A 46-year-old Missouri prison nurse, Amy Murray, will spend more than a decade in prison for poisoning her husband and setting their house on fire. Allegedly, the woman carried out the act to marry an inmate, a convicted murderer, from the prison where she worked.
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As reported by PEOPLE, Murray entered an Alford plea to charges related to her husband’s death on Wednesday, June 25. These include second-degree murder, second-degree arson, and tampering with evidence. She will spend the next 12 years in prison.
An Alford plea maintains the defendant’s innocence while accepting a conviction.
Murderous Affair
According to The Kansas City Star, the incident occurred back on December 11, 2018. First responders arrived at the Murray Iberia home after reports of a fire. Inside, they found Joshua Murray, Amy’s 37-year-old husband, dead.
However, a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law & Crime detailed that Joshua had died before the fire. An autopsy found a high concentration of antifreeze, meaning that he had been poisoned. Moreover, evidence was found by authorities that showed that an accelerant was used to start the home fire.
Amy Murray, who was at the residence 30 minutes before it was engulfed in flames, became a suspect. At the time of the incident, she told police that she had gone to McDonald’s with their 11-year-old son and their two dogs. After returning, she stated she found the house on fire.
KY3 reported that investigators discovered that Murray was having an affair with convicted murderer Eugene Claypool. He is an inmate at the Jefferson City Correctional Center serving a 25-year sentence to life for second-degree murder. Murray worked at the prison as a nurse.
Then, investigators reportedly listened to phone calls between Murray and Claypool. In them, Murray allegedly told the convicted murderer that she wanted to divorce Joshua. Furthermore, following her husband’s death, Murray allegedly told Claypool that he was “out of the picture,” and that they could get married.
In February 2019, Murray was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, second-degree arson, and tampering with physical evidence. In connection with her affair with Claypool, she was charged with first-degree sexual abuse and three counts of offender by an employee of the Department of Corrections.