Amy Murray, a 47-year-old prison nurse from Missouri, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the murder of her husband. Murray accepted a plea deal on June 25, admitting to charges of murder, arson, and tampering with evidence, according to court documents. In an Alford plea, a defendant acknowledges that the prosecution has enough evidence to convict, but does not admit guilt.
Murray was convicted of poisoning her husband, 37-year-old Joshua Murray, in late 2018. His body was discovered in the aftermath of a house fire, which investigators determined was intentionally set by his wife. An autopsy revealed elevated levels of antifreeze in Joshua’s blood, leading to his wife’s arrest three months after his death.
The couple’s child and their two dogs had left the family home in Iberia, Missouri, just half an hour before the fire started. During the investigation, it was discovered that Murray had been in frequent contact with a prisoner named Eugene Claypool.
Murray was employed as a nurse at the Jefferson City Correctional Center, where Claypool is serving a 25-year-to-life sentence for murder. Recorded phone calls revealed that Murray had expressed dissatisfaction with her marriage to Claypool. Following her husband’s death, she told Claypool that they could now marry since Joshua was “out of the picture.”
In addition to her 12-year sentence for murder, Murray was also sentenced to seven years for arson and four years for tampering with evidence. However, all sentences will be served concurrently.