ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Parishioners are trying to save the life of the man charged with killing a popular St. Augustine priest. Prosecutors have filed notice they are seeking the death penalty.
He’s currently in a Georgia jail. Steven Murray pleaded not guilty to malice murder in the April death of Father Rene Robert. Murray is being held without bond in Burke County.
Parishioners of the Diocese of St. Augustine have been signing a petition so that Murray does not face the death penalty. They say this is in line with the wishes of the late Father Rene that if he were to be in a situation like this. They say he believed whoever killed Robert should not have their life taken.
Robert, 71, as everyone called him, was last seen April 10. He was working with Murray, who had recently gotten out of jail. On April 12, the St. Johns Sheriff’s Office did a wellness check. The next day, Murray was allegedly seen driving the priest’s car, leading police on a chase. That car was found crashed in a wooded area in Aiken, South Carolina.
After Murray was arrested, he took detectives to Father Rene’s remains in Georgia. Although the police say Father Rene’s body was in bad shape, parishioners want to make it known they support Father Rene’s wishes and want Murray’s life spared.
“Father Rene was strongly opposed to capital punishment and left in his files, written 20 some years ago, the important letter in which he says that if anyone should do me harm in the future and that person is facing judgment. 'I do not want in my name, the capital punishment death sentence,'" said Father John Gillespie from San Sebastian Catholic Church.
To further show their commitment against the death penalty, the diocese is cohosting Cities for Life to abolish the death penalty. It will be next week, Wednesday, at the Shrine at Mission Nombre de Dios
101 San Marco Ave., St. Augustine.
Although motions will begin December 2, the trial isn’t expected to start for another two years.