|
||||
|
July 12, 2001
By Aspen C. Emmett Shaun Murphy, accused in the murder of an openly gay 16-year-old Cortez boy, bragged to friends that he had "beat up a fag," according to an arrest affidavit released Wednesday. Charged with second-degree murder in the death of Fred Martinez Jr., Murphy, 18, of Farmington, has made incriminating statements to detectives in interviews since his arrest on July 4, law officers said at a press conference Wednesday. "Statements that Shaun Murphy made to us did implicate himself in the death of Fred Martinez Jr.," said Montezuma County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Kalvin Boggs. "But obviously for investigative purposes. . . we can’t comment further about specifics about our interviews with Mr. Martinez." Boggs said the murder task force, consisting of county sheriff’s detectives, Cortez Police Department detectives, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and agents from San Juan County, N.M., received hundreds of tips, some that led them to Murphy. "The task force had eliminated all other suspects in the case throughout the investigation and Shaun Murphy became the central focus of our investigation," Boggs said. At the press conference, John Peters-Campbell of the Four Corners Gay and Lesbian Alliance for Diversity, praised law-enforcement efforts in the case and turned attention to concerns about Martinez being targeted for his sexual orientation. "We have been assured that investigators and the district attorney’s office will continue to pursue the possibility that Fred’s death was the result of a brutal, bias-motivated attack," Campbell said. "We are keenly aware that some of the information released today in the affidavit raises new concerns and contributes to the specter of hate crimes. What we heard today begins to address some of the indicators that point to evidence of bias as a motivating factor." Martinez’s decomposing body was found in a rocky canyon (in an area also known as "The Pits") south of Cortez on June 21. Preliminary autopsy results suggested Martinez had died from blunt trauma to the head as well as exposure and detectives speculated his body had been at that location nearly a week. Martinez also had wounds on both wrists and an injury to the stomach for which the cause is still unknown. Final autopsy results will not be available for another week, said Sheriff’s Detective Steve Harmon. Murphy, formerly of Cortez, was arraigned Monday on one count of second-degree murder and is being held in Montezuma County Jail on a $500,000 bond. According to the arrest affidavit, Murphy and a friend, Clint Sanchez, were in Cortez the night of June 16 and went to a party that Martinez had also attended. Sanchez told police that after leaving the party, he and Murphy were driving back and forth on South Broadway when they picked up Martinez, who was standing in front of the Montezuma-Cortez High School. According to the affidavit, at one point Murphy and Martinez were alone in the vehicle while Sanchez went inside a convenience store. Sanchez and Murphy dropped Martinez off at the corner of Seventh and Madison streets and reportedly had a brief discussion concerning Martinez’s sexuality after Martinez left the car. Sanchez told police he asked Murphy if he thought Martinez thought they were gay. Martinez and Murphy reportedly then went to the home of Melissa Scharnhorst at the Sleeping Ute Apartments. Sanchez claimed he stayed behind with Glover and Murphy left, stating that he was going to go get a "joint." Sanchez told police Murphy returned approximately 20 minutes later covered in blood. According to the affidavit, Murphy stated he had gotten into a fight and someone was still lying in the "Pits." Murphy reportedly took a shower and changed his clothes at Scharnhorst’s apartment before Scharnhorst drove the two back to Farmington, where they lived. On July 3, detectives saw Sanchez leaving Murphy’s home with a dark bag and followed him to a Mustang gas station, where Sanchez removed from the bag a pair of tennis shoes, two belts and a white T-shirt and threw them into a dumpster. According to the affidavit, the shoes appeared to have blood spots on them. Shortly after dumping the clothes, Sanchez was arrested for carrying a concealed firearm. While in jail, he agreed to an interview regarding the Martinez case. Possible charges against Scharnhorst and Sanchez are still pending final investigation results and negotiations over testimony against Murphy, according to District Attorney Joe Olt. "We have not made a decision either way on that," Olt said. "We’ll make that decision later. Even if we did make a deal, there could still be charges. There still may not be charges — deal or no deal. We really haven’t had time to study that aspect." All records pertaining to the case had been sealed until Wednesday. "This was done to protect potential witnesses who had not been contacted and to give investigators more time to work during the critical stages of the investigation," Boggs said. "The sealing of the documents and the subsequent no contact from PIO’s (public information officers) on the task force was simply an investigative tool so that information could be obtained without fear of interference from the media." MCSO Sheriff Joey Chavez said detectives believe that Murphy acted alone in the murder and there were no eyewitnesses to the attack. "We have not talked to anybody that actually witnessed any of that," Chavez said. So far, three search warrants have been executed: one of the car Murphy and Sanchez were driving the night of the murder; one of Scharnhorst’s apartment; and one of Murphy’s home, according to Boggs. According to the affidavit, both Murphy and his mother, Angel Tacoronte, denied Murphy had been in Cortez the weekend Martinez was killed but have since reversed their stories. Detectives have been careful not to label the Martinez murder a "hate crime," but did state they are continuing to investigate the boy’s sexuality as a possible motive. Friends of Martinez reported he was gay or transgendered and considering a sex-change operation. "The task force has investigated every aspect of this investigation, including the reports that Fred Martinez Jr. was struggling with his gender identity," Boggs said. "Some leads have shown that Shaun Murphy may have known Fred Martinez Jr. was struggling with his gender identity. "The task force has investigated this aspect of the case and continues to do so as one possible motivating factor in this homicide. At this time we cannot state with certainty that this was a hate-motivated crime," Boggs said. Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane said there has been no evidence to suggest Martinez and Murphy knew each other, aside from growing up in the same town. "I’ve known Shaun all of his life and I’ve know Fred all of his life and I’ve never know either one of them to be intermingled," Lane said at the press conference. Although Murphy reportedly had a criminal history as a juvenile, Lane said he did not expect his behavior to escalate into murder. "I didn’t think Shaun would ever do anything like this," Lane said. Both Lane and Chavez said they do not believe Cortez is prone to hate crimes against homosexuals. "I don’t think that we have that problem in our area," Lane said. "I think we are a pretty diverse community." Peters-Campbell said that as a gay person living in Montezuma County, he does not feel that the area is particularly violent or hostile towards the gay community, but added that it is not any better than the next town. "I think that there is harassment in this area in the schools and sometimes on the street to the extent that harassment is common of obviously gay or lesbian people nationwide," he said. "It’s certainly no more a problem than it is in other places — but it is a problem." |
||||
|
Copyright © 2001 the Cortez Journal.
All rights reserved. |
