At a young age he moved to New Jersey, where his father was chief of the state's Associated Press (AP) bureau; his paternal grandfather, Stephen Bolles, had also been in the newspaper business.

Bolles graduated Teaneck High School in 1946,[2][3] then obtained a degree in government from Beloit College, where he was editor of the campus newspaper The Round Table and received a President's Award for personal achievement.

Former colleagues say he seemed to grow disillusioned about his job in late 1975 and early 1976, and that he had requested to be taken off the investigative beat, moving to coverage of Phoenix City Hall and then the state legislature.

On June 2, 1976, Bolles left a short note in his office typewriter explaining he would meet with an informant, John Adamson, then go to a luncheon meeting at the Hotel Clarendon (now the Clarendon Hotel) and would return by 1:30 p.m.[5] Adamson had promised to divulge information on a land deal involving top state politicians and possibly the Mafia.

Just as Bolles was driving out of his parking space, a remote-controlled bomb consisting of six sticks of dynamite, taped to the underside of the car beneath the driver's seat, was detonated.

The explosion shattered Bolles' lower body, opened the driver's door and left him laying half outside the vehicle, mortally wounded.

Adamson also allegedly visited The Arizona Republic employees' parking area on the day of the bombing and asked a guard which car belonged to Bolles.

Adamson accused Phoenix contractor Max Dunlap, an associate of rancher and liquor wholesaler Kemper Marley, of ordering the hit and Chandler plumber James Robison of triggering the bomb.

Neal Roberts, an allegedly corrupt Phoenix attorney who was a close friend of Funk, was said to have contacted Adamson for help in the murder, who subsequently recruited known hitman Carl Verive.

[16][17] Devereux also claims that he discovered evidence of state corruption in the killing of Bolles, with attorney general Bruce Babbitt having sought to take over the legal investigation due to his gambling debts and subsequent involvement with the Mafia.

As a result, exculpatory evidence that would have cleared Dunlap and Robison was allegedly withheld, so as to assure their conviction and avoid undesirable attention on Emprise, the mafia, and Babbitt's own indiscretions.

After campaigning on forcing Emprise out of Arizona, Babbitt later reneged and played a major role in their ability to continue operations in the state.

Sanford spoke with Roberts as part of his own investigation of the murder and thereafter made plans to speak with Bolles' second wife to reveal his findings.