Idaho man facing murder charge years after wife’s death

BURLEY (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.