Money is a powerful motive for a killing, and police were well aware of the Levines' vast holdings.
If only one of his parents had died, Mark would have been only a partial beneficiary to their large estate. But with both gone, he inherited everything. If Mark had died as well, the estate would have passed to various relatives of both Donald and Marsha.
Nine days after the slayings, police asked Mark to undergo a lie detector test, and he agreed. The results of the test were inconclusive, meaning he neither clearly passed nor clearly failed when questioned about his involvement in his parents' deaths.
Police were convinced that this was a planned assassination, there appeared to be no other explanation. Nothing had been stolen from the home, and the type of ammunition used in the murder weapon was a rare, expensive variety that was difficult to trace.
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| Police sketch of the gunman |
Within a few weeks, detectives got a much-needed break when a tipster phoned with an interesting lead: their gunman was likely Bruce William McKinney, 40, of Phoenix — a former low-level employee of Donald and Robert's. McKinney was married with a family and volunteered in the community helping illiterate children — not exactly a stereotypical gunman.
But the past has a way of catching up with people. McKinney had been convicted of marijuana possession in 1982, and his fingerprints were on file with Phoenix police.
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