George
V.
Murry

GEORGE V. MURRY (his name sometimes appears as Murray) was born in New Jersey in October of 1871.

By the time of the 1890 Census enumeration George Murry owned a home at 649 Locust Street. He and his then wife of nine years, Henrietta, were childless. He was then working in construction. George Murry remarried around 1902. Second wife Cora had bore four children by 1910, three of whom were then still living.

On March 1, 1905 George Murray had secured an appointment to the Camden Police Department. He was promoted to Detective on April 1, 1913, one of the first, if not the first, black police officers to hold that rank. George Murray was still residing at 649 Locust Street when the Census was taken in January of 1920, with his wife Cora J. Murphy and several children.

Late in 1921 drug trafficking and police corruption in Camden's Third and Fifth Wards had become so flagrant that an investigation was launched. Detective Murry, along with Camden police officers William Draper, Tony Latorre, and Ira Hall were summoned to City Hall to answer charges placed by City Council's police committee. By January 21, 1922 Murry, Draper, and Latorre had resigned, and Hall was fired after a hearing.

George Murry apparently died under "mysterious circumstances" on January 29, 1922, shortly before he was to go on trial for graft. By 1924 Cora Murphy had remarried. She was still residing at 649 Locust Street, with new husband Henry Butler. 

George Murry's political empire was taken over in part by Polack Joe Deven, who held sway trough most of the 1920s until sent to jail as a result of a shooting at the Sixth Ward Republican Club on Broadway. 

IRA HALL IS DISMISSED, EVIDENCE
AGAINST FOUR MEN GIVEN PROSECUTOR
Criminal Prosecution of Murry, Latorre, Draper and Hall Looms as Result of Sensational Hearing by Police Committee- Dope' Sellers Linked With Detective and Policemen in Lurid Testimony at Crowded Session- Predict Speedy Action
POLICEMAN AS OWN ATTORNEY GIVEN GRILLING

Criminal prosecution of Detective George Murry and Policemen Tony Latorre, William Draper and Ira Hall for their alleged "protection" of vice in the downtown underworld loomed today. At a sensational hearing before the police committee of City Council last night it was unanimously decided to turn the mass of evidence against the four men, gathered by City Solicitor Bleakly, over to Prosecutor Wolverton's office.

At the hearing, Policeman Hall was summarily dismissed from the department, classed as a "moral degenerate" and roundly flayed when, after he acted as his own attorney, he was cross-questioned by every member of the police committee.

Hall was the only one of the quartette of accused officers who made any attempt to defend himself. Murry, Latorre and Draper resigned several days ago. At the police committee session last night it was the sense of the members that their resignations was a tacit admission of guilt and that their mere removal from the police department is not sufficient punishment for their underworld activities.

The grand jury convened on Tuesday of this week. The next step will be the presentation of evidence gathered by Mr. Bleakly against the four men to the prosecutor's office who, in turn, will turn it over to the grand jury. Quick action may be expected, it was predicted today in official circles.

Policeman Hall's friendship for Anthony Paradise, charged with peddling "dope", was brought out at last night's hearing.

Former Detective Murry Drops Dead In Street
SLEUTH ACCUSED OF GRAFT FOUND DEAD NEAR HOME
Tragic End Automatically Halts Probe of His Vice Activities
NEIGHBORS FIND BODY
Leaves Wife and Eight Children- Once Powerful Leader in Third Ward
FUNERAL ON THURSDAY

George Murry, ex-city detective, who resigned from the police department after being charged with promoting vice In the Third and Fifth Wards, was found dead on a doorstep near Locust and Line Streets shortly after nine o'clock last night.

 A death certificate issued by Coroner Holl ascribes Murry's death as due to apoplexy, superinduced by acute indigestion.

Grand Jury Probe Starts

Murry's death came as a tragic aftermath of his exposure as a protector of prostitution and dope selling in the downtown tenderloin, in the role of which he is said to have amassed a snug fortune.

His death automatically puts to an end the proceedings that were begun to present his activities in the tenderloin before the Grand Jury with a view of bringing criminal prosecution.

Murry will be buried Thursday afternoon at Mt. Peace Cemetery, of which he was part owner. Funeral services will be conducted at the home and in the Macedonia Church, 3rd and Spruce Street, at noon.

Neighbors Find Body

Murry was 50 years old. According to his wife, Mrs. Cora J. Murry, former city detective had been suffering for several days with indigestion.

After supper last night, Mrs. Murry said, her husband complained of feeling ill and she gave him a tablespoon of baking soda. He shortly after decided to take a walk in the belief the air might benefit him.

Half an hour later, neighbors came upon his lifeless body across a doorstep on Locust street, between Beckett and Line Streets.

The body was carried to the Murry home, at 649 Locust Street, a few doors away. Two physicians were called. Owing to the storm, the doctors were delayed in reaching the house. Dr. Clement T. Branch, of 721 Walnut Street, the first physician to arrive, said he believed Murry had died as he fell. 

Mother Died 2 Years Ago, Same Hour

 Besides his widow, Murry is survived by eight children, ranging in age from two months to 18 years. Curiously, Murry's mother died exactly two years ago, to the very hour. Murry was colored, although many persons were unaware of his race because of his light complexion. He was a tall, powerful man. He was more than six feet in height and weighed about 230 pounds. His complexion was ruddy and his hair iron gray.

Murry’s death was a passing incident in the tenderloin today. Before he was shorn of his power, which he wielded proudly and with great vigor, his decease might have caused a great flurry.

Murry, in the height of his power, was formidable, and a man whose favor the denizens and habitués of the underworld crave; stripped of that power, he was ignored and deserted as rats would desert a sinking ship

Boss For Many Years

 His loss of power probably worried Murry more than the outcome over the exposure of the criminal phase of the exposure. Murry had been the undisputed political “boss” of the Third and Fifth wards for years. The transition was to great; his fall too disgraceful.

Prosecutor Charles A. Wolverton pointed out today that with Murry dead, the presentation of evidence of vice conditions in the Fifth Ward to the Grand Jury would be dropped for the present and in all probability for good.

The reason is obvious, said Mr. Wolverton. “There’s nobody to convict.”

United States Started Probe

Murry’s downfall was due largely to the activities of attaches of the United States Interdepartmental Social Hygiene Bureau, who investigated vice conditions here at  the request of the Camp Dix military authorities.

Officers of the camp complained many of the men had contracted contagious diseases during visits to the tenderloin in South Camden.

 A series of meetings was held under the auspices of the bureau and a number of women prominent in social welfare work in the city.

With the co-operation of the Federal authorities, the local police began a “cleanup” of the tenderloin. No one was spared. Dope peddlers, prostitutes, bootleggers and gamblers fell in the clutches of the authorities. Questioned, their stories seemed to coincide on one fact- that Murry was the “invisible government” which sanctioned or frowned upon their industry and who had to be “greased” if they wished to ply their trade without molestation or criminal prosecution.

Three Other Members Accused

Three other members of the police department were accused of malfeasance along with Murry. They are Policemen William Draper, Tony Latorre and Ira Hall. The three men were dismissed by the police committee of City Council. Hall, who opposed his dismissal and demanded a trial, was excoriated by the committee and summarily dropped from the department.

Murry resigned form the force declaring that the evidence against him was untrustworthy, having been obtained from dope fiends and “other irresponsible people”. It was understood, however, that he resigned, believing it would put an end to the proceedings. He seemed to worry over the contemplated action by the Grand Jury.

Said He Amassed Wealth

Murry, however, boasted openly he had amassed wealth while he reigned as the “tenderloin boss.”

“I’ve got mine,” he declared only recently. “I’ve got enough to keep me and my family in clover for the rest of our lives. If they let up on me and don’t push this jail thing, I’m willing to lay down.”

In addition, Murry was specifically charged with accepting graft from dope peddlers and with “tipping off” criminals against whom warrants were issued in City Hall.

City Solicitor E.G.C. Bleakly drew up the complaint and charges against the detective. Commenting on the charges when the were first made public, Mr. Bleakly said:

“From the statements I have obtained it would seem this officer has been exerting himself as a protector instead of a detector of crime and criminals. If the facts elicited are true, Detective Murry, instead of protecting the good name and citizens of our city, as he was paid to do, has been accepting pay from the citizens of the underworld to protect them in their evil practices.”

In Department 16 Years

Murry was a member of the police department for 16 years, having been appointed in 1905. He was made a detective in 1913.

SECOND MRS. MURRY DROPS ESTATE FIGHT
Eight-Year Controversy over Property of Former Detective Ends Here

An eight-year controversy over the estate of former City Detective George Murry, one time alleged vice czar of the Third Ward, ended yesterday when Wife No.2 withdrew her claims.

Murry, who died under mysterious circumstances on the eve of going on trial for graft January 29, 1922, died intestate and Cora J. Murry, who claimed to be his wife, applied for letters of administration. She was the mother of 10 children of the detective. She since has remarried, her name now being Butler.

Elizabeth Murry came forward after the man's death and made a claim that she was the real widow and the other woman was only the detective's common law wife.     

Former State Senator Albert S. Woodruff yesterday withdrew Elizabeth Murry's claim in the estate and Judge Shay granted letters of administration to Cora J. Murry Butler upon application of Surrogate George W. Whyte.

Murry's sudden death caused a sensation in political and police circles. He had been accused of offering protection to gambling dives, dope sellers and disorderly house proprietors for which he was said to have received large sums of money.

It was reported at the time of his death that he drew $200,000 from a bank the day before and gave it to the Butler woman. He once was reputed to have owned nearly all of the property in the Third Ward tenderloin,

The inventory filed in the application for administration papers, however, shows but $2000 in real estate as visible assets.