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The Key West Citizen
Key West, Monroe County, Florida
What is this article about?
On Oct. 22, 1955, in Upper Matecumbe Key, 67-year-old Annabelle Lee Murfree shot her sleeping 42-year-old son Dickinson K. Murfree, Jr., then killed herself on the family dock. State attorney J. Lancelot Lester reported a coroner's inquest verdict of murder and suicide, confirmed by ballistics matching the gun.
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Verdict Returned
In Murfree Case
J. Lancelot Lester, state attorney, today reported a verdict of murder and suicide in the case of a 67-year-old woman who shot her 42-year-old son and then turned the gun on herself.
The coroner's inquest into the Oct. 22, 1955, tragedy at Upper Matecumbe Key was conducted this morning by Lester before Peace Justice Ralph E. Cunningham, Jr., at Marathon.
Lester said Deputy Sheriff Sidney Curry read the laboratory report from the Miami Criminal Bureau of Investigation which identified the bullet taken from the son's body as being fired by the same gun the mother used to kill herself.
Mrs. Annabelle Lee Murfree shot her son, Dickinson K. Murfree, Jr., as he slept in the family home. She then walked out on a dock at the family home and shot herself.
The husband and father, Murfree, Sr., was asleep in the house when the shootings occurred. Murfree, Jr., operated a fishing boat at Upper Matecumbe.
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Domestic News Details
Primary Location
Upper Matecumbe Key
Event Date
1955 10 22
Key Persons
Outcome
annabelle lee murfree killed her son dickinson k. murfree, jr. by shooting him while he slept, then shot herself; verdict of murder and suicide confirmed by ballistics.
Event Details
Mrs. Annabelle Lee Murfree shot her son Dickinson K. Murfree, Jr. as he slept in the family home at Upper Matecumbe Key, then walked out on a dock and shot herself. The coroner's inquest was conducted by state attorney J. Lancelot Lester before Peace Justice Ralph E. Cunningham, Jr. at Marathon, with Deputy Sheriff Sidney Curry presenting a laboratory report from the Miami Criminal Bureau of Investigation identifying the bullets as from the same gun. The husband and father, Murfree, Sr., was asleep in the house during the incident.