Scene of the crime: Children walk past the park bench on Holme Avenue where Christopher Murray fatally strangled his wife last August. TIMES FILE PHOTO
An outburst of domestic violence claimed the life of Holme Circle resident Constance “Connie” Murray last August, but anxiety had been festering for months between the victim and her husband, Christopher Murray, according to testimony at his Nov. 18 murder hearing in Philadelphia’s Criminal Justice Center.
Christopher Murray strangled his wife near some park benches on Holme Avenue on Aug. 4 as the couple quarreled over his suspected relationship with another woman, city homicide Detective Howard Peterman said from the witness stand, reciting the husband’s alleged confession.
“I am deeply, deeply sorry it happened. I ruined so many lives and betrayed the trust and loyalty of people,” Peterman said, reading from a transcript of the defendant’s Aug. 9 statement to police. “I wish I had a time machine to go back. I wish I could go home just to bury my wife and say goodbye to my kids.”
After the hearing, Municipal Court Judge Teresa Carr Deni ordered Christopher Murray to stand trial on a general murder charge, leaving it to a jury or trial judge to determine if the alleged slaying was premeditated or had occurred during a momentary lapse of reason.
Defense attorney Andrea Konow asked the judge to dismiss first-degree murder from consideration. Konow characterized the case as “an argument that moved into a physical confrontation” and insisted that her client did not intend to kill.
Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore countered that the nature of a strangulation warrants first-degree murder consideration at trial. It is a method carried out over minutes, not seconds, and one in which the killer would “feel the life going out of her,” the prosecutor said.
Christopher Murray, 48, spent last week’s hearing sitting slumped in his chair, with his elbows resting on the defense table, wrists in handcuffs and hands cradling his face. He covered his eyes as Peterman recounted the blow-by-blow of the slaying as earlier told to him and Detective Gregory Santamala by the defendant.
The husband allegedly claimed that he and Connie “were getting along great” on Aug. 4 before she left their home on the 2800 block of Tolbut St. at about 9 p.m. to go jogging. About five minutes later, according to the statement, Christopher Murray left home in his car to catch up with his wife and to “tell her I loved her.” Christopher Murray first reached Connie near Ashton and Willits roads where they spoke briefly and expressed their love for each other, according to the confession. A short time later, Christopher Murray flagged down his wife again near Holme and Convent avenues. They agreed to go to some nearby park benches to talk. After about 10 minutes, things got heated, Christopher Murray allegedly told police.
The two had been at odds since March over Christopher’s text messaging with a woman that the couple knew through their local swim club. The husband insisted that he had no physical relationship with the other woman, but Connie still objected.
“She said she knew I wasn’t having a physical affair, but I was having an emotional affair because of text messages,” Peterman testified, reading from Murray’s alleged confession.
In the heat of the moment, Connie Murray, 46, who was born without a right forearm, rose from her bench and began pacing, then “she smacked me upside the head a couple times,” Christopher Murray allegedly told police. The husband, who stands over six feet and weighs more than 200 pounds, grabbed his wife.
During his Aug. 9 questioning, detectives asked him if he had choked his wife. The alleged reply: “I guess I must have. I don’t remember doing it.”
Christopher Murray also told police that he blacked out and doesn’t remember how he strangled the woman, according to Peterman’s testimony. Afterward, he allegedly took her mobile phone, smashed it with a screwdriver and discarded the pieces around the neighborhood. Police later found the back of the phone in a local sewer.
Murray reported his wife missing at about 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 5. A dog walker and SEPTA driver found the woman’s body at about 6 that morning on the ground near the benches, which overlook the Holme-Crispin family cemetery at the edge of Pennypack Park and the Crispin Gardens ballfields.
Police scoured the neighborhood for surveillance video in an effort to solve the mysterious killing. They interviewed Christopher Murray in the early stages, but he remained free for almost five days as relatives and friends visited the family home to offer condolences. The couple had two daughters who are minors and living with relatives, police have said.
Police returned to Murray’s home on Aug. 9 to ask that he take a polygraph exam. The husband voluntarily accompanied detectives to the Homicide Unit that afternoon.
Christopher Murray allegedly gave his confession hours later and was arrested. Pescatore said that the prosecution does not expect to seek the death penalty were the defendant convicted of first-degree murder. Nonetheless, because he is charged with a capital offense, Murray is ineligible for bail. He is housed at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility and will be arraigned on Dec. 9. A trial date has not been set. ••
Christopher Murray
