An Iberia woman is facing multiple charges after authorities claim she had a sexual relationship with an inmate at the Jefferson City Correctional Center.
Amy Murray, 43, is charged with one count of first-degree sexual abuse and three counts of offender abuse.
The Cole County Grand Jury indicted Murray, finding there was enough evidence to send her case onto the circuit courts for possible trial.
A Missouri Department of Corrections probable cause statement states Murray was employed as a nurse in September 2018; she was working through Corizon Health, a private company that provides health care at the state's prisons. She was later fired from the company.
Authorities said Murray met and eventually had a sexual relationship with an inmate in the unit where Murray worked. She created an email account and began to send and receive "romantic emails" with the inmate. She later provided the inmate with a phone number, and the two began to allegedly engage in conversations of a romantic nature.
In late September 2018, Murray and the inmate engaged in sexual intercourse on three different occasions and in different locations, authorities said.
Murray's last shift at JCCC was in October 2018. The two contacted each other by phone in January 2019 and in one call, authorities alleged that Murray and the inmate expressed their love for one another and planned to get married.
Investigators later interviewed the inmate who allegedly admitted to having a relationship with Murray. Investigators then tried to talk with Murray in the Miller County Jail in February 2019, but she invoked her Miranda Rights and refused to talk.
This investigation was initiated because Murray has been charged with the murder of her husband in December 2018 in Miller County.
Murray pleaded not guilty in September 2020 to first-degree murder, armed criminal action, second-degree arson and tampering with physical evidence, all felonies, for the death of her husband, Joshua Murray, who died in a fire at the couple's home. Her case is scheduled to be back in court in October, with the trial scheduled to start in January.
Joshua's body was found after the fire on Dec. 11, 2018. The Missouri Fire Marshal's Office and the Miller County Sheriff's Department determined the fire was a result of arson. It originated in the master bedroom, and an accelerant had been used to start the fire.
An autopsy concluded Joshua had been dead before the fire and had died of poisoning, with indications he had been poisoned with antifreeze.
Cellphone records indicate Murray was at the residence a half-hour before the fire was reported to 911, according to a Miller County Sheriff's Department probable cause statement.
She later told investigators she had left the residence with her 11-year-old son and two dogs, and drove to McDonald's in Osage Beach.
After listening to recordings of phone conversations at the prison, investigators said they learned Murray had told the inmate she didn't want to be around her husband and wanted to divorce him. She later told the inmate they could get married because her husband was dead. The two also talked about getting the inmate an attorney so he could be released from prison early.