After two criminal trials against Lonnie Swartz wrapped up in Tucson, Jose Antonio’s family turned to their civil lawsuit against the agent. Swartz’s attorneys argued that the agent had qualified immunity from prosecution in the case because h

S3 EP03: A historic legal showdown

Sep 14th, 2022 39m 34s

In a historic move, U.S. federal prosecutors charged Lonnie Swartz, a Border Patrol agent, with three separate charges in the shooting and killing of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez. The most severe of the charges was for second degre

S3 EP02: An identity revealed

Sep 13th, 2022 27m 12s

It did not take long for the family of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez to start putting pressure on U.S. authorities.They demanded that the U.S. Border Patrol release the name of the agent who had fired his gun from Arizona into Mexic

S3 EP01: A metal cross and a painful memory

Sep 12th, 2022 33m 9s

A U.S. border agent shot 16 times through the gaps in the border fence in the span of 34 seconds on the night of October 10, 2012. Ten bullets struck and killed 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, who was standing on the Mexico side of A

Trailer

Coming Soon - Rediscovering: Killed Through the Border Fence

Sep 8th, 2022 3m 59s

It’s been almost a decade since a boy in Mexico was shot dead by a Border Patrol agent in the United States. His family couldn't believe it. And federal prosecutors didn't let it pass, even though Border Patrol agents rarely are scrutinized fo

How did SB 1070 shape the 2020 election? Two politicos weigh in

Dec 9th, 2020 37m 59s

Season two of Rediscovering, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, explored the events leading up to and following the passage of Senate Bill 1070 in Arizona. The 2010 “show me your papers” law was met with pushback from Latin

Nothing lasts forever

Jul 15th, 2020 42m 8s

Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070 took years of effort that culminated in a moment when the Legislature, the governor and the public — pushed by a terrible slaying agreed — to do something about illegal immigration, even if the White House and Congres

That's their image of us

Jul 15th, 2020 47m 40s

While national leaders weighed in on the passage of Senate Bill 1070, on the ground in Arizona, it was already emptying neighborhoods. The grim exodus played out quietly all over the state. To the rest of the country, the law served as a laugh

Burn that Capitol down

Jul 15th, 2020 48m 35s

For two decades and through three administrations, Arizonans waited for the federal government to solve the issue that many felt was right at their doorstep. They were left without a solution.Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack

They think they can survive without Mexican labor?

Jul 15th, 2020 35m 5s

The 1993 North American Free Trade Act, or NAFTA, put an estimated 2 million Mexican farmers out of business. Food prices in Mexico went up, while wages, after adjusting for inflation, declined. The consequences of NAFTA and spiking unemployme

You're not welcome here

Jul 15th, 2020 38m 49s

In the early 2000s, Arizona’s rapid population growth and investor speculation fueled a homebuilding binge in the state. Contractors took advantage of a lax employment-verification system and hired undocumented workers at a cut rate, often fro

Coming Soon - Rediscovering: SB1070

Jul 1st, 2020 7m 18s

In April 2010, Arizona enacted the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, better known as Senate Bill 1070. The state law required police officers to inquire about the legal status of anyone they thought might be in the country

Legacies

Dec 3rd, 2019 44m 9s

Three men faced charges in the murder of Arizona journalist Don Bolles. But to this day, it’s unknown who put the hit out on him. For years, the lead investigators on the case would gather at the Clarendon Hotel at 11:30 a.m. every June 2. No

It started as a routine day

Nov 26th, 2019 31m 21s

June 2, 1976, was Don Bolles’ wedding anniversary. He’d planned on celebrating with his wife Rosalie by seeing the movie “All The President’s Men.”Bolles had been off investigative reporting for three years, although people still fed him tips.

Legal recourse and revenge

Nov 19th, 2019 27m 17s

Enraged by the stories about the wiretaps, the Funk family sued Don Bolles and The Arizona Republic. They sought damages of $20 million. Bolles filed a countersuit, but the resulting process would air the newsroom’s dirty laundry. Ultimately,

The Menace Within

Nov 12th, 2019 31m 58s

There were two threats brewing for Don Bolles in 1970, at least in his mind. And one was coming from inside the newsroom. Bolles had begun to suspect that his reporting partner had Mafia ties. Despite a lack of evidence, his partner was taken

Wiretaps and wild allegations

Nov 5th, 2019 44m 6s

After discovering that the Funk family may have wiretapped his phones, Don Bolles was put in a unique position. He wasn’t so much a reporter as he was trying to solve a crime. Helping him in this endeavor was his reporting partner, Dom Frasca.

Shattered naiveté

Nov 5th, 2019 28m 10s

The murder of investigative reporter Don Bolles shocked what was then a much smaller, sleepy Phoenix. He was a reporter killed for doing his job. It was — and still is — a rare incident in the United States. In the years before his murder, Bol

Trailer

Coming soon - Rediscovering: Don Bolles, a murdered journalist

Oct 18th, 2019 4m 21s

Don Bolles was an investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic in the 1960s and '70s. After years of reporting on corruption in the racing industry, he was killed by a car bomb in 1976. Decades later, we found cassette tapes of his phone ca

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