Putting Heat on the Sunbelt Mafia

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Goldwater aside, there is no question that crime can be traced to the highest levels in the state. Bolles' killer, a small-time hoodlum named John Adamson, turned state's evidence to avoid first-degree murder charges. He implicated a land developer and a plumber in the plot and said that the man who ordered the murder was Kemper Marley, 70, a cattle and liquor baron who looks as if he just stepped out of the pages of Zane Grey. Crusty and brusque, Marley has a reputation for getting what he wants any way he wants. He was the biggest contributor ($19,000) to Governor Castro's election campaign. While serving as an Arizona state highway commissioner in 1942, he was arrested for ordering a state-owned truck engine installed in one of his own vehicles. He was subsequently acquitted. By recalling the incident in a newspaper article, Bolles forced Marley to resign from a coveted seat on the state racing commission. For this reason, Adamson was told by the land developer, Marley wanted Bolles killed. So far, Marley, who divides his time between homes in Arizona and Mexico, has not been arrested because of lack of evidence. The state is hoping that Adamson's testimony will eventually be corroborated by the land developer or the plumber, who are scheduled to go on trial in May.

Public Pressure. Embarrassed Arizonans insist that the state's criminals are a minority (a truism anywhere) and that a genuine housecleaning has begun. "Two years ago," says tough Attorney General Babbitt, "I walked into this office to find that it carried no criminal jurisdiction. It was that bad." He finally obtained authority from the legislature to set up a statewide grand jury and funding for a prosecution effort. Criminal laws are being strengthened, and the legislature is expected to approve a bill outlawing the practice of investing proceeds from the rackets in legitimate businesses. Public pressure is mounting on the state regulatory agencies to crack down on fraudulent land schemes. A task force of FBI agents, postal fraud inspectors and SEC investigators has begun to probe. Says Babbitt: "Right now we are about two years into what I think is a minimum five-year job."