Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, Arizona
End of Watch: Sunday,  December 20, 1885

Deputy Murphy was shot and killed in Walnut Creek by man he was questioning  about the theft of a gold watch.
The man had previously murdered a  prospector and thought that was why Deputy Murphy was coming to question him.   He saw the deputy approaching, hid, and then shot him in the back.
After  murdering Deputy Murphy, the suspect buried the body under his cabin and then  fled the area. The suspect’s wife then told sheriff of what had happened. The  man was later caught, convicted, and hanged on February 5, 1886.

Deputy  Murphy was interred in Citizens Cemetery in Prescott, Arizona.