Woman charged in jeweler’s killing seen in Netflix series
The woman charged in the killing of Pottsville businessman Patrick Murphy is featured in a Netflix series.
Titled “Jailbirds: New Orleans,” Megan Hall, who is in the Orleans Parish Justice Center on $750,000 bond, does not mention Murphy by name. She uses the name Magen in the show. Hall says she is from Memphis, Tennessee.
She says “a big trial is coming up,” but doesn’t go into much detail. She said, “some things happened and I ended up in here on a murder charge.”
Hall is featured in all three of the episodes that went online Sept. 24.
She is charged with killing Murphy on Feb. 28, 2019, in New Orleans. Her trial had been scheduled start Sept. 27 but has been delayed due to the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.
Her charges are second-degree murder, armed robbery and obstruction of justice. A grand jury voted to indict Hall in June 2019.
Police say Hall stabbed Murphy at the Empress Hotel, 137 Ursulines St. in the Treme section of the city. A hotel employee found his body at 11:41 a.m.
Murphy, who had been the owner of Murphy Jewelers, had been visiting the city with his wife after he attended a jewelry convention in Arizona.
If Hall is convicted of the murder charge, she faces a mandatory lifetime prison sentence. An armed robbery conviction is 10 to 99 years in state prison, and up to 40 years for the obstruction charge.
“I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t scared. I just got to keep pushing and being strong,” she said of how she deals with the possibility of life in prison from the murder charge.
She says she was out drinking with female friends from Memphis “just having fun and partying and one thing led to another and the situation occurred.”
Viewers might find segments of the series interesting for other reasons.
Hall is seen, along with others, talking to other inmates through a toilet by using items such as a paper towel roll to hear someone.
First, all of the water must be emptied from the bowl. She has a boyfriend who she professes to love. His name is FuFu. Hall also gets disciplined for not following rules.
For example, she puts money on someone else’s commissary account, when not permitted to do so.
“I wanted what I wanted,” she says.
New Orleans is “evil” and “the most messed up city I’ve ever been in,” she said.