Matthew Murray

Case overview

Matthew J. Murray was an American gunman who on December 9, 2007 killed four people in the Youth With A Mission and New Life Church shootings before taking his own life.

Murray was one of two sons of a prominent Colorado neurologist and was homeschooled by his mother Loretta in a suburb of Denver. Friends and neighbors described his home as deeply religious.

Jeanne Assam, a New Life Church volunteer security guard, shot Murray several times with her personally-owned concealed weapon. After Murray was wounded, he killed himself with a shotgun.

According to the Colorado Springs Police Department, Murray was carrying two handguns, an assault rifle and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition. Pastor Brady Boyd estimated that about 7,000 people were on the church campus at the time of the shooting.

Timeline

• December 9, 2007 — Murray attacked the Youth With A Mission training center in Arvada, Colorado, and the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
• 12:30 a.m. MST (07:30 UTC) — Murray opened fire at the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) center after being refused overnight stay; he killed Tiffany Johnson and staff member Philip Crouse and wounded Dan Griebenow and Charlie Blanch.
• About 1 p.m. MST — Murray opened fire in the church parking lot at New Life Church and fatally shot two people and wounded three others, before being shot and wounded by Jeanne Assam and then fatally shooting himself.
• 1:10 p.m. MST — Smoke bombs went off outside New Life Church moments before Murray began firing.
• 1:15 p.m. MST — Some 45 students and staff were taken to the police station to be interviewed.
• December 10, 2007 — The gunman in both the YWAM Arvada and New Life Church shootings was identified as Matthew J. Murray, age 24.

The shootings

Youth With A Mission (Arvada) shooting

The shooting at the Youth With a Mission (YWAM) center killed two people and wounded two others in Arvada.

The gunman entered the building early Sunday morning December 9, 2007, and began shooting. Witnesses told police that the gunman was a 24-year-old white male, wearing a dark jacket and skull cap, armed with a handgun and left on foot.

Around 12:30 a.m. MST (07:30 UTC), following a Christmas banquet that had taken place earlier that night, a man knocked on the door of the Youth With a Mission center. The man asked personnel in the facility if he could stay at the center overnight. When he was refused, the man opened fire, killing Tiffany Johnson, the center's director of hospitality, and staff member Philip Crouse.

Dan Griebenow, 24, was critically wounded with a bullet in his neck, and Charlie Blanch, 22, suffered bullet wounds to the leg.

After the incident, the YWAM base evacuated its 80 people to the mountain campus in Golden. Forty-five of them were in the building at the time of the shooting.

Local police conducted a canine search of the surrounding area for the man but were unable to find him. They had hoped that fresh snow would help them track the suspect but were unable to locate him.

A reverse 911 call went out to residents of the neighborhood to let them know a shooting suspect might be in their area.

New Life Church shooting (Colorado Springs)

On Sunday, December 9, 2007, at about 1 p.m., Murray, armed with an assault rifle and two pistols, entered the foyer of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs and fatally shot two and wounded three others before himself being shot and wounded by Jeanne Assam, a church member acting as security. Murray then took his own life.

The shooting took place about 30 minutes after the 11 a.m. service had ended at New Life Church. Murray opened fire in the church parking lot shooting the Works family and Judy Purcell, 40.

Murray then entered the building's main foyer where he shot Larry Bourbonnais, 59, hitting him in the forearm.

At this point, Assam opened fire on Murray with her personally owned concealed weapon.

Police said that after suffering multiple hits from Assam's gun, Murray fatally shot himself.

Jeanne Assam later stated:

"God guided me and protected me [and I] did not think for a minute to run away."

The pastor of the church stated that Assam shot Murray before he entered 50 feet (15 m) inside the building after she encountered him in the hallway, and that Assam probably saved "over 100 lives."

Victims at New Life Church

The Works sisters and additional victims at New Life Church were:

• Stephanie Works, 18 — fatally shot
• Rachel Works, 16 — fatally shot
• Judy Purcell, 40 — wounded
• Larry Bourbonnais, 59 — wounded

The father of the Works sisters, David Works, 51, was wounded in the abdomen and groin.

Investigation and searches

Following the shootings, Colorado Springs Police Department officers searched the church campus looking for suspicious devices. Colorado governor Bill Ritter ordered state authorities to help investigate. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also came to the site to assist.

Police were conducting an investigation at Murray's home prior to the second shooting.

At the Arvada missionary shooting, two people died and two were wounded at 12:30 a.m. after a gunman opened fire in a dormitory at a missionary training center on the campus of Faith Bible Chapel. Police said the description of the gunman in the second shooting was similar to the first: a white male wearing a dark hat and dark jacket.

On December 13, 2007, Murray's family issued a statement saying that it was "groping for answers" and issued an apology.

Police initially claimed when supporting a search warrant that Murray had recently sent hate mail to the Youth With A Mission training center, but later retracted the statement, stating that Murray sent e-mails to an affiliated group in which he criticized Christians but did not threaten violence.

Investigators obtained copies of Murray's writings and studied other Web sites. Their probe revealed that his writings, spanning several months, became increasingly violent.

Investigators found a letter addressed "To God" by Murray in his car. The letter was listed in an evidence and property invoice of items that Colorado Springs police recovered from a 1992 Toyota Camry belonging to Matthew Murray. The documents were obtained by Newsradio 850 KOA.

The note to God was found in the rear passenger seat, along with two books: "I Had to Say Something" by Mike Jones and "Serial Murderers and Their Victims" by Eric W. Hickey, according to the invoice.

KMGH-TV reported that a letter to God was found asking Jesus questions, including:

"What have I done so wrong? What is wrong with me anyways? Am I really such a bad person?" and: "why didn't you ever answer my cries?"

In the photograph, four words were obscured by black marks. The Associated Press and KMGH reported that the letter was "laced with expletives" but otherwise did not indicate the nature of those four words.

Following the shooting spree at New Life Church, forensic evidence from the church matched evidence found at Arvada's Youth With a Mission. Murray had once been enrolled there, and his health barred him from doing field work and going further with the program.

Murray sent a string of messages expressing discontent about the program in the past few weeks.

Investigators searched a home on East Berry Place in Arapahoe County on Sunday night.

Officials found ammunition but no explosive devices. A book called "Practical Homicide: How to Survive a Tactical Shooting" was found. Other books found included witchcraft, Satanism and the Masons.

The books were "clearly visible," according to the report.

Court records, program history, and affiliations

Murray participated in a Youth With a Mission training program 5 years before the shootings. YWAM director Peter Warren stated that his health barred him from doing field work and going further with the program.

Murray was dismissed from the school's program three years earlier. Court records indicated that Murray was bitter over his expulsion from the 12-week missionary training program.

Cheryl Morrison confirmed his expulsion. George Morrison, whose husband is pastor of the Faith Bible Chapel adjacent to YWAM Denver, did not know the specifics of the conflict.

Cheryl Morrison said:

"I don't think that ‘run-in’ is the word, but they did have to dismiss him. It had to be something of significance, because they go the nth degree with people."

Murray was expelled due to "strange behavior," which included playing frightening rock music and claiming to hear voices.

Murray self-identified with Seung-Hui Cho, Eric Harris, and former Children of God member Ricky Rodriguez.

Murray was also a member of Ad Astra Oasis of Ordo Templi Orientis before being asked to leave that organization.

One message read:

"I'm coming for EVERYONE soon and I WILL be armed to the ...teeth and I WILL shoot to kill... God, I can't wait till I can kill you people. Feel no remorse, no sense of shame, I don't care if I live or die in the shoot-out. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you... as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world."

This message was compared to a prior statement from Columbine perpetrator Eric Harris:

"I'm coming for EVERYONE soon and I WILL be armed to the fucking teeth and I WILL shoot to kill... God, I can't wait til I can kill you people. Feel no remorse, no sense of shame. I don't care if I live or die in the shoot-out. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you as I can, especially a few people. Like Brooks Brown."

In another of his very last posts, made that morning to a Usenet newsgroup, he identified himself as being a member of a local branch of the Ordo Templi Orientis.

According to the chapter leader, Murray had attended events for one or two years, but his request for membership was turned down and he was asked to leave in either September or October.

He was baptized into the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in late 2006, according to church records.

Investigators said his web-postings became increasingly violent, despondent and hateful.

Some web users tried to counsel Murray, and one psychologist offered her services after reading his poem called "Crying all alone in pain in the nightmare of Christianity". Murray refused her offer.

After the killing, police found a letter addressed "To God" in his car.

Additional internet postings discovered after the shooting revealed that Murray may have been bi-sexual or possibly homosexual. He also claimed to have been physically and psychologically abused within the church and hinted at sexual abuse. He cited this as the main reason for his hatred of Christianity.

He posted on a suicide forum under the name DyingChild_65.

Motives and messages

Police initially claimed when supporting a search warrant that Murray had recently sent hate mail to the Youth With A Mission training center, but later retracted the statement. The retraction said Murray sent e-mails to an affiliated group criticizing Christians but did not threaten violence.

Murray had been dismissed from the school's program three years earlier.

Before the shooting, Murray left several violent and threatening messages on several religious websites, espousing hatred for Christianity and intentions to kill as many Christians as possible.

His writings spanned several months and became increasingly violent.

One message described his intent to be armed to the teeth and to shoot to kill, and it stated:

Other details

Weapons and ammunition

Police found three weapons at the New Life Church scene: an assault rifle and two pistols, along with a backpack he carried containing ammo in clips.

Murray had ordered ammunition and other supplies. Investigators stated he legally purchased $2,700 in ammunition, magazines and supplies from CheaperThanDirt.com.

He legally purchased five weapons, all in his own name. Investigators said he altered one, a Bushmaster XM-15, to allow it to fire a larger 6.8mm round. That was the gun used to kill the Works sisters.

Murray had more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition when he went to the New Life Church. Another 1,000 rounds of ammunition was located in his bedroom.

Employees at a UPS store at 4950 Yosemite St. were very concerned about the ammunition Murray was receiving. Murray went to the store to open a mail box so he could receive ammunition by mail. Employees noted that he received "boxes and boxes of ammunition."

Employees reported that on Sept. 18, he received a box of "six clips" with three clips holding 16 bullets and three clips holding 30 bullets. One employee asked if he went to a shooting range a lot, and Murray replied that he did because he was trying to get into the Army.

Computers, postings, and downloads

Investigators found that Murray was fascinated by earlier mass shootings and their perpetrators. His computer contained downloads related to Columbine, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Virginia Tech massacre and its shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, the Platte Canyon hostage situation, and Ricky Rodriguez.

They also found downloads about the February 2007 rampage of Sulejman Talovic at the Trolley Square mall in Salt Lake City, and his shooting spree of Robert Hawkins at Omaha's Westroads Mall.

Law enforcement analysts reported connections to "Columbine," "V Tech," "Platte Canyon," "Utah Shooting," and "Nebraska Shooting."

Under the terms "guns" and "Beretta" there were a total of 107 hits. Under "Explosives" and "Explosive Devices" there were 96 entries.

The Arvada report described more than 500,000 images on Murray's computer, including adult pornography, child pornography and homosexual pornography.

Investigators found a map of the location of a CTI co-worker's residence. Police said Murray was laid off from Central Telecom Inc., and there were conflicts there between Murray and his co-workers.

A map for a "gnostic Mass" scheduled for the evening of Dec. 8 was found. The service was organized by Ad Astra Oasis, a gnostic organization that had asked Murray to distance himself from the group.

Murray left messages including:

"you Christians brought this on yourselves" and: "goodbye" and that he "is going to go out and do some crazy shit."

Murray wrote:

"I went to all kinds of fundamentalist/Pentecostal/evangelical bible studies, conferences, prayer meetings and even a missionary school/ministry called Youth With A Mission Denver. Of course, lots of hypocrisy and no real love to be found at YWAM Denver," and: "I know the bible better than most Christian pastors. Oh, and I've already been baptized, received the 'baptism of the Holy spirit,' spoke in tongues and all of those other games Christians love to play."

Phone calls and interviews (December 8-9 timeline details)

A timeline of calls and police actions reported the following dated items:

• Dec. 8, 11:20-11:58 p.m. — Matthew Murray called his cousin, Gabe LaPoint.
• Midnight, Dec. 9 — Murray knocked on the door of YWAM while still on phone with LaPoint and was let in by Stephanie Hollman.
• 12:10 a.m., Dec. 9 — Kenny Snell took Murray to the men's room.
• 12:11-12:27, Dec. 9 — Murray was on the phone with Deborah Wittrein.
• 12:28, Dec. 9 — Tiffany Johnson and Dan Griebenow confronted Murray in the hallway; Philip Crouse and Charlie Blanch followed.
• 12:29, Dec. 9 — Blanch, shot in the leg, called 911.
• 12:30, Dec. 9 — Murray fled.
• 12:31, Dec. 9 — A police officer arrived at YWAM.
• 12:45, Dec. 9 — Arvada police notified the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
• 1:25-1:27, Dec. 9 — Murray called his father, Ronald Murray, about a fight with a waitress at Applebee's.
• 9:14 a.m., Dec. 9 — Ron Morris of King's Kids called Arvada police; the tip was assigned with an incorrect phone number.
• 10 a.m., Dec. 9 — A detective interviewed Morris for 20 or 30 minutes; Murray was identified as a possible suspect.
• 10:03, Dec. 9 — Murray posted: "you Christians brought this on yourselves".
• 10:19, Dec. 9 — Murray left home for Colorado Springs.
• 10:50-10:52, Dec. 9 — Murray left a message for Jennifer Cali, an acquaintance with the Gnostic group Ad Astra Oasis, to say "goodbye" and that he "is going to go out and do some crazy shit."
• 10:53, Dec. 9 — Jacinda Treadway, a former YWAM member, called Arvada police from Tennessee, was transferred to tip line, and left no message; she called back after New Life.
• 11:07, Dec. 9 — Police requested a driver's license photo of Murray.
• 11:48, Dec. 9 — The FBI left a message on the tip line about web posting without identifying information.
• 11:51, Dec. 9 — Murray's photo was put in a photo lineup.
• 12:13-12:16 p.m., Dec. 9 — Murray talked to his father and agreed to pick him up at DIA.
• 12:16-12:45, Dec. 9 — Murray was on the phone with Treadway and ended the call abruptly saying he was going to church.
• 12:35, Dec. 9 — Witnesses did not identify Murray from a photo lineup.
• 1:10, Dec. 9 — New Life shootings took place.
• 1:30, Dec. 9 — Arvada's deputy police chief notified detectives of the New Life shootings.
• 2:32, Dec. 9 — Detectives got Murray's cellphone number from his post-office box; the phone was turned off and couldn't be "pinged."
• 3:15, Dec. 9 — Detectives arrived at Murray's home; his parents were contacted.
• Afternoon, Dec. 9 — Arvada and Colorado Springs police began a joint investigation.

Jacinda Treadway

Jacinda Treadway was the last person to talk to Matthew Murray before he opened fire on parishioners at New Life Church in Colorado Springs.

Murray had already killed two people at YWAM in Arvada, and he was in the vicinity of the New Life Church when Treadway spoke with him. Murray told Treadway from his cell phone that he had been researching mass shootings.

Murray said:

"It's crazy...like the Omaha shooting last week," referring to eight people gunned down at a mall.

He said:

"I don't understand what the world's coming to."

He added:

"I can't believe it, one (Arvada) after another (Omaha). I was studying that."

He said he was not only studying the Omaha shooting but researching a school shooting—either Columbine or another mass shooting that made headlines.

Treadway later told investigators that:

"Matthew said he was researching kids who do that."

Treadway described him as "beyond awkward" and said:

"he was so unable to interact with people."

Treadway told investigators she realized she was talking to the person who did the Arvada shootings:

"I realized I was talking to the person who did this."

She wanted Murray to convince her he was not responsible for the Arvada shootings, but he never did.

Church shooter background details

Ron Murray was described as a neurologist and researcher on multiple sclerosis. He and Loretta Murray were described by friends and co-workers as caring.

Murray was born in 1983 and was identified in reports as age 24 at the time of the shootings.

Ronald Scott Murray was born in Denver in 1951 and Loretta Jean Casados was born in New York in 1953 and later moved to Denver with her family.

They lived in the 3900 block of Shoshone Street. Loretta was described as shy and quiet by Robert Quintana, who lived a house away from the Casadoses.

The Casadoses lived with Loretta's mother Dorothy at West 26th Avenue and Lowell Boulevard.

Matthew Murray graduated in 1970 for high school, later graduated in 1975 with a degree in chemistry, and graduated from CU's medical school in 1980. Loretta received her bachelor's in physical therapy in 1977.

They lived in Salt Lake City for five years where Matthew was born in 1983. The family returned to Colorado in 1986, the year Christopher was born. They moved into a four-bedroom in the Cherry Creek Vista neighborhood in unincorporated Arapahoe County and lived on Berry Place.

The Illinois-based Institute in Basic Life Principles was described as providing homeschooling materials, with critics claiming it was cultish and encouraged corporal punishment. Bill Gothard was quoted describing it as based on "how to love your neighbor as Christ loved us."

The family was active at Love Fellowship Church in Denver, where Phil Abeyta, Matthew's uncle, was a minister, and Loretta Murray was in charge of the women's ministry. Matthew left that church a couple of years earlier and was living at home at the time of the shootings.

The article stated that Matthew had drifted in recent years and was asked to leave several programs he attended, and that his only companion seemed to be his computer keyboard.

It reported he wrote:

"All I found in christianity was hate, abuse (sexual, physical, psychological, and emotional), hypocrisy, and lies,"

His siblings were Christopher and Cherise. Christopher was described as attending Oral Roberts University. Cherise was described as a stay-at-home mom with two children who also went to Oral Roberts.

After the shootings, patients and colleagues described the father, Ron Murray, as compassionate and involved in the MS center. Karen Wenzel and board member Cade Sibley were quoted praising his professionalism and continued work after insurance ran out.

A sympathy email from a 10-year-old boy was quoted:

"Dear Dr. Murray, it began. I wanted to e-mail you and tell you that I am sorry for your loss. I recently lost my mom to MS and want you to continue your research. I am happy that you have researched so much already. I want to be an MS researcher when I grow up. Please continue your research and serving God. I am praying for you. Phillip"

Age, family, and other described persons connected to the timeline

• Gabe LaPoint was Murray's cousin.
• Stephanie Hollman was the person who let Murray in at YWAM.
• Kenny Snell took Murray to the men's room.
• Deborah Wittrein was an acquaintance from Prince of Peace Church of the Brethren.
• Tiffany Johnson was the YWAM center's director of hospitality and was killed.
• Philip Crouse was a staff member killed at YWAM and also followed the confrontation.
• Dan Griebenow was critically wounded in his neck.
• Charlie Blanch suffered bullet wounds to the leg.
• Ronald Murray was Murray's father and was called during the morning.
• Arapahoe County East Berry Place was searched.
• Ron Morris of King's Kids was mentioned in connection with a call to Arvada police.
• Jennifer Cali was a message recipient for Murray's "goodbye" note to Ad Astra Oasis.
• Jacinda Treadway called Arvada police and later spoke with Murray near New Life Church.
• Brandy Boyd was referenced for crowd estimation on the New Life Church campus.

Additional New Life Church event details

Smoke bombs went off near two entrances to the mega-church before Murray fired his first shots.

Murray began firing an assault rifle in a corner of the parking lot, striking vehicles, and then fired rounds through the doors.

When Assam spoke at a Colorado Springs press conference, she said she saw Murray coming through the doors and took cover, then emerged and identified herself:

"and I took him down."

Assam fired as many as six rounds at Murray.

Colorado Springs police Sgt. Jeff Jensen said:

"She definitely wounded him but we don't know if she was the cause of the fatal wound. We don't know if there was a self-inflicted gunshot wound as well."

Police found three weapons—an assault rifle and two pistols—along with a backpack containing ammo in clips.

Relationship between shootings

It was not immediately known whether the shootings were related to the earlier Arvada missionary shooting, 70 miles away.

However, prior to the second shooting, police were already conducting an investigation at Murray's home.

in a dormitory at a missionary training center on the campus of Faith Bible Chapel.

On December 10, the gunman in both shootings was identified as Matthew J. Murray, age 24, one of two sons of a Colorado neurologist.

Outcome

Murray died on December 9, 2007, after fatally shooting himself following being wounded by Jeanne Assam in the New Life Church shooting.