Loading ...Sarasota Murder Trial Hinges on Defendant’s Sanity
The Sarasota murder trial of Elton Murphy started this week. Prosecutors charged Murphy with the first-degree murder of gallery owner Joyce Wishart in January 2004.
In opening statements, prosecutors claimed that Murphy picked Wishart out as a rape victim because she was alone in her art gallery in downtown Sarasota. They told the jury that Murphy had a knife and stretchy sock to bind her when he got there. He then locked the door when he left in such a way as to not leave fingerprints.
Murphy’s defense attorneys are asking the jury to find Murphy not guilty by reason of insanity.
They claim that Murphy was not himself that day, he was “The Lord God Elton Brutus Murphy,” the manifestation of a mental illness that made him think he had a DNA link to God, had thousands of followers and had killed Julius Caesar. It is the defense position that Murphy believed God told him what to do, because of severe mental illness.
According to Murphy’s criminal defense attorneys, four psychologists will testify Murphy had an extensive history of mental illness before the killing, including losing a job because he claimed God told him what to do. Murphy was reportedly known to speak in tongues and stare at scrambled televisions to communicate with God. He believed he was an alien and hid in trash bins.
Prosecutors acknowledge that Murphy has mental issues but disagree with the contention that he did not know the difference between right and wrong. They point out that Murphy told Wishart not to scream and covered her mouth when she did. He also took Wishart’s wallet and keys, locked the door behind him, threw the keys away separately and chopped up the contents of the wallet and tossed them in different places. The prosecution believes this is substantial evidence that Murphy knew right from wrong.
Murphy mutilated Wishart’s body after raping and fatally stabbing her. He then posed her body like a nearby painting.
Because Murphy has admitting to the homicide, the only issue at trial is his sanity. The jury will determine whether he is sentenced to life in prison or is committed to a mental institution.
Despite the media attention that an insanity defense gets, it is not used all that often. Florida follows the so-called M’Naghten rule: Two conditions must be met for a person to be ruled legally insane such that they cannot be guilty of a crime: first, if he suffered at the time of his crime from a mental disease or defect; second, if he did not understand the nature of his act, or, if he did understand, did not know that it was wrong.
If a defendant is found not guilty by reason of insanity, he is committed to a state mental facility until doctors determine whether he is still a danger. If he is determined to still be dangerous, confinement would continue until his condition changed.