b: 1964
Summary
Name:
Robert Wayne MurrayYears Active:
1991Birth:
December 20, 1964Status:
Awaiting ExecutionClass:
MurdererVictims:
2Method:
ShootingNationality:
USAb: 1964
Summary: Murderer
Name:
Robert Wayne MurrayStatus:
Awaiting ExecutionVictims:
2Method:
ShootingNationality:
USABirth:
December 20, 1964Years Active:
1991Date Convicted:
June 12, 1992Robert Wayne Murray was born on December 20, 1964. Public records identify him as a white male who was prosecuted in Arizona for a double murder committed in Mohave County in 1991. Roert committed the crime with Roger Wayne Murray. On May 11, 1991, the two men spent the night in Las Vegas, Nevada, where they bought a 12-gauge shotgun. The next day, they traveled to Kingman, Arizona. By the night of May 14, 1991, they decided to rob someone and drove through Grasshopper Junction, a rural area about 30 miles north of Kingman.
On the night of May 14, 1991, Robert and Roger Murray stopped at the home and business of Dean Morrison and Jacqueline “Jackie” Appelhans in Grasshopper Junction, Arizona. Morrison, 65, and Appelhans, 60, operated a store and restaurant in the area.
The Murrays entered the property armed with firearms. They forced Morrison and Appelhans to lie on the floor side by side. Both victims were shot multiple times with a .38 revolver. Appelhans was also shot with a .22 rifle. The attackers then shot each victim once in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun. After the killings, they ransacked the house and fled.
Robert and Roger Murray were indicted and tried for the murders. Their trial began on May 28, 1992. On June 12, 1992, both were found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and armed robbery. The Arizona Supreme Court later stated that the murder verdicts were unanimous under both premeditated murder and felony murder theories.
On October 26, 1992, Robert Wayne Murray was sentenced to death. The court found several aggravating factors, including multiple homicides, pecuniary gain, and that the murders were especially cruel, heinous, or depraved. The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed Robert and Roger Murray’s convictions and death sentences in 1995.
Robert later challenged his conviction and death sentence in federal court. In 2014, the Ninth Circuit reviewed his case and described the Arizona Supreme Court’s earlier decision affirming the conviction and death sentence. As of the latest reviewed records, Robert Wayne Murray remains under a death sentence and has not been executed.
