Even though my computer is running slower than a 3-legged turtle (hence my restricted online access), I had to post a few thoughts about this bugshit insane Daniel James Murray who is now the object of a federal manhunt.
By now,
I'm sure you've seen this story and many others online yesterday and today.
Daniel James Murray lived with an elderly couple in Rexford NY until December 2008. Since then he has been traveling around CA, UT, GA, OK and TX. No one has reported on the status of the elderly couple (were they his parents/grandparents? are they alive and well or missing?), but that is only one aspect that is bothering Detective D.K.
The short story is that Murray showed up here in Southern Utah, in St George specifically, on May 19th. He closed a savings account in his name at Mountain American Credit Union (located near where I shop at Costco) and received an official bank check for $85K. He then deposited that official bank check at Zions First National Bank on St George Blvd.
Here's a Detective D.K. question, but not the one that's really bothering me: Does anyone know why on earth Murray even had bank money deposited in podunkville utah? Does he have money similarly secreted across the U.S.? Why?
Zions Bank has a strict policy about releasing newly deposited funds. They put a 2-week hold on any new funds. They list the date the funds will be available for withdrawal on the deposit receipt. They do this even if what is being deposited is a cashier's check from another bank as I learned the hard way. The only time they don't put a hold on deposit money is if you are depositing cash or if you are transferring funds from another Zions Bank account.
So on May 27th, when Murray walked into Zions Bank and tried to withdraw $13K from his newly opened account, he was refused because it had only been 8-days. His next words, "if I don't get this money, someone is going to die", led the manager to accede to his withdrawal, even agreeing to Murray's request for bills no larger than $50 and in non-sequential order. While his money was being counted out (qty 260 x $50 bills), Murray started a bugshit insane rant about how he's traveled "thousands of miles to be here", culminating with "people will die and there will be chaos in the world", but since he left peacefully, the incident went unremarked.
Murray returned to Zions the very next day, May 28th, to withdraw his remaining $72K, finally capturing the bank's attention by stating, "we are on a mission to kill the President of the United States." This kind of specific assassination threat must be and was reported to Federal Authorities. Murray was spotted later that day at another bank in Cedar City UT (about 50-miles north of St George). Did he deposit the funds he had withdrawn from St George into a Cedar City bank? That's another unknown item, one that might bring Murray back to Cedar City, but not what is really bothering me.
U.S. Magistrate Robert Braithwaite of US District Court in UT, issued a complaint against Murray on June 3rd. A Federal warrant was filed June 4th, formally charging Murray with threats against the President of the United States. Regardless of how the media is claiming that Murray's threats are "more aspirational than operational", you should know that the US Attorney's office for Utah does not file such charges unless they believe the person is capable of carrying out the threat. Note that it took them a week (from May 28 to June 3) to review everything and decide an official complaint was warranted. A week is a long time, even in Murray's 8-yr old Buick La Sabre. But that is only one other aspect bothering me.
No, what is really bothering Detective D.K. are the dates. Murray was in St George on May 27th withdrawing $13K from Zions Bank and babbling bugshit insanity about the sun and moon and eagles and how people will die and there will be chaos in the world (that's my paraphrase). What else was going on on May 27th? Oh yeah, President Obama made
a widely-publicized stopover at
Nellis AFB on May 27th. Nellis is a 90-minute drive from St George. I'm not kidding. I have not read any one else making that connection.
OK, so Murray then storms back into Zions Bank a day later, on May 28th, to get the rest of his money and leaves town, heading north. As he is leaving, he talks about being on a mission to kill the President.
Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? Murray may have already tried to get close to the President on May 27th at Nellis! He failed, then returned to St George, frustrated, withdrew the rest of his money and left town "on a mission". Has anyone checked on his whereabouts in CA GA OK and TX to see if the President was known to be nearby during those times?
Murray was last seen driving a blue 2001 Buick LaSabre with NY License ERL 1445. Of course only an idiot wouldn't have already "exchanged" those plates. Is anyone reporting missing license plates from the areas Murray has been traveling?
The fact that Murray has 8 registered firearms, including semi-automatic weapons, is another concern, especially when you consider he might have access to many other non-registered weapons, no doubt acquired on his travels through GA TX OK UT CA and all points in between. Don't expect him to give up peacefully!
And finally, why weren't Murray's bank threats taken more seriously from the beginning? Is it because we have so many bugshit nuts here? A small example: recently my neighbor accused Obama of being a murderer. For enlarging the War in Afghanistan, I ask? No, he says, for supporting abortion! That conversation took place days before Dr. Tiller was murdered. So yeah, UT does tend to harbor bugshit nuts, maybe even more than the national average. And yeah, they all have guns and a direct phone connection to Mitt Romney's Varmint Lodge.
But I think even Mitt would agree, Murray is dangerous! He's got guns and money and has made assassination threats. You know what he looks like, you know what he might be driving, he'll be 37-yrs old on July 12th, he's 6'2" and he weighs 250-lbs. Call the Feds!
UPDATE ... Crooks and Liars did a good job of fleshing out some of the details today. Their commenters have great observations about bank procedures being followed for any withdrawal in excess of $10K cash, especially the odd request for an odd-amount of non-sequential small bills. That's supposed to generate a Homeland Security alert. If that had been done, they could've taken Murray into custody when he showed up the next day to withdraw the balance of his account (which may or may not have been a cash withdrawal, no one is saying, but this might be the reason he quickly drove to a Cedar City bank). And remember, he was able to close one bank account, open a new bank account, deposit $85K and start withdrawing the next week without proper ID. Did someone else put the money into the original credit union account for him? Secret Service is now saying they won't be commenting further since this case involves protective intelligence ... in fact, they are wondering how so much info was made public already (hint: bloggers were on the case cuz it sure as hell isn't making the cable tv news)...If I get any more updates, I'll put them in the comments ...
Here's a link to more of Steven's Articles. He has a readable style and scientific ability to break down the complex into the simple, then take it back to the geeky level again. And he is Darwin's best friend!
