Who killed Misty Murray?
Michael Snyder
Tuesday, June 06, 2000
Who killed Misty Murray?
Donna Laframboise
National Post
Five years ago last week, a 16-year-old girl named Mistie Murray went
missing from her home in Goderich, Ont., a town of 7,500 on the shore of
Lake Huron. Eleven days ago, a provincial watchdog ordered an independent
review of how the police -- who laid an unsuccessful murder charge against
Mistie's father -- have handled this case.
When their daughter disappeared, the lives of Anne and Steve Murray plunged
into darkness. Frantic with worry, they spent the summer of 1995 searching
for her. Every time the phone rang, their hopes rose and fell again.
That September, their nightmare got unbelievably worse. Despite the dozens
of people who told police they'd spotted Mistie in nearby communities during
the month of June, the investigating officers developed another theory. They
said Steve had taken his daughter out on the lake on the last day of May,
killed her for no apparent reason and thrown her body overboard.
We can only guess at the police psychology in this matter. One explanation
is that it's more glamorous to be pursuing a murderer than tracking down a
missing person. Another is that envy played a role. Steve was handsome,
popular and successful. He ran one of the town's pubs, owned a speedboat and
drove a new Trans Am convertible. Perhaps the temptation to tear down
someone who seemed to have it all was too strong.
Whatever the reason, from the moment the handcuffs closed over Steve's
wrists, the financial destruction of the Murray family was assured. While
most of us prefer not to think about such things, the cost of defending
one's self against a serious criminal charge wipes out all but the
wealthiest -- no matter how innocent an accused person may be.
Legal bills are only the beginning. After the Murray's boat was impounded,
its interior was vandalized in a search for evidence that never
materialized. (In what appears to have been a sick ploy intended to fuel the
local rumour mill, carpet, anchors and a seat from the boat were brought to
the courthouse but never introduced at trial.) Exposed to the elements
before being returned to the Murrays 19 months later, the boat had been
soaked by rain and snow to the point where interior surfaces were coated
with black mildew, and cutlery inside kitchen cupboards was covered with
rust. Even after being cleaned up and repaired, it sold for half its former
value.
As an accused murderer, Steve found it difficult to find work (the pub, too,
was sold at a loss). "I put an ad in the paper to shovel driveways and
sidewalks," he told the National Post in his first media interview last
year. "I got another job cleaning public mail boxes around town."
When his three-week trial ended in mid-1997, the family's savings had been
depleted and a pile of bills remained. The case against Steve was so
preposterous the jury took only 45 minutes to throw it out, but that didn't
change his financial situation one iota.
If police officers never made mistakes there'd be no need for judges and
juries. But the role of such people is to ensure the police case is
persuasive. In this instance, the jury unequivocally told the cops to return
to the drawing board.
But rather than backing off, the police have spent the three years since
Steve's acquittal insisting they're right. In March, CBC television's the
fifth estate aired an interview with an Ontario Provincial Police
spokesperson.
"Since the disappearance of Mistie Murray, have you found anything that
would link her to being at the bottom of Lake Huron?" asked the interviewer.
"No, but we are going to continue to look," came the police response.
When the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services recently informed
Anne, in a rare decision, that her complaints regarding police conduct
"raise serious issues which the Commission wishes to have further examined,"
a small ray of light pierced her family's gloom. For the first time in
years, it seems possible to her that police officers aren't just cowboys
permitted to pursue their delusions indefinitely.
Anne continues to hope her daughter is alive, out there somewhere, and that
they'll be reunited one day.
Copyright © Southam Inc. "National Post Online is a production of Southam
Inc., Canada's largest publisher of daily newspapers."
Kris Baker
"Michael Snyder" <msn...@socmen.org> wrote in message
news:i%5ke.1671$W51....@typhoon.sonic.net...
> http://www.fact.on.ca/news/news0006/np000606.htm
>
> Tuesday, June 06, 2000
>
> Who killed Misty Murray?
> Donna Laframboise
> National Post
> Five years ago last week, a 16-year-old girl named Mistie Murray went
> missing from her home in Goderich, Ont., a town of 7,500 on the shore of
> Lake Huron. Eleven days ago, a provincial watchdog ordered an independent
> review of how the police -- who laid an unsuccessful murder charge against
> Mistie's father -- have handled this case.
Here's an update from last summer:
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2004/07/31/563853.html
The Mistie mystery
Every Saturday this summer, The Free Press reopens a cold case file in
the region. The Goderich teen's disappearance triggered a frantic, futile
search.
Free Press staff 2004-07-31 01:55:24
The last day 16-year-old Mistie Murray spent in her Goderich home started
off like many others. On the morning of May 31, 1995, the five-foot-three,
115-pound girl with reddish brown hair and blue-green eyes, whose haunting
image has since graced the back of credit card bills and trucks, set out for
Goderich district collegiate institute. Wearing red shorts, black boots and
perhaps a green jacket with Mistie on the left sleeve and a crest reading
Seaforth Girls Trumpet Band, she was seen at school that day attending
classes and visiting the nurse.
Bubbly and outgoing to a point that may have put her at risk, Mistie wore
rings on every finger that day. While she had five piercings in her right
ear and two in her left, friends didn't recall seeing her with earrings that
day.
In her room, Mistie left behind a packed suitcase and, on her dresser $200
and dozens of photos, the prelude of what was supposed to have been a trip
to Halifax to meet the family of the woman who had given her up for adoption
when she was two.
Between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. that day, Mistie placed a phone call from her
high school to the elementary school where her mother taught. But she didn't
leave a message.
That was the last known time Mistie would try to communicate with her
parents, Anne and Steven Murray, who had rescued her from a life of foster
homes and abandonment.
The search that was to follow would be mired in controversy and doubt.
Mistie's early years were chaotic as her birth mother, Darlene Oldfield,
moved often, about a dozen times in two years, according to the Murrays.
Oldfield gave Mistie up for adoption at age two and, for the next three
years, Mistie was shuttled among foster homes.
That all changed Sept. 21, 1983. The Murrays, who had two sons, adopted
Mistie a month before her fifth birthday. For the first time, Mistie had a
stable home.
But the trauma of those early years lurked below, rising to the surface
during her teenage years.
Two years before she disappeared, Mistie began to struggle. Her grades and
school work declined. She placed her trust in strangers, engaging in
promiscuous activity, beginning one sexual relationship just days before she
left home.
Anxious to help their daughter, the Murrays arranged to re-unite Mistie with
Oldfield, hoping that connection would add stability to her life.
But their good intentions may have had the opposite effect. On her school
notebooks, Mistie began to add a second signature to her work -- Mistie
Oldfield.
"She needed a psychiatrist and I didn't know it. She was in great emotional
crisis," Anne Murray said.
By May 31, 1995, Mistie appeared to be preparing for a visit to the Oldfield
family in Halifax. She talked excitedly about the trip to friends. Her bags
were packed.
Those bags were still packed and in her bedroom when Mistie disappeared, a
factor that led investigators later to conclude she was likely the victim of
foul play.
INVESTIGATION FALLS TO ONE COP
But if Goderich police suspected wrongdoing, they didn't show it.
A single officer was asked to investigate her disappearance -- part-time.
Potential evidence wasn't collected. Interviews were incomplete or so
delayed that memories faded.
"(Goderich police) did not have a policy or procedure in place to
effectively and efficiently investigate this missing persons case," York
police later wrote in an audit ordered by the civilian agency that oversees
police in Ontario.
The day after Mistie was last reported seen at home, her friend, Sarah
Crawford, spoke to her in the Bargain Shop in Goderich.
The store fronts the octagonal park that centres Goderich and lends it a
sense of grace and order. It's also within sight of the Goderich police
station.
But while police once questioned Crawford about her encounter, when her
story didn't fit their theory of what happened they didn't interview anyone
else in the store.
Three teenagers who knew Mistie told police they thought they saw her
walking the next day, June 2, along Highway 8 from Goderich to Clinton. And
another teen, a member of the same marching band as Mistie, said she spotted
her in the crowd at the Clinton Fair on June 3, wearing a green Seaforth
band jacket.
In the next two weeks there were at least 20 reported sightings of Mistie,
or a teenager who looked like her, in London. She was reported seen near
Dundas and Glebe streets, hanging out with tough-looking street kids.
POLICE SET SIGHTS ON MISTIE'S DAD
There is something worse than burying your own child.
Something harder than holding the cold hand of a child whose first act was
to squeeze your finger.
Just ask Anne and Steven Murray, who had to mourn Mistie without knowing
what had become of her, their uncertainty the product of an investigation
bungled by police.
It would be more than a year before the Murrays would learn of all the
people who reported seeing their daughter in the weeks after she left home.
By that time they had a new trauma to deal with.
When minimal investigation by Goderich police turned up no answers, Ontario
Provincial Police took over. They set their sights on Steven Murray,
charging him with murder.
The case against Steven Murray was built on an observation of a couple who
thought they saw him about 7 p.m. on May 31 taking a young woman to the
family boat at the marina in Goderich Harbour.
OPP came up with a theory: Steven Murray had taken Mistie on their boat to
the middle of Lake Huron, killing her and dumping her in water so deep that
at the bottom the frigid water would keep her body from decomposing and
floating to the surface.
Their theory had a fatal flaw: Police said Murray needed two hours to travel
to the middle of the lake but five witnesses reported seeing him elsewhere
between 7:15 p.m. and 9 p.m. Their accounts supported his contention he had
arrived at the marina alone and had gone on a brief outing.
A jury would quickly reject the police theory at a trial two years later.
Despite Murray's acquittal, police continued to pursue him with no more
evidence than had been presented at trial. They did so extolling the virtues
of the woman who had given birth to Mistie over the parents who had raised
her and given her a home.
"The natural mother, to me, she's the real silent one in this and she's the
one that's really hurting . . . She is the one who suffered tremendously,"
said Wally Baker, then the OPP lead investigator.
An audit of the OPP investigation concluded investigators had been sloppy
and had been so fixated on nailing Steven Murray that they had neglected to
thoroughly probe other suspects.
"The case against Steve Murray could only be described as weak," York police
wrote.
A MOM SETS OUT TO FIND HER DAUGHTER
Police never came close to explaining what happened to Mistie or who might
be responsible for her disappearance, but their conduct had great impact.
Steven Murray, ostracized by many in Goderich, left town and took to driving
a truck.
Anne Murray set out to do what police had not -- to find her daughter.
But even with the help of Childfind, with the trail cold, her search was
filled with more frustration than promise, more heartache than hope.
While there were reported sightings across Canada of women who bore some
resemblance to Mistie, their accounts were too general to be of much help.
But then, in the first few months of 2001, there was a report of a woman in
Vancouver whose appearance and background were strikingly similar to Mistie,
a woman on the run from her past.
"We are 99 per cent positive that we have seen Mistie Murray, who uses an
alias and regularly accesses youth services in the downtown south area of
Vancouver," wrote two people who e-mailed their sightings to The Free Press
and ChildFind.
Saying they were bound by confidentiality, they appeared to work for social
agencies running homeless programs along Granville Street.
On Sept. 25, 2001, police phoned. They had a photo from a social agency in
Vancouver. Four days later, Anne Murray was waiting in her cottage.
Two officers walked in, one carrying a folder. One reached inside the
folder, pulled out a photo and put it on a table.
The long face, bronze skin, hair pulled to the side -- for a moment Anne
Murray thought she was seeing her daughter.
But the eyes were too big and the bridge of her nose too wide.
Six years of searching and sacrifice had been enough. Anne Murray and her
family said goodbye to Mistie in a church service Nov. 10, 2000.
Said Anne Murray: "It's time to put Mistie and our suffering back in God's
hands."
The case
On May 31, 1995, 16-year-old Mistie Murray leaves her Goderich home, never
to return. While their are numerous sightings of her in the weeks to follow,
police appear to some to do little to track her, then spend the ensuing
years trying to pin her disappearance on her father, who is acquitted at
trial. The investigation leads to an unprecedented audit on how police
investigate missing persons.
While police are still following tips, they aren't pursing specific
suspects. Nor do they have a working theory on what happened to Mistie.
"It's pretty much an open question," said Det. Supt. Ross Bingley. A police
audit three years ago suggested investigators stop obsessing with a weak
theory, presented at trial, that Mistie was dumped in Lake Huron, and
instead look for unmarked graves.
Suspects
- Goderich police and OPP failed to check the story of a man who, according
to police, was the main suspect outside the Murray family. The man, who
began a sexual relationship with Mistie shortly before her disappearance,
told police he last saw her the day he paid his rent and cashed his welfare
cheque, a day he claimed to be May 30, 1995.
But bank records uncovered by defence lawyer Brian Greenspan showed those
transactions took place May 31 -- the day Mistie was last seen at home.
- Police didn't interview a woman who worked in the store below the man's
apartment and who reported seeing Mistie by his stairwell May 31 or June 1.
Asked about the failing several years ago, Wally Baker, former OPP lead
investigator in the case, said there had been a "mixup."
Update
In December 2002, Mistie's parents sued police, claiming they maliciously
prosecuted her father, Steven Murray, and failed to disclose evidence of his
innocence. The $2.15-million lawsuit is pending in the courts.
fl...@starband.net
news:Sb6ke.258$2u1...@newssvr19.news.prodigy.com:
> In December 2002, Mistie's parents sued police, claiming they
> maliciously prosecuted her father, Steven Murray, and failed to
> disclose evidence of his innocence. The $2.15-million lawsuit is
> pending in the courts.
I hope he wins and collects.
From the article, the cops bungled the investigation SO badly, almost makes
me think the police had something to hide.
flick 100785
Kris Baker
<fl...@starband.net> wrote in message
news:Xns965F2199DC65...@63.223.5.248...
It always makes me wonder who the "witness" is....the
person(s) who "saw" Steve out in the boat with Mistie.
Kris
billcl...@gmail.com
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gkyBj31KKMk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
sherry...@gmail.com
> I just saw a picture and name on the back of an envelope from CIBC. I recognized, instantly, the name and image of the girl I knew in Toronto for a period of time in the mid to late nineties. She frequented the after-hours nightclub I ran, and I believe she was involved in the sex trade. I believe she was staying, for some time, at Covenant House or a similar youth shelter. She was part of a group of homeless youth, of whom I knew a number. I recall her no longer being around not long after the shooting of three sex workers on Victoria Day weekend, 1996.
Greg Carr
The Disappearance of Mistie Murray – Last Seen in Goderich, Ontario – Missing Since 1995
Dec 8, 2019
Mistie was last seen on May 31, 1995 in her hometown of Goderich, Ontario. She attended classes at the Goderich District Collegiate Institute on the day of her disappearance and also visited the school nurse, for reasons that have not been made public. She called her adoptive mother, Anne Murray, at work at 3:00 p.m. and could not reach her but left a message. Mistie never arrived home and has never been heard from again.
Mistie’s biological mother, Darlene Oldfield, gave her up for adoption in 1980. Mistie spent several years in foster care before being adopted by Anne and Steven Murray in 1983. Her adoptive parents describe her as a friendly, outgoing child who initially performed well in school, but when she reached adolescence she developed personal problems and her grades fell. Mistie re-established contact with Oldfield and met her in person eight months before her disappearance. They were planning a weekend trip together and also were considering living together for the summer.
Investigators initially believed Mistie had run away from home. However, she had been very excited about the upcoming weekend visit with Oldfield and had already packed her suitcase, which was left behind when she vanished. She also left $200 on her bedroom dresser. If she disappeared of her own accord it makes little sense that she would have not taken those items.
Mistie’s adult boyfriend, Jeremy Cook, says he last saw her on May 30, and he cashed a check and paid his rent that day. However, bank records show that Cook actually cashed the check on May 31, the day Mistie disappeared. There were reported sightings of Mistie at Cook’s apartment on May 31 or June 1, but these have not been confirmed.
Over the course of several days in early June, a number of area teenagers who knew Mistie reported seeing her and speaking with her several times in Goderich and in nearby Clinton, Ontario. In late June, there were possible sightings of her in the Dundas/Adelaide area of London, Ontario, which is frequented by runaways and homeless children. The London witnesses reported that Mistie was involved with drugs and prostitution, and that she left London with her pimp because of the publicity about her disappearance. Police officers in Toronto, Ontario reported seeing someone matching Mistie’s description begging on the streets. None of the sightings have been confirmed, however.
Authorities quickly discarded the runaway theory and, in September 1995, charged Steven with murdering Mistie. His trial was in 1997. Prosecutors stated that on the day of Mistie’s disappearance, Steven took her out of Snug Harbor into Lake Huron, murdered her, and dumped her body near the center of the lake, where cold temperatures would keep it from surfacing. No motive for the alleged crime was offered. Steven admitted to going out on Lake Huron the day Mistie vanished, but said it was only for a very short trip. Multiple witnesses confirmed that Steven had been on dry land at the time the prosecution said he was killing Mistie, and the jury took less than an hour to acquit Steven of all charges.
Investigators have searched Lake Huron several times for Mistie’s remains; they stated that, in spite of his acquittal, they still believe Steven murdered her. A later audit of the investigation into Mistie’s case criticized police for failing to follow up on sightings and leads and focusing on the “weak” theory of Steven’s guilt. The Murrays divorced after Mistie’s disappearance. In 2000, they held a memorial service for Mistie. In 2002, they sued the police for $2.15 million for malicious prosecution and the failure to disclose vital evidence which would have exonerated Steven sooner.
Mistie remains missing and it is unclear whether foul play was a factor in her case. Her adoptive parents believe she ran away from home but is now deceased, possibly murdered by other street children. Mistie’s biological mother also believes she is dead.
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: May 31, 1995 from Goderich, Ontario
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date of Birth: October 28, 1978
Age: 16 years old
Height and Weight: 5’3 – 5’4, 115 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Reddish-brown hair, gray/green eyes. Mistie has a mole on her right cheek and a gap between her two upper front teeth. Her nickname is Mistron. She may use the last names Oldfield and/or Kidd, or her birth name, Jean Marie Oldfield. Some agencies incorrectly give her middle name as Lynn. Mistie has five piercings in her right ear and two in her left, but was not wearing any earrings at the time of her disappearance.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: Red shorts, black boots, rings on every finger, and possibly a dark green nylon jacket with “Mistie” on the right sleeve, “Flag” on the left sleeve, and “S.D.H.S. Girls Band” on the left side of the chest.
https://missingpeople.ca/2019/12/the-disappearance-of-mistie-murray-last-seen-in-goderich-ontario-missing-since-1995/
Also:https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/lfp-archives-the-enduring-mistie-murray-mystery/
https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/dad-once-accused-in-teen-daughter-mistie-murrays-vanishing-dies-at-68/
Wonder what ever happened to the 2.5 million dollar lawsuit?