Leo Dwight Murphy |
The Crime
On November 30, 1926, a very heinous crime took place in a
small “Honeymoon Cottage” in Long Beach, California. Leo Dwight Murphy (also referred to as Lee
Daniel Murphy) aka Robert Jim Callahan or James Callahan, salesman and former University of Wisconsin
student (also claimed to be member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity), brutally murdered his
wife Cornelia Buttles Murphy in their "cottage" only 13 days after their wedding.
The truth was uncovered when Cornelia was
found badly beaten and made a statement to authorities only to die a few days
later from her injuries. Miss Cornelia Buttles, an accomplished musician and
former accompanist for the Riverside High School Orchestra, met Murphy in
Fresno, when they began their short courtship. Murphy convinced Cornelia to
marry him and the two wed November 17, 1926.
Miss Buttles was the daughter of Augustus Buttles, secretary treasurer
of the Luedke Shaefer Buttles Shoe Company of Milwaukee. In 1918, the Buttles
family moved to Fresno, California.
The Motive
According to reports, what could have actually led to the
altercation that caused Cornelia’s untimely death, may have been the fact that Cornelia
had learned her husband (Murphy) was already married to another woman named
Mildred Merrill Murphy of Fairfield, Ca. When she confronted her husband about
the bigamous act he was committing, he went into a rage and began attacking
her.
The 225 lb. man beat his petite framed wife to a pulp, breaking her jaw in two
places, fracturing her knee and using a bottle to bludgeon her causing
abdominal hemorrhages. Murphy then fled
the scene of the beating, and eventually went back to his first wife Mildred,
where they then fled to San Francisco, San Diego and later Mexico to evade
police.
Before
dying, Cornelia first tried to shield her husband of the blame by claiming it
must have been trauma he suffered from the horrors of the World War that caused
him to beat her so severely. She eventually confessed that he told her, “I killed a girl like you in Fresno,”
and went on to say to Cornelia, “I don’t know whether
I am going to kill you or not, but I think I will.”-
The brutal beating that Cornelia suffered was said to have
lasted nearly two hours. After her death, the police initiated a nationwide man
hunt that went on for nearly 7 years. Murphy apparently returned to his first
wife Mildred, only to abandon her a short time later. It seemed that divorces
were something Murphy wasn’t interested in pursuing, so he would just leave and
marry another unsuspecting girl down the line. It was even speculated that he
had a wife and child in Peoria, Illinois and another wife in Wisconsin ever
before having married Mildred or Cornelia. During his time on the lam, Murphy
managed to evade the police going from state to state and even marrying two
more times until he got to his next wife, Bertha Hindman-Murphy
before the detectives apprehended him.
The Excuse
By 1932, Murphy was now going by the name Callahan when he
met, courted and married Bertha Hindman in Maryland. Within a year they had a
infant son and moved to Pittsburgh where police recognized him and moved in on
apprehending him. During the entire ordeal of being questioned,his excuse
of why he fled the scene was almost humorous in the sense that Murphy actually believed
the detectives were dumb enough believe his fabricated stories.
First off, Murphy practically played the whole “temporary insanity” excuse, not in those words, but basically by saying:
First off, Murphy practically played the whole “temporary insanity” excuse, not in those words, but basically by saying:
If that wasn’t
bad enough, he had an excuse as to why he didn’t turn himself in, too.
"I left San Diego because I was afraid,
and did not want to stand trial because of my mother. Mother died later, and if
I’d known it I would have returned to stand trial.”
Yeah, sure
Murphy, Callahan…whatever your name is!!!
I am sorry, but given his reputation
for two-timing his many wives and the brutal beating that Cornelia was given
that ultimately led to her death, there isn’t anything this guy could have said
that I would have believed. He was obviously a habitual liar and a sociopath to be able to do all those heinous things such as murder his own wife, lie to all those women he married, and to live so many double lives without a single ounce of remorse. Unfortunately,
his last and final wife Bertha continued to believe in his innocence and stood by his side throughout the trial and even
when he was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of his previous bride.
Cornelia was laid to rest on December 15, 1926, in Fresno, California.
Cornelia was laid to rest on December 15, 1926, in Fresno, California.
The Execution
Leo Murphy was hanged on December 7, 1934, after having been able to postpone this death sentence nearly a year from the date of his conviction in September of 1933. Eventually, time had run out for Mr. Murphy and the gallows awaited him. The night before his execution he requested a steak dinner and claimed that would be the last meal he’d ever eat on earth. But, by the morning he asked the guards to bring him breakfast as well. After he was hanged, it took nearly 10 minutes for Murphy to die, according to reports. In the end, Murphy was held accountable for all the wrongs he had done to all his wives, including Cornelia, his newlywed bride whom he brutally murdered.
Leo Murphy was hanged on December 7, 1934, after having been able to postpone this death sentence nearly a year from the date of his conviction in September of 1933. Eventually, time had run out for Mr. Murphy and the gallows awaited him. The night before his execution he requested a steak dinner and claimed that would be the last meal he’d ever eat on earth. But, by the morning he asked the guards to bring him breakfast as well. After he was hanged, it took nearly 10 minutes for Murphy to die, according to reports. In the end, Murphy was held accountable for all the wrongs he had done to all his wives, including Cornelia, his newlywed bride whom he brutally murdered.
R.I.P.
Cornelia Buttles Murphy
(Copyright
2013- J’aime Rubio)
Milwaukee Journal- 7/11/1933
Portsmouth Times- 11/11/1933
Pittsburgh Press- 6/22/1934
California Death Penalty Index