Organized Crime: The Assassination of Investigative Reporter Don Bolles Part 1 | Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix, AZ | On June 2, 1976, investigative reporter Don Bolles arrived at the Clarendon Hotel in downtown Phoenix expecting to meet a source about land fraud. The meeting never happened. Moments later, a bomb exploded beneath his car, leaving him mortally wounded. As he lay barely conscious, Don uttered several words that still echo through Arizona’s history. Was he the target of a mob hit? And was it for a story he wrote, or one he was still working on?Special thanks to Jarrod Riddle of Spirit of Arizona Tours https://spiritofarizonatours.com/ (highly recommend!) for sharing insight on Phoenix history and the legacy of Don Bolles.🧠 Who’s WhoDon Bolles:  Investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic. Known for exposing corruption and organized crime. Murdered by car bomb in 1976.John Adamson: Convicted middleman who lured Bolles to the Clarendon Hotel under false pretenses. James Robison: Alleged bomb maker and triggerman.  Kemper Marley:  Wealthy liquor magnate and political power broker accused of being the true mastermind.  Max Dunlap: Businessman and mentee of Kemper Marley. Alleged financier of the hit.  Neal Roberts:  Phoenix attorney and former assistant attorney general. Friend to both Adamson and Dunlap.📚 Sources (Additional Sources Continued in Part 2)Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shattered-naivet%C3%A9/id1484144747?i=1000455970484https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/valley-101/id1451650012?i=1000625125749https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/who-killed-reporter-don-bolles-the-daughters-on/id1539546360?i=1000627539631https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-syndicate/id1666675521?i=1000599074935&r=354https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rediscovering/id1484144747https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-patsy/id1670259755Articles and Bookshttps://www.amazon.com/Politics-Murder-Organized-Goldwaters-Arizona/dp/0692662650https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/corbin-decks-the-halls-with-folly-6412132https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arts/phoenix-greyhound-park-is-being-demolished-heres-what-we-know-13080213https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/what-does-neal-roberts-know-6425717https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/84793594https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/don-bolles/2023/05/30/why-a-news-story-motivated-the-killing-of-republic-reporter-don-bolles/70259562007/https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2025/06/03/arizona-republic-reporter-don-bolles-murder-lessons/84007847007/https://www.kjzz.org/2016-09-14/content-364547-former-arizona-republic-editor-digs-arizonas-organized-crime-historyhttps://www.kjzz.org/2019-11-05/content-1287966-arizona-republic-podcast-based-lost-tapes-murdered-journalist-don-bolleshttps://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2016/06/01/montini-don-bolles/85207410/https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/don-bolles/2023/02/10/don-bolles-conspiracy-podcast-around-car-bombing-death-arizona-reporter/69890470007/https://www.azcentral.com/in-depth/news/local/don-bolles/2019/12/17/don-bolles-and-evolution-tracks-mob-and-kemper-marley/2534434001/https://roundup.brophyprep.org/18156/news/was-kemper-marley-connected-to-the-murder-of-don-bolles/ 🎵 Music Credits"Long Thriller Theme Music" by Joel Fazhari from Pixabay"Strange Things 120 bpm" by Dorothe from Pixabay"True Crime Mystery Music LoopabHave ideas or suggestion? We would love to hear from you! Send us a text via this link.👏 Special thanks to our talented partners:Paolo Sbrighi for Musical Composition (instagram.com/paulosbrighi/)Mario Cintra for Logo Design (instagram.com/alacarala/)