Suspect in triple homicide believed wife’s family hated him, but relative says “they were kind to him”

A man arrested in connection with a triple homicide in Colbert believed his estranged wife’s family was responsible for their separation, according to new court documents. Amanda Murry told investigators that she had moved in with her mother, stepfather and brother and wanted a divorce from Roy Murry. “Roy had told her that her family was a hindrance between the two of them… having a successful marriage,” according to the affidavit of facts. Roy Murry is suspected of killing his wife’s mother, Lisa Canfield; stepfather Terrance Canfield and brother John Constable, then setting fire to the house and barn in an attempt to hide the crimes. Meanwhile, a close relative said the Canfields were very kind to Roy Murry. “Terry was a very loving stepfather,” said Patty Baldwin, who is Lisa Canfield’s mother. “He bent over backwards for them.” She said that the Canfields handled Murry “with kid gloves,” in part because they knew he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder due to his service in the Army National Guard in Iraq. Court documents showed that Murry was disabled and receiving a modest pension. “Why did he kill them?” asked Baldwin, who lives in Wenatchee. “He lived there. They fed him. They were kind to him.” “I just never would have believed he would have done something like this,” Baldwin said. Investigators found Lisa Canfield’s body on the bedroom floor, gagged and with numerous cuts to her body, the court documents say. Terrance Canfield, a lieutenant with the Spokane Fire Department, was found in a barn on the property. Constable was found in the house. Investigators collected statements from Amanda Murry, cellphone and Facebook records and a .22 pistol belonging to Roy Murry that was missing from the Colbert crime scene. Amanda Murry said her husband owned numerous firearms, including an AR-15 style pistol that he nicknamed “puppy.” She said he wiped off ammunition as he loaded it into a magazine to avoid leaving fingerprints. “Roy Murry told Amanda that this helped his ability to ‘shoot and scoot’ which meant he did not leave behind any DNA or fingerprints,” according to the court documents. Amanda Murry, a nurse at Sacred Heart Medical Center, told investigators that her husband had post-traumatic stress disorder from combat injuries suffered in Iraq. She said he had become increasingly delusional. A neighbor of the Canfields in Chattaroy told investigators that she suspected Roy Murry’s involvement in the crime because “he was ‘psycho’.” Ryan Constable, brother of John Constable and Amanda Murry, told investigators Roy Murry is “an apocalypse prepper.” Roy Murry posted to Facebook around the time of the crime several songs, including Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina,” that indirectly referenced the crime scene though details had not yet been released to the public, according to court documents. Investigators tried several times to interview Roy Murry, but he canceled each time, the documents say. When they finally met, investigators asked to examine his arms and hands and found several scratches and a knife cut on his hand. Murry told investigators that he had been recruited by the Russian Secret Police and suspected that agency had something to do with the murders. Investigators also noted the absence of a pistol belonging to Roy Murry at the Colbert home. Amanda Murry told police she took the gun from Murry when she left him to live with her parents. All other firearms in the Canfield home were accounted for, according to police, but Roy Murry’s gun was missing. Police later recovered a .22 pistol in Roy Murry’s car with an empty magazine near blood stains, according to court documents. The court documents also indicate detectives believe Murry may have revisited the scene of the killings and fires two days later. Late on May 28, “a male wearing dark clothes was seen within the boundaries secured by police… When spotted, the male fled the scene on foot. Deputies gave chase but lost the suspect in the wooded area south of the residence.” The documents say the man’s description matched that of Murry. Roy Murry was scheduled to appear in court his afternoon, but the appearance was postponed until Tursday. He faces three charges of first-degree murder.