Monday night and Tuesday from Sheriff's Office investigators.

Also on the committee are Toles, former U.S. Attorney Michael Hawkins, former Phoenix Police Chief Ruben Ortega, former FBI Agent Bud Gaskill and Bernard Garmire, former police chief of Tucson and Miami, Fla., McDonald said.

Because of prior engagements, Ortega and Hawkins were not able to attend Tuesday's meeting with Symington, sources said.

The four Tucson residents are Dante Parker, 20; Mark Nunez, 19; Leo Bruce, 28; and Mike McGraw, 24. They confessed to the slayings in September after several hours of interrogation, but later recanted.

No sense to wait

Romley said that it made no sense to wait any longer than Friday because a bail hearing for one of the Tucson men has been scheduled for that day and he felt certain that a judge would free the four anyway.

Romley said Agnos replied to his letter and told him he didn't think a ''link'' was necessary to hold the four.

Agnos' spokesman, Duane Brady, said the sheriff would have no comment.

The sheriff's case against the Tucson four was called into question last month when it was learned that the two Valley youths, Jonathan Doody, 17, and Alex Garcia, 16, not only confessed to the slayings but were linked to the crime weapons.

Romley said Tuesday that Agnos and his deputies had told him that they thought the confessions of the Tucson men were sufficient to make a case against them in court.

Romley said he also had read the confessions of Doody and Garcia, and he said he had problems with the way deputies tried for hours to get them to admit that they were connected with the Tucson men. Investigators' complaints

A member of the Major Crimes Task Force, which is handling the temple case, said investigators who have attended briefings given for Romley complained that the latter also had not read the transcripts.

The investigator, who asked that he not be identified, said Romley's dissatisfaction with the case against the Tucson defendants began when the two Valley juveniles were detained Oct. 14 in connection with the slayings.

Up to that point, he said, Romley's staff had vigorously pressed the case against the Tucson suspects. In late September, they went public with their case against Parker, holding a preliminary hearing detailing Parker's confession and portraying him as the mastermind of the crime.

But when the Valley juveniles were arrested, the investigator said, ''all hell broke loose.''

He said task-force members spent four days preparing an all-day briefing for Romley on Nov. 9 so that statements given by the Tucson suspects could be examined to determine how strong a case existed. But Romley left after staying only an hour, telling Agnos on that day that he intended to drop the charges and leaving investigators embittered, the investigator said.

He said that although task-force investigators were divided on whether a link between the two sets of suspects existed, they agreed that there were enough unchecked leads remaining to continue holding the Tucson men.

At Tuesday's meeting with Symington, the governor's aides asked whether committee members are sure that the Tucson suspects were involved in the massacre, and members responded that the courtroom is the place for that to be determined.

But according to sources, the members pointed to details that they think tie the Tucson men to the slayings.

''Parker described a ring taken from one of the monks that taskŽforce investigators had no idea was even missing,'' one source said, describing the ring as ''spiral shaped.''

The source also said that both Parker and the Valley teens knew that at least one monk had resisted the intruders and had been thrown to the floor. In addition, both groups of suspects mentioned being startled by the nun when she entered the room the monks had been herded into.

Aides told committee members that ''it would be political suicide for the governor to take a position on this,'' although they promised to study the committee's proposals.

Expensive investigation

Another team of detectives has been working exclusively on the case in Phoenix.

Romley or one of his prosecutors will go before Judges Frank T. Galati and Gregory Martin and ask for the dismissals.

Caption: 1) Dante Parker; 2) Mark Nunez; 3) Leo Bruce; 4) Mike McGraw; These four Tucson residents were charged in the massacre at a Buddhist temple. They confessed to the slayings but later recanted. Copyright:

The Arizona Republic 1991 ŽArticle with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: 'BRUTAL' INTERROGATION ALLEGED IN TEMPLE CASE

Date: November 16, 1991 Section: Valley And State Page: B4

Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 569

Author: By Brent Whiting The Arizona Republic

Graphic: Photo

Index Terms: MULTIPLE MURDER VALLEY RELIGION

Text:

The attorney for Jonathan Doody, one of two juvenile suspects in a Buddhist-temple robbery in which nine people were massacred, claimed Friday that his client was subjected to a ''brutal'' and ''gruesome'' 14Žhour interrogation.

Peter Balkan asked a juvenile judge to appoint a mental-health expert to review tape-recordings of the interview to determine whether Doody had the ''ability to give truthful and rational answers to questions'' when questioned by sheriff's deputies.

In documents filed in Juvenile Court, Balkan said that during the session, in which Doody allegedly confessed to the crime, his client was fed information.

The statements ''are not his thoughts but merely the parroting back of information suggested or offered by police to an entirely exhausted and emotionally beaten child,'' Balkan wrote.

Balkan also said that based upon his review of the tapes, Doody ''was suffering, very much, from the length of the interrogation and the constant harangue of police officers.''

''For example,'' he said, ''literally hours pass with virtually no response from the juvenile as police officers conduct a barrage of questions, pleadings, promises, veiled threats and commands.''

There was no immediate indication when the motion will be heard by Judge James McDougall, the presiding juvenile judge in Maricopa County

Superior Court.

McDougall will decide after a hearing Nov. 27 whether Doody, 17, should be tried as an adult.

Bill FitzGerald, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, declined to comment.

Luis Calvo, an attorney for Alex Garcia, 16, the other juvenile suspect in the temple case, could not be reached for comment. Based on court documents filed Thursday by a lawyer for one of four Tucson men who have been accused in the case, Garcia said that the victims were killed after Doody insisted no witnesses be left alive. Doody reportedly told the sheriff's investigators, ''When you caught those people in Tucson, they were laughing at you 'cause they had nothing to do with it.''

The four Tucson residents confessed and later recanted, and Maricopa County Attorney Richard Romley has said that they will be released if stronger physical evidence against them isn't forthcoming.

The four Tucson residents charged in the Aug. 10 massacre at Wat Promkunaram, a temple west of Phoenix, are Dante Parker, 20; Mark Nunez, 19; Leo Bruce, 18; and Mike McGraw, 24.

Balkan said that tapes of the questioning ''reveal a brutal interrogation beginning at 9:25 p.m. and continuing, nonŽstop until almost 11 a.m. the following day.''

''During this period, two or three sheriff's deputies are heard to continuously implore, beg, beseech, yell and promise assistance to the juvenile in an attempt to gain some statements,'' Balkan said.

''The juvenile does not admit to any substantive facts until after 4 a.m. after being interrogated in this manner for more than 6 1/2 hours.''

Caption:

Jonathan Doody /Statements made during an interrogation ''are not his thoughts,'' his attorney says.

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: TEMPLE SUSPECT TELLS PLOT SAYS PARTNER DIDN'T WANT WITNESSES TO ROBBERY

Date: November 15, 1991 Section: Front

Page: A1 Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 1146

Author: By Paul BrinkleyŽRogers, Brent Whiting and Charles Kelly, The Arizona Republic

Graphic: Photo by Tom Story/The Arizona Republic

Photos (2)

Index Terms: RELIGION

MULTIPLE MURDER INVESTIGATE

Text:

An August Buddhist-temple invasion in which nine victims were slaughtered was planned methodically for weeks, with one teen-age robber insisting that no witnesses be left alive, another suspect said.

Alex Garcia, 16, has told investigators that he and Jonathan Doody, 17, shopped for military gear, tested a gun silencer and drew a sketch of the temple. They originally planned simply to rob Wat Promkunaram of money and other valuables, he said.

But Garcia said that two weeks before the crime, Doody decided to kill the temple occupants so they could not identify the robbers.

''Eventually . . . he started (saying) that we can't have no witnesses --just go and shoot everybody,'' Garcia said, according to investigators.

When they were being interrogated, Garcia and Doody at first said only they were involved in the slayings and strongly denied that anyone else took part.

''It was just me and Jonathan,'' Garcia said. ''The four people in Tucson had nothing to do with it.''

Doody reportedly told investigators, ''When you caught those people in Tucson, they were laughing at you 'cause they had nothing to do with it.''

Later, Doody and Garcia said others had taken part, but they still did not implicate any of the four Tucson suspects who have been charged in the case.

The statements of Garcia and Doody were taken from documents obtained Thursday by The Arizona Republic, including motions filed in Maricopa County Superior Court by Gene Stratford, an attorney for one of the Tucson men.

Garcia said he was against the idea of killing the victims and tried to prevent it even at the last moment. While the robbery was in progress, he said, he tried to persuade Doody not to kill the victims, who had been forced to lie on the temple floor.

''No witnesses!'' Doody responded, according to Garcia.

Then Doody, who was standing on a couch above the temple occupants, walked to the center of the couch and began shooting the victims in the head with a Marlin .22-caliber semiautomatic rifle, Garcia said.

The rifle had been borrowed from Rolando Caratachea, 17, a friend of Doody and Garcia who did not know how it was to be used, according to Garcia.

The other gun used in the massacre, a 20-gauge pump shotgun, belonged to an uncle of Garcia and was smuggled out of Garcia's father's house, Garcia said.

Caratachea is being held on a Juvenile Court complaint accusing him of thefts and burglaries unrelated to the temple massacre.

Garcia and Doody are being held on a juvenile complaint accusing them of killing the nine victims---six Buddhist monks, a temple helper, a monkŽinŽtraining and a nun.

All three juveniles are awaiting hearings to determine whether they should be tried as adults.

During the first part of an interrogation session, Garcia strongly denied that anyone but he and Doody took part in the crime, one document says.

Garcia told authorities that the four Tucson residents being held for the crime did not take part and called it ''laughable'' that investigators believe he is lying on that point.

The four Tucson residents charged with the massacre are Dante Parker, 20; Mark Nunez, 19; Leo Bruce, 18; and Mike McGraw, 24.

All four confessed but later recanted, and Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley has said he will ask that they be released if stronger physical evidence against them isn't forthcoming.

After another investigator took over the interrogation, Garcia and Doody eventually said they were not the only ones present and involved in the killings. They did not go into details about those people.

But in Garcia's detailed confession, he said only he and Doody carried out the crime.

Garcia said he and Doody began to plan the robbery in July, using information gathered at the temple by Doody while he was visiting his brother David, a Buddhist monk-in-training.

Jonathan Doody had heard that the temple occupants took cash donations, and had cameras, stereo equipment, gold and other valuables, Garcia said.

The temple invasion was planned carefully, the suspect said.

Garcia said that he sketched the interior of the temple, and that he and Doody bought military clothing and gear. At a Luke Air Force Base store, they bought military snow boots, camouflage hats, scarves for their faces, military belts, battle harnesses on which to carry knives and flashlights, and ''tank driver'' goggles for Doody, Garcia said.

They also constructed a homemade silencer for the rifle, but it failed when they were testing it in the White Tank Mountains, Garcia said.

He said they drove to the temple in Doody's 1983 Ford Mustang about 10 or 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 9 after stopping off at a party. After arriving at the temple, they checked out the scene, then left, returning in about 10 or 15 minutes.

Upon their return, they burst into the temple and took turns holding the occupants at gunpoint and ransacking the temple for valuables, which they placed in two military bags they had brought, according to Garcia.

That took up to an hour, he said.

The loot they took included about $2,650 in currency and $140 in coins, two portable stereos, six 35Žmm cameras, an 8mm video camera, a bullhorn and binoculars, Garcia said.

After failing to open a safe in the temple, they shot the occupants with the rifle and shotgun, Garcia said. Doody fired the killing shots, Garcia says, shooting into the victims' heads and returning to fire again if the first shot appeared not to be fatal.

''He went around and shot everybody in back of the head to make sure they were dead,'' Garcia said.

Investigators say Garcia was accurate about describing things in the temple, including the fact that the nun's dentures were on a night stand in her room and that rice was spilled on the floor of a storeroom.

He also was accurate about the fact that the word ''Bloods'' was carved on a wall in the hallway. He told investigators that he used the back of a knife to scratch out the word.

Caption:

Alex Garcia, whose home on West Tuckey Lane was searched last month by police, has told police that he and Jonathan Doody took about $2,650 in currency, $140 in coins, electronic equipment and more from Wat Promkunaram.

1) Jonathan Doody / An alleged accomplice says Doody fired the killing shots in the temple slayings. 2) Alex Garcia / Has told police that he and another teen originally had planned simply to rob a Valley Buddhist temple.

Memo:

Photo reprints available. Please call (602) 271Ž8298 for cost information

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: TEMPLE PROBE GETS DEADLINE ROMLEY PRESSURES OFFICIALS

Date: November 11, 1991 Section: Front

Page: A1 Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 629

Author: By Randy Collier and Charles Kelly The Arizona Republic

Graphic: Photos (2)

Index Terms: MULTIPLE MURDER VALLEY RELIGION INVESTIGATE

Text:

Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said Sunday that he is giving investigators of a Buddhist temple massacre until Nov. 23 to come up with stronger evidence against four Tucson suspects or he will ask a court to release them.

Romley's decision came as a result of pleas for more time from county Sheriff Tom Agnos and from prosecutors assigned to the case.

According to sources, Romley previously had given investigators until the beginning of this week to make a connection between the Tucson four and two PhoenixŽarea juveniles linked to guns used in the killings.

The massacre claimed the lives of nine people six Buddhist monks, a monk-in-training, a temple helper and a nun.

The four Tucson suspects, who confessed but later recanted, are Dante Parker, 20; Leo Valdez Bruce, 28; Mark Nunez, 19; and Mike McGraw, 24.

The Phoenix-area suspects, both students at Agua Fria High School, are Jonathan Doody, 17, and Alex Garcia, 16.

Doody and Garcia also have confessed and are being held on a complaint accusing them of the killings. They are awaiting a hearing to determine whether they should be tried as adults.

Romley said that investigators told him this weekend that they still are waiting for results of tests on evidence.

''They say they have more physical evidence to process, and I think it's only appropriate that I wait,'' he said. ''Right now, I'm doing a balancing act.''

Those tests, being carried out by the state Department of Public Safety, may not be completed until Nov. 23, investigators said.

A source close to Romley said Sunday that the county attorney decided to wait for the test results after a heated discussion with Agnos.

''It's a case where Agnos doesn't have the evidence right now, but he thinks if Romley decides to cut the four loose, he'll be leaving Agnos hanging out to dry,'' the source said.

''Romley's upset because he thinks this is just as much of a moral issue as it is a legal issue. If the evidence isn't there, Rick wants to let them go.''

The source said Romley believes that the County Attorney's Office should stick to its guidelines on prosecutable cases. Its rule is that if there is not enough evidence against a suspect, then the office should drop its case and move on to investigate other suspects.

''At this point, Rick definitely doesn't think the evidence is there,'' the source said.

In an attempt to remain on good terms with Agnos and the Sheriff's Office, Romley reportedly has told investigators that he will ask that the charges be dismissed ''without prejudice,'' so new charges can be filed if sufficient evidence is discovered.

''Rick feels the longer he waits to file his motions, the less chance he will have with a judge to dismiss the charges without prejudice,'' the source said. ''If the judge dismisses the charges with prejudice, then there's no chance new charges could be filed.''

Duane Brady, a spokesman for Agnos, said Sunday that all he could say ''is that we still have an ongoing investigation.''

He said he did not know about Romley's deadline.

In addition to Agnos, Romley reportedly has met strong opposition to asking for dismissal from two of his top deputies, Myrna Parker and K.C. Scull, who are prosecuting the case.

Caption:

(1)Rick Romley/Reportedly has met opposition to asking for dismissal of charges from two of his top deputies.

(2)Tom Agnos/He and prosecutors asked Rick Romley for more time to investigate the Buddhist temple massacre.

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: DEADLINE FOR TYING TEMPLE SUSPECTS 4 FROM TUCSON MAY BE RELEASED

Date: November 9, 1991 Section: Front

Page: A1 Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 811

Author: By Randy Collier and Charles Kelly, The Arizona Republic;

Contributing to this article were Susan Leonard and Pamela Manson of The Arizona Republic.

Index Terms: MULTIPLE RELIGION MURDER INVESTIGATE

Text: If Tucson suspects in the Buddhist-temple massacre can't be linked to two Phoenix-area suspects by Sunday, Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley plans to ask that charges against the Tucson men be dismissed, The Arizona Republic has learned.

Romley has given the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office the deadline to come up with the link, officials close to the investigation said. If Romley decides the case is too weak, he plans to file motions in Superior Court on Tuesday asking for the dismissals.

Romley would ask the two judges in the case to release the four ''without prejudice'' so they could be charged again if a link was found in the future, officials said.

The Tucson suspects are Dante Parker, 20; Leo Bruce, 29; MarkNunez, 19, and Mike McGraw, 24. Those four confessed to the slayings but later recanted.

Parker's case is before Judge Gregory Martin while Judge Frank Galati is overseeing the cases of the other three defendants. Officials close to Romley said that he has wanted to have the charges against the Tucson men dismissed since shortly after two Agua Fria High School students were accused of the massacre and linked two weeks ago to guns used in the slayings.

In the Aug. 10 massacre, nine people were shot with a .22-caliber Marlin rifle and a 20-gauge Stevens shotgun at Wat Promkunaram, a temple west of Phoenix.

The victims were six Buddhist monks, a monk-in-training, a temple helper and an elderly nun.

The Phoenix-area youths, accused in Juvenile Court, are Jonathan Doody, 17, and Alex Garcia, 16. Another youth, Rolando Caratachea, 17, is considered a suspect but is accused in a complaint of unrelated burglary and theft charges.

Both Doody and Garcia confessed, but neither said he knew any of the Tucson suspects.

Agnos says he believes there is a connection between the Tucson suspects and the two accused juveniles. But he was secretly recorded last week telling members of the Thai community that the link couldn't be proved in court.

The official close to Romley said the county attorney has been trying to give Agnos every chance to come up with new evidence against the Tucson suspects.

''Unless Agnos comes up with something really solid, Romley's going to cut them loose,'' said the official, who did not want to be identified. Romley ''tried to keep a low profile, but this whole thing has been pretty embarrassing to him.''

There were signals that there might be problems with the case against the Tucson men before the first wave of publicity about the arrests subsided.

Officials said several weeks ago that Romley was unhappy with methods used by the investigators who brought the Tucson suspects and two other Tucson men to Phoenix for interrogation in mid-September.

Romley reportedly was ''livid'' that deputies acted without first contacting his office. He reportedly complained that the deputies had obtained search warrants without allowing his prosecutors to review them.

Agnos has had a team of investigators in Tucson the past two weeks trying to establish a link between the four Tucson men and the Valley youths. If any new evidence has been found, Agnos has kept it quiet.

Neither Agnos nor Romley could be reached Friday for comment.

One official said that one of Romley's main concerns is the methods used by deputies when they interrogated both the Tucson men and the accused juveniles.

Romley wants to find out whether the confessions of the men appear to be more substantial than they are because they were inadvertently fed ''inside'' information about the slaying scene and about the confessions of fellow suspects while they were being interrogated.

''He's also concerned about Doody and Garcia's confessions,'' the official said. ''The boys originally told deputies they were the only two involved in the killings, but after they were grilled by a highŽranking deputy, Doody said there were others involved.'' In other developments, prosecutors said Friday that they want photographs taken of any tattoos, birthmarks or scars that the Tucson suspects have.

Deputy County Attorney K.C. Scull declined to say why he wants the pictures. But a defense attorney speculated that one of the Phoenix suspects may have described a mark allegedly seen on some other suspect.

During a court hearing Friday, Martin granted a request by prosecutors that Parker be physically examined and photographed.

It is also expected that Nunez will allow himself to be photographed, according to his attorney, Gene Stratford.

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: COMPUTER, MASSACRE LINK DENIED TEEN 'DID NOT HAVE ACCESS' ON AUG. 10

Date: November 8, 1991 Section: Valley And State

Page: B1 Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 534

Author: By Susan Leonard, The Arizona Republic

Index Terms: MULTIPLE

MURDER INVESTIGATE

Text:

A lawyer for a Valley teenager suspected in a massacre at a Buddhist temple said that a computer seized by prosecutors does not contain plans to rob the temple.

In fact, Rolando Caratachea could not have used it to plan the crime because he did not have the computer on Aug. 10, when nine people were robbed and slain at Wat Promkunaram west of Phoenix, attorney Gary Rohlwing said.

He said Caratachea, 17, of Glendale, was given the computer about a month ago by his parents, Rolando and Sheila Caratachea of Buckeye.

''He did not have access to the computer at the time of murders or anytime before,'' Rohlwing said. ''And he was not a computer whiz as has been portrayed in the paper.''

Investigators confiscated the computer last Friday, believing that it may have been used to store robbery plans, court documents show.

Authorities described Caratachea as a selfŽstyled ''computer wizard,'' but Rohlwing said the youth primarily used computers for games.

''I do not believe there is going to be any evidence or information in the computer that is going to link my client to these murders,'' he said. ''My client maintains that he is innocent and has denied any involvement in the murders. He hasn't been indicted on murder charges, and I don't expect that he ever will be indicted on murder charges.''

Sheriff's officials have maintained Caratachea possessed the gun that was used to kill the nine Buddhists.

Although named as a suspect, Caratachea is being detained on unrelated burglary and theft charges. Two other juveniles who know him, Jonathan Doody, 17, and Alex Garcia, 16, have confessed to the slayings and are accused in a Juvenile Court complaint of the killings.

Four Tucson men have been charged in the slayings but authorities have yet to establish a link between the Phoenix-area juveniles and the Tucson group. Rohlwing said Caratachea does not know the Tucson suspects.

Sheriff's officials also maintain in court records that a friend of Caratachea's, who is identified only as Brandon Burton, saw Caratachea's computer at his residence in August.

But Rohlwing said he does not know who Burton is and sheriff's spokesman Duane Brady declined to identify him further or to respond to Rohlwing's comments.

A friend of Caratachea who did not want to be identified also said Thursday that the teen knows little about computers.

In fact, he knows so little that when his parents gave it to him, his mother had to go over to his apartment and hook it up for him, the friend said.

She said it had been stored at the home of Caratachea's parents before they gave it to him in September.

Rohlwing would not comment on that but said, ''The computer wasn't even workable at the time of the murders.''

He said he plans to ask a judge next week to release Caratachea, who has been detained for about two weeks.

Rohlwing said he also plans to fight prosecutors' plans to try to transfer Caratachea to adult court.

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: COMPUTER SEIZED, MAY HOLD TIE TO TEMPLE SLAYINGS PLAN TO ROB MONKS POSSIBLY STORED IN IT

Date: November 7, 1991 Section: Valley And State

Page: B1 Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 1098

Author: By Charles Kelly The Arizona Republic

Contributing to this article were Frederick Bermudez, Abraham Kwok, Pam Manson and Dee Ralles of The Arizona Republic.

Index Terms: MULTIPLE MURDER VALLEY INVESTIGATE

Text:

Investigators have seized a computer owned by a Valley teenŽager suspected in a massacre at a Buddhist temple in August, believing it might have been used to store an elaborate plan for a robbery that led to the slaying of nine people.

The Packard Bell computer was confiscated Friday from the Litchfield Park home of a man who had been given it by Rolando Caratachea as collateral on a loan, according to a search-warrant affidavit made public Wednesday.

Caratachea, 17, is named in court records as a suspect in the Aug. 10 temple massacre, but he is accused only of unrelated burglaries and thefts.

Two juveniles who know him, Jonathan Doody, 17, and Alex Garcia, 16, have confessed to the slayings, documents show, and are accused in a Juvenile Court complaint of the slayings. All three juveniles live in the Phoenix area.

''Interviews have revealed that the murders committed at the temple occurred in conjunction with a robbery planned in elaborate detail, including building floor plans of the temple, and specific

directions to the location,'' the affidavit says. The affidavit says Caratachea calls himself a ''computer wizard.'' It also says checking a computer to see what is stored in it can take days or weeks.

''With expert assistance, the above-described computer-stored records relating to the temple murders and to the identities of persons involved in the planning or execution of the robbery may be rendered into human-readable form,'' the affidavit says.

The computer was confiscated from the home of Caratachea's boss at the LeGourmand Restaurant, 12345 W. Indian School Road, the affidavit says. Caratachea said he had given the computer to his employer as collateral on a $320 debt.

None of the information released Wednesday appears to link the group of PhoenixŽarea suspects with four Tucson residents charged in the killings.

Those four confessed to the slayings but later recanted. They have been charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder in the massacre, in which nine victims - six Buddhist monks, a monk-in-training, a temple helper and an elderly nun - were shot to death at Wat Promkunaram, a temple west of Phoenix.

The Tucson suspects are Dante Parker, 20; Michael Lawrence McGraw, 24; Leo Valdez Bruce, 28; and Mark Felix Nunez, 19.

Also on Wednesday, KTVK-TV (Channel 3) reported that Maricopa County Sheriff Tom Agnos said the Tucson men and the Phoenix-area teen-agers are ''connected in some way . . no matter how loose it was.''

He made the comments at a meeting he had Wednesday morning with members of the Valley's Thai community. Local media were barred from the meeting, but a reporter from a Thai-language newspaper in Los Angeles was present and made an audio tape.

''There are some bits and pieces that indicated that these guys probably were connected but didn't know one another,'' Agnos said. ''But it's not evidence we can take into court.''

The sheriff said the crime probably was committed for a number of reasons.

''You've got some young kids that think there was a lot of money and a lot of valuables in that temple,'' he said. ''They decide, 'Well, maybe we better . . . get some more-experienced people involved.' And they call up a guy they know, and the guy says, 'Yeah, I know some folks, and I'll have them meet you somewhere in Phoenix.' And he calls up and has them come meet. . . . They don't know one another, and they go out into the night.''

Also, prosecutors on Wednesday filed documents in Maricopa County Superior Court that included transcripts of the confessions of Bruce and Nunez. Summaries of those confessions had been revealed earlier in search-warrant affidavits, as was the confession of McGraw. Parker's confession was revealed in a preliminary hearing in which he was bound over for trial.

The transcripts of the confessions show that the suspects were read their Miranda rights and that they agreed with their questioners that they had been treated fairly.

On some points, the confessions appear to agree, and on others they conflict. However, the interrogators did supply Bruce and Nunez with a number of details from McGraw's confession, which would have enabled them to parrot back those items if they merely confessed because they felt psychological pressure.

Much of the material in the confessions is vague and sometimes inaccurate.

Bruce said the group, riding in a Bronco and a Blazer, passed houses en route to the temple and turned right from the road into the parking lot of the temple. But there are no houses along the road leading to the temple.

The mother of one of the four Tucson suspects predicted Wednesday that Maricopa County officials now will ''falsify evidence'' in the case ''to save their egos.''

''We're not dealing with justice or truth here, we are dealing with people who are worried about having to face the fact that they are wrong,'' said Romelia Duarte, Nunez's mother.

At a news conference in a south-side park in Tucson, Duarte waved a 2-inch-thick transcript of her son's confession, which she called ''trash'' and ''300 pages of untruths.''

Meanwhile, prosecutors subpoenaed from Valley television stations broadcast tapes of suspects' statements.

Attorneys for the television stations are reviewing the subpoenas, which ask for the unedited interviews of the suspects, station spokesmen said.

As of Wednesday, no subpoenas had been served on reporters for The Republic or The Phoenix Gazette, according to company officials and attorneys representing the papers.

Bill FitzGerald, a spokesman for County Attorney Rick Romley, said he was unaware of any subpoenas of journalists in the Valley aside from those served on the television stations.

He would not talk about why prosecutors want the tapes.

Court observers say that prosecutors probably want to review suspects' statements to the media for inconsistencies or contradictions.

Prosecutors are welcome to any video already aired by local television stations, news editors at the stations said Wednesday.

Unedited footage won't be released without a legal fight, they said.

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: CONFLICTING LEADS STALLED MONKŽCASE PROBE KEY RIFLE WAS TRAPPED IN THE SYSTEM

Date: November 3, 1991 Section: Valley And State

Page: B1 Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 925 Author: By Charles Kelly and Paul Brinkley-Rogers The Arizona Republic Index Terms: ANALYSIS

MURDER MULTIPLE VALLEY

Text:

Two crucial leads in August's Buddhist-temple slayings reached the massacre task force the same day.

One lead pointed to Tucson, one to Phoenix.

Ironically, investigators focused on what now appears to have been the weaker of the two, pursuing Tucson suspects and allowing a rifle linked to Phoenix suspects to drift into a testing process that didn't kick out results on it for more than six weeks.

While the rifle was working its way through the process, the Tucson tip led to murder charges in September against four Tucson residents.

They are Dante Parker, 20; Michael Lawrence McGraw, 24; Leo Valdez Bruce, 28; and Mark Felix Nunez, 19.

Those four suspects confessed, although there was no physical evidence against them in the Aug. 10 massacre. They later recanted.

Pursuit of the Phoenix tip led prosecutors this week to file complaints against two Phoenix-area juveniles, Jonathan Doody, 17, and Alex Garcia, 16.

Doody and Garcia have confessed to the homicides, court documents show, and they have been linked to the guns used in the killings.

But so far, officials close to the investigation say, detectives have failed to establish a link between the Phoenix and Tucson groups.

The conflicting leads were dropped in detectives' laps on Sept. 10. On that day, Tucson police notified the temple-massacre task force that a man later identified as McGraw had called them from the Tucson Psychiatric Institute, saying he knew who had done the killings.

On the same day, the Office of Special Investigations at Luke Air Force Base called the task force, headed by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, to report that Air Force police had run across a rifle similar to the one suspected of being used in the slayings.

The kind of rifle believed used was known by the task force shortly after the nine victims were discovered Aug. 10 at Wat Promkunaram temple, west of Phoenix.

Shell casings and fired rounds showed that the attack weapons had been a .22Žcaliber semiautomatic Marlin rifle and a 20-gauge shotgun.

Autopsies showed that the rifle had caused the fatal wounds in the victims -- six Buddhist monks, a monk-in-training, a temple helper and an elderly nun.

Only 10 days after the slayings, Air Force police at Luke Air Force Base first saw the death rifle but did not realize its significance.

They were uninformed about what kind of rifle was being sought because they were not part of the temple-slayings task force, an official said.

The base's Office of Special Investigations was on the task force, but at that point had not relayed information on the suspect gun to the base police, the official said.

Base police making a routine vehicle stop Aug. 20 saw the rifle in the passenger side of a car being driven by Rolando Caratachea, 17, court documents show.

The officers had stopped that and another car, being driven by Doody, for ''suspicious activity.'' The next day, Aug. 21, one of the officers involved in the first incident stopped a car containing Caratachea and Doody, again for ''suspicious activity,'' and asked Caratachea where the rifle was.

Caratachea said it was in his car, parked in front of Doody's home on the base.

The officer searched the car and found the rifle, which was partially concealed.

Because having a concealed weapon is a violation of state law, a sheriff's deputy was called to the scene. He released Caratachea and let him keep the rifle because it had not been fully concealed and because he was suspected of no other crime.

It is not known whether the deputy reported the incident to the task force.

At some point in the next few weeks, officers from the Office of Special Investigations checked the base police records and took note of the rifle incident. They gave the task force the information Sept. 10.

The same day, according to a search-warrant affidavit, a sheriff's detective asked Caratachea for the rifle so that it could be tested. Caratachea agreed. The detective put the gun in for testing, but did not ask that it be given any priority, the affidavit says.

And by that time, the focus of the investigation was on the Tucson suspects, who confessed and were charged over the course of the next few days.

The rifle was sent to firearms examiners at the Arizona Department of Public Safety, but it was just one of many rifles being tested.

''This single rifle was one of approximately 75 to 80 rifles collected by the task force from various sources in an effort to trace this weapon,'' says a search-warrant affidavit filed in the case.

Finally, on Oct. 24, more than six weeks after the rifle was taken, shell casings from cartridges fired by it were matched with casings from the massacre scene.

A Glendale apartment shared by Doody and Garcia then was searched, and a Stevens 20-gauge shotgun was taken. Casings from shells fired by the shotgun then were linked to casings found at the temple.

Article type:

News Analysis

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: PROBERS DIVIDED IN TEMPLE CASE SOME DOUBT SUSPECTS LINKED

Date: November 2, 1991 Section: Valley And State

Page: B1 Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 604

Author: By Paul BrinkleyŽRogers, Randy Collier and Charles Kelly, The Arizona Republic Text:

Investigators of a massacre at a Buddhist temple are split over whether a link exists between Phoenix suspects in the case and a group of Tucson suspects, officials said Friday.

A 66-member task force, headed by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office under Sheriff Tom Agnos, is handling the case.

''Those guys (investigators) who are with the sheriff are going for a link,'' an official said.

''There is incredible pressure coming from the sheriff for a link,'' added the official, who did not want to be identified.

''And then, there are others of us who try to quietly go about our business without making this mess any worse. We see ourselves as realists: There is no link. The other guys are like Alice in Wonderland.'' They have been charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder in the massacre, in which nine people -- six Buddhist monks, a monk-in-training, a temple helper and an elderly nun were shot to death early on Aug. 10 at Wat Promkunaram, a temple west of Phoenix.

The Tucson suspects are Dante Parker, 20; Michael Lawrence McGraw, 24; Leo Valdez Bruce, 28; and Mark Felix Nunez, 19.

New court documents this week show that two Phoenix juveniles have confessed to the slayings, and a rifle and a shotgun used in the killings have been linked to them.

Those two juveniles are Jonathan Doody, 17, and Alex Garcia, 16. Complaints allege that they committed the killings.

Rolando Caratachea, 17, from whom the rifle was confiscated, has been named in a complaint accusing him of burglaries and thefts unrelated to the temple massacre.

Meanwhile, Agnos sidestepped questions about the slayings when he appeared Friday at a questionŽandŽanswer session with northwest Valley residents.

One questioner praised the fact that voters had elected a professional police officer to the post of sheriff, but he asked why the Sheriff's Office remains so controversial.

''What do you mean, controversial?'' said Agnos, a former Phoenix police executive.

''Give me some specifics of what we've done that has been controversial.''

When the questioner mentioned stories he had read about the temple slayings, Agnos noted that a Superior Court judge and county grand juries had felt there was enough evidence to charge the original four suspects with first-degree murder.

Before the meeting, Agnos told a reporter, ''I'm not going to say anything. I'm not going to help you people hang yourselves.'' The only information made public so far that links the Phoenix and Tucson groups in any way is a search-warrant return that lists items confiscated from the Phoenix-area home of Angel Rowlett, a friend of Doody and Caratachea.

The document lists medical bills with Tucson addresses for Rowlett and for two other people with the same last name, as well as a U S West telephone bill listing calls to Tucson.

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC Headline: 'WE'RE LIKE POLITICAL PRISONERS NOW,' TUCSON SUSPECT SAYS

Date: November 2, 1991 Section: Valley And State Page: B4 Edition: Final Chaser Length: 501 Author: By Frederick Bermudez, The Arizona Republic

Graphic: Photo

Text: The second of four Tucson suspects in August's temple slayings said Friday that he has no connection with two Phoenix-area juveniles who have confessed to the killings and claims he is a political prisoner. ''This is getting out of hand,'' McGraw said Friday night during a 50-minute jailhouse interview. ''This has now turned into like a political case, and we're like political prisoners now.''

Earlier this week, prosecutors filed complaints against two Phoenix-area juveniles, Jonathan Doody, 17, and Alex Garcia, 16. The pair, like the four Tucson men, confessed to the slayings, authorities say.

However, the statements made by the Tucson men --McGraw, 24; Dante Parker, 20; Leo Valdez Bruce, 28; and Mark Felix Nunez, 19 --all were recanted later

And the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office now has linked the Phoenix juveniles to a shotgun and .22-caliber rifle used in the killings, according to court records released this week.

The rifle was confiscated from another Valley youth, Rolando Caratachea, 17, who has been accused in unrelated burglaries and thefts.

But according to officials close to the investigation, authorities have not yet been able to establish a solid link between the Phoenix and Tucson groups.

''If there's no link, why are we still here?'' McGraw said. He and Parker gave The Arizona Republic separate interviews from a Maricopa County jail this week. Both said they don't know the two Valley youths and questioned why authorities continue to keep them in custody.

In a search-warrant affidavit released shortly after his September arrest, McGraw gave authorities detailed accounts of the killings. But McGraw said authorities coached him into giving those statements.

''They were telling me, more or less, 'Do this and say this and whatever we say to you, you repeat back to us,' '' McGraw said. ''They had me go over diagrams that they had and that's what I was doing. I did exactly what they told me to do.

''They told me, 'Draw this diagram here,' and I drew it. They told me, 'Say this,' and I said it.''

The statements came after physical threats and intense questioning by as many as 30 investigators, McGraw said.

Authorities said last month that McGraw telephoned them from the Tucson Psychiatric Institute because he felt so guilty that he was suicidal.

But McGraw said Friday that he called police to check into the institution to get rid of a drug habit.

While at the institution, someone else called police and implicated him in the slayings, he said.

Caption:

Michael Lawrence McGraw /''If there's no link, why are we still here?'' the prisoner asks.

ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ The Arizona Republic Ž 1991 Ž Article with Citation

ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: JUVENILE CONFESSES TO SLAYING OF MONKS CLAIMS ONLY 2 KILLERS

Date: November 1, 1991 Section: Front

Page: A1 Edition: Final Chaser Length: 1141

Author: By Charles Kelly, Brent Whiting, Randy Collier and Abraham Kwok The Arizona Republic

Index Terms: MURDER VALLEY RELIGION ARREST Two hooded juveniles dressed in camouflage battle dress, their faces masked with scarves, gunned down the nine victims of a massacre at a Buddhist temple Aug. 10, according to a confession by one of the juveniles, Alex Garcia, 16.

Garcia's confession is contained in one of five searchŽwarrant affidavits released Thursday by Judge Ronald Reinstein of Maricopa County Superior Court.

Garcia and Jonathan Doody, 17, have been named in a complaint accusing them of the slayings at the temple, Wat Promkunaram, west of Phoenix.

Garcia's account does not mention a large robbery gang, as Doody's confession in another affidavit does.

According to the affidavit, Garcia told investigators Saturday that he and Doody carried out the crime, which took the lives of six Buddhist monks, a monkŽinŽtraining, a temple helper and an elderly nun.

''Garcia did state that Jonathan Doody shot all the victims in the head with the listed rifle (a .22Žcaliber Marlin semiautomatic rifle) while he (Garcia) shot an unknown number of victims with the listed shotgun (a Stevens 20Žgauge shotgun),'' the affidavit says.

''Garcia also listed the clothing worn by he and Jonathan Doody as camouflage battleŽdressŽuniform pants and shirts, hoods, brown gloves, militaryŽstyle snow boots, knives and scarves over their faces.''

Bags allegedly for loot

According to the affidavit, Garcia said that he and Doody had gone to the temple to rob the occupants of money and property, and that they took militaryŽstyle canvas bags with them to carry away the loot.

The bags were used to haul away money, stereo and camera equipment, the affidavit says, and brown bags also were taken from the temple.

Prosecutors had attempted to block the release of the affidavits.

During a search carried out Saturday at the apartment of another suspect, Angel Rowlett, militaryŽtype snow boots were seen. They were not seized, however, because Garcia had not at that time told investigators that he and Doody had worn the boots at the temple, the affidavit says.

In Garcia's confession, there is no mention of Rolando Caratachea, 17, another suspect from whom the rifle apparently used in the killings was seized.

Caratachea is being held on a complaint accusing him of thefts and burglaries unrelated to the slayings.

Doody's confession, made public earlier, says Garcia and Caratachea took part in the temple slayings along with about seven other people, most of whom were not identified.

Reportedly met at river

Doody said the whole group met at Camelback Road and the Agua Fria River about 8:30 p.m. Aug. 9 and set off to rob the temple.

According to autopsy reports, the victims were killed after 2 a.m. the next day.

Court records say Maricopa County sheriff's investigators have considered 14 people as possible suspects, including Michael Myers, 18, who once shared an apartment with Doody and Garcia.

But investigators, in court records released Thursday, said follow-up interviews with Doody and Garcia ''excluded Michael Myers as a participant in this matter.''

The summary of Doody's statement does not implicate by name any of four Tucson men charged last month in the slayings.

Investigators have yet to announce whether any link exists between the Phoenix group and the Tucson group. The Tucson men are Dante Parker, 20; Michael Lawrence McGraw, 24; Leo Valdez Bruce, 28; and Mark Felix Nunez, 19.

Each faces nine counts of firstŽdegree murder and robbery and one count each of burglary and conspiracy.

Confessions recanted

All of them confessed, but they all later recanted the confessions.

In Tucson on Thursday, relatives and friends of the four men held a protest, urging authorities to release the Tucson suspects.

On Saturday, authorities searching a west Glendale apartment confiscated, among other things, two knives, a camouflage hat, two face masks, gloves and the Stevens 20-gauge shot-gun apparently used in the slayings.

Occupants of the apartment were Doody, Garcia and Myers, according to the affidavits released Thursday.

Police also removed from the home of Garcia's family in west Glendale two duffel bags, including one containing miscellaneous army equipment, court records show.

Doody also alleged that George Gonzales, 19, was a co-conspirator in the temple slayings.

Gonzales was taken into custody early Saturday and questioned for five hours by detectives before being released, he said this week.

Polygraph test claimed

Gonzales, who worked with Doody at a west Valley McDonald's restaurant more than a year ago, denied any involvement in the crimes. He said he voluntarily took a polygraph test Sunday and passed.

He has not been arrested or charged with any crimes.

The searchŽwarrant information containing Garcia's confession was released Thursday over the objections of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

Deputy County Attorney Myrna Parker tried to have the information sealed, telling Judge Reinstein that ''premature release of the information . . . would compromise the investigation and the safety and welfare of numerous persons.''

Parker said that to reveal the confessions could put Doody's and Garcia's lives in jeopardy.

Among the documents released Thursday was a transcript of a taped conversation by Reinstein, deputy county attorneys Parker and K.C. Scull, and two sheriff's deputies, Sgt. Russ Kimball and Detective Rick Sinsabaugh.

The tape was made while Parker and the detectives were attempting to get an addition to a search warrant on the home of Rowlett, 19, who lives with his parents at Luke Air Force Base. Sinsabaugh said he had been told by Caratachea that Doody once had two 35mm cameras and a handŽheld camcorder, which the deputies thought had been taken from the temple.

Sinsabaugh said Caratachea had arranged for Rowlett to sell the cameras in late August at a Glendale pawn shop. Caratachea reportedly told the detective that Rowlett was able to sell the cameras but was unable to get rid of the camcorder.

Records indicated that on Saturday, deputies searched Rowlett's home and recovered several rolls of film and a box of latex gloves, among other items.

Investigators had said early in the case that the killers wore latex gloves.

Cameras and other items that may have been taken from the temple reportedly were confiscated from a Glendale pawn shop Saturday.

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: NEW TWISTS IN MASSACRE OF BUDDHISTS

Date: October 31, 1991 Section: Front

Page: A1 Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 1039 Contributing to this article were Randy Collier, Suzanne Lopez and Gail Tabor of The Arizona Republic. Graphic: Photo by Tom Story/The Arizona Republic

Index Terms: MURDER INVESTIGATE VALLEY

Text:

The murky case of August's Buddhist temple massacre turned another shade of gray Wednesday when one of four Tucson men charged with murder denied knowing any of three PhoenixŽarea juveniles detained last week for the same crime.

In addition, an official said that investigators involved in the case have recommended to Maricopa County Attorney Richard Romley that prosecutors have charges dropped against the four Tucson men. Romley asked investigators Tuesday about their assessment of the Tucson case, the official said.

''We can't make a match between the two groups,'' said the official, who asked not to be identified. ''We've been trying damn hard to make that match. But we are convinced it does not exist.''

In an interview from jail Wednesday, Dante Parker of Tucson, who has been charged with nine counts of murder, said he has never met or spoken with any of the three Phoenix-area juveniles, Jonathan Doody, 17, Alex Garcia, 16, or Rolando David Caratachea, 17. Besides Parker, the Tucson men charged are Michael Lawrence McGraw, 24; Leo Valdez Bruce, 28; and Mark Felix Nunez, 19. Nine Buddhists six monks, a nun, a monk-in-training and a temple helper -were slain at Wat Promkunaram west of Phoenix.

In another development, The Arizona Republic learned Wednesday that at about the time deputies began investigating the Avondale juveniles, Maricopa County Sheriff Tom Agnos took his chief deputy, George Leese, off the case and gave it to Deputy Chief Deputy John Coppock, who supervises the technical-services division. The Republic disclosed about a month ago that Romley was unhappy with Leese and accused him of bungling the case.

Spokesmen for the County Sheriff's and County Attorney's offices declined to comment Wednesday.

'They can't let us go'

Parker, 20, said that attempts to link him to the three boys is a desperate move by the County Sheriff's Office to keep from admitting it had made false arrests.

''I'm sure (Sheriff) Tom Agnos is embarrassed,'' he said during a 30Žminute interview at the Madison Street Jail.

''In a way, they can't let us go. They're gonna try to connect us to those people.''

Complaints of murder have been filed against Doody and Garcia, while one alleging other crimes has been filed against Caratachea. Parker's statements accent questions on whether there are any solid links between the Phoenix-area youths and the Tucson men.

Yet, as attorneys for some of the Tucson suspects are demanding that authorities prove a connection, their requests have been met with steadfast silence from the Sheriff's and County Attorney's offices. Even a search-warrant affidavit obtained Tuesday does not mention any known relationship between the two groups.

The boys were taken into custody after ballistic tests on a .22-caliber Marlin rifle belonging to Caratachea showed it was used in the slayings, the affidavit says.

Luke base aids probers But tight-lipped officials have held a lid on details since then. On Wednesday, the County Attorney's Office filed a motion with presiding Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Ronald Reinstein to seal search warrants involving the juveniles. The returns on the warrants, which would provide information on what investigators found in searches, normally would be made public by Friday. 'Cool, fun guys'

Many of Doody and Garcia's friends described them as inseparable, ''cool, fun guys'' whose common bond was the school's ROTC program.

Doody, classmate Tim Carr said, was ''very military-minded'' and had harbored hopes of entering the Air Force someday.

Friends describe Garcia as a polite person who would apologize to teammates on the junior-varsity football team if he hit somebody too hard during practice. Yet some classmates say that the two sometimes were prone to arguments and fights and that they have been reprimanded by school officials before.

Even less is known about ''Rollie'' Caratachea, who transferred to Agua Fria after he left Buckeye High School in late April. Some paint him as a loner, a ''weird'' person who would make flippant comments.

Caratachea's mother, Sheila, said Wednesday, ''My son is a very religious and honest boy. He told me the gun was loaned to friends and that he was not involved. And I believe him.''

Caption:

Fred Heller of Triple H Custom Welding helps build a fence around the Wat Promkunaram temple west of Phoenix. Dante Parker, who has been charged with nine counts of murder, said he never has met or spoken with three teenagers recently arrested in connection with the temple massacre. Photo reprints available. Please call (602) 271-8298 for cost information

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: CASE TURNS NIGHTMARISH FOR PROBERS

Date: October 31, 1991 Section: Front Page: A2 Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 866

Author: By Charles Kelly The Arizona Republic

Index Terms: MURDER INVESTIGATE VALLEY

Text:

The BuddhistŽtemple massacre has become an investigator's nightmare: A hodgepodge of conflicting witness stories and mystery suspects.

The confusion surrounding the nine killings Aug. 10 at Wat Promkunaram west of Phoenix starts with the current list of 14 suspects, detailed in a search-warrant affidavit filed recently by a Maricopa County sheriff's detective.

The list includes four Tucson men charged last month with murder: Dante Parker, 20; Michael Lawrence McGraw, 24; Leo Valdez Bruce, 28; and Mark Felix Nunez, 19.

Another suspect is Tucson resident Patrick ''Peter'' Sherfield, who twice has been questioned and released by investigators. And the affidavit's suspect list also includes the name of Victor Zarate, 28, a starter at Tucson Greyhound Park once booked in the temple slayings but never formally charged.

Zarate was videotaped working at the track late on Aug. 9 at a time when the Tucson group, according to various confessions, was in Phoenix preparing to carry out the robbery that resulted in the slayings early the next day.

The suspect list also includes someone called ''Craig'' and Anthony Torres, two youths or men named as members of the slaying group in the original round of confessions. Neither has been found.

But the list in the affidavit does not include Robert Torres, another man named in the confessions who never was found.

It does include the names of two Phoenix-area juveniles recently held on murder complaints --Jonathan Doody, 17, and Alex Garcia, 16.

A third Phoenix-area juvenile on the suspect list is Rolando David Caratachea, 17, who was named in a theft complaint concerning two separate incidents at Westside Mini Storage, 2515 N. Dysart Road, Avondale.

And it includes the name of three other youths or men: Michael Myers, George Richard Gonzales and Angel J. Rowlett.

Very little about the backgrounds of those three has been released to the media, although the affidavit says a person named ''Angel,'' a friend of Doody, visited the temple with Doody prior to the killings.

All four of the Tucson men charged confessed to the slayings, although each later recanted. Nine Buddhists-- six monks, a nun, a monkŽinŽtraining and a temple helper --were slain.

The suspects' confessions conflict on many points, but investigators at one time said they believed each knew enough ''inside'' details about the killings to make his confession credible.

Defense attorneys for those men argued, however, that investigators had ''fed'' details to the suspects in the course of interrogating them and that the suspects, bowing to pressure, had parroted the information back.

No physical evidence against the Tucson suspects has been found. But a rifle and a shotgun used to carry out the killings have been linked to Phoenix suspects Doody and Caratachea.

Even where the Tucson confessions agree with each other, they appear to conflict with a confession by Doody.

General points on which the Tucson confessions agree with each other are that a group of men from Tucson traveled to Phoenix around midŽday Aug. 9 in two vehicles, a Ford Bronco and a Chevrolet Blazer, met in south Phoenix with several other males, and went to the temple late Aug. 9 or early Aug. 10. McGraw, a former mental patient, identified the other suspects as Anthony Torres, Robert Torres and ''Craig.''

Doody's confession, summarized in the affidavit, says the robbery was planned by a group from Phoenix, not the Tucson group. Doody said the planning group, which he said included him and several of the other Phoenix suspects, met at Camelback Road and the Agua Fria River about 8:30 p.m. Aug. 9 to carry out the temple robbery. At that time, the planning group met ''approximately six additional persons'' who helped carry out the crimes at the temple, Doody said. The six other people are not identified in the affidavit. It is not known whether Doody gave detailed descriptions of them. Doody said the robbery group traveled to the temple in three vehicles, not two, the affidavit says. The Tucson confessions do not mention a meeting at Camelback and the Agua Fria River.

Though McGraw says in his confession that he came to Phoenix with the robbery group sometime around mid-day Aug. 9, investigators have discovered that could not be true.

The affidavit that describes Doody's confession also says that records at McCulloch Corp. in Tucson show McGraw was working there that day until 8:30 p.m.

Another puzzling conflict between the Tucson and Phoenix stories concerns a Marlin .22-caliber semiautomatic rifle used in the killings. In Bruce's confession, he said he killed all the victims by shooting them with his Marlin .22 rifle. But that rifle was tested by firearms examiners and shown not to be the one involved in the shootings.

In fact, according to the affidavit, the Marlin .22 rifle used in the killings was found to be in the possession of Caratachea.

The Arizona Republic 4 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: PROCEEDINGS DIFFER IN JUVENILE COURT

Date: October 30, 1991 Section: Front

Page: A20 Edition: Final Chaser

Length: 765

Author: By Pamela Manson, The64 Arizona Republic

Text:

Three teenagers who were detained by law-enforcement authorities in connection with an Aug. 10 massacre face different court proceedings than adults.

The cases of the three youths -Jonathan Doody, 17; Rolando David Caratachea, 17; and Alessandro Garcia, 16 - will go through the Juvenile Court system.

Here4 are answers to common questions about juvenile proceedings:

Q: Who is a juvenile?

A: A person under 18 years of age.

Q: Does a juvenile have the same rights as an adult?

A: A juvenile has the same rights as an adult criminal suspect except the right to bail and a jury trial.

Q: How are juveniles arrested and charged with a crime?

A: In legal terms, juveniles are detained, not arrested. Also, adults are charged with crimes, but juveniles have petitions --complaints alleging delinquent conduct filed against them.

Q: How long can a juvenile be held in custody before a hearing is conducted? A: Upon admission to detention, a juvenile probation officer must tell the juvenile why he is being held. Juveniles cannot be held for more than 24 hours unless a detention hearing is held.

After the hearing, juveniles can be held in a detention facility or shelter if there is probable cause to believe they committed the acts alleged in the petition. In addition, there must be reasonable cause to believe they will not show up for a later hearing or will commit an offense that injures themselves or others. They also may be detained longer if they are being held for another jurisdiction or if their interests or those of the public require they be held.

Q: What happens next?

A: After a petition has been filed, the juvenile and his parents or guardians are notified to appear before a Superior Court juvenile judge. At that appearance, they are advised of the right to be represented by a lawyer, the right to remain silent and the right to call witnesses.

If the juvenile wants a lawyer, the hearing is recessed, and an adjudication -a trial in Juvenile Court is set. If the right to counsel is waived, the hearing continues.

The judge then can ask the child whether he admits the allegations in the petition. If he admits them, a disposition hearing - a sentencing in Juvenile Court -is held.

If he does not admit them, an adjudication is set in which the testimony of witnesses is heard.

At the end of the hearing, the judge can find that the facts alleged in the petition are true and the juvenile is delinquent. A disposition hearing is then held.

If the judge determines the allegations are not true, the petition is dismissed.

Q: How long does Juvenile Court have jurisdiction over minors?

A: Until they reach 18.

Q: Who determines whether someone under 18 will be tried as a f1 juvenile or an adult?

A: A juvenile judge determines whether a minor will be tried as an adult if the County Attorney's Office files a motion for transfer before the adjudication in Juvenile Court.

The transfer hearing is held in two phases. In the first, the judge determines whether there is probable cause that the juvenile committed the offense. If the judge does not find probable cause, the case is dismissed.

If probable cause is found, the case moves to the second phase, which is the issue of whether the public safety or interest would best be served by a transfer.

Among the factors taken into consideration are the seriousness of the alleged offense; the sophistication and maturity of the juvenile; the juvenile's physical, mental and emotional condition; the history of the minor, including previous dealings with the courts; and the prospects for adequate protection of the public and the likelihood of rehabilitation in the juvenile-justice system. Q: Are proceedings and records in Juvenile Court public?

A: Proceedings and records traditionally are considered confidential to protect children from the kind of scrutiny given adults. However, there is no Arizona law prohibiting the release of juvenile records. Courts also have been opening more and more juvenile proceedings to the public in recent years.

In a 1989 case, the Arizona Supreme Court said that although Juvenile Court must be concerned with the rehabilitation of youthful offenders, the public has an interest in knowing how the court performs that function. Therefore, society's interest and the needs of the juvenile must be balanced by the juvenile judge, the court said.

The Arizona Republic 1991 Article with Citation

Source: THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Headline: ROBBERY GANG KILLED MONKS, JUVENILE SAYS UP TO 10 PLOTTED TO PLUNDER TEMPLE, AFFIDAVIT CLAIMS

Date: October 30, 1991 Section: Front

Page: A1 Edition: State

f64 Length: 1199

Author: By Brent Whiting, Randy Collier and Charles Kelly, The Arizona Republic;

Contributing to this article were Frederick Bermudez, Abraham Kwok, Susan Leonard, Gail Tabor, Joyce Valdez and Paul Brinkley-Rogers of The Arizona Republic.

Index Terms: MULTIPLE MURDER RELIGION ARREST INVESTIGATE

Text:

One of two juveniles held in an Aug. 10 massacre at a Buddhist temple has told investigators he was part of a large robbery gang that invaded the temple and shot nine people to death, according to a search-warrant affidavit.

The affidavit says Jonathan Doody, 17, told investigators he took part in the crimes with Rolando David Caratachea, 17, Alex Garcia, 16, and about seven others.

Doody said the group met at Camelback Road and the Agua Fria River about 8:30 p.m. Aug. 9 to carry out a robbery of the temple. The group drove to the temple in three vehicles, Doody said, according to the affidavit.

The victims were killed early Aug. 10, investigators say. 64 ''A confrontation occurred with the nine residents of the temple,'' the affidavit said. ''During that confrontation, all nine residents were shot and killed, and various items of personal property belonging to the victims were stolen.''

Complaints of murder have been filed against Doody and Garcia in the massacre. Caratachea has been accused of other crimes in another complaint, which is the Juvenile Court equivalent of a criminal charge.

All three live in the Phoenix area.

The affidavit's summary of Doody's statement does not implicate by name any of four Tucson men charged last month in the slayings.

Investigators have yet to announce whether any link exists between the Phoenix group and the Tucson group.

Guns used in the massacre have been tied to the Phoenix juveniles through ballistics tests. The charges against the Tucson men are based on their confessions, which they later recanted.

Doody's account in the affidavit differs radically from confessions of two of the Tucson men that have been released to the public.

The affidavit was filed by Maricopa County64 sheriff's officials to obtain warrants to search various buildings in an effort to obtain evidence.

Although the affidavit does not explain specifically why the temple was targeted for robbery, it says Jonathan's brother, David, a monk who formerly lived at the temple, told investigators he knew of valuables there.

David Doody said one of the victims, known as Boy, had $2,000 in a large safe in the temple, that each of the monks carried ''rolls of money,'' that there was ''gold foil paper'' in the temple, and that he had seen and held what he believed to be a solid-gold Buddha statue that the head monk kept at an unknown location.

David also said Jonathan had visited him at the temple along with Garcia, someone named ''Angel,'' and an Anglo male with blond hair.

Jonathan Doody and Garcia each is charged with nine counts of firstŽdegree murder, nine counts of armed robbery, and one count of conspiracy to commit burglary and robbery.

Those charges were related to the slaying of six Buddhist monks, a temple helper, a monk-in -training and an elderly nun.

Caratachea is charged with four counts of burglary and two counts of theft involving incidents that occurred July 15 and July 17 at a storageŽ-locker facility on Dysart Road.

Transfer hearings have been set for late November to determine whether the juveniles should be tried as adults.

A wide-=ranging effort to test firearms similar to those used in the killings led to the detention of the three, the affidavit says.

A break came Oct. 24 while firearms examiners for the Arizona Department of Public Safety were in the midst of testing 75 to 80 rifles collected from various sources, the affidavit says. On that date, the examiners matched a Marlin .22'c4caliber semiautomatic rifle, Model 60, to shell casings found at the temple, Wat Promkunaram, west of Phoenix.

The rifle belonged to Caratachea, the affidavit said.

Air Force police at Luke Air Force Base had first seen the rifle Aug. 20, when they stopped cars driven by Caratachea and Doody for ''suspicious activity.'' The Arizona Republic incorrectly reported f1 Tuesday that this incident occurred early Aug. 10, the day of the slayings.

The rifle was in Caratachea's passenger compartment. He was told to put it into the car's trunk and was allowed to leave.

The next day, Aug. 21, one of the Air Force police officers involved in the first incident stopped a car containing Caratachea and Doody for 4 ''suspicious activity'' and asked Caratachea about the rifle. Caratachea said it was in his car parked in front of Doody's home on the base.

The officer searched the parked car and found the rifle, which was partly concealed. A sheriff's deputy was called to the scene, but because the rifle was not totally concealed and because Caratachea was not suspected of any other crime, he was released and given back the rifle, the affidavit says.

On Sept. 10, Air Force investigators told the templeŽcase task force about the incident, and a sheriff's detective asked Caratachea for the rifle so it could be tested. Caratachea agreed, and, six weeks later, the match was made.

At some point, the affidavit said, a64 Stevens 20-gauge shotgun, Model 67, was obtained in a search of a residence in the 13200 block of West Tuckey Lane, Glendale, that was being shared by Garcia and Jonathan Doody. Firearms examiners ''conclusively determined it was the weapon used to fire the shotgun-shell casings recovered at the (temple) crime scene,'' the affidavit said.

As investigators pursued the latest leads in the case, relatives and lawyers of the four Tucson men charged called for a re-examination of their cases.

The four are Dante Parker, 20; Michael Lawrence McGraw, 24; Leo Valdez Bruce, 28; and Mark Felix Nunez, 19.

Each faces nine counts of first-was degree murder and robbery and one count of burglary and conspiracy.

64 Each confessed and was charged on that basis.

Michael Vaughn, an attorney for Bruce, filed two motions Tuesday asking for his client to be released and for a court order to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office forcing it to turn over to Vaughn all of its evidence and documents concerning the latest suspects.

''The Sheriff's Office wants to hang on to the Tucson men because they don't want to be embarrassed,'' Vaughn said. ''They're going to want to hang on like a pit bull to a piece of meat.''

Vaughn said if he finds out that the Sheriff's Office was investigating the latest suspects and knew about the guns before the grandŽjury proceedings and the preliminary hearing, then he will file af64 motion that Bruce's case be returned to the grand jury for reconsideration.

''That is information that we had the right to know,'' he said.

Romelia Duarte, mother of Nunez, said the detention of the three juveniles ''was not a surprise to me, because I knew my son was innocent.''

''All they had was this bogus confession, which was false"

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