They call him Bob. He
looks like any other grandfatherly person you might know.
Born on December 16, 1945, the 200 pounder was found guilty
on 10 charges of being pedophile on July 27th, 2022. It took
the six woman, six man jury just a little over 60 minutes to
make their decision.
We sat thru the bulk of the trial before Judge Jack Alsop who is a stickler for getting things started on time. No not rushing thru stuff but keeping the pesky attorneys on the task at hand.
By 9am on the 26th, Robert Jennings Murphy was seated beside his attorney, Dan Armstrong. Murphy was dressed in his best Sunday go to meeting suit and tie. During the entire proceedings, "Bob" as his attorney called him, he never flinched. He barely moved. He showed no emotion. He was alert and responded when called upon but as for whispering to his attorney, scratching his nose, wiggling around, he never budged an inch.
With some attorneys, we notice their haphazard approach to court time. Some shuffle around looking for documents while others put up a story on how they don't have needed materials.
That wasn't the case with attorney Dan Armstrong. Neatly organized in a three ring binder was his game plan. The whole approach was mapped out for easy reference. When his turn came to present the case or respond, Armstrong was at the ready. He checked off each topic covered and made few notes in the margins.
Prosecutor Jim Samples opened up with the simple facts. This is a case of a grandfather assaulting his granddaughter repeating between July 2017 thru 2020. The victim was born in 2011. He was a trusted guardian that lived nearby. The assaults began when the victim was just 6 years old.
During opening remarks, Dan (we'll call him that cause it's easier for us to correctly type than Armstrong) looked each juror in the eye and provided: you will hear shocking words... there was no search warrant... there are no photos.... there is no DNA... there is no video... the evidence is inconclusive on any of the alleged (100's) of assaults.... there are no medical records... there is no security camera video from the site of the assaults...
He went on and on
Green Shirt Jason Keiffer was first to testify with: the girl's Mother turned in the Grandfather; the site of the assaults was in Duck West Virginia; the victim was interviewed and made statements at the Women and Children's hospital in Charleston; no evidence was collected nor was there a search warrant.
Dan countered with: you never spoke with the victim prior the exam in Charleston, Correct was the Badge's response; you took no written or oral statements, Correct; the victim told the Mother of the allegations after viewing porno sites on the web; and there was no search of the vacant house afterwards, Correct.
That empty house had security cameras inside and out but the Badge told the Court, he was not aware of such equipment. Keiffer added, no evidence was put, kept, in the evidence locker.
45 minutes into the proceedings, we noticed the jurors were paying attention. None of em were napping or drawing squiggling lines or characters on the provided legal pads. Unlike some juries, they were alert and stayed that way thru the day and one half of trial time.
Also to note, the PA system, mics, were not working during part of the testimony. It was hard to hear part of the testimonies. Around 10am on Tuesday, Poof, all of a sudden, everything started working. We could hear even the faint words. Turns out the equip had been unplugged and it was Clerk Mike Asbury that found and corrected the issue. But... sporadically during the trial, the mics would crap out for a few minutes and then return to a volume the peanut gallery could hear. Attorney Dan told the Court , he too was having trouble hearing the witnesses.
Samples and Dan did their wordsmithing as they tried to pick apart the other side.
From those exchanges: Murphy had had prostrate cancer years earlier and has a heart condition; The victim and victim's sister fully trusted their Grandfather; a sister to the victim had not been assaulted; the empty house was a granny's residence before her passing; was nearby; the purpose of the visits were to feed a cat there and those mentioned security cameras did not cover the entire residence including the bedroom was the crimes were committed.
One part we didn't fully understand was, one section of evidence mentioned the victim had been locked in a bedroom closet. At another time, word came, there was no door on the closet. Instead, there was just a cloth drape over the opening.
Shortly after 11am, the victim took the stand, the dark haired girl looked like the normal, stocky, 11 year old kid. She carried a small stuffed animal under her arm.
Again, that $$##!!! mic came and went from service. During that testimony, again, Murphy watched and listened but showed no emotions at all.
Both Alsop and Samples changed their attitudes. When she came to the stand, both knew they were working with a young child and changed their voices and smiled a bunch. Both tried to strike up a conversation with the victim.
Using words expected from a innocent 11 year old, she explained incidents including, it hurt, he put his pee pee in my butt. and sometimes, white stuff came out of his pee pee.
The Courtroom was hush hush with some in the gallery holding their heads down.
During the years of rape, assault, the child never told anything to her doctors during routine annual exams and nothing was detected during those years.
A Child Advocate and the CAMC attending MD both testified that there was no scaring or tearing on the victim including the anus.
An older sister explained she never noticed anything wrong but had seen her younger sibling in the bedroom of the Grandfather.
After lunch break, around 2pm, Defenser Dan asked for everything to be dismissed, acquitted. Over and over he tried to convince Alsop, there is no evidence presented.
Didn't work. This wasn't Alsop's first mud race.
Talk about embarrassing... Bob's white headed wife of 55 years came to the stand around 2:30pm. She apprised, after having prostate cancer and radiation treatment, her husband was unable to have sex and that had been the case for 22 years or more. His bad heart didn't help matters either. Also, whether with the victim or not, Bob would feed the cats in the abandoned house twice a day.
We didn't stay to hear all the testimony. 3pm is nap time for this Ace Cub Reporter followed by a peanut butter and tomato sandwich.
Wed morning both sides presented their closing statements. During the remarks, Bob never moved.
Samples did the usual whispering the facts in an attempt to keep, get, the jurors attention. Dan eyeballed each juror to see what was hitting home with the panel.
Snippets from Samples: remember how brave the little girl was...that it hurt ... a child can't remember every detail.... she lost something that was taken by her grandfather.... she has no reason to lie... her sister has nothing to fib about .... the experts told you the facts from the exam ... the victim trusted Bob .. there were no cameras in that room.... sexual desire is in the brain not down there ...he had desire!... his desire was for the victim...
Dan Armstrong followed with his closing remarks. Briefly, the incidents happened over a four year period.... The State has to prove it and they did NOT ... apply common sense ... the police did nothing at the scene ... there no NO scaring [tearing] ... you never heard the CAMC audio ... there was no bleeding ... they cannot provide specific dates ... the victim's sister never had an incident... the victim was curious and googled porno pictures ... her story changed... no one [in the family] noticed a thing ... there is reasonable doubt ... keep an open mind
Around 10:20 am, the jury retired and the door closed.
It didn't take em long to make their decision. In one hour and ten minutes, the verdict: Robert Jennings Murphy was found guilty on all ten counts of being a pedophile.
He will be sentenced on Oct 17th.
No matter what the sentence, due to his age, it will be a life sentence. Good!
From Jean De La Fontaine: Beware, as long as you shall live, of judging men by their outward appearance.
AW
We sat thru the bulk of the trial before Judge Jack Alsop who is a stickler for getting things started on time. No not rushing thru stuff but keeping the pesky attorneys on the task at hand.
By 9am on the 26th, Robert Jennings Murphy was seated beside his attorney, Dan Armstrong. Murphy was dressed in his best Sunday go to meeting suit and tie. During the entire proceedings, "Bob" as his attorney called him, he never flinched. He barely moved. He showed no emotion. He was alert and responded when called upon but as for whispering to his attorney, scratching his nose, wiggling around, he never budged an inch.
With some attorneys, we notice their haphazard approach to court time. Some shuffle around looking for documents while others put up a story on how they don't have needed materials.
That wasn't the case with attorney Dan Armstrong. Neatly organized in a three ring binder was his game plan. The whole approach was mapped out for easy reference. When his turn came to present the case or respond, Armstrong was at the ready. He checked off each topic covered and made few notes in the margins.
Prosecutor Jim Samples opened up with the simple facts. This is a case of a grandfather assaulting his granddaughter repeating between July 2017 thru 2020. The victim was born in 2011. He was a trusted guardian that lived nearby. The assaults began when the victim was just 6 years old.
During opening remarks, Dan (we'll call him that cause it's easier for us to correctly type than Armstrong) looked each juror in the eye and provided: you will hear shocking words... there was no search warrant... there are no photos.... there is no DNA... there is no video... the evidence is inconclusive on any of the alleged (100's) of assaults.... there are no medical records... there is no security camera video from the site of the assaults...
He went on and on
Green Shirt Jason Keiffer was first to testify with: the girl's Mother turned in the Grandfather; the site of the assaults was in Duck West Virginia; the victim was interviewed and made statements at the Women and Children's hospital in Charleston; no evidence was collected nor was there a search warrant.
Dan countered with: you never spoke with the victim prior the exam in Charleston, Correct was the Badge's response; you took no written or oral statements, Correct; the victim told the Mother of the allegations after viewing porno sites on the web; and there was no search of the vacant house afterwards, Correct.
That empty house had security cameras inside and out but the Badge told the Court, he was not aware of such equipment. Keiffer added, no evidence was put, kept, in the evidence locker.
45 minutes into the proceedings, we noticed the jurors were paying attention. None of em were napping or drawing squiggling lines or characters on the provided legal pads. Unlike some juries, they were alert and stayed that way thru the day and one half of trial time.
Also to note, the PA system, mics, were not working during part of the testimony. It was hard to hear part of the testimonies. Around 10am on Tuesday, Poof, all of a sudden, everything started working. We could hear even the faint words. Turns out the equip had been unplugged and it was Clerk Mike Asbury that found and corrected the issue. But... sporadically during the trial, the mics would crap out for a few minutes and then return to a volume the peanut gallery could hear. Attorney Dan told the Court , he too was having trouble hearing the witnesses.
Samples and Dan did their wordsmithing as they tried to pick apart the other side.
From those exchanges: Murphy had had prostrate cancer years earlier and has a heart condition; The victim and victim's sister fully trusted their Grandfather; a sister to the victim had not been assaulted; the empty house was a granny's residence before her passing; was nearby; the purpose of the visits were to feed a cat there and those mentioned security cameras did not cover the entire residence including the bedroom was the crimes were committed.
One part we didn't fully understand was, one section of evidence mentioned the victim had been locked in a bedroom closet. At another time, word came, there was no door on the closet. Instead, there was just a cloth drape over the opening.
Shortly after 11am, the victim took the stand, the dark haired girl looked like the normal, stocky, 11 year old kid. She carried a small stuffed animal under her arm.
Again, that $$##!!! mic came and went from service. During that testimony, again, Murphy watched and listened but showed no emotions at all.
Both Alsop and Samples changed their attitudes. When she came to the stand, both knew they were working with a young child and changed their voices and smiled a bunch. Both tried to strike up a conversation with the victim.
Using words expected from a innocent 11 year old, she explained incidents including, it hurt, he put his pee pee in my butt. and sometimes, white stuff came out of his pee pee.
The Courtroom was hush hush with some in the gallery holding their heads down.
During the years of rape, assault, the child never told anything to her doctors during routine annual exams and nothing was detected during those years.
A Child Advocate and the CAMC attending MD both testified that there was no scaring or tearing on the victim including the anus.
An older sister explained she never noticed anything wrong but had seen her younger sibling in the bedroom of the Grandfather.
After lunch break, around 2pm, Defenser Dan asked for everything to be dismissed, acquitted. Over and over he tried to convince Alsop, there is no evidence presented.
Didn't work. This wasn't Alsop's first mud race.
Talk about embarrassing... Bob's white headed wife of 55 years came to the stand around 2:30pm. She apprised, after having prostate cancer and radiation treatment, her husband was unable to have sex and that had been the case for 22 years or more. His bad heart didn't help matters either. Also, whether with the victim or not, Bob would feed the cats in the abandoned house twice a day.
We didn't stay to hear all the testimony. 3pm is nap time for this Ace Cub Reporter followed by a peanut butter and tomato sandwich.
Wed morning both sides presented their closing statements. During the remarks, Bob never moved.
Samples did the usual whispering the facts in an attempt to keep, get, the jurors attention. Dan eyeballed each juror to see what was hitting home with the panel.
Snippets from Samples: remember how brave the little girl was...that it hurt ... a child can't remember every detail.... she lost something that was taken by her grandfather.... she has no reason to lie... her sister has nothing to fib about .... the experts told you the facts from the exam ... the victim trusted Bob .. there were no cameras in that room.... sexual desire is in the brain not down there ...he had desire!... his desire was for the victim...
Dan Armstrong followed with his closing remarks. Briefly, the incidents happened over a four year period.... The State has to prove it and they did NOT ... apply common sense ... the police did nothing at the scene ... there no NO scaring [tearing] ... you never heard the CAMC audio ... there was no bleeding ... they cannot provide specific dates ... the victim's sister never had an incident... the victim was curious and googled porno pictures ... her story changed... no one [in the family] noticed a thing ... there is reasonable doubt ... keep an open mind
Around 10:20 am, the jury retired and the door closed.
It didn't take em long to make their decision. In one hour and ten minutes, the verdict: Robert Jennings Murphy was found guilty on all ten counts of being a pedophile.
He will be sentenced on Oct 17th.
No matter what the sentence, due to his age, it will be a life sentence. Good!
From Jean De La Fontaine: Beware, as long as you shall live, of judging men by their outward appearance.
AW