On the morning of August 10, 1991, nine people were found shot to death inside Wat Promkunaram Buddhist temple in rural Waddell, Arizona. The victims included 33-year-old monk Br Surichai Anuttaro, the temple’s abbot Pairuch Kanthong, four other monks, a nun, a novice, and a temple employee. Each victim had been shot in the head and the bodies were reportedly arranged in a circle.

The investigation widened and at one point focused on four men from Tucson; three of those men gave confessions but charges against them were later dropped when physical evidence was lacking and an alibi emerged for one individual. Investigators later recovered a .22-caliber rifle tied to the case and questioned two local teenagers, 17-year-old Johnathan Doody and 16-year-old Allesandro Garcia. Garcia confessed and said he and Doody carried out a robbery at the temple, taking about $2,600 and audiovisual equipment; both were charged with armed robbery and first-degree murder.

The killings devastated the local Thai Buddhist community and left many questions about how the crime unfolded and who was responsible. If anyone knew Br Surichai Anuttaro, the temple, or saw anything unusual around August 10, 1991, please come forward with information.