Amy Murray, a prison nurse, was arrested on charges of first-degree murder and second-degree arson, among other charges. She was released on a posted bail of $750,000 on Monday. It was unclear whether she had made a plea regarding these accusations on Monday.
Authorities allege Murray poisoned her husband whit antifreeze and then burned down her home to cover the details of the crime.
Authorities were immediately alarmed when the coroner’s report of Joshua Murray, Amy Murray’s husband, showed that he died prior to the fire even starting. According to the official report, Amy is alleged to have poisoned Joshua with antifreeze, placed his body on the bed, and then lit the home ablaze.
Murray is alleged to have then taken her child and dogs into the car with her and drove to a nearby McDonalds. She then drove back to her home and called the authorities, claiming that the smoke was too thick to try to save her husband. Authorities were immediately skeptical due to the small amount of smoke and a notably small blaze.
A possible motive was quickly ascertained by police. Murray works as a prison nurse at Jefferson City Correctional Center and there is evidence she had engaged in a romantic relationship with an inmate there. In phone conversations, Murray states she would rather marry the inmate, Eugene Claypool, than be with her husband.
In one conversation, following the fire, she states that she could marry Claypool since her husband was dead. Claypool, for his part, went to prison in 2002 after being put away for the 2000 murder of a 72-year-old homebound man. The victim, Donald Hardwick, had won $1.7 million playing the lottery, so Claypool and an accomplice robbed him and stabbed him to death.
