Don Bolles Murder - Phoenix, Arizona
N 33° 29.447 W 112° 04.747
12S E 399752 N 3706217
The only journalist from a major news organization killed on American soil.
Waymark Code: WM94YW
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 06/29/2010
Views: 19
June 2, 1976, Arizona Republic investigative reporter Don Bolles went to the Clarendon Hotel to meet an informant for an investigation he was undertaking. The source promised information on a land deal involving top state politicians and possibly the mob. After waiting several minutes, he was called to the phone. Then he left the hotel. Mr Bolles got in his car, drove it a few feet when it blew up via a remote detonated bomb consisting of six sticks of dynamite taped to the underside of the car beneath the driver's seat. He died 11 days later after having both his legs and one arm amputated in efforts to save him. Despite the severity of the explosion, he still managed to speak these last words: "They finally got me. The Mafia. Emprise. Find John."
The news media descended on Phoenix, and set into motion something that was unprecedented and has not been seen since. Thirty-eight journalists from 28 newspapers and television stations across the country descended on Arizona for "The Arizona Project". Some came sponsored by their news organizations. Others used their vacation time. Some stayed for a month or longer. Others for just a week. They set out not to find Bolles' killer but to finish his work of exposing Arizona's tangled underworld. In the only team reporting project of its kind ever produced in this country, they wrote a 23-part series exposing corruption at the highest levels of Arizona politics.
Eventually 3 men were tried for the murder of Don Bolles. John Harvey Adamson pleaded guilty in 1977 to second-degree murder for building and planting the bomb that killed Bolles. Adamson accused Phoenix contractor Max Dunlap, an associate of Kemper Marley, of ordering the hit, and Chandler plumber James Robison of triggering the bomb. Adamson testified against Dunlap and Robison, who were convicted of first-degree murder in the same year, but whose convictions were overturned in 1978. When Adamson refused to testify again, Adamson was charged and convicted of first-degree murder in 1980 and sentenced to death, which was overturned by the Arizona Supreme Court. In 1989, Robison was re-charged, and re-tried and acquitted in 1993, but pleaded guilty to a charge of soliciting an act of criminal violence against Adamson. In 1990, Dunlap was re-charged when Adamson agreed to testify again, and was found guilty of first-degree murder.
The Clarendon Hotel has The Don Bolles Memorial Hallway, containing large photos and stories about his murder. A bust of him is in their lobby. Bolles' 1976 Datsun 710 sat for 28 years in a Phoenix Police impound lot before being placed as the centerpiece of a gallery at the Newseum which is devoted solely to the slain journalist.
The coordinates take you into the entrance of the parking lot where Don Bolles' car was blown up. The exact space is somewhere under what is now covered parking. Just to the north is the Clarendon Hotel where you can check out the memorial hallway.
Date of crime: 06/02/1976
Public access allowed: yes
Fee required: no
Web site: [Web Link]
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