BURLEY, Idaho (AP) - A south-central Idaho man has been charged with first-degree murder following the shooting death of his wife in 2014.
Authorities said 32-year-old Jimmy Lee Murphy was taken into custody Wednesday.
Murphy took out a $650,000 life insurance policy on his wife just weeks before she was killed in what police say was a staged robbery. The insurance company refused to pay the $650,000 claim.
Whitney Murphy, who was 26, died at the couple’s home in Cassia County.
Jimmy Lee Murphy at the time of his arrest, police said, was outfitting a van to live in and was preparing to leave the area.
Court records say that three years after Whitney Murphy’s death, a relative confronted Jimmy Lee Murphy at a local store and accused him of the killing. Records say Murphy said, “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.”
Murphy is next scheduled to appear in court on March 12.
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