He Didn’t Stand a Chance? The Story of Joseph Murphy
- Gina Westfall
- Apr 15
- 6 min read
He Didn’t Stand a Chance? The Story of Joseph Murphy
Jackie Valentine, a supervisor for the Homemaker and Chore Program for Marion County Department of Human Services, which delivered meals to the elderly, received a call on the morning of February 2nd, 1987, stating one client was not answering her door. The client, Ruth Predmore, was seventy-two years old. Jackie was concerned about Ruth, so she made a house call, entering Ruth’s home only to find the woman lying in a puddle of her own blood. Her throat had been savagely slashed to the point that she was almost decapitated. Jackie, shocked and devastated by what she found, notified the Marion County Police Department immediately.
The first officer to arrive was Sammie Justice, appropriately named for an officer. He discovered bloody footprints on the porch and blood splatter on the screen door and wooden front door. More investigators arrived and found a note inside the home. The note threatened Mrs. Predmore that if she didn’t provide money, she would be killed. Blood samples were collected.
Meanwhile, down the street, Twenty-one-year-old Joseph Murphy, a young man who had multiple run ins with the law for theft and arson admitted to his family that he had slashed Mrs. Predmore’s throat during a botched robbery. He said he was trying to get money to help his sister who was having medical problems. He took off with his girlfriend to his aunt’s house. He was quickly on the police’s radar.
The police searched his aunt’s house where he was staying and found a pair of shoes with blood stains and a blood stained vest. They also found blue jeans and other items of clothing that contained the same blood type as Mrs. Predmore. This was before DNA testing was the standard. They also found a knife that revealed traces of blood. They found a bank card belonging to Ruth Predmore. Joseph admitted to writing the note; it stated, “Leave money out or I will kill you”. On February 11th, 1987, Joseph Murphy was charged with the capital murder of Ruth Predmore.
Joseph admits he killed Ruth Predmore. His innocence was never a question. He states that Mrs. Predmore was a nice woman who often paid him to do odd jobs for her. He states he regrets that day and wishes he could take it back. However, others see the note that he left a day before as premeditation to the murder. He wanted to rob the woman and threatened to kill her if she did not cooperate with the robbery.
According to Joseph, however, he was going to rob Mrs. Predmore of a VCR that February day for the sole purpose of helping his sister. Although he was never charged, he alleges his brother-in-law was involved and was breaking into the back of the house as he broke into the front of the house. He said he heard Mrs. Predmore and got scared. He said he took his knife out to cut the phone line, but he wasn’t sure which line was the phone line. When Mrs. Predmore caught him and said “What are you doing? Get out of here!”, he said he just swung the knife and then ran off. It’s important to note that the deep neck wound does not align with this story.
The defense in Joseph Murphy’s trial knew he would be found guilty of first-degree murder. Their primary goal was to avoid the death penalty for Joseph Murphy. Joseph Murphy was March 22nd, 1965, to Jerry and Stella Murphy. He was the third of six children. Life started in Clay County, West Virginia, where they lived in a tar paper shack. Tar-paper is roofing material made from cardboard waste coated in tar to make it waterproof. The family lived in absolute poverty with cockroaches, mice, and absolute filth. During childhood, they did not have running water or sanitation.
Stella, trying to escape her own bad childhood, became pregnant and married Jerry Murphy at just fifteen years old. Jerry was a violent alcoholic with had frequent homosexual relationships that caused tension. The two divorced and remarried three times. Stella was abusive as a mother and beat her children with switches, Joey often getting the worst of the abuse. Joey was told from a very early age that he was mentally retarded, and the other children were told not to play with him, or they may become retarded as well.
Jerry’s alcoholism was so severe that if he ran out of alcoholic drinks, he would drink the rubbing alcohol. He also traded his sons to men sexually for alcohol, including Joey. Joey suffered sexual abuse from a very young age. He remembers telling his mother about sexual abuse while bleeding from the rectum and her beating him with a switch, believing he was lying and had been playing in a creek instead.
On one occasion, Stella became worried about the social worker making a visit to see Joey and seeing the welts on his back from her beating him. She was afraid they would take him and they wouldn’t get a check for him. According to Joey, his father tied him to a box spring and set his back on fire to cover the welts. Joey’s brother remembers it differently, stating Joey set himself on fire. His brother does remember his mother always being concerned about receiving the social security checks for Joey, however.
Joey once accidentally set a fire before his mother was preparing to beat him. With all the excitement of the fire, his mother had forgotten to beat him. Joey stated that he started setting fires after that to avoid beatings. That is how he got the nickname “Pyro Joe”. He was diagnosed as a pyromaniac, although he doesn’t believe that is truly accurate as he feels it was just a defense mechanism for him.
Joey was placed in facilities from time to time and diagnosed with varies mental illness. He apparently killed small animals, set fires, committed robberies, and participated in other petty crimes. Some of this he admits to, but some of it he says is not accurate. He states he was blamed for some things he did not do by his parents. He was made to sleep on the floor at the end of his parents’ bed every night. When he was discharged from facilities, his social worker would buy him new clothes, but his mother would give them to his siblings instead. Once, she bought him a large suitcase to put the clothing in, and that became his bed.
When the verdict came in, Joey was found guilty of first-degree murder and was given a death sentence. Despite multiple appeals, they were all denied. It seemed that the State of Ohio was not concerned with the abuse and horrific childhood of Joseph Murphy. However, the family of Ruth Predmore was. They stood with his attorneys and asked Governor John Kasich to give him clemency.
The Governor said, “The murder of Ruth Predmore was heinous and disturbing and he deserves and continues to receive severe punishment. Even though as a child and adolescent Murphy suffered severe and sustained verbal, physical, and sexual abuse from those who should have loved him, it does not excuse his crime. After examining this case in detail with counsel, I agree with Chief Justic Moyer, The National Association of Mental Illness, and the Parole Boards unanimous 8-0 decision that considering Joseph Murphy’s brutally abusive upbringing and relatively young age at which he committed this this terrible crime, the death penalty is not appropriate in this case. Thus, I have commuted his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole”.
The irony of the situation is that Joseph Murphy is living a better life in prison than he has ever lived outside the walls of prison. He has more safety and security in prison than he did as a free man. He is no longer being abused. His family has no contact with him. His father and older sister have died. Apparently, his mother was very upset that he was not executed, allegedly. Joseph has spoken to and been forgiven by Ruth Predmore’s family members. He has become part of a spiritual community in prison. He is working on his reading and writing skills, despite his low IQ, they are improving.
Did Joseph Murphy stand a chance?
Do you agree with the commutation of his death sentence?
Did the mitigating circumstances outweigh the brutality of the crime?
References
Tipping, D. & Parker, N. (2022) I Am Killer