Nearly two years after a devastating fire took the life of senior Michael Scrocca, junior Daniel Murray admitted in court last week to setting Scrocca’s house on fire and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
Murray, a junior cell biology and molecular genetics major who had hoped to go to medical school, faces a maximum sentence of 40 years when prosecuters present their case during a sentencing hearing in March.
Taking the plea deal frees Murray from the possibility of a life sentence, which is what the State’s Attorney would have sought during a trial. The decision comes after months of delayed hearings and mounting evidence against Murray in a once-stalled investigation.
“It’s interesting when you go through this; you think you’re going to feel better, and you don’t,” said Mary Scrocca, Michael’s mother. “There’s never really closure when you lose a child, [but] with this agreement there’s no re-visitation; there’s no appeals. It’s never going to bring my son back, but this is the best we could do for our son.”
Last week’s decision came during a motion’s hearing to determine the legality of a confession Murray gave to police when he was arrested in the spring of 2005, as well as letters he sent from jail and a recording made by his cellmate in prison where he discusses covering up his involvement, according to a source close to the trial.
But instead of reaching a decision on the admissibility of the evidence, Murray’s high-profile defense attorney Bill Brennan – who represented convicted sniper Lee Boyd Malvo – recommended that Murray take a plea deal.
Some of Scrocca’s friends and family members were taken aback by the abrupt conclusion to the case.
“Honestly, the first thing I felt was surprised. [Murray] seemed very serious about fighting it,” said Scrocca’s friend Rob Tilley, who graduated in May. “I hope the judge takes into account that at every turn this kid tried to hide what he did. He tried to take back the confession; he lied to the judge’s face; this is not a remorseful individual.”
Murray had confessed to police that he lit a broom on fire and threw it onto the couch on the front porch of Scrocca’s Princeton Avenue house where partygoers had heckled him earlier that night. The blaze killed Scrocca, who died of smoke inhalation, and caused then-senior Stephen Aarons to jump out of a second-story window.
In October, however, Murray told prosecutors that police coerced the confession from him and that it was a lie, saying “They told me that I was going to be raped … that I could be killed in jail.”
While prosecutors prepared to prove the confession was obtained legally, they were contacted by Murray’s cellmate, who said he would testify against Murray after speaking with him in jail, the source said.
After investigators talked to the cellmate, they implanted a recording device in his cell, where they heard Murray arranging to pay another cellmate’s girlfriend to lie to police for him. Murray also wrote the girl a letter, asking her to say she saw a black man with a can of gasoline outside the house the night of the fire, and included a drawing of the house’s location.
Prosecutors said they obtained a search warrant to obtain the letters sent to the cellmate’s girlfriend, as well as another letter Murray sent to his grandmother. In the letter, Murray asks her to tell police he was at her house on the night of the arson, the source said.
Prosecutors would not comment on the details of the recording or letters.
“There was some very incriminating evidence in the tapes and on the letters,” said State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey said in a phone interview after the hearing last Tuesday, adding that the additional evidence strengthened the state’s hand and helped turn the tide before going to trial. “We’re pleased with this outcome; it gives some degree of finality. It also means the defendant is going to be held accountable for this senseless killing.”
The sentencing is set for March 30 and will include testimonies from Scrocca’s parents, his brother and friends, his mother said. All evidence that was in question, including Murray’s confession and letters, will be admissible during the hearing, according to Ivey.
Aarons, a friend and roommate of Scrocca’s who took more than a year to recover from burns he received in the fire and who must still undergo surgery on the foot he injured after his jump from the house as he escaped, was pleased with the outcome.
“I think that no matter what, his life is over, based on where he thought he was gonna be in 25 years,” said Aarons, who graduated last May. “Obviously it’d be great if he’d been in prison for the rest of his life, but his life is going to be effectively over.”
Murray’s parents would not return calls for this story, and several friends declined to comment.
As Murray was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs after his plea, Murray’s parents approached the Scrocca family with tears in their eyes to offer their condolences and hug the family members who came to the hearing.
Mary Scrocca said there had been no contact or words exchanged between the two families up to that point.
“He’s really ruined two families,” Scrocca said. “I don’t think he’s sorry for what he did. It would have meant a lot more if he turned around and apologized to us.”
Contact Owen Praskievicz at praskieviczdbk@gmail.com.
