FILE 197 / 12 November 2020 / 149 MIN / full

No Good Deed...

Golden Valley, ArizonaListen

The town

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Golden Valley, Arizona, in the northwestern Arizona panhandle, in Mohavi County. about 0:05:00

History, in brief

Town note

Golden Valley covers 79 square miles and uses area code 928.

about 0:07:17

Town note

It is about 15 minutes outside Kingman, three and a half hours from Phoenix and about an hour and forty minutes from Las Vegas.

about 0:06:08

Town note

Golden Valley is unincorporated: residents have never voted to be annexed by Kingman and have no vote in Kingman's elections.

about 0:08:12

Town note

Arizona State Prison Kingman has an address in Golden Valley even though it says Kingman.

about 0:09:58
All 9 history facts

Town note

Golden Valley covers 79 square miles and uses area code 928.

about 0:07:17

Town note

It is about 15 minutes outside Kingman, three and a half hours from Phoenix and about an hour and forty minutes from Las Vegas.

about 0:06:08

Town note

Golden Valley is unincorporated: residents have never voted to be annexed by Kingman and have no vote in Kingman's elections.

about 0:08:12

Town note

Arizona State Prison Kingman has an address in Golden Valley even though it says Kingman.

about 0:09:58

Town note

The private prison was sold to residents as 'a prison for DUI offenders only'.

about 0:10:24

Town note

It is now a for-profit prison operated by GEO Group under contract to hold inmates for the Arizona Department of Corrections.

about 0:10:40

2010

On July 30th, 2010, three inmates, two murderers and an attempted murderer, escaped from the facility.

about 0:10:49

Town note

The area was one of the places where people could find a gold mine and get a claim.

about 0:22:58

Town note

ShineToberfest is an annual moonshine and chilli festival held in October at the Saddle Sore Ranch off Route 66.

about 0:24:11

The figures, as told

Religious

22.5%

Biggest faith: Muslim, 0.3%

about 0:18:17

Who lives here

White 83% · Black 0.0% · Asian 1.7% · Hispanic 11.5%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
▲ almost double

about 0:28:54

Violent crime
▲ about 50% higher

about 0:29:03

Money

Median home value$139,100
Two-bedroom rent$720
Median household income$33,500
Cost of living86.4

For sale

$85,000

One-bedroom, one-bath house, 768 square feet

about 0:21:49

For sale

$165,000

Two-bedroom, two-bath house, 1,760 square feet on 2.2 acres

about 0:22:08

For sale

$365,000

Three-bedroom, four-bath house, 2,600 to 5,223 square feet

about 0:22:26
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2020

Property crime

"almost double"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2020 about 0:28:54

Violent crime

"about 50% higher"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2020 about 0:29:03

Population

"8,694"

No direction stated.

As told in 2020 about 0:17:30

Population growth

"up 232% since 1990"

Direction: above.

As told in 2020 about 0:17:34

Age 65 to 74

"22%"

Comparison: "more than double the average". Direction: above.

As told in 2020 about 0:17:59

Under-18 age groups

"about one third"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2020 about 0:18:02

Religious

"22.5%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2020 about 0:18:17

Unemployment rate

"about double"

Comparison: "the rest of the country". Direction: above.

As told in 2020 about 0:19:38

Median household income

"$33,500"

Comparison: "national median $57,500". No direction stated.

As told in 2020 about 0:19:57

Households earning under $30,000 a year

"42%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2020 about 0:20:02

Cost of living

"86.4"

Comparison: "100 is the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2020 about 0:20:17

Median home cost

"$139,100"

No direction stated.

As told in 2020 about 0:20:25

Two-bedroom rent

"$720"

Comparison: "about $1,200 nationally". No direction stated.

As told in 2020 about 0:21:06

One-bedroom, one-bath house, 768 square feet

"$85,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2020 about 0:21:49

Two-bedroom, two-bath house, 1,760 square feet on 2.2 acres

"$165,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2020 about 0:22:08

Three-bedroom, four-bath house, 2,600 to 5,223 square feet

"$365,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2020 about 0:22:26

The reviews

2.8 / 5 · average of 5

3 stars

“Relatively underdeveloped; thousands live without amenities most Americans take for granted. Most residents live on dirt roads, larger families haul water for miles, and there is no grocery store, hardware store, bank or police station. Residents choose it for the freedom.”
about 0:14:07

3 stars

“A former resident says it was a nice place for people who wanted more privacy, with neighbours far enough away to feel like the whole property was yours. Very hot and dry, with a nice view of the desert and cactus.”
about 0:16:29

3 stars

“There are a lot of mobile homes out here.”
about 0:16:50

3 stars

“Dollar General usually has whatever you are looking for, but if you need regular groceries you have to travel to Kingman.”
about 0:17:07

2 stars

“The only jobs in the area are at the Dollar General and the Maverick station.”
about 0:17:19

In Arizona

Closest episodes

  1. Murder In The BloodGrasshopper Junction, Arizona · 3 October 202521 km / 13 miShow on map
  2. A Strange FunLake Havasu City, Arizona · 9 May 201979 km / 49 miShow on map
  3. The Missing Head MysteryBoulder City, Nevada · 21 August 202694 km / 58 miShow on map
  4. Lust, Death, Insanity... And A PotatoBagdad, Arizona · 19 August 2022119 km / 74 miShow on map
  5. The Couple That Kills Together... Blames Each OtherWilliamson, Arizona · 31 October 2018164 km / 102 miShow on map

The story

Golden Valley is an unincorporated community in Mohave County in the northwestern Arizona panhandle, about fifteen minutes from Kingman. A year earlier she had been a cook with a house in Kingman. Her arm was crushed in a fall, she lost her job because she could no longer prepare food, and then her house burned to the ground. She and her son spent the summer of 1995 in a tent in the desert before a woman from Kingman lent them the trailer. Lita was known for taking in stray people and animals; she would give her own bed to a stranger and sleep on the floor.

He moved into the trailer and stayed through the summer.

He had told the girl he was a mafia figure, that they would go to Kentucky to marry and that she would become a mafia goddaughter. They ran away together, ran out of money in southern Nevada, and were picked up by a man who had once rented a room from Lita. Lita took them in.

The only usable vehicle on the property was a pickup truck belonging to another guest, fifty-year-old Roland Ware. Dellahunt overheard them and was brought into the plan; he promised not to tell and asked only that they leave his mother alone.

The attack lasted about forty-five minutes. The blade came out through his cheek and nose but did not reach his brain. He finally lost consciousness and died of blunt-force trauma and blood loss.

That evening the two men cut the trailer's phone line, waited until dark, took the .22 rifle they had stolen from Ware and got two rounds of ammunition from a neighbouring child by telling her that Dellahunt was trapped by rattlesnakes. They entered the bedroom where Lita Kagan and Roland Ware were asleep. Ware sat up and was shot in the mouth; the bullet shattered his upper teeth and came out through his cheek. He fled outside towards his truck. They took Ware's wallet and keys, hid his body under debris, left the other two bodies and drove away in the truck.

The bodies were found soon afterwards. Dellahunt was almost unrecognisable, with a knife still sticking out of his head.

He said Dellahunt repeatedly asked why they were killing him and that Ware begged for his life.

She was given four consecutive life terms carrying at least twenty-five years each, plus seven years for the robbery, a total the episode describes as a hundred years. His defence was marijuana use and a claimed PCP flashback, which the court rejected, pointing out the planning that went into getting the bullets, testing and hiding the rifle and cutting the phone line.

The case

Golden Valley triple murder

Victims

Robert Dellahunt (14). Lita Kagan's son; killed in the travel trailer behind the main trailer.
Lita Kagan (about 37). A former cook who took in stray people and animals; shot in her bed.
Roland Ware (50). A guest of Lita's and the owner of the pickup truck the killers wanted.

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 12 November 2020.

Accused

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Eliot Kagan. Lita's on-and-off husband; he was visiting a friend in a Kingman hospital the night of the murders.

The timeline

  1. 1995 Lita Kagan loses her job as a line cook after her arm is crushed in a fall. (Kingman)about 0:31:30
  2. 1995 Kagan's house in Kingman burns to the ground. (Kingman)about 0:32:09
  3. the summer of 1995 Kagan, her husband and her son live in a tent in the desert. (desert tent site)about 0:33:14
  4. after the summer of 1995 A woman from Kingman lends the family a double-wide trailer in Golden Valley. (Kagan trailer)about 0:35:06
  5. April 1996 Robert Dellahunt befriends 19-year-old , who is homeless in Laughlin. (Laughlin)about 0:47:29
  6. April 1996 moves into the Kagan trailer. (Kagan trailer)about 0:52:33
  7. August 10th, 1996 and are picked up hitchhiking in Las Vegas and sent to the Kagan trailer. (Las Vegas)about 0:55:03
  8. August 1996 and arrive at the trailer on Yavapai and Lita takes them in. (Kagan trailer)about 1:09:09
  9. August 1996 , and plot to steal Roland Ware's pickup truck. (Kagan trailer)about 1:13:22
  10. August 1996 Dellahunt overhears the plot and is told to keep quiet. (Kagan trailer)about 1:14:33
  11. August 13th, 1996 lures Dellahunt into the derelict travel trailer. (travel trailer)about 1:16:03
  12. August 13th, 1996 bursts into the travel trailer and cuts Dellahunt's throat with a bread knife. (travel trailer)about 1:19:45
  13. August 13th, 1996 joins the attack and the two beat Dellahunt for about 45 minutes. (travel trailer)about 1:20:36
  14. August 13th, 1996 stabs Dellahunt in the ear with the bread knife; the blade comes out through his nose. (travel trailer)about 1:23:14
  15. August 13th, 1996 Dellahunt dies of blunt-force trauma and blood loss. (travel trailer)about 1:25:17

Places and phrases

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode