Booking photo for Travis Scott Murray (Courtesy: Cache County Jail)
LOGAN — A 40-year-old Malad City, Idaho, man is back in jail, days after a judge issued an arrest warrant for his failure to appear for sentencing. Travis S. Murray was booked Friday in the Cache County Jail, where he is being held without bail.
In July, Murray pleaded guilty to sexually extorting and stalking a disabled Hyrum woman, both third-degree felonies. As part of a plea deal, in exchange for his guilty plea, attorneys had agreed to ask the court to allow for his release from jail until sentencing.
However, Murray failed to appear for sentencing the last two weeks in 1st District Court. Public defender Joseph Saxton had been in contact with his client but couldn’t explain his client’s absence.
In May, the victim called Cache County sheriff’s deputies to report that Murray had been using text messages and Facebook Messenger to harass her. He had been threatening to distribute sexually explicit photos he had of her unless she continued a relationship with him.
The woman provided 417 screenshots of messages that were sent between April and May at all hours of the day and night. The messages were sexual in nature, and contained explicit images she never consented to be taken.
While speaking with investigators, the victim called Murray during a recorded phone call. During the conversation, he apologized for his actions, blaming it on “spiteful rage.”
The woman explained that she met Murray on Facebook about two years ago, after she came out of a coma as a paraplegic with a traumatic brain injury. The two had a prior relationship until Murray was arrested on another case.
Murray is expected to appear again in court in the next week. He could face up to five years in prison.
will@cvradio.com