State v. Murphy
| Decision Date | 30 December 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 91-1675,91-1675 |
| Citation | 605 N.E.2d 884,65 Ohio St.3d 554 |
| Parties | The STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. MURPHY, Appellant. |
| Court | Ohio Supreme Court |
Mrs. Predmore was a member of a philanthropic organization known as the "Kings Daughters and Sons". Since approximately 1983, the organization had collected pennies to support its charitable activities. As treasurer of the organization, Mrs. Predmore maintained custody of the pennies and other funds of the organization (which exceeded $100) at her home. The pennies were not in rolls but were instead retained loose by Mrs. Predmore.
In mid-January 1987, appellant told his girlfriend, Brenda Cogar, that he intended to write a note to Mrs. Predmore demanding money and threatening her with death if she did not comply. On January 27, 1987, Mrs. Predmore visited a Lawson's store in her neighborhood near the intersection of Davids Street and Bellefontaine Avenue. While at the store, she talked to Janice Colby, a sales clerk, and displayed to her a note which she had received. The note stated as follows:
On February 1, 1987, at approximately 7:00 p.m., appellant left his parents' home, clad in a blue tee-shirt, blue jeans, tennis shoes, maroon vest and brown jacket with white fleece lining. He went to the Sohio gasoline station on the corner of Davids Street and Bellefontaine Avenue and requested penny wrappers. A clerk provided used penny wrappers. At approximately 9:00 p.m., appellant telephoned his mother and informed her that he had found a credit card.
The same evening, between 9:00 p.m. and midnight, Mrs. Predmore was killed by a five-inch knife wound to her neck. The knife severed the trachea, the esophagus, and the right and left carotid arteries and jugular veins.
At approximately 10:30 p.m., appellant returned home. Although his hands and face were covered with blood, he displayed no cuts or bruises on his body. There was no blood on his clothing. He explained that the blood was the result of a fight. Thereafter, he went to the bedroom of his brother Michael where they counted pennies and placed them in paper rolls. The next morning, appellant had a black bag of pennies in paper rolls, some of which he offered his mother to purchase cigarettes.
On February 3, 1987, appellant entered the Lawson's store, showed the manager some rolled pennies in a dark bag and asked whether she would exchange the coins for currency. The manager declined.
Jackie Valentine was a supervisor for the Homemaker and Chore Program of the Marion County Department of Human Services, which delivered meals to the elderly who were unable to leave their homes. On February 2, 1987, Valentine received a telephone call informing her that Mrs. Predmore had not responded when a meal was delivered to her home. Upon arriving at the home of Mrs. Predmore, Valentine entered the unlocked front door and discovered the lifeless body of Mrs. Predmore. Valentine thereafter summoned the Marion city police.
The first officer to arrive, Detective Sammie L. Justice, discovered footprints in blood on the front porch and blood splattered on the screen door and wooden front door. Thereafter, Agents Robert D. Setzer and David Barnes of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation ("BCI") searched the Predmore residence. They discovered in the living room the note that Ruth Predmore had previously shown to Janice Colby. Agent Setzer also took blood samples from the shoeprints found on the porch of the Predmore house. Subsequent analysis revealed that the blood was of Ruth Predmore's type.
Meanwhile, as some of the members of the Murphy family were preparing to travel to West Virginia, they noticed the police activity at the Predmore home down the street. Appellant appeared agitated and ventured the opinion that Mrs. Predmore must have been murdered. Thereafter, appellant placed a telephone call to Cynthia Nichols, his aunt, and asked her whether he could stay with her for a while at her residence at the Wood Valley Trailer Park in Caledonia, Ohio. After she agreed, appellant and Brenda Cogar departed for Caledonia at approximately 8:00 p.m. After their arrival, appellant admitted to Cogar that he had killed Mrs. Predmore by slashing her throat with a knife he had taken from a collection of his brother.
On February 3, 1987, Detective Wayne J. Creasap discovered a wallet belonging to Mrs. Predmore underneath a shrub, approximately fifty yards south of the Murphy residence.
Thereafter, police searched the Murphy residence and found a pair of gloves, a brown windbreaker jacket with white fleece, a woman's purse, penny wrappers, rolled pennies and writing paper of the type upon which the note found in the Predmore home was written. A subsequent search of the residence revealed a pair of blood-stained blue jeans.
Police then travelled to Caledonia, arrested appellant and advised him of his rights to remain silent and to have the assistance of counsel.
At approximately 8:06 p.m., BCI agents searched the house trailer of Cynthia Nichols. Among the items recovered were a pair of tennis shoes and a maroon blood-stained vest. Subsequent analysis of the tennis shoes, the gloves, the jacket, the purse and blue jeans revealed the presence of Type A blood. While both appellant and Mrs. Predmore had Type A blood, Mrs. Predmore had blood containing a PGM 1+ enzyme factor while the appellant had a PGM 2+ enzyme factor. Sixteen percent of the population have blood of the type and enzyme factor of Mrs. Predmore's. The blue jeans recovered from the home of appellant had blood stains of those characteristics.
Meanwhile, appellant was transported to the Marion police station. Upon arrival, appellant was again advised of his constitutional rights and acknowledged that he understood them. Following both oral and written instructions regarding his rights, appellant executed a written waiver prior to any conversation with police detectives. The subsequent interview was taped and a transcription thereof produced. During the interview, Sergeant John Gosnell of the Marion County Sheriff's Department alluded to prior criminal acts of appellant involving arson and breaking and entering. Appellant acknowledged that he had written the note found in the home of Mrs. Predmore, which she had previously shown to Janice Colby.
On February 4, 1987, appellant sent word from jail that he wished to continue the interview.
This second interview was likewise taped and transcribed. At approximately 11:13 p.m., appellant was again advised of his rights and again executed a waiver form. During this interview, appellant denied any involvement in the death of Mrs. Predmore and implicated Alvie Coykendall, his brother-in-law, in the crime. Appellant volunteered to submit to a polygraph examination.
On February 8, 1987, police again searched the Murphy residence, and recovered a knife lodged in the concrete foundation of the home. It was part of the collection belonging to David Murphy, the brother of appellant. Analysis On February 11, 1987, appellant was indicted by the Marion County Grand Jury on one count of aggravated murder with two death penalty specifications, one count of aggravated robbery, one count of aggravated burglary and one count of extortion.
of the knife revealed traces of blood. Shortly after this search, Murphy's mother discovered a plastic bank card bearing the name of Ruth Predmore under a mattress in a basement bedroom of her home.
Count One of the Indictment and the specifications thereto provided as follows: "COUNT I: [Joseph Dwayne Murphy] on or about the 1st day of February, 1987, did, purposely cause the death of Ruth Predmore while committing, attempting to commit, or fleeing immediately after committing or attempting to commit the offense of aggravated robbery in violation of Ohio Revised Code Section 2911.01, thus in violation of Section 2903.01 of the Ohio Revised Code, this being the offense of aggravated murder.
On March 17, 1987, appellant again notified authorities at the Marion County Jail that he wished to speak with a police officer. Appellant was again advised orally and in writing regarding his constitutional rights and executed a rights waiver form. In this third interview, which was likewise taped and transcribed, appellant maintained that, while he had been involved in the murder, Alvie Coykendall was the principal offender.
On March 17, 1987, appellant filed a motion to suppress any oral and written statements given by him to police...
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