Don Bolles
Encyclopedia
Don Bolles was an American investigative reporter whose murder in a bomb
ing is linked to the Mafia
.
, New Jersey
, and attended Teaneck High School
, graduating in the class of 1946. He pursued a newspaper career, in the footsteps of his father (chief of the Associated Press bureau in New Jersey) and grandfather. He graduated from Beloit College
with a degree in government, where he was editor of the campus newspaper, and received a President's Award for personal achievement. After a stint in the United States Army
in the Korean War
assigned to an anti-aircraft unit, he joined the Associated Press
as a sports editor and rewriter in New York
, New Jersey
and Kentucky
.
In 1962 he was hired by the Arizona Republic newspaper, published at the time by Eugene C. Pulliam
, where he quickly found a spot on the investigative beat and gained a reputation for dogged reporting of influence peddling
, bribery
, and land swindles. Former colleagues say he seemed to grow disillusioned about his job in late 1975 and early 1976, and that he had requested to be taken off the investigative beat, moving to coverage of Phoenix City Hall and then the state Legislature.
Two marriages produced five children, four from the first and one from the second.
Bolles was the brother of Richard Nelson Bolles
, author of the best-selling job-hunting book, What Color is Your Parachute?
He shares a grandfather, Stephen Bolles
, with humanist theoretician Edmund Blair Bolles
. His daughter, Frances Bolles Haynes, has co-authored four books on job hunting.
Apparently, Bolles started the car, even moving a few feet, before a remote-controlled bomb
consisting of six sticks of dynamite taped to the underside of the car beneath the driver's seat was detonated; the explosion shattered his lower body, opened the driver's door, and left him mortally wounded while half outside the vehicle. Both legs and one arm were amputated over a ten day stay in St. Joseph's Hospital
; the eleventh day was the reporter's last. However, his last words after being found in the parking lot the day of the bombing were: "They finally got me. The Mafia. Emprise. Find John [Harvey Adamson]."
The exact motive for the crime remains a mystery, but many speculate the Mafia
holds responsibility, as a large concentration of Bolles' work involved organized crime, even going as far as to run a story naming over 200 known mafia members operating in the state of Arizona. Some suspected that Kemper Marley, a man who made millions in the liquor distribution business in Arizona in a partnership with Cindy McCain's father and fraternal uncle, was behind the Bolles murder, but Phoenix police could find no evidence linking him with the crime, and he continued conducting business in Arizona until meeting his own death, cancer-related, on June 25, 1990 in La Jolla, California.
The incident sparked an investigation in the months that followed, known as the Arizona Project, with Robert W. Greene
assuming the head and drawing nearly 40 reporters and editors from 23 newspapers including The Milwaukee Journal and Newsday
.
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.
Max Dunlap died in an Arizona prison on July 21, 2009.
Among the last words that Bolles mentioned was Emprise. Emprise (later called Sportsystems and now called Delaware North Companies
) was a privately-owned company that operated various dog and horse racing tracks and is a major food vendor for sports arenas. In 1972, the House Select Committee on Crime held hearings concerning Emprise’s connections with organized crime figures. Around this time, Emprise and six individuals were convicted of concealing ownership of the Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. As a result of the conviction, Emprise's dog racing operations in Arizona were placed under the legal authority of a trustee appointed by the Arizona State Racing Commission. Bolles was investigating Emprise at the time of his death. However, no connection between Emprise and his death was discovered.
, a $400 million interactive museum of news and journalism located in Washington, D.C., features Bolles' 1976 Datsun 710, which had sat for 28 years in a Phoenix Police Department impound lot, as the centerpiece of a gallery devoted solely to the slain journalist.
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
ing is linked to the Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
.
Biography
Bolles grew up in TeaneckTeaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, and a suburb in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 39,776, making it the second-most populous among the 70 municipalities in Bergen County....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and attended Teaneck High School
Teaneck High School
Teaneck High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school, which is part of the Teaneck Public Schools district in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States...
, graduating in the class of 1946. He pursued a newspaper career, in the footsteps of his father (chief of the Associated Press bureau in New Jersey) and grandfather. He graduated from Beloit College
Beloit College
Beloit College is a liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin, USA. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, and has an enrollment of roughly 1,300 undergraduate students. Beloit is the oldest continuously operated college in Wisconsin, and has the oldest building of any college...
with a degree in government, where he was editor of the campus newspaper, and received a President's Award for personal achievement. After a stint in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
assigned to an anti-aircraft unit, he joined the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
as a sports editor and rewriter in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
.
In 1962 he was hired by the Arizona Republic newspaper, published at the time by Eugene C. Pulliam
Eugene C. Pulliam
Eugene Collins Pulliam was an American newspaper publisher and businessman who was the founder and longtime president of Central Newspapers Inc., a multi-billion dollar media corporation....
, where he quickly found a spot on the investigative beat and gained a reputation for dogged reporting of influence peddling
Influence peddling
Influence peddling is the illegal practice of using one's influence in government or connections with persons in authority to obtain favors or preferential treatment for another, usually in return for payment. Also called traffic of influence or trading in influence ...
, bribery
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
, and land swindles. Former colleagues say he seemed to grow disillusioned about his job in late 1975 and early 1976, and that he had requested to be taken off the investigative beat, moving to coverage of Phoenix City Hall and then the state Legislature.
Two marriages produced five children, four from the first and one from the second.
Bolles was the brother of Richard Nelson Bolles
Richard Nelson Bolles
Richard Nelson Bolles is a former Episcopal clergyman, and the author of the best-selling job-hunting book, What Color is Your Parachute?-Early life and career:...
, author of the best-selling job-hunting book, What Color is Your Parachute?
What Color is Your Parachute?
What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles is a book for job-seekers that has been revised every year since 1970. Bolles initially self-published the book , but it has now been commercially published since November 1972, by Ten Speed Press, in Berkeley, California. Since 1975 it has...
He shares a grandfather, Stephen Bolles
Stephen Bolles
Stephen Bolles was a newspaper editor, and later a congressman from Wisconsin.Born in Springboro, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, Bolles attended the public schools; was graduated from the State Normal School of Pennsylvania at Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, in 1888 and from the law department of...
, with humanist theoretician Edmund Blair Bolles
Edmund Blair Bolles
Edmund Blair Bolles is an American humanist and author who argues that human freedom, and originality are real and natural, deriving their powers from modifications of animal memory systems. He developed this doctrine in three books written in the 1980s.So Much to Say is about the language of...
. His daughter, Frances Bolles Haynes, has co-authored four books on job hunting.
Death
On June 2, 1976, Bolles left behind a short note in his office typewriter explaining he would meet with an informant, then go to a luncheon meeting, and be back about 1:30 p.m. He was responsible for covering a routine hearing at the State Capitol, and planned to attend a movie with second wife Rosalie Kasse that night in celebration of their eighth wedding anniversary. The source promised information on a land deal involving top state politicians and possibly the mob. A wait of several minutes in the lobby of the Hotel Clarendon (now known as the Clarendon Hotel) was concluded with a call for Bolles himself to the front desk, where the conversation lasted no more than two minutes. Bolles then exited the hotel, his car in the adjacent parking lot just south of the hotel on Fourth Avenue.Apparently, Bolles started the car, even moving a few feet, before a remote-controlled bomb
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
consisting of six sticks of dynamite taped to the underside of the car beneath the driver's seat was detonated; the explosion shattered his lower body, opened the driver's door, and left him mortally wounded while half outside the vehicle. Both legs and one arm were amputated over a ten day stay in St. Joseph's Hospital
St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center
St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center is a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. It is currently operated by Catholic Healthcare West , one of the largest healthcare systems in the West with 40 hospitals in Arizona, California and Nevada. St...
; the eleventh day was the reporter's last. However, his last words after being found in the parking lot the day of the bombing were: "They finally got me. The Mafia. Emprise. Find John [Harvey Adamson]."
The exact motive for the crime remains a mystery, but many speculate the Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
holds responsibility, as a large concentration of Bolles' work involved organized crime, even going as far as to run a story naming over 200 known mafia members operating in the state of Arizona. Some suspected that Kemper Marley, a man who made millions in the liquor distribution business in Arizona in a partnership with Cindy McCain's father and fraternal uncle, was behind the Bolles murder, but Phoenix police could find no evidence linking him with the crime, and he continued conducting business in Arizona until meeting his own death, cancer-related, on June 25, 1990 in La Jolla, California.
The incident sparked an investigation in the months that followed, known as the Arizona Project, with Robert W. Greene
Robert W. Greene
Robert William Greene, Sr. was a pioneering investigative journalist, who uncovered corruption in Arizona and twice helped Newsday win the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. He spent 37 years as a reporter and editor at Newsday....
assuming the head and drawing nearly 40 reporters and editors from 23 newspapers including The Milwaukee Journal and Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
.
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.
Max Dunlap died in an Arizona prison on July 21, 2009.
Among the last words that Bolles mentioned was Emprise. Emprise (later called Sportsystems and now called Delaware North Companies
Delaware North Companies
Delaware North Companies is a global food service and hospitality company headquartered in Buffalo, New York The company operates in the lodging, sporting, airport, gaming and entertainment industries. The company employs over 50,000 people worldwide and has over $2 billion in annual revenues...
) was a privately-owned company that operated various dog and horse racing tracks and is a major food vendor for sports arenas. In 1972, the House Select Committee on Crime held hearings concerning Emprise’s connections with organized crime figures. Around this time, Emprise and six individuals were convicted of concealing ownership of the Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. As a result of the conviction, Emprise's dog racing operations in Arizona were placed under the legal authority of a trustee appointed by the Arizona State Racing Commission. Bolles was investigating Emprise at the time of his death. However, no connection between Emprise and his death was discovered.
Newseum
The NewseumNewseum
The Newseum is an interactive museum of news and journalism located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. The seven-level, museum features 15 theaters and 14 galleries. The Newseum's Berlin Wall Gallery includes the largest display of sections of the Berlin Wall outside of Germany...
, a $400 million interactive museum of news and journalism located in Washington, D.C., features Bolles' 1976 Datsun 710, which had sat for 28 years in a Phoenix Police Department impound lot, as the centerpiece of a gallery devoted solely to the slain journalist.
Awards
- Conscience-in-Media AwardConscience-in-Media AwardThe Conscience-in-Media Award is presented by the American Society of Journalists and Authors to journalists that the society deems worthy of recognition for their distinctive contributions. The award is not given out often, and is awarded to those journalists which the ASJA feels have...
, from the American Society of Journalists and AuthorsAmerican Society of Journalists and AuthorsThe American Society of Journalists and Authors was founded in 1948 as the Society of Magazine Writers, and is an organization of independent nonfiction writers in the United States... - Arizona Press Club Newsman of the Year in 1974.
External links
- The Don Bolles Case 25 Years On
- Bolles: Cautious man, dedicated journalist - Arizona Republic profile
- Special Report: Don Bolles
- The Arizona Project
- The Death in Arizona of the Kemper Marley Machine - "Kemper Marley, a wealthy Phoenix rancher and liquor wholesaler, was Dunlap's mentor and was rumored for years to have been the person who actually ordered the hit on Don Bolles". http://azcentral.com/php-bin/commphotos/show.php?colid=382&slide_nbr=3
- http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special01/0528bolles-newseum.html