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Man held in shooting of friends
By JAMIE JONES, Times Staff Writer
SPRING HILL -- Christopher Murphy's house was a bachelor pad, dirty and cluttered, with an old pool table and a fat pit bullterrier named Debo inside. Murphy, a stocky 24-year-old, worked construction by day. At night, friends say, he ate prescription pills like candy, showed off his high-powered assault weapons and partied at his home off Charmwood Avenue in Spring Hill. Murphy acted crazy sometimes. But friends said they never thought he would hurt anybody. Or kill. But Hernando County detectives said Murphy did just that early Friday. They said he drank with neighbors at Chili's on U.S. 19 and then danced at Miller's Pub in Pasco County. There, he began arguing with a friend, Matthew Bryant McConney, over a girl. The fight continued back at Murphy's cream-colored stucco house. Things got heated, and he pulled out a gun. His little brother, David, stood nearby. Another friend, Michael Luis Valentin, tried to get McConney out of the way. But he apparently took a bullet in the process, authorities said. Murphy fired at least one more shot and hit McConney, authorities said. About that time, neighbors heard someone screaming for help and called 911. As deputies drove to the scene, those in Murphy's house loaded the two wounded men into a car and drove to Oak Hill Hospital. Murphy walked off alone. Valentin, a married father who lived nearby at 3459 Charmwood Ave., was pronounced dead at about 10:20 a.m. He was 27. McConney, 28, of Centerwood Avenue was taken to Tampa General Hospital and remained in critical condition late Friday, according to a hospital spokeswoman. Doctors did not know whether he would live. Friday morning, authorities searched for Murphy, saying he was armed and dangerous. Seven schools locked their doors and canceled field trips. Worried parents arrived and took their children home. Midmorning, detectives learned that Murphy was hiding on Dristol Avenue, not far from his home, and approached with guns drawn. They found him inside, sleeping. Murphy, 3491 Charmwood Ave., was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a firearm. He was held without bail Friday at the Hernando County Jail. Records show that he was arrested for DUI in 2001. Authorities had not found the gun late Friday. Murphy had several guns, including an AK-47, but detectives think he used a Mac-10 in the shooting, a compact assault weapon that looks like a pistol mounted on a rectangular metal box. No guns were found inside his home, and authorities think someone may have removed them after the shooting. Murphy said he tossed the gun while walking and drew detectives a map. He told detectives that he was simply defending himself and did not mean to hurt his friends. "He's, of course, minimizing his involvement," said Chief Deputy Mike Hensley. The six to 10 people who witnessed the shooting offered varied accounts. "These witnesses were inconsistent, some were less than truthful, some were highly intoxicated," Hensley said. Amanda Gullotto, a 26-year-old waitress who lives near Murphy, said she was drinking with a friend at Chili's at about 9:45 p.m. Thursday when Murphy arrived with a group of people that included McConney and Valentin. Murphy wore yellow sunglasses and had recently bleached his hair blond, she said. He appeared to be in a good mood and later left for Miller's Pub. "He asked us to come over and party later," Gullotto said. "Thank God we went somewhere else." Mindy Kramer, 21, lives nearby and said she had known Murphy for about four years. She said he had caused several chaotic moments in the neighborhood and once hid in her attic after he called a bomb threat into the telephone company when his phone was disconnected. She called authorities, and they took him to a local mental hospital, Kramer said. "When he drinks, he is not normal," she said. "It's really not much of a shock. He flipped out like he always does, and this time he went too far." She said McConney and Murphy were close and spent most afternoons together. She said Murphy did not know Valentin as well, as Valentin was frequently with his wife and son several doors down. Records show that Valentin has no serious criminal history in Florida and has faced only minor traffic charges. Some parents living in the Spring Hill neighborhood were angry Friday because the Sheriff's Office did not tell them about the search for Murphy, who was believed to have a gun. "They put my children in danger and every other child that went to school this morning," said Sharon Kerrigan, whose children attend Springstead High School and West Hernando Middle School. Hensley said detectives learned early that the fight had been among friends. Although the agency started drafting a message for its emergency telephone notification system, officials decided against it. "We didn't want to cause panic in the neighborhood and make people think we had a crazed gunman going around shooting people at random," he said. "That was never the case. At no time did we have any information that students or schools were in jeopardy." Murphy's friends spent the afternoon on the telephone, exchanging information, wondering why he pulled the trigger. "He wanted to fit in," Kramer said. "He tried too hard. He always showed off just a little too much." -- Jamie Jones can be reached at 754-6114. Send e-mail to jjones@sptimes.com.
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