Bio 

Richard Lewis Jordan was born on October 21, 1930. He was married and had a daughter. He had also served in the United States Armed Forces and had been treated as a patient in several Veterans Administration hospitals.

Before the murder of Phyllis Mae Thompson, Jordan had worked in mental institutions and had also been a patient in mental health facilities. Court-related records state that psychiatrists examined him and determined that he was not psychotic and that he knew the difference between right and wrong. The available materials also state that he had no prior felony convictions. An attempted murder charge in Mississippi was reportedly dropped after the complaining witness declined to proceed.

By May 1954, Jordan was living in or near Tucson, Arizona. The records describe him as frequenting local bars, including the Club Esquire and the Tropical Inn. It was at the Club Esquire that he met Phyllis Mae Thompson on the evening of May 24, 1954.

Murder Story

On May 24, 1954, Phyllis Mae Thompson arrived in Tucson, Arizona, while traveling from California back toward her home in Lyons, Colorado. She went to the Club Esquire in Tucson to deliver a message to the manager from the manager’s brother in Denver. At the bar, she met Richard Lewis Jordan after being introduced by the manager’s wife.

Thompson was 23 years old. Witnesses stated that she drank soft drinks, while Jordan drank beer. The two left the Club Esquire together and went to the Tropical Inn on East Speedway. They later returned to the Club Esquire and eventually left together again late that night. Thompson was not seen alive again.

The next afternoon, May 25, 1954, her body was found in the desert near Indian Ruins Road, several miles northeast of Tucson. She had been disrobed except for one shoe. Her clothing was found hundreds of feet away on the opposite side of the road. The body had multiple stab wounds, including 16 wounds to the chest area and 12 slashes to the face. Four wounds had penetrated the heart and caused death.

Investigators found tire tracks and footprints near the area where the body and clothing were discovered. Plaster casts were made of footprints leading from the tire tracks toward the body. Prosecutors later argued that one footprint matched the measurements of Jordan’s right shoe and showed a hole in the sole similar to a hole in his shoe. Evidence of a struggle was also found near the body.

Jordan was arrested early on May 26, 1954. Officers found a knife in the glove compartment of his car. Blood on the knife matched the same blood type and Rh factor as Thompson’s blood. Investigators also found blood on Jordan’s clothing and gloves, as well as on the right side of the front seat of his car. Thompson’s fountain pen was found in Jordan’s vehicle, and her overnight bag and purse were found near his home. According to the prosecution, Jordan orally admitted killing Thompson but refused to put that admission in writing. In a written statement, he said he might or might not have killed her and claimed he had blacked out and could not remember what happened.

The day after Thompson’s body was found, Jordan continued drinking and met a man named James Clark. The two ended up on Silverbell Road west of Tucson. Jordan allegedly shot Clark, striking him in the eye and blinding him. The reason for that attack was not established in the available records. Jordan was arrested in connection with the shooting of Clark, and investigators then linked him to Thompson’s murder.

Jordan was first tried in Pima County Superior Court in August 1954. On August 23, 1954, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and imposed the death penalty. He appealed, and the Arizona Supreme Court reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial.

Jordan was tried again in 1956. On October 6, 1956, a jury again found him guilty of first-degree murder and assessed the death penalty. He was sentenced to die on December 18, 1956. Further appeals and stays delayed the execution. Richard Lewis Jordan was executed in Arizona’s gas chamber on November 22, 1958. He was 28 years old.