In the quiet, rural community of Waddell, Arizona, the peace of the Wat Promkunaram Buddhist temple was shattered on the morning of August 10, 1991. Inside, a horrific scene awaited a temple cook: the bodies of nine individuals, including 33-year-old male monk Br Surichai Anuttaro, of Thai descent, lay arranged in a circle, each with gunshot wounds to the head.
The victims, all of whom were either Thai or of Thai descent, had been executed in what would become known as the deadliest mass shooting at a place of worship in the United States at that time. The other victims were the abbot, Pairuch Kanthong; four other monks, Boochuay Chaiyarach, Chalerm Chantapim, Siang Ginggaeo, and Somsak Sopha; a nun, Foy Sripanpasert; her nephew and novice monk, Matthew Miller; and a temple employee, Chirasak Chirapong.
The ensuing investigation was fraught with missteps and controversy. Initially, authorities focused on four men from Tucson, who became known as the 'Tucson Four.' After lengthy and intense interrogations, three of the four men confessed to the heinous crime. However, a lack of physical evidence connecting them to the temple and the eventual discovery of an alibi for one of the men led to the charges being dropped. The investigation seemed to have hit a dead end, leaving the community in fear and the case shrouded in mystery.
A breakthrough finally came when a. 22-caliber rifle, later identified as one of the murder weapons, was found in the possession of a friend of two local teenagers, 17-year-old Johnathan Doody and 16-year-old Allesandro Garcia. Under questioning, Garcia confessed that he and Doody, who was of Thai descent and had ties to the temple, had gone there with the intention to rob it. Garcia claimed that Doody was the mastermind behind the robbery and had made the decision to leave no witnesses. Their take from the robbery was approximately $2,600 and some audiovisual equipment.
Both Doody and Garcia were charged with armed robbery and first-degree murder. To avoid the death penalty, Garcia pleaded guilty in 1993 and received a 271-year prison sentence. Doody was convicted in 1994 and sentenced to 281 years in prison. His conviction was later overturned on appeal due to a coerced confession, but he was retried, convicted again, and resentenced to nine life terms. The brutal and senseless nature of the crime left a lasting scar on the community and remains one of the most violent episodes in Arizona's history.
