1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:03,480 Speaker 1: Crime Alaric hourly update breaking crime news Now. 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:04,880 Speaker 2: I'm nicoll Parton. 3 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:07,960 Speaker 3: A nurse from a Missouri prison who fatally poisoned her 4 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:12,360 Speaker 3: husband and subsequently attempted to destroy evidence by setting their 5 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 3: home ablaze has been sentenced to twelve years in prison. 6 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,599 Speaker 3: Amy Murray, forty six, entered an Alfred plea on June 7 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:24,239 Speaker 3: twenty five, accepting charges of second degree murder, second degree arson, 8 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 3: and evidence tampering while maintaining her innocence. As part of 9 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 3: the plea agreement with prosecutors, the charge of armed criminal 10 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 3: action against her is dropped. 11 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 2: The judge imposed a sentence. 12 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 3: Of twelve years for the murder charge, seven years for arson, 13 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 3: and four years for tampering with evidence. Under the terms 14 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 3: of the agreement, the sentences for arson and tampering will 15 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 3: be served consecutively, but they will run concurrently with her 16 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,199 Speaker 3: murder sentence. Joshua Murray, who was only thirty seven at 17 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 3: the time of his death, was initially thought to have 18 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 3: died in a house fire at the couple's home near 19 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 3: Saint Louis. However, an autops revealed a homicide ruling after 20 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:06,040 Speaker 3: high levels of antifreeze were detected in his body. Along 21 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 3: with injuries indicating he had died prior to the fire. 22 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 3: Investigators from the State Fire Marshall and the Miller County 23 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 3: Sheriff's Department identified evidence suggesting that an accelerant was used 24 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,680 Speaker 3: to ignite the fire. Notably, Amy was at the residence 25 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 3: only half an hour before the fire erupted, leaving with 26 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 3: her eleven year old son and the two dogs. Three 27 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 3: months after her husband's death in February, authorities apprehended Amy Murray. 28 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:38,680 Speaker 3: By that time, investigators had uncovered her frequent communications. 29 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 2: With a man named Eugene Claypool. 30 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 3: An inmate serving a twenty five year to life sentence 31 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 3: for murder at the Jefferson City Correctional Center, where Murray 32 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 3: worked as a nurse. The recorded calls revealed that she 33 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 3: often expressed a desire to be away from her husband, 34 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 3: even mentioning that she and Claypool could marry after Joshua 35 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 3: was quote of the picture. According to the affidavit. Following 36 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 3: her arrest, Amy posted a seven hundred and fifty thousand 37 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:10,679 Speaker 3: dollars bill and spent six years contesting the charges against her. 38 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 3: At one point, her defense team proposed that Joshua might 39 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:18,959 Speaker 3: have died by suicide after consuming antifreeze, but the judge. 40 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 2: Rejected that motion. 41 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:22,959 Speaker 3: In the late twenty twenty four, a relative of Joshua 42 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 3: reached out to the court voicing dissatisfaction with the case's 43 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 3: proceedings and highlighting Joshua's character. Josh was a devoted husband 44 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 3: and father. He owned a construction business. He worked tirelessly 45 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,640 Speaker 3: to support his family, wrote his aunt, Sherry Thompson, in 46 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 3: a letter to the judge. Amy Murray is currently being 47 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:45,919 Speaker 3: held at the Miller County Correctional Facility while awaiting her 48 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,560 Speaker 3: transfer to a state prison. She will not get to 49 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,799 Speaker 3: marry the inmate serving a sentence of murder. She too, 50 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,639 Speaker 3: now is classified as a murderer herself. 51 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 2: For Crime and Justice News after this. 52 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 3: And now to California, where a former assistant pastor has 53 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 3: been sentenced to two years in a state prison for 54 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 3: stealing two hundred thousand dollars from the congregation and the 55 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 3: congregation's founder while the founder was dying. According to court records, 56 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 3: Curtis Frank Lemons pleaded guilty to two felony counts of 57 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 3: grand theft and one count of money laundering. According to 58 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 3: the Ventira County District Attorney's office. 59 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 2: This is so sad. 60 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 3: Mister Lemons stole from a vulnerable victim during the most 61 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 3: vulnerable of times, said Senior Deputy District Attorney Howard Wise. 62 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 2: The patriarch of the church was near death. 63 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 3: When this happened. At an onset of COVID. Mister Lemons 64 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 3: made a terrible decision, but has accepted responsibility. Lemons, sixty eight, 65 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 3: carried out his scheme between January and April of twenty 66 00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 3: twenty one, writing himself a two hundred thousand dollars cahers 67 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 3: check from the bank's account. The pastor then used the 68 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 3: funds from the new Progressive Christian Baptist Church to pay 69 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 3: for flights, a car, a new phone, some dental work, 70 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 3: and bought a home in Tennessee. The theft occurred in 71 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 3: the midst of a pandemic, when the church was already 72 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 3: grappling with how to hold services and pay the bills 73 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 3: and take care of the church's founder, Reverend Jesse James Taylor, 74 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 3: died August twenty twenty one at the age of eighty seven. Lemons, 75 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 3: who now resides in Tennessee, has also been ordered to 76 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 3: pay two hundred thousand dollars restitution to the church. 77 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 1: How could a beautiful, young first grade teacher be stabbed 78 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: twenty times, including in the back, allegedly die of suicide. Yes, 79 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: that was the medical examiner's official ruling after a closed 80 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:55,719 Speaker 1: door meeting. He first named it a homicide. Why what 81 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: Happened to Ellen Greenberg a huge American miscarriage of justice. 82 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:07,719 Speaker 1: For an in depth look at the facts, see What 83 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: Happened to Ellen? On Amazon. All proceeds to the National 84 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 85 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 3: For the latest crime injustice news, follow Crime Alert. Hourly 86 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 3: update on your favorite podcasting app is Crime Alert. 87 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 2: I'm Nicol Parton.