The body of the Rev. Rene Robert was identified after his dental records from Florida were compared to the body Thursday, according to a news release provided by GBI.
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In this arrest photo made available by the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office, SC., shows Steven James Murray of Jacksonville, Fla., on Thursday, April 14, 2016. “There are more details through interviews that will hopefully clarify some of those issues”, Dutton said.Murray told multiple local news stations outside the courthouse that he was “very sorry” and wanted to ask forgiveness, The Associated Press reported.
Thursday, April 14: Murray was arrested early Thursday in a wooded area close to where Robert’s vehicle was found. Murray lives in SC, but he knew the priest through family in Florida, St. Johns sheriff’s Cmdr. His body was found April 18 in Burke County, Georgia, about 260 miles away from St. Johns County, Florida, south of Jacksonville, where he had lived. He was a priest for the Diocese of St. Augustine. It’s believed Robert was introduced to Murray by a young woman the priest had been counseling.
A source in Georgia said Robert’s body was found in the woods directly off the State Route 56 spur highway just over the Burke County line from Richmond County.
Robert’s body was transported to the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office at GBI Headquarters in Decatur, Georgia for positive identification and autopsy.
He was driving Robert’s Toyota Corolla, which the sheriff said Murray had driven back and forth between Florida and SC. Father Robert was last seen Sunday April 10in St. Augustine, Florida.
Sheriff Greg Coursey says Murray would not be facing murder charges in the county if investigators weren’t confident that this is where the crime happened.
“If anybody really loves Father Rene, they’ll forgive me because he was a man of God and forgiveness is forgiveness”, he said.
Police say a 71-year-old Florida priest was killed by a man he was trying to help, and now that man has been charged with murder.
Murray allegedly sped up his auto, engaging in a chase, then abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot. “He died doing what he loved”.
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Abdullah said the Sheriff’s Office will continue to investigate the house fire, and more charges against Murray are possible.
