Crime Stories

Case of Michelle Murphy

At approximately 6:00AM on 12 September, 1994, police received a hysterical call from 17-year-old Michelle Murphy. She exclaimed that she had woken up to discover her 15-week-old son, Travis, brutally stabbed to death on the kitchen floor. Oklahoma law forbid police from questioning minors without a guardian present. Nevertheless, Michelle was interrogated alone for eight hours. Police claimed that Michelle confessed to killing her son accidentally, while quarreling with another woman. The officer interrogating her had a tape recorder, however, he only managed to record the last 20 minutes of the interrogation. It was soon revealed that a neighbour, 14-year-old William Lee, had called 911 at 3:00AM on the morning of the grim discovery. He had claimed to witness Michelle and her estranged husband, Harold Wolf, arguing. When police arrived, there appeared to be no disturbance. Nobody answered the door and they soon left.William then told police that approximately one hour later, he saw Michelle carry baby Travis into the kitchen. He decided to get closer to see what she was doing and claimed he then saw Travis on the kitchen floor, covered in blood. Despite apparently seeing this, William said he then went home and didn't think about calling the police. Instead, he went to bed. He recounted this story at a preliminary hearing but hanged himself just a few months later. During Michelle's trial, William's testimony that was recorded at the preliminary trial was used as evidence. The defence team contacted Harold, who testified that he wasn't at the house that night. Several people were able to corroborate his story that he was actually at a friend's house that night.Despite the fact that the murder weapon was not discovered, nor was there any evidence linking Michelle to the murder, she was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Michelle remained in prison for 20 years, until two lawyers decided to re-investigate the case. They uncovered that there was blood discovered at the crime scene that did not match Michelle or Travis. They also uncovered that the detective who claimed that Michelle confessed, had obtained a false confession years prior. In 2014, she was finally declared innocent and released.CTTO