Who is Murray Hooper? What to know about Arizona’s next scheduled execution

Murray Hooper is scheduled to be executed on Nov. 16. Hooper, 76, would mark the state’s third execution since the botched execution of Joseph Wood in 2014.

Arizona resumed executions this summer. Clarence Dixon, 66, was executed on May 11 and Frank Atwood, also 66, was executed on June 8.

There are 111 people on Arizona’s death row, 22 of whom have exhausted their appeals, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

Murray Hooper, along with William Bracy, was convicted in the 1980 murder of two people as they prepared for a New Year’s Eve party at their Phoenix home.

Who is Murray Hooper?

Hooper was among three men convicted for the 1980 murders of Patrick Redmond and his mother-in-law, Helen Phelps, as they were preparing for a New Year’s Eve party in Phoenix.

The state alleged Hooper was one of several men hired by a Chicago crime organization to fly to Phoenix and murder Redmond to gain control of his printing business. Hooper claimed he was framed for the Redmond and Phelps murders after refusing to kill south Phoenix drug dealers on orders from the same Chicago mob.

Redmond’s wife was also shot and left for dead. But she survived and identified Hooper, William Bracy and Edward McCall, a former Phoenix police officer, as the killers. Bracy and McCall died in prison before their sentences could be carried out.

Arizona’s death row: These are the prisoners facing execution

Why was Hooper sentenced to death?

A Chicago jury recommended the death penalty for Murray Hooper in a case unrelated to the murder of Patrick Redmond and Helen Phelps. Clipped from the Aug. 26, 1981, edition of The Arizona Republic.

In 1983, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office called the murders “one of the most ruthless and heinous crimes committed in the history of Arizona.”

The county attorney cited several aggravating circumstances, including “mental torture and anguish” inflicted on the victims as reasons for seeking the death penalty.

Hooper maintains his innocence

“For 40 years, Mr. Hooper has maintained that he was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death, based on corrupt police practices and unreliable witness testimony,” said Assistant Federal Public Defender Kelly Culshaw.

She cited several examples from Hooper’s case of co-conspirators who received immunity and extensive benefits, “including money, and illegal perks such as sex and drugs,” in exchange for their testimony against Hooper.

Story continues

Culshaw said no physical evidence links Hooper to the crime, and newly discovered evidence could exonerate him.

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge recently rejected requests from Hooper’s attorneys to run fingerprints and conduct additional DNA testing on a knife found at the scene of the murders.

William Redmond and Helen Phelps: Who are the victims of Murray Hooper?

Clipped from the March 11, 1982 edition of The Arizona Republic.

What is the method of execution?

When Hooper was convicted and sentenced to death, Arizona still performed executions by lethal gas, therefore giving him the option of choosing gas or lethal injection.

Hooper did not choose, and so the state will use the default method of lethal injection.

The state now uses a single drug for lethal injections: compounded pentobarbital.

During the lead up to the execution of Dixon, his attorneys questioned the safety and potency of Arizona’s lethal injection drugs.

The drugs are administered by IVs, which execution team members struggled to attach during the lethal injection of Dixon and Atwood.

Notes from Dixon’s legal team shared exclusively with The Arizona Republic put the time at 40 minutes. The executioners eventually resorted to cutting into Dixon’s femoral artery to insert an IV.

During Atwood’s execution, the condemned man actually assisted his executioners during the IV insertion process as they also struggled to find a vein.

Have a news tip on Arizona prisons? Reach the reporter at jjenkins@arizonarepublic.com or at 812-243-5582. Follow him on Twitter @JimmyJenkins.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Who is Murray Hooper? What to know about the Arizona death row inmate