Cafe owner's death leaves questions

In the Valley's coffee community, Bill McCauley was regarded as a pleasant, popular fellow.

A businessman, the 51-year-old McCauley owned a food-products distributorship and a cafe, Daily Buzz in Queen Creek.

The Web site Arizona-Coffee.com is where McCauley kept up on the local gossip, prolifically posting under the name AzBill.

But now, the message board and McCauley's customers are in mourning about his recent suicide.

According to Tempe authorities, on the morning of May 5, McCauley backed his car into the storage area of Red Rock Foods, 626 S. Smith Road, and deliberately set a gasoline-fueled fire.

The explosion also killed his pet dachshund Millikin, named for its owner's alma mater in Illinois.

The reaction from McCauley's peers was one of shock and sadness.

"He was just a really nice guy," Queen Creek resident Aaron Bachler said. "I'm shook up."

No note was found, leaving those left behind only speculation about why McCauley would kill himself in such a public and painful manner.

Walt Finley, landlord of the industrial complex where Red Rock is a tenant, said that about a month ago, McCauley complained to him about "terrible stomach trouble."

And, Finley recalled following the suicide, the manager of Daily Buzz told him that McCauley recently was treated in a hospital emergency room.

But on Arizona-Coffee.com's thread devoted to McCauley's death, business associate Ron Cortez relayed the news that "Red Rock was going through serious financial struggles and Bill was getting behind in payments with many of his suppliers."

Yet a Red Rock customer said McCauley seemed fine when they met for lunch just a few days before the suicide.

"Honest to God, I noticed zero," said Bill Sandweg, owner of Copper Star Coffee in central Phoenix. "There was nothing in our conversation that would've indicated to me this was coming."

Sean Rassas, owner of Goodyear's Ground Control cafe/wine bar, echoed that same sentiment: "Three weeks ago, he was really in good sprits. Nothing would've led me to believe he was thinking of those kinds of steps."

With McCauley taking his reasons to the grave, those who knew him would prefer to remember the man as he lived.

Rassas recalled an "approachable, amenable" hard worker who would make the 30-mile drive to his West Valley business without complaint, even on Friday nights. Sandweg was thrilled to find a supplier who could provide his mother's favorite French vanilla syrup.

Almost everyone remarked upon McCauley's dedication to Daily Buzz.

Despite construction-related setbacks - such as thieves stealing copper, Finley said - the café opened two months ago at 22721 S. Ellsworth Road.

Photos and video show a sleek, stylish business with comfortable chairs and amenities such as Wi-Fi and laptop outlets. The results show that this was a labor of love.

"He was working on that place for years," said Chris Tingom, webmaster of Arizona-Coffee.com.

Of course, by remembering McCauley's life, those who knew him are finding it difficult to get past his death.

Said Sandweg: "I've just got to wonder how it gets that dark for somebody, how it gets that bad."