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An Old Phoenix Coffee Chain With Ties To The Mob? Arizona Republic Pursues Don Bolles' Investigation

By Steve Goldstein
Published: Monday, August 5, 2019 - 12:01pm
Updated: Monday, August 5, 2019 - 12:18pm
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Paul Atkinson/KJZZ
These are just some of the dozens of boxes of documents and court evidence related to the Don Bolles homicide case at the Arizona State Archives.

Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles died in June 1976, 11 days after his car was blown up in the middle of the day in downtown Phoenix. Soon after, journalists from across the country came to the Valley in an attempt to finish Bolles’ work.

Forty-three years later, the Republic found filing cabinets full of Bolles’ written and audio archives, and the paper has begun a series on those files.

Richard Ruelas has been heavily involved in the project. His most recent piece includes Bolles’ reporting on whether there was a connection between organized crime and Hobo Joe’s, a popular Phoenix coffee shop in the 1970s.

Ruelas joined The Show to talk about the project and his most recent story.

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