DALLAS, TEXAS: Jedidiah Murphy, the Jewish man on death row in Texas who received support from several Jewish activists while fighting to avoid the death penalty, reportedly spoke about Hamas' attack on Israel and apologized to the family of his victim, in his last words before his execution.
The 48-year-old inmate was sentenced to death for the fatal shooting of 80-year-old Bertie Lee Cunningham in Dallas County during a 2000 carjacking incident.
Murphy was reportedly executed by lethal injection on Tuesday, October 10, following a series of last-minute maneuvers that aimed at sparing him from the death penalty, The Times of Israel reported.
He was reportedly granted a stay of execution by a federal district court on Friday, October 6, but the Attorney General’s Office filed an appeal to vacate the stay, the publication noted.
On the day of the execution, Murphy's lawyers made another request for a stay, reiterating the previous argument claiming that the drugs he was set to be injected with were damaged by smoke and heat during a recent fire at a state prison.
However, the petition from Murphy's attorneys as well as a last-minute petition to the US Supreme Court were denied, leading to the execution.
What did Jedidiah Murphy say in his final moments?
In his final statement, Murphy addressed his victim's family and said, "To the family of the victim I want to say I sincerely apologize for all I did. I hope this brings you closure." He also recited a psalm praising God, as per The Times of Israel.
Cantor Michael Zoosman, a former prison chaplain who runs the Jewish anti-death penalty group L’Chaim, attended a vigil held on Zoom during the last hours of Murphy’s legal fight and through his execution, minutes before the expiration of his death warrant.
During the vigil, Zoosman revealed that Murphy became his dear friend and pen pal and reportedly expressed sadness about Hamas' surprise attack on Israel that left over 1200 dead, at the time of writing.
"I wish I could say it was a shock," Zoosman said about the execution. He also sang "Oseh Shalom" and Psalm 23 from his sukkah (temporary hut), before saying, "May there be peace, may we see a day with no more killing. Amen."
On Monday, October 9, a day before the execution, Rabbi Dovid Goldstein, a Houston-based Chabad rabbi who has long advocated for Murphy's case, accompanied the death row inmate while he prayed with tefillin for last time, the outlet noted.
Earlier this week, Murphy reportedly sent a message to Zoosman saying that it not only was it difficult to handle the uncertainty of his fate but it also even more challenging for his family.
Zoosman also sent Murphy a copy of the vidui, a traditional Jewish confessional prayer recited before death, last week.
"I’ve done that many times for people as a hospice and hospital chaplain," the former prison chaplain explained.
"But it also applies here, if in fact he is going to be put to death, then this is the prayer that our tradition offers for someone who’s about to face death," he added.
Jedidiah Murphy said being Jewish gave him a 'sense of community'
In an email written from prison to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency last month, Murphy claimed that while he confessed to the crime in the past, he was high on cocaine and says he does not remember it.
"Three years ago I cried out to Hashem and submitted to his authority and my mind was completely restored," he wrote.
"That is a miracle and so do I have faith? Absolutely, because I’ve beaten the odds time and again and I know it is for a reason I don’t fully understand," Murphy continued.
"Being Jewish brought a sense of community and I’ve been blessed with Rabbis that pour into someone that did not deserve it," he added.
Jedidiah Murphy reportedly faced abuse as a child
Murphy was reportedly abused by his birth father and abandoned by his birth mother, who was Jewish, as per The Forward. He also faced abuse at the hands of his adoptive father, the publication noted.
A year before he killed Cunningham, Murphy was reportedly seeking mental health assistance and was diagnosed with mental dissociative identity disorder, major depression and alcohol dependency, the Texas Observer mentioned.
"After being twice abandoned by his mother, and experiencing the death of three caregivers within a four-month period, Jedidiah began a turbulent journey through two different adoptive placements and various foster care institutions, all of which continued the cycle of trauma, abuse, and neglect," his clemency petition read in part.
Murphy and his brother reportedly lived with a family who baptized him into the Southern Baptist Church.
Their new parents allegedly isolated them from their previous family and allegedly starved them as punishment, the outlet reported.
Murphy's adoptive father allegedly began sexually abusing him when he was just five years old. He even got separated from his brother at their next placement.
It was in this placement that Murphy, who was born Jim Kines, got his name. It is also the same place where he began displaying signs of mental illness, as per the publication
"The violence was so shocking that I would rock myself in dark places, and learned to dissociate myself from the world where things like this took place," Murphy wrote in an online testimonial.
"That dissociation would eventually lead me here, but that is where it all started," he shared.
Prior to his execution, Murphy also wrote to the Texas Observer, saying, "I cannot undo what took place, and I carry that with me all the time, and I think it should be that way."
"It’s been hard and remains so. But God has given me time to heal mentally and it’s changed everything about me and my life. Whether or not that will change anything, I don’t know," he said at the time.
Murphy was the first man executed by the State of Texas since March. The day of his execution, October 10, co-incidentally fell on the World Day Against the Death Penalty, an international event where advocates make calls against lethal execution.
