Murder suspect takes stand in federal trial
Aug. 5—A McIntosh County man whose state murder conviction was reversed last year by the U.S. Supreme Court on jurisdictional grounds denied any involvement with the death of a man who had dated his common-law wife.
Patrick D. Murphy, 52, said past statements made to investigators following the August 1999 death of George Jacobs were coerced during interrogation sessions. He said investigators would not believe him when he told them the truth but promised to help him and rewarded him when he told them what he thought they wanted to hear.
Murphy's denial of his prior statements were made Wednesday during the second day of his trial in federal court on charges that include murder in Indian country and kidnapping in various forms. He took the stand as the sole witness to testify in his defense.
Murphy was convicted of first-degree murder in McIntosh County District Court for the death of Jacobs, whose beaten and mutilated body was found in a ditch alongside a rural road. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the conviction and Murphy's death sentence in 2002.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the conviction and sentence because Murphy and Jacobs were enrolled members of the Muscogee Nation, and the alleged crime took place within the tribe's reservation. The appellate court ruled in 2017 that because Congress never disestablished the reservation, Murphy should have been tried in federal court pursuant to the Major Crimes Act.
Oklahoma appealed the 10th Circuit decision the following year. With eight justices taking part, the U.S. Supreme Court failed to reach a decision in 2019. Justices ruled in 2020 on a case with similar jurisdictional issues filed by 72-year-old Jimcy McGirt, who was serving a 500-year prison sentence out of Wagoner County for child molestation.
The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed the reversal of Murphy's state conviction based upon the reasoning of its opinion on the McGirt decision. Because the state lacks jurisdiction to try members of federally recognized tribes for major crimes committed in Indian country, those must be tried in federal court.
While state court records indicate Murphy initially confessed to taking part in crime, he denied making them when confronted by prosecutors about the testimony presented this week by their witnesses.
"That is not something I would say or do to anybody," Murphy said when asked about testimony of Patsy Jacob on Tuesday. "I don't know why she would say something like that."
Murphy, who acknowledged past problems with alcoholism, said the witnesses might have been confused about what they heard "because there was a lot of chatter going on in the truck" after Jacobs was killed. Murphy said he was with Billy Jack Long and Kevin King when Jacobs was beaten and cut.
Mark Sumka, who was with Jacobs during the deadly encounter in August 1999, said he saw Long and King drag Jacobs out of the vehicle and beat him, but he never saw Murphy take part in that beating. Sumka said he saw Murphy with a knife later, but never saw him use it to cut Jacobs.
Sumka, who said he could not "remember all of this" during his testimony Wednesday, said he left with the trio willingly. Sumka said he was told they would kill him and his family if he "said anything" but acknowledged he "could have left" at any time while they drank beer and stopped at various places after Jacobs was killed and left in the ditch.
In a handwritten letter presented by the government, Murphy asks Long or King to "take the rap" for him and he would get $1 million to help with their defense. When pressed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Reeves about the letter, Murphy said the letter was sent because he was the only person charged in connection with Jacobs' death.
Murphy admitted he didn't have $1 million, and it was unlikely he ever would.
Dr. Ronald Distefano, an expert witness and former medical examiner, presented photographs of Jacobs' beaten body, which the defense attempted to exclude from trial. Photographs depicted a face that was swollen, bruised and lacerated, and cut across the throat and upper abdomen — he provided only a description of Jacobs' severed genitalia.
Trial continues Thursday in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Oklahoma.
