Nick Martin takes home a big one at the Arizona Press Club awards

While the Arizona Press Club’s fondness for Young Martin Cizmar™’s work is somewhat quizzical, the club did take note of what I think was arguably the most memorable piece of local journalism over the past year outside of the regularly impressive investigative stuff New Times does: Nick Martin’s eerie Phoenix mag piece on the mysterious “third man” involved in the horrific Serial Shooter case.

When I wrote about his piece last year, it wasn’t available online; it is now, and can be read here.

Here’s my favorite part, detailing the unusual friendship the two known shooters had:

Known by regulars as a likable drunk, [killer Sam] Dieteman was the kind of guy who could toss down cocktails until last call, sleep it off for a few hours and return to the bar again in the morning when it reopened. That lifestyle fit well with [his shooting partner] Jeff Hausner, who claimed that because of anxiety attacks, it was better to drive drunk than sober.

So when Dieteman fell on hard times in early 2006 and had no job and no place to stay, Jeff Hausner offered to let his pal stay with him for a while. The quarters would be cramped. It was a two-bedroom townhouse where Jeff Hausner was already living with his female roommate and her son. But they would make it work in their own unusual way. The son had his own bedroom. The roommate slept on a couch in the living room. And Dieteman copped a spot on a pile of blankets next to Hausner’s bed in the other bedroom.

Martin now writes the Heat City blog. He was also given a first-place nod for breaking news, notable for a guy working alone against operations with scores of reporters on duty at any given time.

From the club:

First place: Nick R. Martin, Heat City, “Exclusive: Arrests made in ’04 bombing of Scottsdale diversity office”

Judge: Acting on a tip, Martin beat the competition on a big story — arrests in the 2004 bombing of Scottsdale’s diversity office. But he didn’t stop there. Within hours, he produced two more newsy write-throughs that continued to develop the story by using court documents and Web site statements from white supremacist groups to add important details. On a tight deadline, the pieces broke new ground, were authoritative and had just the right amount of background for readers to understand the story.

And finally, Martin came in second in the category of public safety reporting:

Second place: Nick R. Martin, Heat City, “Gilbert police investigating mayor on suspicion of poisoning wife”

Judge: Expansive story, raises questions and seeks to provide answers. Utilizes public records, documents and interviews.