PHOENIX – Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced that the Arizona Supreme Court has granted a warrant of execution for Murray Hooper, who was sentenced to death in 1983.
"The death penalty is the appropriate response to those who commit the most shocking and vile murders," said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. "It is what justice demands and a confirmation that Arizona will never forget the innocent victims who can no longer speak for themselves."
On December 31, 1980, William Bracy, Murray Hooper, and Edward McCall, a former Phoenix police officer, went to the home of Patrick Redmond in Phoenix. Redmond, his wife, Marilyn, and his mother-in-law, Helen Phelps, were preparing for a New Year’s Eve party when Bracy, Hooper, and McCall entered the house and forced the Redmonds and Phelps into the master bedroom at gunpoint. After taking jewelry and money, the intruders bound and gagged the victims. They shot each victim in the head and slashed Mr. Redmond’s throat. Mr. Redmond and Mrs. Phelps died from their wounds, but Mrs. Redmond survived and later identified all three killers.
Hooper, Bracy, and McCall were convicted of the murders and sentenced to death. Bracy and McCall died in prison before their sentences could be carried out.
This is the third execution warrant issued in Arizona this year. Currently, there are 111 inmates on Arizona's death row, and 22 have exhausted their appeals.
Read the warrant of execution here.