State v. Murray
| Decision Date | 29 August 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 36,137-KA.,36,137-KA. |
| Citation | 827 So.2d 488 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana, Appellee, v. Michael Lewis MURRAY, Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Amy C. Ellender, Paula C. Marx, Lafayette, Louisiana Appellate Project, for Appellant.
Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Paul J. Carmouche, District Attorney, Dale Cox, Assistant District Attorney, for Appellee.
Before NORRIS, GASKINS and PEATROSS, JJ.
The defendant, Michael Lewis Murray, appeals his conviction for second degree murder. For the following reasons, the conviction and sentence are affirmed.
In 1998, the defendant joined a church-affiliated singles group. The victim of the present offense, Ron Green, was also a member of the group. Mr. Green was a self-employed disc jockey and assembled sound equipment at his home in Bossier City. The defendant did computer work at his home. The two men were friends who frequently collaborated with each other on sound and computer projects. They often e-mailed each other. The defendant had been to the victim's house on numerous occasions. Both men were on the board of the singles group and saw each other at least weekly for about two years.
The victim was very popular and dated numerous women in the singles group, including some that were also on the board. The victim had a girlfriend in the group, Katie Mayeaux, but they had an open relationship and dated others simultaneously. At one point, the defendant and the victim both socialized with Ms. Mayeaux. However, at that time, the defendant did not know that she dated the victim. Apparently, the defendant was surprised when he learned about this.
For a brief time, the defendant had his own girlfriend in the group, Mary Tellez, who did not date the victim. However, Ms. Tellez stated that the defendant frequently warned her about the victim. He told her that the victim would try to use her. According to Ms. Tellez, the defendant said that he was upset over the way the victim was running the singles group and was aggravated that the victim was having sex with the women on the board. Ms. Tellez couldn't remember if she told the defendant about instances in which she had lunch with the victim to discuss the business of the singles group. After about six months, Ms. Tellez ended her relationship with the defendant, but they remained friends.
The defendant voiced to several of his friends his displeasure with the victim, indicating that he felt the victim was using his romantic associations with the female board members to gain control of the board and the singles group.
The defendant's family owned houses on Wagner Street and on Laguna Street in Shreveport. At the time of the offense, the defendant lived with his children on Laguna Street and used the Wagner Street house for storage. He and his wife were divorced, and he had custody of his 11-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son. In late summer 2000, the defendant's children were visiting their mother in Arkansas.
On July 29, 2000, the defendant accompanied Ms. Tellez to a local water park. A former member of the singles group saw them there and inquired if they were back together. The defendant said they were not. The friend asked how things were going in the singles group. The defendant responded, "Not so well, but that may change soon." That night due to bad weather, Ms. Tellez stayed at the defendant's house. She testified that "one thing led to another." They conceived a child that evening that was a little more than two months old at the time of trial.
On July 30, 2000, the defendant saw a friend at church and they talked for 10 to 15 minutes. The defendant expressed displeasure over a lecture the victim had given to the singles group. He also stated that he thought the victim controlled the group and that the victim was "doing" three of the women in the group.
On the afternoon of Monday, August 7, 2000, the defendant shot and killed the victim. The defendant gave the following account of what transpired. The defendant called the victim several times that day to get him to come to the house on Wagner Street. Although he had never asked the victim for a ride before, the defendant claimed that he needed to drop his uncle's car off at the airport and wanted the victim to follow him out there and bring him home. He also claimed that he wanted the victim to give him some advice about repairing a china cabinet stored at the Wagner Street house. He stated that he wanted to ask the victim about the substitution of a component in a circuit the victim had designed. He further claimed that, because the victim was knowledgeable about guns, he wanted the victim to advise him as to the price he might be able to get for his .38 caliber revolver. According to the defendant, they had discussed the gun before at the singles group, but did not discuss the gun on the phone that day, because the victim did not like to talk about guns on the phone.
The defendant called the victim's house at 11:33 a.m., 12:10 p.m., and 12:29 p.m., but got no answer. The victim returned the defendant's call at 12:30 p.m. The victim had some other calls to return and the defendant said that he would call the victim back shortly. At 12:59 p.m., the defendant again called the victim and asked him to come to the Wagner Street house. He then got the gun out, which was loaded, and waited for the victim to arrive.
According to the defendant, the victim arrived at the Wagner Street house around 1:20 p.m. The defendant testified that he was outside. He shook hands with the victim and they went inside the house. The defendant contended that the victim did not seem to be as charismatic as he usually was. The victim gave an opinion about the furniture that was not to the defendant's liking. He stated that some particle board on the piece was probably broken. The defendant thought that the cabinet predated particle board.
As the defendant examined the furniture himself, the victim walked over and picked up the gun. The defendant claimed that he warned the victim that the gun was loaded. The victim made a comment about people not doing what they tell you and mentioned that he had asked Ms. Mayeaux to marry him. The defendant went to the kitchen for some bottles of water for the trip to the airport. When he returned to the living room, he asked the victim if he had unloaded the gun. The victim did not answer, but asked, "Why do people lie to you?" as he waved the gun around, talking with his hands. The defendant asked the victim to point the gun the other way. The victim turned back to the defendant, pointed the gun at him and asked, "How does it feel?" The defendant said that the victim had almost a grin or a smile on his face as he moved toward the defendant and it was almost as if he were looking through the defendant.
The defendant claimed that he reached to take the gun, but the victim resisted. The defendant said that he told the victim to give him the gun, but the victim did not respond. The defendant stated that they fell to the living room floor in a struggle for the gun, with all four of their hands on the gun. The defendant contended that the victim kicked him in the face and chest and that he bit the victim's calf. The victim was five feet nine inches tall, weighed between 140 and 150 pounds, and was in good physical shape. The defendant was five feet eleven inches tall, weighed approximately 202 pounds, and was not as physically fit as the victim.
As the struggle for the gun continued, the defendant began to tire. He claimed that he jerked the gun and it discharged, striking the victim in the right leg. The victim relaxed and the defendant took control of the gun. Both men stood up. The victim said, "You shot me," and started toward the defendant. The defendant claimed that he then shot the victim twice in the chest. The defendant stated that at that point, he passed out. When the defendant revived, he claimed that the victim was dead.
Instead of calling for help, the defendant contended that he panicked and was afraid that he would lose his children. He stated that he thought the story of what transpired would sound illogical. The defendant stated, "I thought well, maybe I can make it disappear and I considered covering it up at that point...." He said that he wanted to keep his children and that he would walk into a burning building to save his children. He stated that, "Covering this up seemed like a relatively small thing compared to that."
The defendant tried to conceal this incident. He moved the body to the bathtub in the house. He used a kitchen knife to cut the victim's throat, severing the jugular and the windpipe. The defendant claimed he did this to get rid of the blood because the sight of blood made him ill. He turned on the air conditioner and wet the body down, thinking that evaporation would keep it cooler. He removed some boxes that the victim had bled upon and tried to get blood stains out of the carpet. The defendant took the victim's pager, car keys, and some other items and hid them at his house on Laguna Street.
The defendant had a long-time friend, Walter Weferling. The defendant frequently worked for Weferling installing computer and telephone networks. Weferling called the defendant on the afternoon of August 7, 2000, and asked whether he would be available to do some work. The defendant asked Weferling to help him move a car later in the day. At around midnight, the defendant called Weferling to help with the car. The defendant drove the victim's car back to his home in Bossier City near the Cordova apartments. Weferling followed and gave the defendant a ride back to the Wagner Street house. Weferling said that when the defendant got out of the victim's car, he was holding a rag. On the way home, the defendant told Weferling that he had shot and killed someone and asked about rigor mortis. The next morning, Weferling contacted the police.
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