On the eve of a new year, a quiet home in Phoenix, Arizona, became the scene of a brutal and calculated crime. On December 31, 1980, Helen Genevieve Phelps, a 70-year-old female, was with her daughter, Marilyn Redmond, and son-in-law, William 'Pat' Redmond, preparing for a small New Year's Eve gathering. The festive atmosphere was shattered when three men, armed with a gun, forced their way into the Redmonds' home.
The intruders, identified as Murray Hooper, William Bracy, and a former
Phoenix police officer named Edward Lonzo McCall, corralled the family into the master bedroom. After binding their hands, the assailants forced Helen, Marilyn, and William to lie down on the bed. In a chilling act of violence, both William Redmond and Helen Phelps were fatally shot in the back of the head. Marilyn Redmond was also shot but miraculously survived her injuries. While the initial appearance suggested a robbery, as some cash and jewelry were taken, the subsequent investigation uncovered a far more sinister plot.
The case that unfolded was not one of a random home invasion but a murder-for-hire scheme. The survivor, Marilyn Redmond, played a crucial role in identifying the perpetrators. The investigation revealed that the murders were orchestrated to facilitate a takeover of a printing business owned by William Redmond and his partner. A Tempe businessman, Robert Charles Cruz, was accused of being the mastermind behind the plot, with Joyce Lukezic, the wife of Redmond's business partner, also implicated.
The legal aftermath stretched on for years. Murray Hooper, William Bracy, and Edward McCall were all convicted for their roles in the murders. Both Hooper and Bracy were sentenced to death. McCall and Bracy died in prison before their sentences could be carried out. Decades after the crime, on November 16, 2022, Murray Hooper was executed by lethal injection for the murders of William Redmond and Helen Phelps. Robert Charles Cruz, the man accused of ordering the killings, was eventually acquitted after multiple trials.
