GASSED TO DEATH: DONALD HARDING (EXECUTED BY THE GAS CHAMBER ON APRIL 6, 1992 IN ARIZONA)

           On this date, April 6, 1992, Donald Harding was executed by the gas chamber in Arizona. He was convicted for the January 25, 1980 murders of Robert Wise and Martin Concannon. He was executed in 1992 by the state of Arizona by gas chamber. He became the first person to be executed in Arizona since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated. I will post information about him from Wikipedia and Murderpedia before giving my comments.

Donald Harding

Donald Eugene Harding (March 1, 1949 – April 6, 1992) was convicted of the January 25, 1980, murders of Robert Wise and Martin Concannon. He was executed in 1992 by the state of Arizona by gas chamber. He became the first person to be executed in Arizona since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated.

Harding's execution is also noteworthy in that his asphyxiation in the gas chamber took 11 minutes before death was finally confirmed. The state attorney general, Grant Woods, was a witness at the execution and Harding spent his last moments cursing Woods and giving him the middle finger. Contrary to media wire reports at the time, Woods claimed not to have become ill witnessing the execution.

This provided momentum for the movement to replace the gas chamber with lethal injection, and in November of that year, Arizona voters approved the change in method, although prisoners sentenced to death prior to November 15, 1992, could still choose the gas chamber. Harding thus became the last prisoner executed in Arizona's gas chamber without having lethal injection as an option (Walter LaGrand, who was sentenced to death in 1982, was executed in the gas chamber at his request).

Classification: Serial killer

Characteristics: Robberies

Number of victims: 7

Date of murders: 1979 - 1980

Date of arrest: January 26, 1980

Date of birth: March 1, 1949

Victims profile: Men

Method of murder: Shooting - Asphyxiation

Location: Arkansas/New Mexico/California/Arizona, USA

Status: Executed by asphyxiation-gas in Arizona on April 6, 1992

On January 25, 1980, probably by posing as a security guard, Harding managed to gain entrance to 5: Tucson motel room of Robert Wise and Martin Concannon. Harding hogtied both men with multiple ligatures and shot each A the head and chest from close range. Harding also beat Wise with a lamp and stuffed sock into Concannon's mouth. He then took various articles belonging to both men and departed in Concannon's car. 

About 8:00 p.m. that same day, Harding appeared at Wise's home in Mesa, knocked on the door, and asked Wise's wife whether "Bob" was them He had one of Wise's business cards in his left hand and kept his right hand in his pocket while he spoke with Mrs. Wise at the door. He left, probably because a child and a large dog were present. Harding was arrested in Flagstaff on January 26, 1980, while driving Concannon's car.

These are the other crimes that Donald Eugene Harding is accused of committing in the weeks after he sawed his way out of an Arkansas jail on Sept. 17, 1979:

• Attempting to rob a prostitute in Chicago on Sept. 27, 1979.
• Robbing a steakhouse in Omaha of $83,000 in cash and jewels, and pistol-whipping a patron on Sept. 30, 1979.
• Holding up a Knoxville, Tenn., bank on Oct. 23, 1979.
• The murder of Stanton Winston Blanton in Dallas on Dec. 10, 1979.
• The kidnapping and robbery of the B.R. Baker family in their north Dallas home on Dec. 11, 1979.
• Using a phony security guard's badge to enter insurance agent Ronald Svetgoff's motel room in Waco, Texas, before tying and gagging him, and stealing his car on Dec. 18, 1979.
• Tying up Clayton Hall, his wife and another couple, and robbing them in Dallas on Dec. 24, 1979.
• Robbing, hogtying and gagging Phillip Buss in a Salt Lake City hotel on Dec. 31, 1979, and stealing his car.
• Robbing and murdering Charles Dickerson on Jan. 3, 1980, in a motel in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. Dickerson was found beneath a bed, bound and gagged, and dead of asphyxiation.
• Pulling a .25-caliber automatic pistol on Frank Palmer of Sacramento, and tying him with cord and neckties from Palmer's apartment before stealing his car and credit card on Jan. 5, 1980.
• Asking to rent an apartment from Lyle and Margaret Murphy of Bakersfield, Calif., and then stealing their money and their car. --› Forcing Joseph Wohlers and his uncle, Robert Stoick, into their Los Angeles hotel room at gunpoint on Jan. 6, 1980, and hogtying them before taking their credit cards, luggage and car.
• Murdering and stealing a car from Gerald Huth, a businessman from Minnesota, on U.S. 101 near Paso Robles, Calif., on Jan. 10, 1980.
• Kidnapping and robbing Shirley Land and four others in her husband's San Diego optometry clinic Jan. 21, 1980.
• Using adhesive tape from Allan Gage's colostomy bag to tie his hands and feet while robbing him in a Phoenix motel room on Jan. 25, 1980. Gage suffocated on a sock stuffed in his mouth and secured with tape, and Harding later was convicted of the murder.

PROCEEDINGS

    Presiding Judge: Harry Gin
    Prosecutor:  Victor Wild
    Start of Trial: April 21, 1982
    Verdict: April 27, 1982
    Sentencing: May 26, 1982
    Execution:    April 6, 1992 

Aggravating Circumstances

    Prior conviction punishable by life imprisonment
    Prior conviction involving violence
    Pecuniary gain
    Especially depraved 

Mitigating Circumstances

    None 

PUBLISHED OPINIONS

    State v. Harding, 137 Ariz. 278, 670 P.2d 383 (1983).
    Harding v. Lewis, 641 F. Supp. 979 (D. Ariz. 1986).
    Harding v. Lewis, 834 F.2d 853 (9th Cir. 1987). 

Harding's gas-chamber execution lasted more than 11 minutes and was so gruesome that Arizonans voted to require prisoners condemned after November 1992 to be executed by lethal injection.

Last Meal

Several Fried Eggs, Several Strips of Bacon Toast, Butter, Honey and Orange Juice

Donald Eugene Harding (March 1, 1949 – April 6, 1992) was convicted of the January 25, 1980 murders of Robert Wise and Martin Concannon. He was executed in 1992 by the State of Arizona by gas chamber. He became the first person to be executed in Arizona since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated.

Harding's execution is also noteworthy in that his asphyxiation in the gas chamber took 11 minutes before death was finally confirmed. His death caused the reporters to be visibly upset.

This provided momentum for the movement to replace the gas chamber with lethal injection, and in November of that year, Arizona voters approved the change in method, although prisoners sentenced to death prior to November 15, 1992 could still choose the gas chamber. Harding thus became the last prisoner executed in Arizona's gas chamber without having lethal injection as an option (Karl-Heinz LaGrand chose the gas chamber in 1999).

Donald Harding at the crime scene.

Gruesome Death in Gas Chamber Pushes Arizona Toward Injections

The New York Times

April 25, 1992

The Arizona House of Representatives, its members disturbed by graphic accounts of the slow death of the first man executed in the state's gas chamber in 29 years, has voted to switch from gas to lethal injection. 

The change to a method presumed to be more humane passed the House 41 to 7 on Thursday. The State Senate is considered likely to pass an identical measure. After Senate approval, the matter would be put before the voters in November as an amendment to the state Constitution, which now specifies the use of gas. 

The change was proposed early this year but did not gain significant support until the April 6 execution of a triple murderer, Donald Eugene Harding, in the gas chamber at the state prison in Florence. 

Mr. Harding was not pronounced dead until 10 1/2 minutes after two cyanide pellets were dropped into a bowl of sulfuric acid beneath his chair. Witnesses described a gruesome scene: Mr. Harding gasping, shuddering and desperately making obscene gestures with both strapped-down hands. 

The campaign for change gained momentum on Tuesday when California had its first execution in 25 years. The California inmate, Robert Alton Harris, also took 10 minutes to die. 

Arizona, Maryland and California are the only states where gas is the sole method of execution. In Mississippi, prisoners who were given death sentences before 1974 are executed by gas and prisoners sentenced since then are executed by injection. 

The lethal-injection amendment was introduced early this year by State Representative Lela Steffey in response to complaints about the possible pollution involved in venting gas after an execution. 

Popular Support 

Ms. Steffey said polls showed that a majority of state residents supported the change. Among the backers is State Attorney General Grant Woods, who acknowledged being disturbed by watching Mr. Harding die. 

The chief opponent of the change was the head of the House Judiciary Committee, Patti Noland, a supporter of victims' rights whose son was shot to death last year during a traffic dispute. 

But she changed her mind because, she said, victims would like to eliminate what they see as a delaying tactic by defense lawyers -- the argument that gas amounts to unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment. 

Arizona hanged its murderers until 1930, when a condemned woman was accidentally decapitated. The state switched to the gas chamber in 1933 on the ground that it was more humane. 

Arizona Conducts First Execution in 29 Years

April 7, 1992 - The New York Times

Arizona conducted its first execution in 29 years today, putting to death a triple murderer who made obscene gestures while he was strapped in the gas chamber. 

The prisoner, Donald Eugene Harding, 43 years old, was executed just after midnight after a flurry of appeals. He was pronounced dead 10 1/2 minutes after cyanide pellets were dropped into a bowl of sulfuric acid beneath his chair to release the gas. 

As he waited, Mr. Harding gestured as if to urge the executioner to get started. At least twice, once while in the throes of death, Mr. Harding extended his middle finger. At the time, he had straps across his forearms. 

Mr. Harding was sentenced to die for the 1980 murders of two businessmen, Robert Wise of Mesa and Martin Concannon of Tucson, who were robbed, hogtied, beaten and shot in a Tucson hotel in 1980. 

He was also convicted of killing a man in similar fashion a day earlier in a Phoenix motel and was linked to at least three other slayings, one in Arkansas and two in California. 

It was the first execution in Arizona since 1963, when Manuel Silvas died in the gas chamber for fatally shooting his estranged pregnant girlfriend. 

Mr. Harding became the 168th person put to death since the United States Supreme Court allowed states to resume use of capital punishment in 1976. 

Since then, 36 states have put the death penalty back in the books, and Arizona became the 19th state to carry it out. Delaware conducted its first execution in nearly 46 years on March 14, when Steven Brian Pennell was put to death. On April 21, Robert Alton Harris is scheduled to die for the 1978 murder of two teen-agers in California's first execution in 25 years. 

Late Sunday, the Arizona Board of Pardons and Paroles refused to recommend that Gov. Fife Symington grant Mr. Harding a reprieve or commute his sentence to life in prison. 

Late-hour appeals were rejected in turn by the state Supreme Court, a Federal judge in Tucson, a Federal appeals court and the United States Supreme Court. 

Defense lawyers had told the parole board that Mr. Harding suffered brain damage at birth that prevented him from restraining violent impulses. Prosecutors said the crimes were well-planned, not impulsive. 

Execution Pace Climbs As Appeals Run Course

March 27, 1992 - The New York Times

Arizona is checking its gas chamber. The state may need it for the first time in 29 years on April 6, when it is scheduled to execute Donald Harding for the killing of three men. 

California may soon carry out its first execution in a quarter-century. 

And Delaware executed a killer this month for the first time since 1946. 

Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, a half-dozen Southern states have performed most of the nation's executions. But now the pace of them is accelerating, and more states are making use of the death penalty. 

A big reason is that prisoners are exhausting their appeals in state and Federal courts, a process that can last years, say lawyers who specialize in death penalty cases. Back by Public Demand 

At the same time, the Supreme Court is spurning last-ditch requests for stays and curtailing condemned prisoners' access to Federal courts for appeals. Moreover, politicians are coming under pressure to take a hard line against crime. 

"The American public wants it," said the Pennsylvania Attorney General, Ernie Preate. "They're fed up with the criminals getting away with 'murder' and they want to see them pay." 

Every year criminals take about 22,000 lives, and every year 250 to 300 people are sentenced to die. More than 2,500 men and women are on the nation's death rows, according to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. 

Since the Supreme allowed states to resume capital punishment, 166 men and one woman have been executed. 

Prosecutors have recourse to the death penalty in 36 states, the military and Federal courts; so far, 18 states have used it, with three-quarters of the executions in six states: Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, Virginia and Alabama. 

"The death penalty is largely a symbolic method," said Ernest van den Haag, a retired Fordham University professor who writes about capital punishment and favors it. "In effect, we have a death penalty, but we don't really carry it out." 10 Men This Year 

The numbers suggest the pace of executions is increasing: 10 men have been executed so far this year, compared with 14 all of last year and 23 in 1990. 

Delaware had its first execution in almost 46 years on March 14, when Steven Brian Pennell, 34 years old, was put to death. He was sentenced to die for the murders of two women and had been convicted of two other killings. 

In Arizona, Mr. Harding, 42, is scheduled to die next month for the 1980 robbery-slayings of three businessmen. And in California, Robert Alton Harris, 39, is condemned to die on April 21 for the 1978 murders of two teen-agers. 

Mr. Van den Haag predicted that the number of executions could rise to 35 a year. But that would still be far fewer than in the mid-1930's, when executions reached a peak of 199 one year. 

In the debate on capital punishment, advocates cite polls showing that up to 80 percent of the American people favor a death penalty. Opponents say support drops sharply when those polled are given an alternative or asked to specify which crimes should be punished by death. 

Robert Domer, 72, of Canton, Ohio, who was on Ohio's death row in the mid-1960's for a year and a half, said advocates of the death penalty confused it with being tough on criminals. 'It's Grim. It's Grim.' 

"Capital punishment to them means being tough, hard line," said Mr. Domer, who was acquitted after winning a new trial in the killing of a hitchhiker. "Most people don't have any idea. It's grim. It's grim." 

The debate is being played out at the ballot box and in the statehouse. 

Gov. William Weld of Massachusetts, a Republican, is seeking to bring back the death penalty there, where it was last used in 1947. A close vote is anticipated. 

In New York, Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, a Democrat, has repeatedly rebuffed attempts by lawmakers to reinstate the death penalty, which was last used in the state in 1963. 

The rising number of executions reflects the people's will, said Marvin White, a Mississippi assistant attorney general who favors capital punishment. "This is a democracy, you know," he said. "The people know what they're doing." 

Execution American Style

By John Dean

Friday, Jun. 22, 2001

The Arizona Gas Execution

In 1992, just 18 days before Harris filed his case, Arizona had executed Don Eugene Harding in its gas chamber. Following that horrifying experience, Arizona's attorney general and state legislature put an end to the gas chamber as the only method of execution used by the state.

Why? An eyewitness account of Don Eugene Harding's execution — recounted later in the Supreme Court's 1992 decision in Gomez v. U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California — provides a breathtaking explanation:

When the fumes enveloped Don's head he took a quick breath. A few seconds later he again looked in my direction. His face was red and contorted as if he were attempting to fight through tremendous pain. His mouth was pursed shut and his jaw was clenched tight. Don then took several more quick gulps of the fumes. 

At this point Don's body started convulsing violently . . . . His face and body turned a deep red and the veins in his temple and neck began to bulge until I thought they might explode. 

After about a minute Don's face leaned partially forward, but he was still conscious. Every few seconds he continued to gulp in. He was shuddering uncontrollably and his body was racked with spasms. His head continued to snap back. His hands were clenched. 

After several more minutes, the most violent of the convulsions subsided. At this time the muscles along Don's left arm and back began twitching in a wave-like motion under his skin. Spittle drooled from his mouth . . . . 

Don did not stop moving for approximately eight minutes, and after that he continued to twitch and jerk for another minute. Approximately two minutes later, we were told by a prison official that the execution was complete. 

Don Harding took ten minutes and thirty-one seconds to die.

Cruel and unusual? It takes one cold, mean s.o.b. to say it is not. 

COMMENTS:

            Donald Harding was obviously unrepentant for the murders he committed, given the fact that he was cursing, swearing and giving the middle finger before his death. Although he did suffer before he was terminated from the planet earth, I felt that he need to feel it that way. His victims did not get a chance to appeal or say goodbye to their families, at least he got the chance to do so.

            As I never agree to a painless death of the lethal injection, I feel the gas chamber should be used to at least make criminals think twice before killing. Please see this article from Grant Woods.