Earl McMurry
64 YOA
2623 Sixth Ave.
Des Moines, IA
Polk County
March 11, 1953
Sixty-four-year-old Earl McMurry spent Wednesday, March 11, 1953 working at his Superior Oil Company station at 2623 Sixth Avenue in Des Moines.
He seemed normal when he spoke by phone with his wife Grace at 4:00 p.m. At 4:50, a newsboy delivering a paper to the station saw McMurry talking with a black male.
Lillian Keller, who lived alone in a trailer on the service station lot, stopped at 5:45 for her daily supply of oil. Not seeing McMurry and getting no response when she called out for him, she notified police.
Des Moines Police found McMurry’s body in the station’s restroom. The scene was so bloody it appeared he was shot in the back with a shotgun.
An examination, however, showed McMurry was slashed 10 times on the face and arms and stabbed 20 times in the back. No weapon was found at the scene.
Approximately $1,500 was missing. The cash register was left open with nothing but change, and a satchel used to carry money lay empty.
Early on Thursday, March 12, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Highway Patrol picked up three young men hitchhiking near Adel. The trio was questioned and released.
In June 1953, Polk County Attorney Clyde Herring convened a grand jury to hear 17 witnesses in the case; however, no one was indicted for the murder.
Earl N. McMurry was born December 5, 1888 in Wayne County to Arilla Dyer and David Logan McMurry. He had one sister, Lucy McMurry, and three brothers: Charles, Lewis, and Fred McMurry.
He married Grace Welsh and the couple had a daughter, Ardys; the family lived at 1309 29th Street in Des Moines.
Questions and information about the unsolved 1953 murder of Earl McMurry should be directed to the Des Moines Police Department at (515) 283-4864 or to Iowa Cold Cases through the Contact form.
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