OLYMPIA, Wash. — A woman who admitted to killing her parents made a plea in court Friday to be released early from prison, but her sister was against it.
Jeannette Murphy was 19 years old in 1983 when she shot her parents, John and Elke, in the head and set their Lacey home on fire. After the fire, she left to pick up her sister, Natasha, from school.
Jeannette Murphy, 48, was in prison for 26 years before admitting to killing her parents. She said she has been a model in prison and asked the clemency board to set her free nine years early.
“I wish I could take it all back. Nobody wishes that more than me,” said Jeannette Murphy, on the phone in a prison cell. “It was not planned. I’m sorry. I don’t know how to take it back. The decision I made at that age is not who I am today.”
Murphy’s sister, Natasha, was in court and wept as her sister asked to be released, but Natasha Murphy opposed it.
Jeannette Murphy’s attorneys said she has been an extraordinary inmate who deserves freedom, but prosecutors said her actions have destroyed Natasha Murphy’s life.
“She’s always going to be the person whose parents were murdered by her sister when she was 14 years old,” said Chief Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Toynbee.
Natasha Murphy's attorney read a letter because she was too emotional to read herself about the devastation caused by her parents being killed.
“She destroyed a large portion of my heart, trust and hopes,” read Natasha Murphy’s attorney, Kathryn Pineda. “Jeannette is a cold-blooded murderer. How could I not fear this?”
Natasha Murphy told the clemency board the last time she visited her sister in prison was four years after her parents were killed.
“I asked her if she killed Mom and Dad, and she never answered me. She never gave me an answer. She did begin to cry, but I sat there and I didn’t get an answer, and I got up and I left,” said Natasha Murphy.
After hearing from both sides, the clemency board voted unanimously against releasing Jeannette Murphy. The governor will make the final decision.
KIRO
