On New Year’s Eve 1980, William Patrick Redmond, 46, was shot in the back of the head and killed in his Phoenix home after three men forced their way inside at gunpoint. The intruders bound Redmond, his wife Marilyn, and Redmond’s 70-year-old mother-in-law, Helen Phelps, then shot each of them in the head; Phelps also died and Marilyn survived despite a head wound. Some jewelry and cash were taken, but investigators concluded the killings were part of a murder-for-hire plot aimed at seizing control of a printing business owned by Redmond and a partner.

Marilyn later identified the three assailants as Edward Lonzo McCall Jr., William Bracy, and Murray Hooper. The probe also pointed to Robert Charles Cruz, a Tempe businessman, as the alleged mastermind and to Joyce Lukezic, the partner’s wife, in the conspiracy. Trials and appeals in the case stretched over many years.