{"id":1611,"date":"2026-06-03T11:35:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T11:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\/?p=1611"},"modified":"2026-06-03T11:35:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T11:35:14","slug":"don-bolles-legacy-honored-50-years-after-phoenix-car-bombing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\/?p=1611","title":{"rendered":"Don Bolles’ legacy honored 50 years after Phoenix car bombing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PHOENIX \u2014 Fifty years after the car-bomb assassination of Arizona Republic investigative reporter Don Bolles, journalists gathered Tuesday to honor his life and work and ensure his story remains part of the city’s collective memory.<\/p>\n

Read more Suspect in Arizona DPS trooper-involved shooting attempted to drive away with trooper hanging out of car window<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Bolles was fatally wounded on June 2, 1976, when a bomb hidden beneath his car exploded in the parking lot of a Phoenix hotel where he had gone to meet a source.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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“He was a dogged reporter. He was a reporter who just really took hold of a story and didn’t want to let it go,” said Richard Ruelas, a longtime Arizona Republic reporter who has spent years helping preserve Bolles’ legacy.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Ruelas said Bolles’ photograph hung in the newsroom as a reminder of a journalist killed in the line of duty.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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“His picture hung on our wall as just commemorating one of the reporters who’s died in the line of duty, and over the years I’ve just made it sort of my beat to make sure every year we had a story commemorating the tale,” Ruelas said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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According to Ruelas, Bolles believed he was meeting a source who had information about a land fraud scheme. Instead, authorities later determined the meeting had been a trap.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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“He parks at the hotel, walks into the lobby. The guy he was supposed to meet affixes a dynamite bomb under his car, and as Bolles gets into his car and backs away, another man detonated it and exploded it right in Midtown Phoenix,” Ruelas said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Bolles survived the explosion but died from his injuries 11 days later. Before his death, he provided investigators with information he believed could help identify those responsible.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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“Told you know bystanders, people who came to his aid, paramedics. He was trying to tell them who he thought was responsible, and the last thing he told them, he said, they finally got me Emprise, the mafia, John Adamson, find him,” Jeremy Duda, an author and journalist with Axios Phoenix, told 12News.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Authorities later focused on John Adamson, who Duda said lured Bolles to the hotel. Adamson eventually implicated two other men in the bombing.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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“He named two other guys, Jimmy the plumber, because he was a plumber, Robison, he said, helped him build the bomb, and they did so under orders of a guy named Max Dunlap,” Ruelas said. “Dunlap said he hired them, according to Adamson, because Bowles wrote some articles that angered a very powerful friend of Dunlap named Kemper Marley.”<\/p>\n

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Max Dunlap and James Robison were convicted in connection with Bolles’ murder. More than 15 years later, Robison was acquitted. Dunlap died in prison. Adamson served more than two decades behind bars before entering witness protection following his release.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Members of the Society of Professional Journalists continue to commemorate Bolles’ life and contributions to investigative journalism.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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“There’s a lot that people in Phoenix know about the case; it’s really part of our kind of collective memory here, but there’s so much that people don’t know, because it was such a long and complicated case,” Duda said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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A plaque honoring Bolles is displayed inside the Clarendon Hotel. Journalists say they return to the site each year on the anniversary of the bombing to remember Bolles and the lasting impact of his work.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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>> Download the 12News app for the latest local breaking news straight to your phone.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Watch the 12News Streaming App for free \u00a0<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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You can now watch 12News content anytime, anywhere, thanks to the 12News streaming app! \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The free 12News streaming app from 12News lets users stream live events \u2014 including daily newscasts like “Today in AZ” and “12 News” and our daily lifestyle program, “Arizona Midday”\u2014on\u00a0Roku and\u00a0Amazon Fire TV. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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12News streaming showcases live video throughout the day for breaking news, local news, weather and even an occasional moment of Zen showcasing breathtaking sights from across Arizona. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Users can also watch on-demand videos of top stories, local politics, I-Team investigations, Arizona-specific features and vintage videos from the 12News archives. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Roku:\u00a0Add the channel from the Roku store or by searching for “12 News KPNX.” \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Amazon Fire TV: Search for “12 News KPNX” to\u00a0find the free 12News streaming app to add to your account, or have the 12News streaming app delivered directly to your Amazon Fire TV through Amazon.com or the Amazon app.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Iran and the US trade strikes in the Persian Gulf, further testing the ceasefire<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2014 Fifty years after the car-bomb assassination of Arizona Republic investigative reporter Don Bolles, journalists gathered Tuesday to honor his life and work and ensure his story remains part of the city’s collective memory. 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