By admin 
SUN CITY, AZ (AZFamily) — A Sun City home has been connected to two deadly investigations: the alleged deadly beating of a tenant by his landlord and a later apparent murder-suicide that left two people dead.
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Tenant died after alleged attack
George Crater is back in custody on a first-degree murder charge after a judge dismissed his previous case without prejudice. Another judge has now set a $1 million cash appearance bond, and Crater is scheduled to return to court next week.
Crater was first arrested two years ago. Court records say he flew from Washington to the Phoenix area, entered the home he owned through the garage and confronted his tenant over unpaid rent. Records say he tied the tenant with zip ties, beat him and threatened to kill him.
The tenant, 72-year-old Thomas Galatola, described the attack in hospital body-camera video: “He proceeded to beat me with a bag of zip ties and then his fist, and he pulled me onto the rope, and then he started to kick me. He took a kitchen knife and stabbed me over here.”
Court records say Galatola identified Crater in a photo lineup before slipping into a coma days later. He died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Previous verdict dismissed
A jury found Crater guilty of murder in April. This week, a judge dismissed the case without prejudice after ruling the defense had not been notified that the sheriff’s detective in the case was the focus of a misconduct investigation. Prosecutors refiled the charges days after Crater was released, and he was arrested again Wednesday.
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Second deadly case at home
In June 2025, deputies responded to reports of gunfire at the same home, near 99th Avenue and Bell Road. They found three people shot. Two died and a third was hospitalized in what investigators later described as a murder-suicide.
The incident happened while Crater was awaiting trial. Maricopa County did not provide additional information about the case after being asked.
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