On Saturday October 26th, 1996, just after midnight, 18-year-old Daniel Bratzel was shot and killed in his 1985 Monte Carlo as he waited in a Jack in the Box drive through at 74th avenue and Cactus in Peoria, Arizona. 

Witnesses reported that a Hispanic man with a shaved head briefly stood near Daniel with a gun in his hand, before running into a car and fleeing eastbound on Cactus, possibly in a hatchback vehicle.

Daniel’s mom Pam theorized in a 1996 article that the killing could have been a failed carjacking attempt as Daniel had made statements to his family and friends he would never let anyone take his car. Other theories have included that it was a case of mistaken identity. 

Daniel was described as a “teddy bear” who had no known enemies. To this day no suspect has been publicly named.  It’s also unknown if there was useful surveillance footage from the Jack in the Box, or if detectives found the killer’s fingerprints on the car. Or even what type of gun the killer had used.

 

Sources

Screenshots of archived AZ republic news articles I uploaded here

https://old.reddit.com/r/TrueCrimeInfoDump/comments/1pmokro/1996_murder_of_daniel_bratzel_in_peoria_az/

The old Peoria PD cold case page from 2010 wayback machine (no cold case page on the modern website)

https://web.archive.org/web/20101128044034/http://peoriaaz.gov/contentform.asp?ID=21842

  • It certainly could have been a failed carjacking attempt, though there's no strong indication that was the case. With no other details about his life or what may have occurred prior to the murder we just have no alternate theories that aren't entirely speculative.

    We just know Daniel put $3,000 into a sound system, rims, and possibly other modifications and that it was a 1984 or 1985 (sources list both years) Chevy Monte Carlo. Without the mods it was likely worth $1,000 to $3,000 - maybe $1,000 more if it was an SS variant. And that he loved the car so much he allegedly said someone would have to kill him to take it from him.

    It's unfortunate that it seems that the witnesses that heard yelling couldn't really make out what was said - just obscenities. And it's unclear whether the driver (and maybe other occupants) in the vehicle in line behind Daniel who left before police arrived ever contacted police or was tracked down.

    Reports also only say he was shot by a handgun. Nothing I read describes the type of bullet or the type of handgun. If it was a semi-automatic as opposed to a revolver there likely would have been a discharged shell casing (possibly with fingerprints) at the scene unless the perps picked it up.

    Hopefully detectives have more evidence and leads than was been revealed via articles between 1996 and 1999, but the lack of media or law enforcement updates since then isn't encouraging.

    parent

    My one question regarding this is; While it is widely known criminals are often not the smartest of people, even an idiot would probably know it would be exceedingly difficult to carjack a vehicle in a drive-thru line presumably with at least one vehicle close in front and close behind.

    My first thought as I read the post was targeted attack but possibly mistaken identity? How common were mid-80's Monte Carlos in that area of the country in 1996?

    parent root

    Some places gave open drive through areas and others are almost locked in lanes with high curbs. Your point still stands though about there possibly being no escape and how stupid criminals can be

    parent root

    Actually a drive thru seems like the perfect place to do an opportunistic carjacking.

    The target car is stationary with their windows down. They can't go forward or backwards and an accomplice can pull alongside to prevent them from driving out of the line. The accomplice drives off and the stolen car pulls out and follows them.

    Also back then lots of drive thrus just had mics and no camera.

    parent root

    Seems like a lot of effort, instead of carjacking a car not trapped between two cars.

    Either these are idiots who killed a man because they thought it was a good idea to carjack a car in a drive-through, or it was a case of mistaken identity.

    parent root

    Also, if drive-through didn't have cameras, but only mics back then, how were the workers in the restaurant able to know when the customers were there?

    parent root

    It's widely known that only the dumb ones get caught. Police officers themselves say that all the time.

    parent root

  • Its a shame they took his page off of the website. How sad. Im not sure how theyd get more ledes now :(

    parent

  • Man, I went to that particular Jack in the Box so many times when I was younger, I never heard about this.

    parent

    Did that drive-through at Jack in the Box have locked-in lanes with high curbs, or was it an open drive-through?

    Because if someone is trying to carjack someone, it'll be stupid to just carjack someone if they're locked in a lane with at least one car in front, and one car behind.

    parent root

  • I wonder if it could have been a road rage incident where the person ended up following him into the drive thru and shooting him. I've seen some pretty crazy stuff happen with road rage in person and in videos online, it seems to be more common these days that people end up shooting in road rage incidents, even killing in some cases. I don't think it was as common back then, but definitely possible. Unfortunately, I don't think this will ever be solved.

    parent

  • Could have been a random murder as a gang initiation type thing?

    parent

    Extremely unlikely considering that scenario is an urban legend

    parent root
    parent root

    Gang initiation killings happen, but they're typically not random. I can't see the details in that first link of yours because they're behind a paywall, but the second one does not involve random victims. They were chosen because the victims were members of a rival gang. 

    parent root

    They happen but they don't target random individuals. The first example you listed had an altercation with the killer and the second was a member of a rival gang

    parent root
    parent root

    You're weirdly obsessed with this so I won't be responding anymore but in this article about it it says

    Alex Alonso, a Cal State Long Beach Chicano studies professor noted for his gang expertise, said he's unaware of a gang using random killings of people on the street as a rite of passage.

    "It definitely doesn’t sound like a gang initiation," he said. "But who knows?"

    And

    Two suspects are affiliated with a gang, according to authorities, but sheriff's Capt. Andrew Meyer did not answer when he was asked whether he believes the attacks were part of a gang initiation ritual.

    parent root

    No, the urban legend spread around here is "dey witnessed a drug deel n got kilt 4 it" as if a drug dealer is going to raise a distribution charge to a potential capital murder case. It's ludicrous, yet gets spouted here all the time like diarrhea.

    parent root