'It's finally over,' says son of 1 victim
Family members of six people killed in Tucson's deadliest robbery spree hugged and wept yesterday as a Pima County Superior Court judge sentenced the last of the killers to death.
Robert G. Jones remained silent and showed no emotion as Judge John Leonardo sentenced him to join his accomplice, Scott Nordstrom, on death row at the Arizona State Prison at Florence.
"I'm glad it's finally over," said Carson Noel, son of victim Carol Lynn Noel, 50.
He was among several people to speak before Leonardo sentenced Jones, 28. Noel showed a video of his mother, with Garth Brooks' "The Dance" playing in the background.
Leonardo made it clear from the outset that his mind was made up: "The mitigating circumstances are insufficient to call for leniency," he said. "The murders were clearly brutal and savage. The defendant is without remorse."
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In separate trials, Jones and Nordstrom, 30, were each convicted of six counts of first-degree murder for killing two people in a robbery of the Moon Smoke Shop in May 1996 and four people while robbing the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall in June 1996.
The key witness against the pair was Nordstrom's younger brother, David, who drove the getaway car in the smoke shop heist. In exchange for his testimony, David Nordstrom was sentenced in August to four years in prison; he could be free in two years.
"There is nothing that can be done to bring back the victims," Leonardo said yesterday. "But the court hopes that in this final sentencing, their families can come to some form of closure."
For many, though, the healing process has only begun.
"I hurt every time I think that she never got to hold her grandson," said Teresa Anagnostos, whose mother, Maribeth Munn, 53, was among those killed in the union hall robbery. Anagnostos was eight months pregnant at the time with her mother's first grandchild.
"I'm on medication, I'm afraid to go out at night and I'm afraid of strangers. I've been through hell for two years," she said.
Jerry Plumb, whose sister, Judy Bell, 45, and her husband, Arthur Bell, 54, were killed at the union hall, said the murders have "literally torn our family apart." Some family members have moved to get away from Tucson memories.
"We miss them a great deal this time of year, but we still have our memories," he said.
According to testimony at their trials, Jones and Scott Nordstrom entered the smoke shop, 120 W. Grant Road, on May 30, 1996, while David Nordstrom waited in a vehicle outside.
Jones shot and killed customer Clarence Odell, 47, with a 9 mm gun. Scott Nordstrom took employee Thomas Hardman, 28, into a back room and shot him with a .38-caliber handgun.
They then emptied the cash registers and fled in the car with David Nordstrom.
Two weeks later Jones and Scott Nordstrom entered the union hall bar, 2264 E. Benson Highway, and forced the Bells and Munn to put their heads down on the bar.
Each was shot with the 9 mm handgun used in the smoke shop murders. Noel, who was bartending at the union hall, was taken to the back of the bar and shot with the .38-caliber handgun used at the smoke shop.
Neither gun was found.
In pre-sentencing hearings last month, Jones' attorney, Eric Larsen, argued that Jones' role in the robberies and murders was not clear. He said Jones' claim that his role was minor - that David Nordstrom was actually the second gunman at the scenes - could be true.
Both Jones and David Nordstrom have shoulder-length red hair.
Larsen also said Jones suffered from an anti-social personality disorder as a result of parental abuse and later drug abuse.
Leonardo said the defense attack on David Nordstrom's credibility "was skillfully presented at trial, but the jury found unanimously and beyond reasonable doubt that (Jones) was guilty."
The Arizona Supreme Court automatically reviews all death-penalty cases. The process usually takes years.
Jones has a criminal history in Maricopa County dating back to 1988, when he was convicted in Maricopa County of attempted burglary and sentenced to four years in prison, according to a pre-sentence report.
Jones was convicted again in Maricopa County on burglary and theft charges in May 1991, and sentenced to eight years in prison. He was released on parole in February 1995.
He was an unemployed laborer when he was arrested for the Tucson murders in July 1997.
