William Murphy, Staten Island's longest-serving district attorney
Hyfler/Rosner
William Murphy, Staten Island's longest-serving district
attorney, dead at 65
By Tom Wrobleski
June 05, 2010, 9:26AM
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Retired District Attorney William L.
Murphy, 65, the longest-serving D.A. in Staten Island
history, died yesterday at home.
The cause of death was complications from diabetes, said his
wife of 41 years, the former Kathleen Brushett.
"He was the best thing that ever happened to me," said Mrs.
Murphy. "He taught me everything that was right to do."
The beloved West Brighton Democrat served as district
attorney for 21 years, from 1983 to 2003.
Mr. Murphy came to the borough district attorney's office in
1976 to serve as chief assistant under D.A. Thomas Sullivan.
"It's a good guy gone," said Sullivan, a retired state
Appellate Division judge. "He knew his law. He was a wizard
at it. We looked at the job the same way: It wasn't about
getting convictions, it was about getting justice."
Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo appointed Mr. Murphy D.A. in
1983 after Sullivan was elected to the state Supreme Court.
Mr. Murphy won election in his own right that November.
"He was an elegant man who cared only about doing the right
thing for the community," said Allen Cappelli, a longtime
political adviser. "He was an extraordinarily decent human
being and a consummate professional."
Mr. Murphy was born in Chicago, where his father was serving
in the U.S. Army, and was brought to the Island at the age
of 6 weeks. He grew up in New Brighton and also lived on
Grymes Hill before settling in West Brighton in 1976.
Mr. Murphy started his career as a prosecutor in 1969 in
Manhattan D.A. Frank Hogan's office, where he became the
chief of the Indictments Bureau in 1974. He also served
under D.A.s Richard Kuh and Robert Morgenthau.
Mr. Murphy said that one of the highlights of his Island
career was his 1982 prosecution of John Cassiliano, known as
"Johnny Cash," who took bribes to allow toxic waste to be
dumped at the old Brookfield landfill.
Cassiliano had to be charged with bribery because there were
scant environmental violations to hit him with.
After getting a guilty plea in the case, Mr. Murphy lobbied
to make state environmental law more like penal law.
Lauding Mr. Murphy's work on Brookfield, which is slated to
become one of the largest public parks in the city, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg yesterday called him a "legendary public
servant."
"Bill was a great lawyer and a truly great person,"
Bloomberg said.
In other high-profile cases, Mr. Murphy's office won
convictions against child kidnapper Andre Rand; murderer
Elena Kiejliches, and cop killer Shatiek Johnson.
Mr. Murphy worked to change insanity-defense laws to place
more of a burden on defendants, and kept his office on top
of whatever new technologies criminals embraced over the
years.
He was widely known as an expert on grand juries.
Mr. Murphy formed new bureaus in the office and beefed up
others. He called the Sex Crimes/Special Victims Unit one of
the office's "gems." He also focused on crime prevention,
using asset forfeiture money to fund the initiative.
Mr. Murphy established satellite D.A. offices around the
Island, and railed against elected officials who pass laws
without providing the funding to make them work.
"He was quite simply one of the most sincere and classy
people I have ever met, in both public and private life,"
said Rep. Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn). "Bill
was the gold standard of public servants and his enormous
smile will be sorely missed."
Mr. Murphy won re-election four times, including 1995, when
he bested the GOP's Guy Molinari, then the borough
president, in a bitter contest.
"That was the shining moment," said Surrogate Robert
Gigante, who was Democratic Party chairman then. "The people
of Staten Island recognized Bill's professional skills and
put politics aside."
"He was such a credit to the profession of prosecution,"
said Robert Olivari, who worked on the campaign. "He could
have been elected forever."
He was a past president of the National District Attorneys
Association, and the New York State District Attorneys
Association. He was an emeritus member of the National
College of District Attorneys' Board of Regents. He also
taught the Police Department's Homicide Investigator course
and lectured at the Criminal Justice Service's basic and
economic crime courses for prosecutors.
. Mr. Murphy made headlines outside the courtroom in 2000,
when Assistant District Attorney Mario Mattei donated one of
his kidneys to him. That transplant failed, but Mr. Murphy's
bodyguard, Detective Daniel Ingellis, then offered one of
his kidneys to him, which was successfully transplanted.
"He was the closest thing that I had to an older brother,"
said Mattei, now a Criminal Court judge. "All he cared about
was making sure that you did the right thing as a
prosecutor."
"I've lost a good friend, a mentor," said Ingellis, who,
like others, said that Murphy fostered a family atmosphere
in the office.
"He never acted like a boss," Ingellis said. "He treated
everyone with dignity and respect."
Said Mrs. Murphy, "When two friends, two employees, give
their kidneys, that speaks the world about Bill."
In January 2003, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)
recommended to President George W. Bush that Mr. Murphy be
appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District. Later that month, Mr. Murphy announced his
retirement from the D.A.'s office. He eventually withdrew
from consideration for the judgeship, citing health concerns
relating to his diabetes.
"Bill Murphy was a man of true devotion to his family, his
community and the law he was sworn to uphold," said GOP D.A.
Daniel Donovan, who succeeded Murphy.
Mr. Murphy's poor health continued in recent years, leading
to leg amputations in 2005 and 2006.
View a slideshow of images captured by Advance photographers
during Murphy's storied career:
"Bill was an outstanding lawyer and an excellent D.A.," said
Justice Philip Minardo, administrative judge of Richmond
County. "More importantly, he was a good guy who was liked
and admired by all."
Minardo called Mr. Murphy's ability to remain cheerful in
the face of his declining health "a tribute to his faith and
character."
Mr. Murphy attended St. Paul's School, and was a 1962
graduate of St. Peter's High School.
He graduated magna cum laude from Fordham University in 1966
with a degree in political science. He was a member of Phi
Beta Kappa.
Mr. Murphy graduated from Harvard School of Law in
Cambridge, Mass., in 1969. He belonged to the Air Force ROTC
while there.
Mr. Murphy belonged to the Staten Island Darts League and
loved to play golf. He was an "obsessive" fan of the New
York and San Francisco Giants baseball team, said his wife.
He remained close to Giants player Bobby Thomson, whose home
run won the team the 1951 National League pennant.
"He was a good old friend," said Thomson. "I respected him.
I always looked forward to seeing him when I was on Staten
Island."
Mr. Murphy became an Eagle Scout while a member of Troop 52,
sponsored by St. Paul's R.C. Church, New Brighton. He was a
former president of the Staten Island Council, Boy Scouts of
America, and in 1996 received the Silver Beaver Award, the
highest recognition that a local council can bestow.
He was a past chairman of the Staten Island Unit of the
Leukemia Society and the Advisory Board of the Catholic
Youth Organization. He also served on the advisory boards of
Bayley Seton Hospital, St. John's University and the Goodhue
Center. He was on the board of Community Agency for Senior
Citizens.
He belonged to the Staten Island Rotary Club and the Ancient
Order of Hibernians. He was grand marshal of the 1983 Staten
Island St. Patrick's Parade.
Mr. Murphy attended St. Peter's R.C. Church.
In addition to his wife, Kathleen, Mr. Murphy is survived by
two daughters, Michele Murphy Gastel and Jeannine Sweeney;
three brothers, Donald, Gerald and Vincent; a sister, Mary
Ellen Cilento, and two grandchildren, Riley and Quinn
Gastel. Mr. Murphy's brother, John, died earlier this year.
The funeral will be Thursday from the Harmon Home for
Funerals, West Brighton, with a mass at 11 a.m. in St.
Peter's Church, New Brighton. Arrangements include
cremation.