In a quiet home in Buckeye, Arizona, a family argument spiraled into a tragedy, leaving a 69-year-old man dead and his son-in-law facing a murder charge. On June 25, 2014, Mark Wells, a male resident of the community, was found deceased in his residence with a gunshot wound to his head. The chain of events that led to this fatal encounter began with a heated dispute that turned physical.
According to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, the incident was brought to light by Cory Robert
Candler, the 41-year-old son-in-law of the victim. Candler himself called the authorities, hours after the fact, to report that he had killed his father-in-law. He recounted a story of a verbal argument that escalated into a physical struggle over a firearm. During this altercation, Wells was shot at close range.
When sheriff's deputies arrived at the South 209th Avenue home, they discovered Wells's body on a couch. Candler claimed to have attempted CPR on his father-in-law after the shooting and after contacting family members who lived out of state. However, investigators on the scene were skeptical of his life-saving efforts, citing the positioning of the victim's body as inconsistent with such an attempt.
Following their initial investigation, authorities arrested Cory Robert Candler on suspicion of second-degree murder. He was subsequently taken into custody and held on a $500,000 bond as the legal process began to unfold in the Maricopa County judicial system to address the charges brought against him in connection with the death of Mark Wells.
