Fresno Police Say Answer Found to 1972 Slaying

In the moments before his death in 1972, nightclub owner Ara Arax walked into a hail of gunfire, asking his killers, “Why, why are you doing this?”

On Wednesday, police said they believe they found an answer to that decades-old question in one of this city’s most sensational and longest unsolved crimes.

Police are offering little information, other than saying a tip in November led to evidence that ties two suspects to the killing, and that investigators believe robbery was the motive.

One of the suspects reportedly died in 1982 and the other is in prison, a source said. The men were connected to the crime by fingerprints at the scene.

In the last weeks of his life, Arax--Little League coach, Pop Warner football league president and father of three--was in contact with state authorities to help bring down drug dealers who frequented his nightclub, the busiest joint between San Francisco and Los Angeles, according to a book written by his son Mark, a reporter for The Times.

For years, police called it a contract killing. Neither gunman asked the bartender for money, and no cash was taken.

Police did not reveal why they now suspect robbery as a motive.

On the night he was killed, Arax was in his office in the back of the bar preparing tax reports. It was unusual for him to be there on a Sunday, and his family says a phone call led him to the club.

Two men from out of town came to the bar about 7 p.m., ordered beers and went to shoot pool in the back of the club. After drinking half their beers, the two left the bar and returned 10 minutes later.

As one gunman ordered another round, the other went to the office and began shooting. Although he was shot three times, Arax backed the shooter out of the office and seized the gun.

The second gunman fired five shots, striking Arax twice. The men fled, and Arax, 40, died later at a hospital.