Man sentenced for multiple incidents involving gun violence
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IDAHO FALLS – A local man was sentenced Wednesday after multiple instances of gun violence.
Bruce Christopher Murray, 56, was sentenced by District Judge Bruce Pickett to between two to five years in prison.
Murray initially pleaded not guilty to the original charges of four counts of felony aggravated assault and two counts of felony unlawful possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. But Murray accepted a plea agreement in November, in which he agreed to plead guilty to two counts of felony aggravated assault (from separate cases). In exchange, the prosecution agreed to dismiss all other charges.
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The sentence was for crimes that occurred in July 2022.
On July 19, 2022, Idaho Falls Police were dispatched to the Econo Lodge after receiving reports about an assault.
When officers arrived, three men told them they were staying at the hotel while in town for work, and when they had gotten back that night, they left the door cracked as they were unloading their cars.
One of the men told police that after they had finished unloading their cars and were relaxing, “three men pushed open the door and came into the room.”
The man said, “a tall white male had a gun and pointed it at (one of the victims) and (started) asking where (a woman) was.”
One of the victims “put his hands up and told the male they did not know the woman and were only in town doing construction.”
Court records say the man with the gun, later identified as Murray, pointed the firearm at one of the men again and then left the room with the two men who had come with him.
All three victims said they were “sure they were going to be shot.” The victims moved to a different hotel.
Officers found surveillance footage where they saw the victims coming into their hotel room before three other men were “seen milling around outside the door for a second and then the bald male removes something from the waistline of his pants, and all three men push into the room.”
Officers searched the area for the men and were not able to find anyone at the time.
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On July 27, 2022, Idaho Falls Police responded to a home in Idaho Falls after a call reporting a gunshot.
When officers arrived, the owner of the home told them he had called 911 after Murray had shot a gun at him inside the house.
When police searched the home, they found a spent shell casing on the floor in the kitchen, an unspent full metal jacket bullet on the floor, and a “large circular void in the linoleum flooring” which would “be consistent with being struck with a bullet from a firearm,” according to police reports.
When officers interviewed the resident of the house, he told them that Murray was a close friend and had come over between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. that night with a “laundry basket full of his belongings.”
Murray told his friend that “someone was going to kill him,” and he did not want to stay at his own home. The pair then reportedly made a plan to get Murray’s dog back from his house.
The friend told police the plan was for Murray to open the front door, call the dog and shoot the people in his home “because he owed them money, and they wanted payment.” Court documents say that when Murray went into his home, his friend “feared what Murray was doing and left.”
Murray later returned to his friend’s home, angry that his friend had left him. According to the police report, the friend said, “Murray pulled a firearm from his waistband and pointed it at (the friend’s) chest, claiming he was going to shoot (the friend).”
The friend reportedly grabbed a knife but was stopped by another person inside. The friend left the house and later returned, which is when Murray and the friend got into an argument and, according to the friend, Murray seemed to be “raising the firearm to shoot him.”
The friend told officers he “attempted to push the firearm down so as to not shoot him, and a gunshot was discharged by Murray,” hitting the floor. The friend then ran outside and called 911, and Murray ran away.
Murray reportedly hid the gun under a pile of leaves and pine needles and hid from police, eventually falling asleep. According to police records, officers found Murray around 11:15 a.m. the next day.
He was taken by police to the Law Enforcement Building, interviewed by detectives, and ultimately booked into the Bonneville County Jail.