‘heinous crimes’

Arizona Moves to Execute Yet Another Death Row Prisoner

He would be the third inmate executed by Arizona this year.

Arizona’s attorney general announced Tuesday his intention to seek the execution of 72-year-old Murray Hooper for the grisly murders of two people in 1980, according to a statement. The state has already executed two men this year. “Our state recognizes that those who commit the most heinous crimes deserve the ultimate punishment. It is the appropriate response and we must faithfully carry out the court-ordered sentences for the victims, their families and our communities,” the attorney general said in the statement. On New Year’s Eve 1980, Hooper and two other men broke into Patrick Redmond’s house, where he, his wife Marilyn, and his mother-in-law Helen Phelps were decorating for a party. After looting the house, the men shot the family members in the head and cut Patrick’s throat, killing him and Phelps. However, Marilyn survived and was later able to identify the three killers. Hooper and the other two men were all convicted of their murders, among other charges, but the others died before finishing their sentence.