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The Gary Murphy Assassination, A San Francisco Cold Case

The Gary Murphy Assassination, A San Francisco Cold Case

Auteur(s): Mike Spencer
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Former reporter turned private investigator Mike Spencer looks at a case of his from 1998. A gunman killed Murphy one morning at a halfway house in a quiet neighborhood near the ocean. Murphy, a biker and three time convicted felon, tried to escape by running through a window. He died at the scene. Spencer had Murphy under surveillance in a child custody case three months before the death. Did Murphy's criminal past catch up to him or was it the private eye's former client, Grandma, who orchestrated the hit? A.C. Thompson of ProPublica and Murphy's daughter join Spencer to discuss the case. Spencer fights San Francisco Police in a public records battle to win not only the case file to the crime but the witness and suspect audio interviews from the time. True Crime
Épisodes
  • Episode 6: SF Police Interviews Vol. 1, The Gary Murphy Assassination
    Sep 11 2025

    Host/Private Eye Mike Spencer's five-year battle to obtain records in the case pays off when police release audio of witness and suspect interviews to him. It's the first time the public has ever heard these tapes. It's clear that as early as a day after the June 12, 1998, shooting death of biker and ex-con Murphy, police had the name of the prime suspect. Witnesses referred to her as Grandma, the woman Murphy had battled for custody of this then 6-year-old daughter.

    The episode contains interviews of Murphy's brother and sister, who flew out to San Francisco for his wake. A close friend of Murphy's tells detectives that while Murphy got in fights and used to sell drugs, he does not believe Murf's criminal past played a part in the murder. The friend also lays out how the grandmother was mad at Murphy because her daughter, the mother of Murphy's child, had died from an accidental drug overdose.

    Towards the end, detectives interview grandma. She blames Murphy's lifestyle for his demise and brags about her knowledge of the criminal justice system. However, as the case file reveals, we know that grandma soon fled back to her native Canada with Murphy's daughter.

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    38 min
  • Episode 5: The Case File is Released. The Gary Murphy Assassination
    Oct 1 2024

    Spencer private eye, the host, wins a public records battle on the case that he has fought for five years. After several attorneys turned him down to represent him vs. San Francisco Police, the police legal division voluntarily released the case file on the 1998 uncharged murder case. The file does not hold back. It names the killers involved in the conspiracy and details how prosecutors at least twice declined to charge anyone connected to the broad daylight shooting of the 41-year-old biker.

    The case file confirms his initial theory: his former client hired the killers as she was losing a custody battle to Murphy for her then 6-year-old granddaughter.

    Did sloppiness of the orgininal detectives doom a prosecution? Possibly. Spencer finds the file to be unorganized despite containing some strong evidence in the forms of ballistics and from witnesses. The case file details that the Murphy suspects were also tied to a notorious home invasion and sexual assault of a pregnant mother that occurred a week after Murphy's murder.

    Another detective took up the case in 2012 and within two months had prepared an arrest affidavit for suspects. The case bounces around among prosecutors but ultimately the District Attorney opted not to charge despite considerable corroboration of details in the conspiracy.

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    39 min
  • Episode 4: Fighting the SF DA and Police for Records, Gary Murphy Assassination
    Mar 11 2024

    Host Mike Spencer private eye escalates his records battle with the DA and Police Department by the San Francisco Sunshine Records Ordinance Task Force. He addresses the Task Force committee, who will decide whether the full task force will hear his arguments for obtaining records in the June 1998 murder for hire of ex con Gary Murphy, gunned down in a halfway house he managed near Ocean Beach. Spencer has obtained some records that suggest his ex client was behind the murder, hiring two former San Quentin state prison inmates to kill Murphy to obtain custody of his then six year old daughter, her granddaughter.

    The episode is a rare look at the public records process in California. Typically, a person has no recourse but to get an attorney if his or her records request is denied. There is no appeals process. But, the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance Task Force offers a venue for such records disputes. Hear Spencer and an SF District Attorney argue before the Task Force.

    Spencer argues that the SF DA and Police are hiding behind exemptions for not releasing what actually happeneed in the Murphy case and why no arrests were made despite police having the names of the killer and driver within 24 hours of the shooting. He points out that in 2014, the SF DA opted not to charge the gunman. No investigation has been made in more than 10 years. However, the DA claims that the exemption is forever since no one was charged. A broader question is what rights do a victim's family have in an old case where police might have botched an investigation.

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    35 min
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