Sisters of slain woman dreamed of arrest for almost two decades

Vanessa Miller And Christine Reid, Daily Camera

Published February 5, 2007 at midnight

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BOULDER - When Carol Murphy's sisters learned that her ex-husband, Kevin Elmarr, had been arrested in connection with her slaying nearly 20 years ago, they rushed to their mother's grave.

"Just to kind of be with her because it was a very special day," said Cahnya Carpenter, 30, who lives in the family's hometown of Andover, Kan.

Hikers discovered Murphy's body on May 23, 1987, strangled and partially hidden by tree branches near a popular turnoff in Lefthand Canyon near Boulder.

After two decades, technological advances allowed Boulder County sheriff's detectives to link Elmarr to the crime by retesting DNA evidence. He was arrested Jan. 29 and charged with first-degree murder.

Murphy's mother, Sandra Carpenter, was devastated by her oldest daughter's death and hoped until her death in 2003 from emphysema that her killer would be brought to justice, her family said. She had always believed Elmarr was responsible, they said.

"I watched my mom cry for 16 years over my sister's death," said Conraya Carpenter, 25, also of Andover. "For three years now, I haven't been able to see her cry, but we have dreamed of Jan. 29 for almost 20 years."

Murphy was 27 when she was killed. Despite her family's protests, she ran away to Colorado as a teenager to be with Elmarr, her second cousin, after he got her pregnant during a July Fourth family get-together. They married eight months after their daughter was born in 1977.

A social services report said the relationship had begun to sour, but that the couple hoped the birth of a son in 1979 would make it stronger.

Elmarr requested a divorce after Murphy had an affair with his brother-in-law, detectives said, but they continued to live together for financial reasons.

The coroner's office ruled that Carol Murphy died of asphyxia by strangulation.

Items found at the scene were resubmitted in May to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and five months later sheriff's deputies matched Elmarr's DNA to a swab taken from Murphy's groin area.

With evidence indicating Elmarr lied about their meeting, detectives made the arrest.

"I really want to hug the sheriff's department and the investigators who found this," Cahnya Carpenter said. "If my mom was here she'd do it."

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