Why did Shane Murphy”s cell mates think the 36-year-old Cleone man had committed suicide last Wednesday? Was Murphy a mentally ill person who slipped through the Mendocino County Jail”s screening process?
These and all other questions remain unanswered in a case involving five law enforcement agencies, but virtually no facts released to the public about the in-custody death on Oct. 8.
Nobody remembers Shane Allen Murphy as a saint. He was a gentle and kind animal lover with a persistent problem with drugs. Those who knew him said he was most of all a father who really loved his two kids. Although Murphy, 36, didn”t have custody of his son or daughter, it was hard to miss them. One forearm was tattooed with the name of his daughter, the other with his son”s name.
Oct. 8 death
The press release from the Sheriff”s Office says only that guards at the Mendocino County Jail in Ukiah were called at 11:41 p.m., Oct. 8, by inmates in the cell who were trying to perform CPR on Murphy. The inmates thought this was suicide, the release said, but it gives no details and no suggested cause of death.
Was there some indication of hanging? How does that happen in a cell full of people? Were the other inmates asleep?
This newspaper has not been able to get answers to those or most other usually routine questions so far. Our first inquiry went to Capt. Greg Van Patten, field services commander and public information officer for the Mendocino County Sheriff”s Office. Van Patten referred us to Lt. John Bednar, who handles press inquires at the jail.
“The details surrounding the circumstances of the death are still under investigation. I would have to defer to the District Attorney”s Office on that as they are in charge of the investigation,” said Bednar.
Van Patten said the DA”s involvement was temporary because the Sheriff”s Office was very busy with a home invasion case that happened at the same time.
“At the request of the Sheriff”s Office two investigators from the Mendocino County District Attorney”s Office responded to the County Jail and conducted initial interviews and processed the jail cell for evidence. A Mendocino County Sheriff”s Deputy responded to the County Jail and initiated a Coroner”s investigation,” Van Patten said.
“The DA investigators will be submitting their investigative reports to the Sheriff”s Office, most likely this week, and those reports will be incorporated into the Coroner”s investigation. The DA investigation reports will be reviewed in connection with the official results of the forensic autopsy (awaiting BA/Tox results 4-6 weeks) to help determine Shane Murphy”s cause of death and classification of death (Homicide, Suicide, Natural, Accidental, Undetermined).
“Depending on the cause and classification of death, Sheriff”s detectives and DA investigators may need to conduct further investigations (such as further interviews). At this point it appears that all necessary interviews have been conducted but the results of the forensic autopsy are needed to confirm that belief,” Van Patten said.
Other questions would have to be asked of the Major Crimes Task Force, a quasi state agency that conducted the raid on Murphy”s home after his arrest. That agency would have requested address and other information. A call to the Major Crimes Task Force early on Friday was not returned.
Oct. 6 arrest
Murphy was living in a small house located right on Highway 1, a home he shared with a roommate and his beloved dog, a Jack Russell terrier and a cat that always shadowed the dog when outside. That house was a damp but bright world, crammed full of marijuana plants just being harvested. He sometimes manifested strange behavior and may have had a history of depression, those who knew him say.
The roommate was not at home when this reporter stopped. Neighbor Joe Wagner said Murphy looked forward most to going to visit his children. Nobody was surprised about the marijuana, which is not at all uncommon inside or outside local homes.
Murphy had recently quit his job at a local plant supply store and his behavior became very strange Monday morning, Oct. 6, when he went on a wild early morning drive with a gun in his pocket and his glovebox stuffed with cash.
At the normally low crime hour of 8:12 a.m., Fort Bragg Police were called about an erratic driver at Pomo Bluffs Park, located on the south side of Noyo Bay. The driver had zoomed past drivers on the shoulder, then parked in the popular viewing spot.
Police arrived and contacted Murphy, who was exhibiting signs of being under the influence of a controlled substance, a FBPD press release says. “Officers had Murphy exit the vehicle to conduct field sobriety tests. Murphy advised officers prior to exiting the vehicle he had taken Dianabol (Methandrostenolone), an anabolic steroid. Murphy further advised officers he had a firearm on his person.
“Officers removed Murphy from the vehicle and recovered a loaded .32 caliber semi-automatic pistol.” He was then arrested for possession of a concealed firearm and being under the influence of a controlled substance while in possession of a loaded, operable firearm.
What was he planning on doing with the gun? Was suicide ever mentioned?
When Fort Bragg police searched his vehicle, they found in the glove box what is described as “a large quantity” of money. The amount was not provided. Rumors put it at between $8,000 and $20,000.
“Based on the circumstances, officers contacted Special Agent [Wesley] Rafanan of the Mendocino County Major Crimes Task Force. Special Agent Rafanan conducted an investigation which subsequently resulted in search warrants being served at residences located in Cleone and Fort Bragg. Indoor marijuana cultivation grows were located at the residences,” the Fort Bragg Police press release says. (Rafanan is a FBPD representative on the multi-agency entity.)
This reporter was unable to get the address or street name of the raided property in Fort Bragg or what relationship it had to Murphy, who lived at the Cleone property on the east side of Highway 1 at Mill Creek Drive.
There were 72 marijuana plants seized from the residence located in Cleone and 25 marijuana plants from the residence located in Fort Bragg, the police press release said. No other arrests were mentioned. That is another question we are waiting for answers on.
In custody
Murphy apparently did get access to a phone at the jail. He was supposedly in a panicked state about the seized money. Inmates are now said to be carefully screened at the jail for mental health problems. We do not know whether Murphy was screened.
The only details about what happened at the jail are those in a terse and incomplete press release. A second press release said simply no more information will be released until toxicology reports come in, which could take more than a month.
That leaves the initial press release issued by the Sheriff”s Office as the only word of what happened between his Oct. 6 morning arrest and his death just before midnight Oct. 8.
“At 11:41 p.m., inmates alerted staff to an attempted suicide at the Mendocino County Adult Detention Facility. Upon arrival, staff found 36-year-old Shane Murphy of Cleone, California unconscious on the floor of his cell. His two cellmates were attempting to perform cardio pulmonary resuscitation. Correctional staff took over life-saving measures and an ambulance was summoned.
“When the ambulance arrived, medical personnel evaluated Murphy and determined that he was deceased.”
A subsequent press release said a forensic autopsy was conducted on Murphy last Friday, Oct. 10, “to help determine his cause of death. The classification of Murphy”s death is pending the results of BA/Toxicology analysis, which is expected to take 4-6 weeks before results are returned to the Sheriff”s Office Coroner”s Division.”
Family members say they have learned jail cells have cameras. They want to see that video.
Other cases
The Sheriff”s Office has not always been this skimpy with information about in-custody deaths.
Many more details were released in a similar case in February of this year when a 46-year-old Ohio man attempted suicide. In that case, Bednar told the media many details lacking in this case, such as that the inmate tied his bedsheet around his neck and was hanging from a cross bar on the top bunk of his bed.
The manner of Murphy”s death has not been reported, yet Bednar in February even detailed how guards had gone into the cell and how they had untied the Ohio man.
Bednar told the Ukiah Daily Journal at that time that inmates are generally issued things like bedsheets and clothing, and “the only time it”s prohibited is when they display some type of behavior that they”re going to harm themselves; then we”re going to limit what they get going forward until they”re evaluated and stabilized.”
Murphy”s case was also similar to the death in September 2013 of 65-year-old Scott Smith of Ukiah, a Vietnam veteran with a history of mental health problems who was found dead in his cell, which he also shared with three other men.
On June 11 of this year, Steve Neuroth, 55, was found dead alone in his cell at the jail. In both prior deaths an autopsy was also conducted to determine the cause and an investigation promised. No mention of suicide was made in Neuroth”s or Smith”s cases. There are no follow-up press releases about either case on the sheriff”s website, reporting back on the findings of the autopsies.
In fairness, this newspaper has never asked about either of these cases. Several web searches did not find reports by other newspapers on the outcome of the in-custody deaths.
The information in the Murphy case is complicated by the five law enforcement agencies involved: Fort Bragg Police (initial arrest), Task Force (searches and seizures), Sheriff”s Office (jail and coroner”s investigation), Ukiah Police (initial interviews in death), and DA (supposedly the final investigation of the circumstances of death). We will continue to follow the death of Murphy and report on procedures at the jail for mental health screening and in-custody deaths.
“Each investigation is different and in this specific investigation full transparency will be made available at the conclusion of the case, as to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation. The Sheriff”s Office will not rush to judgement on the cause and classification of Shane Murphy”s death and the Sheriff”s Office has an investigative obligation to collect as much information as possible before classifying his death and making that classification a public record,” Van Patten said.
During this reporter”s investigation, several people have confused Shane Allen Murphy, 36, with a native Fort Bragg man named Murphy who is about the same age and has a very similar first name.
