Robert and Roger Murray were sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for a double murder
According to court documents Robert and Roger Murray would break into a home where they would fatally shoot Dean Morrison and Jackie Appelhans before robbing the home and fleeing
Robert and Roger Murray would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Robert Murray would die from natural causes on Arizona death row
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ROGER W. MURRAY 094262
PO Box 3400
Florence, AZ 85132
United States
Roger Murray Case
Dean Morrison (Morrison), age 65, and Jacqueline Appelhans (Appelhans), age 60, operated a store and restaurant in Grasshopper Junction, a rural area outside Kingman, Arizona. See State v. Murray, 184 Ariz. 9, 906 P.2d 542, 553 (1995). On May 14, 1991, between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m., an acquaintance discovered the bodies of Morrison and Appelhans lying face down, in their bathrobes, after being shot multiple times in the head. See id. at 553–54.
At the crime scene, a revolver was found on the couch and a .22 caliber semiautomatic rifle was leaning against the wall. See id. at 554. Near the bodies were various .22 and .38 caliber bullets, as well as shotgun pellets. See id. Two weeks after the crime, Morrison’s sister found a .25 caliber bullet in the pantry. See id.
In the living room, drawers were pulled out and the contents scattered. See id. The bedrooms and kitchen were also ransacked. See id. A .303 rifle was on a bed and $172 was on a desk chair. See id. Morrison’s wallet containing $800 was undisturbed in his pants pocket. See id. The drawer from the cash register in the store had been removed, and the gas register was left on. See id. Morrison’s glasses, a flashlight, and a set of keys were found on the patio of the store. See id. In addition, three live .38 caliber bullets were found near the gas pumps. See id.
Detective Lent of the Mohave County Sheriff’s Department and another officer found and noted four sets of footprints, other than those of the investigating officers and the acquaintance who discovered the bodies. See id. Two sets of footprints belonged to the victims, a third set was made by tennis shoes, and the fourth set by western boots. See id. A different set of three footprints were made by the tennis shoes, the western boots, and Morrison’s slippers. See id. Morrison’s footprints indicated resistance by him. See id. At the time of their arrest, Roger was wearing tennis shoes and Robert was wearing western boots, both of which were consistent with the footprints analyzed at the crime scene. See id. at 553–54.
Morrison’s autopsy revealed that he had suffered a shotgun blast that shattered his skull. See id. He also suffered two gunshot wounds from a large caliber pistol. See id. at 554–55. A .38 caliber bullet was recovered from the back of his neck and large caliber buckshot was removed from his head. See id. at 555. Found next to Morrison was a fired .38 caliber bullet. See id. Morrison had lacerations and abrasions on his face, elbow, forearm, knee, and thigh. See id. The autopsy revealed that these injuries occurred at approximately the same time as the gunshot wounds. See id.
Appelhans was shot with at least three different guns. See id. A shotgun blast shattered her head. See id. Two .38 caliber slugs were removed from her skull. See id. She also suffered .22 caliber wounds that entered at the back of the neck and exited her face. See id. Aspiration hemorrhaging in her lungs indicated a lapse of time between the initial gunshot and death. See id. The shotgun blast was definitely lethal, and the .38 caliber bullets were also a possible cause of death. See id.
Before the bodies were discovered, police officers found one of Morrison’s tow trucks abandoned on Interstate 40 westbound near Kingman, Arizona. See id. at 553. Roger and Robert were arrested on unrelated charges on Interstate 40 eastbound near Holbrook, Arizona. See id. The brothers were driving a Ford sedan with Alabama license plates. See id. at 554. When an officer attempted to stop the vehicle, the brothers fled, driving in excess of eighty-five miles per hour. See id. During their flight, the brothers breached a manned and armed roadblock. See id. The brothers stopped only after their vehicle ran off the road into a wash that impeded further progress. See id. Robert, the driver, threw a .38 revolver containing four bullets from the car. See id. Roger discarded a loaded .25 semiautomatic pistol. See id. Additionally, Robert had two spent shotgun shell casings in his pants pocket. See id.
A loaded twelve gauge sawed-off shotgun and shotgun shells were discovered inside the car. See id. A checkered cushion cover that matched the cushion on Morrison’s couch contained rolled coins stamped “Dean’s Enterprises, Grasshopper Junction, Kingman, Arizona, 86401.” Id. A blue pillow case contained approximately $1400 in coin rolls and $3300 in cash. See id. Gloves and a hotel receipt were also in the vehicle. See id. Records from the hotel indicated that the brothers had listed a Ford sedan, the description of which matched the vehicle they were driving at the time of their arrest, on the hotel registration card. See id. Officers retrieved from the sedan an atlas with circles around the locations of two rural establishments, the Oasis and Grasshopper Junction, which were not otherwise indicated on the map. See id.
Keys found in Robert’s pants pocket were later identified as the keys to a pickup truck on Morrison’s property. See id. A scanner and connecting knob in the sedan fit an empty bracket in the abandoned tow truck. See id. It was determined that the casings found at the crime scene and in Robert’s pocket were fired from the guns possessed by Roger and Robert. See id. at 555.
Human blood and tissue were found on Robert’s shirt, on Roger’s pants, and on the cushion cover. See id. The blood on Roger’s pants could have come from either victim or from Robert, but not from Roger. See id. The blood on Robert’s shirt was consistent with that of either victim, but not with the blood of Roger or Robert. See id. The blood on the cushion cover could have come from Appelhans, but not from Morrison or the Murrays. See id. No DNA tests were conducted. See id.
The brothers were indicted for the first degree murders of Morrison and Appelhans and for the armed robbery of Morrison. See id. A jury convicted them of all charges. See id. The first degree murder verdicts were unanimous for both premeditated murder and felony murder. See id. After separate sentencing hearings, the trial court found that the state had proven three aggravating circumstances as to each defendant: the murders were committed for pecuniary gain, as defined in A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(5);2 the murders were especially heinous, cruel or depraved, as provided in § 13-703(F)(6); 3 and the defendants committed multiple homicides, as described in § 13-703(F)(8).4 See id. Finding the mitigation evidence insufficient to outweigh the aggravating circumstances, the trial court denied leniency for both defendants and imposed a sentence of death. See id. The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentences. See id
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-9th-circuit/1889221.html
