Donald Harding
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Donald Eugene Harding (March 1, 1949 – April 6, 1992) was an American serial
robber Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...
,
spree killer A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders in a short time, often in multiple locations. There are different opinions about what durations of time a killing spree may take place in. The United States ...
, and possible
serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
who committed at least seven murders between December 1979 and January 1980 throughout
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
,
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
,
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
, and possibly
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
. Harding was ultimately convicted of three murders, and he was executed in 1992 by
gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History Donatie ...
in the state of Arizona for two of the murders he committed there. Harding became the first person to be executed in Arizona since 1976 when the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
was reinstated nationwide. Harding's execution was particularly noteworthy and controversial due to the fact that his death in the
gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History Donatie ...
took eleven minutes and was reportedly gruesome. Harding's execution ultimately provided momentum for the movement to provide Arizona death row inmates with a choice between the gas chamber and
lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...
.


Early life

Harding was born in his house in a small, rural
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
community called Goodrich, located within Augusta. By the time a physician arrived to assist with the birth, Harding was struggling for air; this resulted in Harding incurring
organic brain syndrome Organic brain syndrome, also known as organic brain disease, organic brain damage, organic brain disorder (OBD), organic mental syndrome, or organic mental disorder, refers to any syndrome or disorder of mental function whose cause is alleged ...
. He also suffered from
neonatal jaundice Neonatal jaundice is a yellowish discoloration of the white part of the eyes and skin in a newborn baby due to high bilirubin levels. Other symptoms may include excess sleepiness or poor feeding. Complications may include seizures, cerebral ...
. Harding's father was an alcoholic who abandoned Harding, his older brother Darryl, and their mother Maycle. When Harding was a toddler, he was admitted to the Child Guidance Clinic in
Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...
, where a doctor treating him wrote in a report that his mother was "very immature and narcissistic" and unfit to care for her sons. When Harding's mother remarried to a man named Fred Brown who contracted
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
, the family relocated to a
sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...
, where Harding alleged nurses and staff regularly beat and mistreated him. One specific allegation involved a nurse dunking Harding's face in a toilet after he wet his bed. The family stayed at the sanatorium for approximately two years before leaving, after which Harding moved repeatedly between living with his mother and his grandparents. Ultimately, he settled with his mother in an impoverished area of North Little Rock. Harding witnessed Brown beating his mother; while he was in school, he struggled with behavioral issues, including defiance and truancy. A doctor reported in February 1960, shortly before Harding turned 11, that Harding displayed suicidal tendencies when he was nine years old, slashing his wrists and leaving a
suicide note A suicide note or death note is a message written by a person who intends to die by suicide. A study examining Japanese suicide notes estimated that 25–30% of suicides are accompanied by a note. However, incidence rates may depend on ethnic ...
in which he threatened to "jump in a river." That same doctor noted while Harding's brother Darryl displayed none of the problematic behaviors Harding did, Donald Harding had "expressed the desire to kill and choke people. . . . It is amazing the degree of psychopathy contained in a boy of this young age." The doctor attributed Harding's behavioral issues to his brain damage, which his mother also claimed was exacerbated by Harding falling from a crib and being struck by a swing set during his childhood. In his preteen and teenage years, Harding underwent three EEGs, the last one being in 1968. The tests confirmed Harding suffered from organic brain damage and
epileptic seizures A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...
.


Pre-Arizona criminal history and murders

Harding's first arrest occurred when he was 11 years old, when he was arrested for joyriding. He was sent to the Arkansas Boys' Industrial School, and he spent four years cycling between that facility, his home, and the Arkansas State Hospital before his first long-term imprisonment. On December 4, 1964, when he was 15 years old, Harding was convicted of four counts of
burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) or housebreaking, is a property crime involving the illegal entry into a building or other area without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal offence. Usually ...
and three counts of
grand larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Eng ...
. Although the sentence was initially suspended, and Harding was initially sent back to the Boys' Industrial School, Harding escaped the facility and carried out a burglary in
Texarkana, Arkansas Texarkana is a city in the U.S. state of Arkansas and the county seat of Miller County, on the southwest border of the state. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 29,387. It is the twin city of Texarkana, Texas, located just acros ...
. Because of the escape, a judge revoked the suspension of Harding's sentence, and he was placed in an adult
maximum security prison Maximum security prisons and supermax prisons are grades of high security level used by prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility wher ...
, the Tucker Unit, to serve a 15-year sentence in June 1965. While in the Tucker Unit, in 1970, he was convicted of attempting to escape from custody. During Harding's stay on death row, his attorneys would attribute further behavioral and developmental issues to Harding's time in an adult prison as a teenager. While in the prison, Harding attempted suicide again. Harding was released from custody for these charges in 1973. Soon after his release, Harding was convicted in federal court for "conspiracy to commit offense or defraud United States" and was imprisoned again for five years. Harding was paroled from prison a second time in March 1979. Two months later, he was arrested in
Pulaski County, Arkansas Pulaski County is a county in the U.S. state of Arkansas. With a population of 399,125 as of the 2020 United States census, it is the most populous county in Arkansas. The county is included in the Little Rock– North Little Rock–Conway m ...
, and charged with a stabbing murder. Harding was in jail in Pulaski County when he and five other inmates orchestrated an escape from the county jail on September 17, 1979. Harding spent the rest of 1979 and part of 1980 carrying out a multi-state crime spree until his final apprehension in Arizona. Harding's crime spree began with the attempted
robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...
of a prostitute in
Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, on September 27; on December 10, he robbed and murdered 27-year-old Stanton Winston Blanton in Blanton's apartment in
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, Texas, although he was never charged with this murder. On December 18, he robbed a man named Ronald Svetgoff and stole his car and identification cards, the latter of which he would use to feign his identity when he relocated to Arizona. Harding took multiple individuals and families hostage throughout
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
,
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
, and
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
throughout the rest of December 1979. On January 3, 1980, Harding drove a stolen car to
South Lake Tahoe, California South Lake Tahoe is the most populous incorporated city in El Dorado County, California, El Dorado County, California, United States, in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The city's population was 21,330 at the 2020 census, down from 21,403 at the 20 ...
, where he broke into the hotel room belonging to 35-year-old Charles Dickerson; Harding robbed Dickerson and left him bound and gagged. By the time a hotel maid discovered Dickerson, the gag Harding placed in Dickerson's mouth had caused Dickerson to suffocate to death. Harding remained in California, robbing and carjacking multiple individuals and couples. On January 10, 1980, a car he stole from Joseph Wohlers broke down on U.S. Highway 101; when 39-year-old Gerald O. Huth, a
Sperry Univac UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) was a line of electronic digital stored-program computers starting with the products of the Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation. Later the name was applied to a division of the Remington Rand company and ...
employee and native of
Bloomington, Minnesota Bloomington is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It is located on the north bank of the Minnesota River above its confluence with the Mississippi River, south of downtown Minneapolis and just south of the Interstate 494/Inter ...
, stopped to help Harding, Harding shot Huth to death and stole Huth's car. Huth's murder was not immediately discovered, and weeks following the murder, authorities still had not found his body, although by late January, a farmer had discovered Huth's body in a field near
Paso Robles, California Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for The Pass of Oaks), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River about north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot springs, ...
; he was found with his hands tied behind his back and a gunshot wound in his head. While still in California, Harding used Huth's stolen identification to conceal his identity, and he used Huth's credit cards to rent a hotel room in
San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
. Later, while still in San Diego, Harding robbed four people in an optometrist's office and ordered one of the robbery victims to drive him to an unknown woman's house.


Arizona murders

On January 24, 1980, Harding fled to
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
, where he gained entry to a hotel room belonging to 38-year-old
gastroenterologist Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- "belly", -énteron "intestine", and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract, sometime ...
Allen F. Gage. Harding bound Gage's wrists and ankles and gagged him with a sock before robbing him. Like Dickerson, Gage suffocated to death on the gag placed in his mouth. On January 25, 1980, Donald Harding posed as a security guard to gain entry into a motel room in
Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
, where Robert A. Wise, a 35-year-old businessman, was meeting with Martin Concannon, 33, his corporation's sales representative. Upon entering the hotel room, Harding hogtied the two men, beat Wise with a wooden motel lamp, and stuffed socks into Concannon's mouth; afterwards, he shot both men. Once both men were critically injured, Harding stole Wise's briefcase, which contained his credit cards; he then took Concannon's
Oldsmobile Oldsmobile (formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors) was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produc ...
. The next morning, police in Tucson discovered the bodies. Wise's body was on the floor next to the bed, tied to the bedpost by a restraint wrapped around his neck with his hands and ankles bound together. He had missing teeth and jaw fractures from when Harding had bludgeoned him with the lamp, and Harding had shot him
point-blank Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm or gun can hit a target without the need to elevate the barrel to compensate for bullet drop, i.e. the gun can be pointed horizontally at the target. For targets beyond-blank range ...
with a .25 caliber pistol once in the chest and once in the left temple. Medical examiners attributed his cause of death to the first bullet causing perforation of his
spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue that extends from the medulla oblongata in the lower brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone) of vertebrate animals. The center of the spinal c ...
. Authorities found Concannon's body in the hotel room's bathroom. He had also been shot in the chest and temple, and the bullet wound had also perforated his spinal cord, but Concannon's death was not instantaneous like Wise's death was; rather, similarly to Dickerson and Gage, medical examiners attributed his cause of death to the socks pushed to the back of his throat and obstructing his breathing passage, thereby suffocating him. After going through Robert Wise's belongings, Harding found the victim's home address. He drove the stolen car to Wise's home, where he encountered Wise's wife, supposedly with the intention of murdering her and Wise's children. Wise, Wise's family, Concannon, and Gage were all strangers to Harding. Harding had one of Wise's business cards and pretended to know Wise, and after he identified himself under false pretenses, he asked Wise's wife if "Bob Wise" was home. Wise's wife told Harding Wise was not home, but that she was expecting him to be home shortly and he was late. Harding then left. Later, during Harding's trial for Wise's murder, his wife testified she believed Harding may have left her home so quickly because he was afraid of their family dog.


Apprehension

After the encounter with Robert Wise's wife, Harding drove the stolen car to a reserved parking lot on the campus of
Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1899, it was the third and final university established in the Arizona Territory. It is one of the three universities gove ...
in Flagstaff. The campus policeman who was monitoring the lot told Harding to park elsewhere; when he and Harding spoke, he noticed Harding had a southern accent in spite of his car sporting
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
license plates. The policeman called his police dispatcher and asked him to check the license number. While Harding drove away from the parking lot, the dispatcher returned with information about the car having been stolen and possibly involved in two homicides. The campus police officer then followed Harding, arrested him, and searched him, finding a .25 caliber pistol in one of his pockets, an identification card reading "Security Guard", another identification card reading "Special Officer", a Texas driver's license issued to a man named Ronald Gene Svetgoff, and an Oklahoma driver's license issued to the same man. Harding claimed he was Svetgoff, but police took him into custody anyway, where they eventually discovered his real identity. At the time of his capture, the FBI office in Flagstaff announced Harding was wanted for investigation in connection with a total of five murders, six kidnappings, 12 armed robberies, and four carjackings across Arizona, California,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
,
Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
, Utah,
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
, and Texas. By the time he was convicted of the murders that would result in him receiving the death penalty, Harding would be a prime suspect in a total of over 40 armed robberies and kidnappings, as well as seven murders. Harding was subsequently charged with the murders of Robert Wise and Martin Concannon, and he was booked into the jail in
Coconino County, Arizona Coconino County is a County (United States), county in the North Central Arizona, North-Central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. Its population was 145,101 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county seat is Flagstaff, Arizon ...
. When asked why he murdered some of his victims and not others, Harding replied, "Judgment calls."


Trials

While Harding awaited his trial for the two murders, he remained in custody. In October 1980, Harding assaulted a fellow jail inmate, leading to him being charged with dangerous or deadly assault by a prisoner. Harding chose to serve as his own counsel in this trial; a court also appointed a public defender to help Harding. Prior to the assault trial beginning, Harding threatened to harm his public defender and issued general threats towards other participants in the trial. Due to these threats, Harding was required to be restrained in leg irons during his trial. He was convicted of the assault on July 30, 1981, after which he was sentenced to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
without the possibility of parole for 25 years. Sometime later, Harding was transferred to the
Pima County Pima County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 List of counties in Arizona, counties in the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1 ...
Jail, where, in February, he attacked two guards. He attempted to stab one guard, while the other prevented him from doing so. Harding's trial for the murders began on April 21, 1982. During Harding's trial, deputy sheriffs cordoned off the first two rows of the courtroom's viewing gallery to prevent Harding from being able to take a hostage. One deputy reported that Harding had told him he was going to do something to prompt police to shoot him because he did not want to go to prison again. His defense attorney used the evidence of Harding's organic brain damage to build an argument that Harding could not prevent himself from acting on his "violent impulses" and was therefore not criminally responsible for his actions. Prosecutors countered by arguing that Harding's crimes were well planned and not impulsive. Although Harding primarily acted as his own attorney during his murder trial as well, with some assistance from a court-appointed public defender, he spent most of the trial seated with his eyes concealed by sunglasses, refusing to cross-examine witnesses or present a defense. After the prosecution and defense rested their cases, the jury deliberated for five hours before returning with their verdict on April 27, at 4:15 PM. Harding was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the killings of Robert Wise and Martin Concannon, as well as the armed robberies and kidnappings of both men and the theft of Concannon's car. On May 26, 1982, Harding's sentencing hearing took place. The trial court permitted Harding to present
mitigating circumstances In criminal law, a mitigating factor, also known as an extenuating circumstance, is any information or evidence presented to the court regarding the defendant or the circumstances of the crime that might result in reduced charges or a lesser sente ...
to argue against the imposition of the death penalty in his case and also offered him additional time to form his case, but Harding declined both the offer to present mitigating circumstances and the offer for extra time. The prosecution found four
aggravating circumstances Aggravation, in law, is "any circumstance attending the commission of a crime or tort which increases its guilt or enormity or adds to its injurious consequences, but which is above and beyond the essential constituents of the crime or tort itself" ...
, including his prior conviction for the life-threatening assault he had committed while in custody; the fact that he committed the murders for pecuniary gain; and the fact that the murders were committed in "an especially cruel, heinous, or depraved manner." Harding was formally sentenced to death for the two murders, and he also received two consecutive 21-year sentences for the robberies and two more consecutive five-year sentences for the theft of Concannon's car. Later, Harding received a third death sentence for the murder of Allen Gage, although this third sentence was imposed separately from the murders for Concannon and Wise. Harding was specifically executed after exhausting his appeals for the double murder.


Execution

Harding remained on
death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...
in Arizona for almost ten years. During that time, he filed a total of three appeals, all of which saw his murder convictions and death sentences upheld. At Harding's hearing before the Arizona Board of Pardons and Paroles, his defense attorneys repeated the arguments they used in Harding's trial regarding his organic brain damage. The board ultimately refused to recommend that then-Governor
Fife Symington John Fife Symington III (born August 12, 1945) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 19th governor of Arizona from 1991 until 1997. Symington, who is a member of the Republican Party, resigned from office in 1997 following ...
grant mercy in the form of a reprieve or commutation to life imprisonment. Prior to Harding's execution, around 150 people staged an anti-death penalty protest outside of the Florence State Prison walls. Harding's execution was scheduled to take place shortly after midnight on April 6, 1992. Martin Concannon's widow elected not to view the execution, but Warden Roger Crist, then-Attorney General Grant Woods, Harding's religious advisor, and six reporters were witnesses. Harding ate a
last meal A condemned prisoner's last meal is a customary ritual preceding execution. In many countries, the prisoner may, within reason, select what the last meal will be. Contemporary restrictions in the United States Contrary to the common belief t ...
consisting of fried eggs, several strips of bacon, toast with butter and honey, and orange juice. At approximately 12:05 a.m., Harding was led into the
gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History Donatie ...
. When the chamber was sealed, a curtain was lifted to allow witnesses to look at Harding; Attorney General Woods claimed Harding then looked at him and began yelling obscenities through the glass. Reporters claimed Harding also made obscene gestures with his middle finger towards Attorney General Woods as the gas spread in the chamber. Harding's attorney described the execution as "slow, painful, degrading, and inhumane," claiming Harding convulsed violently and repeatedly gasped for breath while his body shuddered with spasms for several minutes until he went still. Ultimately, Harding was pronounced dead ten minutes and 31 seconds after the hydrocyanic gas was released into the chamber. Harding was the first person executed in Arizona after the death penalty moratorium imposed by the 1972 ''
Furman v. Georgia ''Furman v. Georgia'', 408 U.S. 238 (1972), was a landmark criminal case in which the United States Supreme Court decided that arbitrary and inconsistent imposition of the death penalty violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, and const ...
'' ruling was lifted, and he was the first in the state since the 1963 gas chamber execution of Manuel Silvas.


Aftermath

Harding's execution generated controversy over the nature and duration of his death; the controversy provided momentum for state legislators to replace the gas chamber with
lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...
. Arizona State Representative Lela Steffey had proposed the change from the gas chamber earlier in 1992 due to concerns about air pollution involved in venting lethal gas after an execution, and Steffey stated polls showed a majority of Arizonans supported the switch to lethal injection; however, the movement did not gain momentum until after Harding's execution. Further propelling this move to change execution methods was the controversial and lengthy gas chamber
execution of Robert Alton Harris Robert Alton Harris (January 15, 1953 – April 21, 1992) was an American car thief, burglar, kidnapper, and serial killer who was executed at San Quentin State Prison in 1992 for the 1978 murders of two teenage boys in San Diego. His execution ...
in California on April 21, 1992. On April 25, the Arizona State House of Representatives passed a bill 41–7 to allow Arizona's death row inmates at the time to choose between the gas chamber and lethal injection. All death row inmates sentenced subsequent to the law change would not have the option to choose the gas chamber. During the 1992 election, a
referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
allowed Arizonans to vote on whether or not the state should adopt lethal injection; voters approved the change in execution method. Prisoners sentenced to death in Arizona prior to November 15, 1992, still had the option to choose the gas chamber. Harding was the last prisoner executed in Arizona's gas chamber without having lethal injection as an option, although he was not the last person to die in Arizona's gas chamber overall; in 1999, Walter LaGrand, who was sentenced to death in 1982, requested the gas chamber as his method of execution. To date, he is the most recent person to be executed by hydrogen cyanide gas in a gas chamber in the United States. Coverage of Harding's execution and its aftermath stated the warden threatened to quit if he were required to perform another gas chamber execution. ''
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'' and ''
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'' claimed Attorney General Woods became ill and vomited at the sight of Harding's convulsions. Woods later disputed those claims and stated that while he found the execution left a lasting impression with him and was disturbing, he still supported the death penalty in Harding's case and did not become ill at Harding's execution.


Victims

1979 * May (unknown day): Unidentified stabbing victim – Pulaski County, Arkansas * December 10: Stanton Winston Blanton, 27 – Dallas, Texas 1980 * January 3: Charles Dickerson, 35 – South Lake Tahoe, California * January 10: Gerald Huth, 39 – near Paso Robles, California * January 24: Allen F. Gage, 38 – Phoenix, Arizona (convicted) * January 25: Double killing – Tucson, Arizona ** Robert Wise, 35 (convicted) ** Martin Concannon, 33 (convicted)


See also

*
Capital punishment in Arizona Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Arizona. 96 executions have been carried out since Arizona became a state in 1912 and there are currently 110 people on death row. In November 2024, Attorney General Kris Mayes announced ...
* List of people executed in Arizona *
List of people executed in the United States in 1992 Thirty-one people, all male, were executed in the United States in 1992, twenty-one by lethal injection, eight by Electric chair, electrocution, and two by gas chamber. Mark Allen Hopkinson remains the only person executed in Wyoming since the dea ...
*
List of rampage killers in the United States A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, bu ...
*
List of serial killers in the United States A serial killer is typically a person who kills three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial murder a ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Donald Eugene 1949 births 1992 deaths 20th-century executions by Arizona 20th-century executions of American people Executed American mass murderers Mass murder in 1980 Mass murder in the United States in the 1980s People convicted of murder by Arizona People executed by Arizona by gas chamber People from Augusta, Arkansas