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Waddell Buddhist Temple Shooting

SOLVED1991Wat Promkunaram, Waddell, Arizona3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026

Documents violence · ongoing investigation — written to inform, not to shock.

Illustrative

In the early morning hours of August 10, 1991, nine people were found shot to death at the Wat Promkunaram Buddhist temple in Waddell, Arizona. The victims, all connected to the temple and either Thai or of Thai descent, were abbot Pairuch Kanthong; monks Surichai Anuttaro, Boochuay Chaiyarach, Chalerm Chantapim, Siang Ginggaeo, and Somsak Sopha; nun Foy Sripanpasert; her nephew and novice monk Matthew Miller; and temple employee Chirasak Chirapong. A cook discovered the bodies later that day. The victims had been shot in the back of the head and placed face down in a circle. Investigators recovered 17 spent rifle casings and 4 spent shotgun shells at the scene.

Shortly after the killings, four men from Tucson were arrested based on a tip from Mike McGraw, a psychiatric patient with a history of making unreliable, outlandish claims. Three of the four men gave written confessions after interrogations lasting up to 13 hours at a stretch, with some suspects kept awake for more than 30 hours. The fourth maintained his innocence through two rounds of interrogation and was eventually released after investigators verified his alibi with video evidence placing him at a dog racing operation far from the scene at the time of the murders. It later emerged that a .22-caliber Marlin rifle recovered by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office — one of the actual murder weapons — went untested for nearly two months and had no connection to the four Tucson suspects. Charges against the men, later called the "Tucson Four," were dropped. Investigators were later found to have fed suspects supposedly unknowable crime details by staging a room with crime-scene photos and reports before interrogations. The Tucson Four filed lawsuits against Maricopa County; in 1994, two received $1.1 million each and a third received $240,000.

The murder rifle was ultimately traced to a 16-year-old and found in the car of a friend of 17-year-old Johnathan Doody. That led investigators to Doody and Allesandro Garcia. According to Garcia, the two went to the temple armed with the rifle and a shotgun to commit robbery, taking roughly $2,600 and audio-visual equipment; Garcia said Doody panicked and shot the victims in the head, while Garcia shot four of them again in the torso. Garcia pleaded guilty in 1993 and was sentenced to 271 years in prison. Doody was convicted in 1994 and sentenced to 281 years. Doody's conviction was later overturned by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which found his confession had been illegally coerced. Following a mistrial in 2013, a third trial concluded in January 2014 with Doody found guilty on all counts, including the nine murders, based on Garcia's testimony and circumstantial evidence; he was sentenced to nine consecutive life terms.

The mishandled investigation and false confessions generated public controversy and contributed to the electoral defeat of then-Sheriff Tom Agnos by Joe Arpaio in November 1992. As of 2024, this remains the deadliest mass shooting in Arizona history.

Key facts

Victims
Surichai Anuttaro, Somsak Sopha, Chalerm Chantapim, Chirasak Chirapong, Pairuch Kanthong, Matthew Miller, Boochuay Chaiyarach, Siang Ginggaeo, Foy Sripanpasert
Date
1991
Location
Wat Promkunaram, Waddell, Arizona
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1991-08-10

    Nine people found shot to death at Wat Promkunaram Buddhist temple in Waddell, Arizona.

  2. 1991-08

    Four men from Tucson arrested based on a tip from a psychiatric patient; three give written confessions after lengthy interrogations.

  3. 1993

    Charges against the 'Tucson Four' dropped; Allesandro Garcia pleads guilty to the murders and is sentenced to 271 years in prison.

  4. 1994

    Johnathan Doody convicted at trial and sentenced to 281 years in prison; two of the Tucson Four each receive $1.1 million and a third receives $240,000 in lawsuit settlements with Maricopa County.

  5. 2008

    Doody's conviction first overturned by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

  6. 2011

    9th Circuit Court of Appeals again rules Doody's confession was illegally coerced.

  7. 2013

    Doody's second trial ends in a mistrial.

  8. 2014-01

    Doody's third trial concludes with a guilty verdict on all counts, including the nine murders; he is sentenced to nine consecutive life terms.

Best coverage

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People

  • Surichai Anuttaro

    VICTIM

    Monk at Wat Promkunaram; killed in the shooting.

    citation on file

  • Somsak Sopha

    VICTIM

    Monk at Wat Promkunaram; killed in the shooting.

    citation on file

  • Tom Agnos

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Maricopa County Sheriff at the time of the investigation; lost re-election in November 1992 amid controversy over the handling of the case.

    citation on file

  • Chalerm Chantapim

    VICTIM

    Monk at Wat Promkunaram; killed in the shooting.

    citation on file

  • Chirasak Chirapong

    VICTIM

    Temple employee; killed in the shooting.

    citation on file

  • Pairuch Kanthong

    VICTIM

    Abbot of Wat Promkunaram; killed in the shooting.

    citation on file

  • Allesandro Garcia

    CONVICTED

    Pleaded guilty in 1993 to the nine temple murders and armed robbery; sentenced to 271 years in prison.

    citation on file

  • Matthew Miller

    VICTIM

    Novice monk and nephew of Foy Sripanpasert; killed in the shooting.

    citation on file

  • Boochuay Chaiyarach

    VICTIM

    Monk at Wat Promkunaram; killed in the shooting.

    citation on file

  • Siang Ginggaeo

    VICTIM

    Monk at Wat Promkunaram; killed in the shooting.

    citation on file

  • Foy Sripanpasert

    VICTIM

    Nun at Wat Promkunaram; killed in the shooting.

    citation on file

  • Johnathan Doody

    CONVICTED

    Convicted in 1994 of the nine temple murders and armed robbery; conviction overturned twice on appeal; found guilty again at a 2014 retrial and sentenced to nine consecutive life terms.

    citation on file

Places

Wat Promkunaram, Waddell, Arizona

33.5306, -112.4300

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Nine people were shot to death at the Wat Promkunaram Buddhist temple in Waddell, Arizona, on August 10, 1991. Four wrongly arrested men were exonerated after false confessions were exposed; Johnathan Doody and Allesandro Garcia were later convicted of the murders.
Where did the shooting happen?
Wat Promkunaram, Waddell, Arizona.
Who was convicted?
Allesandro Garcia (Pleaded guilty in 1993 to the nine temple murders and armed robbery; sentenced to 271 years in prison.) and Johnathan Doody (Convicted in 1994 of the nine temple murders and armed robbery; conviction overturned twice on appeal; found guilty again at a 2014 retrial and sentenced to nine consecutive life terms.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved.

Sources

  1. Waddell Buddhist temple shootingwikipedia · Wikipedia · 2026-07-07
  2. Contemporaneous coverage — Los Angeles Timesnews · Los Angeles Times · 2026-07-07
  3. Contemporaneous coverage — corrections.az.govnews · corrections.az.gov · 2026-07-07
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