On January 26, 1980, police in Tucson were called to the La Quinta Motel after two men were found bound and dead in a motel room. The victims were identified as 33-year-old Martin Lester Concannon and Robert Afton Wise. The autopsy for Martin Concannon recorded a gunshot wound to the temple and a fatal chest wound that perforated his spinal cord; two socks had been forced into his throat, and evidence indicated he had not died instantly from the gunshots.

A suspect, Donald Harding, was arrested the same day in Flagstaff while driving Concannon’s car. Investigators recovered a .25 caliber automatic on Harding that ballistics tied to the murders, Robert Wise’s attaché case and credit cards in the vehicle, and human blood on a shirt Harding wore when arrested. Harding reportedly suggested investigators might find something on his burgundy shirt and shoes when told the clothing was being retained as evidence.

Harding was tried in Pima County, convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, armed robbery and kidnapping, and was sentenced to death along with consecutive prison terms for the other counts. Does anyone have memories or information about Concannon’s life or about the La Quinta Motel from that period?