In the summer of 1992, a chilling triple murder at a local grocery store stunned the city of Tucson, Arizona, and took the life of 32-year-old Raymond F. Arriola. On the night of June 24th, police were called to the El Grande Market on East 36th Street following reports of sounds resembling firecrackers. Inside, they discovered a grim scene. The store manager, Fred Gee, and his uncle, Zwan Wong, were found deceased, having been shot during what investigators determined to be a robbery.
Arriola, a recent employee at the market, was also found with gunshot wounds. He was rushed to a local hospital but tragically succumbed to his injuries while in the ambulance. In his final moments, Arriola was unable to provide any information that could lead detectives to his killers.
The initial investigation saw Tucson police questioning four teenagers, but they were subsequently released. The case proved to be a complex and lengthy one. Eventually, three suspects were identified and charged with the murders: Andre Minnitt, Christopher McCrimmon, and Martin Raul Soto-Fong. The ensuing legal battles would span years, marked by overturned convictions and multiple trials. One of the defendants, Martin Raul Soto-Fong, was ultimately sentenced to death for his role in the killings, a sentence that would later be amended to three consecutive life sentences. Another suspect, Andre Minnitt, also faced a death sentence that was later overturned due to prosecutorial misconduct.
The motive for the brutal slayings was determined to be a robbery that escalated to extreme violence. All three victims, including Raymond Arriola, were shot execution-style. The investigation revealed that one of the suspects, Soto-Fong, had previously been an employee at the El Grande Market and was familiar with its closing procedures. The legal proceedings were further complicated by allegations of misconduct against the prosecutor and a police detective involved in the case, which led to the reversal of some of the convictions. Despite the protracted and challenging path to justice, the identification and prosecution of the suspects brought a measure of closure to a case that had long haunted the Tucson community.
