'Let it be done': Murray Hooper, 76, resigns to his fate after hearing execution warrant for Arizona double murder
FLORENCE, ARIZONA: Murray Hooper, who was found guilty of killing two people in 1980, was executed on November 16—the third person to die in the state since the death penalty was reinstated in May after a nearly eight-year break. Hooper, 76, received a fatal injection at the state prison in Florence for his convictions in the killings of William "Pat" Redmond and his mother-in-law, Helen Phelps.
Authorities claim that a man named Robert Cruz wanted to take over Redmond's printing company and ordered the killings to be done. Marilyn Redmond, who was married to Pat, was also shot in the head but lived to give evidence against Hooper in court. The announcement of Hooper's death was made by Frank Strada, a deputy director for the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry. Throughout his interactions with the execution team, Hooper chuckled multiple times. More than 20 minutes had gone between the time the members of the execution team entered the room and the time the sedative pentobarbital was injected into his right leg and right forearm.
