Arizona death row inmate’s clemency request unanimously rejected by board, faces execution later this month

The Arizona Board of Executive Clemency unanimously rejected a request by death row inmate Murray Hooper for his sentence to be commuted to life in prison on Thursday. 

Hooper, who is scheduled to be executed on Nov. 16, was sentenced to death in 1982 after being convicted of the murders of William “Pat” Redmond and his mother-in-law, Helen Phelps, two years prior. 

Arizona resumed executions in May after an eight-year hiatus attributed to criticisms of a botched 2014 execution and the difficulties in obtaining lethal injection drugs. Two other death row inmates have already been executed in the state this year. 

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Redmond’s wife, Marilyn, survived being shot in the head and testified against Hooper and two other men at trial. 

Defense attorneys argued on Thursday that Marilyn’s description of the men who attacked her and her family changed over time. 

The two other men convicted in the murders, William Bracy and Edward McCall, were also sentenced to death but died before their executions were carried out. 

Robert Cruz was accused by authorities of hiring the three men to kill Pat Redmond, who owned a printing business, because Redmond had rejected Cruz’s offers of entering printing contracts in the Las Vegas area. Cruz was acquitted of murder charges in 1995. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.