Plans to execute an Arizona man for two killings in 1980 remain on track after a judge denied the inmate’s bid to postpone a scheduled lethal injection.
The judge rejected Murray Hooper’s request to allow fingerprint and DNA testing on evidence from the killings that led to his death sentence.
His lawyers say their client is innocent, that no physical evidence ties him to the killings of William Redmond and his mother-in-law, Helen Phelps, and that testing could lead to the identification of those responsible.
They say Hooper was convicted before computerized fingerprint systems and DNA testing were available in criminal cases.
Hooper’s attorneys are appealing Monday’s decision.