Execution Report: Ivan Murphy

Continued from Page 1

A jury convicted Murphy of capital murder in October 1990 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Courts of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence in September 1993. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Douglas Wayne Stoff received a life sentence for murder. In September 1995, he received an additional 5-year sentence for possession of a deadly weapon in prison.

"I wasn't there," Murphy insisted in an interview the day before his execution. "No way I can be associated with this crime. I know I got framed." He said that he was drunk when he confessed to being at Denning's house on the day of her murder. "Police took advantage of me because I was in a drunken stupor," he said.

Of the shooting incident in Oklahoma, Murphy said that he was responding to someone who shot at him. "I was wrong for having a gun," he said. "But that's what happens when you're weak. To me, I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. It's a case of bad luck."

"This is a celebration of life, not death," Murphy said in his final statement. "Through Jesus Christ we have victory over death." He thanked Pope John Paul II and others for prayers, love, and support. "Father, let your will be done," he concluded. He was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m.

After the execution, Denning's sons, Perry and Richard, expressed anger toward Murphy for his lack of remorse. Although "Christianity is about the Lord's forgiveness," Perry said, it also involves "acknowledgment of one's sins of the past, and there was absolutely none of that." "'Sorry' would have helped a lot," Richard said.

By David Carson. Posted on 5 December 2003.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Associated Press, Houston Chronicle, Huntsville Item.