The Twilight Zone – Murry Murder Trial
By Shari Dovale
The Murry murder trial has gone into the Twilight Zone. District Attorney Larry Haskell believes he has put on a strong and solid case against Roy Murry.
Murry is on trial for triple murder and arson, as well as being charged with attempted murder of his now ex-wife, Amanda Constable. The crimes took place in May 2015 just north of Spokane, Washington.
In the past few days, we have seen a string of ‘expert’ witnesses brought into the courtroom. They have been from police departments, the Washington State Police Crime Lab, and more. They have all spent considerable time on the stand explaining their qualifications to prove their expertise.
Then, they all testify that they cannot tie the defendant to the crime scene.
The detective from the Lewiston police department that went to see Murry the morning after the murders testified. He saw Roy in his Lewiston apartment, just out of the shower and getting ready for the day. “Just like everyone else,” he tells the court.
He made a point of sniffing around for accelerants, since the case involved arson. He didn’t find anything. He said in his testimony that it looked like Murry had been there all night.
The forensic scientists from the crime lab testified. They tested the boots and shoes – nothing. They tested the clothes – nothing.
They could not find any fingerprints for Murry.
The DNA expert tested 18 different items and could not directly tie Murry to any of them. She could, however, specifically exclude him from many of them.
And so it went….
Finally, we got to hear the interview that Spokane Detective Keyser had with Murry the day after the murder; Murry did not present a very good alibi – camping with some friends from the intelligence community – and that he could not disclose their names . . .
As far as has been testified to, it has never been able to be verified. That is a bad point on the defense, but, it may be the only one.
There has been no evidence placing the defendant at the scene of the crime.
There have been accusations, but no evidence.
There has been innuendo, but no evidence.
I admit that I am not an attorney, nor do I work in the legal field. I have not watched a thousand court trials, but I have watched a few.
I have never seen a case quite like this one. The prosecution has told everyone that Murry is a bad guy. He likes guns. He likes emergency supplies, like food and medical equipment. He doesn’t trust the government. He talks about Russian conspiracies.
But is this enough to prove murder and take his life and freedom from him?
No one can tell how a jury will respond. We will wait and see.
