A California man’s concern about not being able to contact his fiancee led to a gruesome find by Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies sent to check a rural residence north of Lawrence.

About 1 p.m. Friday, the body of Carmin Ross-Murray, 40, a former Manhattan city prosecutor and conflict mediation attorney, was found in a house at 1860 E. 1150 Road, near Lakeview Lake. She had lived there since August.

Saturday, Douglas County Sheriff Rick Trapp disclosed no details about how the woman was killed.

“We found what we believe is a crime of violence,” he said.

An autopsy was begun Saturday, and Trapp said it appeared the slaying could have occurred in the past few days.

He declined to identify Ross-Murray’s fiance, who Trapp said called from out of state because he had been unable to reach her by phone “for several hours.”

Ross-Murray has a 4-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. The girl has been staying with relatives outside of Douglas County and was not at the house at the time of the slaying, Trapp said.

He declined to identify the dead woman’s ex-husband, but said he was a resident of Manhattan.

Patrick Caffey, a municipal court judge in Manhattan who heard cases prosecuted by Ross-Murray, confirmed Saturday night that the woman’s ex-husband was Thomas E. Murray, an English professor at Kansas State University. Documents from Riley County show Ross-Murray deeded a house to Thomas Murray in August 2002.

Ross-Murray

A man who answered a phone call Saturday afternoon to the Thomas Murray residence in Manhattan declined to comment.

Neighbors’ fears

So many unanswered questions surrounding the homicide left residents in the Lakeview Lake area feeling unsettled.

“It’s not comforting to know something like that happened near here,” John Crown said. “This is a pretty quiet corner of the county.”

John and Irma Jeane Crown, like many of Ross-Murray’s neighbors, were interviewed Friday night by deputies seeking leads in the slaying, and hoping neighbors may have seen or heard something.

County death ruled homicide (11-15-03) 6News video: Police investigate homicide (11-15-03)

John Crown said there has been an increase in traffic along East 1150 Road, also known as Douglas County Road 7, because of the closure for repairs of Douglas County Road 1029 south of Lecompton. But he said he was unaware of any unusual activity at the Ross-Murray house and wasn’t aware that a woman lived there.

The house and property is owned by Eben Farley, who lives nearby but who also spends time in California, Crown said. Farley was not available for comment. About 6 p.m. Friday, a green Saturn sport utility vehicle was towed from the property. Another neighbor said it was the same vehicle he had seen a woman driving to and from the house.

Parents in Indiana

Since the discovery of the body, sheriff’s officers and the Lawrence Police Department’s crime scene investigations unit have been scouring the house, outbuildings and nearby area for clues. The house is about a mile southeast of Lakeview Lake.

Douglas County Coroner Dr. Erik Mitchell also worked at the crime scene, Trapp said. Mitchell began an autopsy on the body Saturday, and expected to complete it today.

Some leads have been uncovered that have taken the investigation outside of Douglas County, but Trapp declined to say where. Investigators were expected to remain at the scene at least through today, he said.

Douglas County Sheriff Rick Trapp speaks at a news conference about the death of Carmin Ross-Murray which was ruled a homicide by local law enforcement. Ross-Murray's body was found Friday at her home outside Lawrence.

“The work is painstaking and tedious and extremely critical to the investigation,” Trapp said.

Ross-Murray’s parents, who live in Indiana, were notified late Friday, Trapp said.

“We had a tough time finding them,” he said, but notification was made with the help of Indiana State Police. Since then, both Ross-Murray’s parents and fiance have been interviewed by investigators.

The parents supplied a photograph of Ross-Murray, and Trapp said investigators hoped it would help jog someone’s memory about events surrounding the slaying.

Ongoing investigation

While neighbors said they were anxious to find out what happened to Ross-Murray, the sheriff said releasing details of the crime could jeopardize the investigation. He said information investigators have will be checked against tips they get from other sources.

“I wish I could reassure the neighbors that we know who it (the suspect) is and exactly what happened, but I cannot do that in all honesty,” Trapp said. “I don’t want to frighten people or mislead people or reassure them that we think it was some random act.”

According to the Martindale-Hubbell Lawyer Locator, Ross-Murray received both Bachelor of Arts and law degrees from Ohio State University. She was admitted to the bar in 1988.

At one time, she had been director of employee relations at Kansas State University in Manhattan. She left that position in 1997. She also had been a Manhattan city prosecutor and worked in conflict mediation and management.

Trapp said he wasn’t sure whether Ross-Murray was practicing law in Lawrence but said she was self-employed as a domestic conflict mediator.

‘Just really hard’

Char Shropshire, assistant director of employee relations at K-State, said she was too upset Saturday night to talk about Ross-Murray, whom she described as a friend as well as a former supervisor.

“It’s just really hard — I can’t talk about her right now,” Shropshire said by telephone from her Manhattan home.

Sheriff’s officers said they hadn’t had any unusual incidents or problems reported in Ross-Murray’s neighborhood before Friday.

Anyone in the area who has seen anything suspicious or unusual is asked to call sheriff’s investigators at (785) 841-0007. To remain anonymous, call the Crime Stoppers tips hot line, (785) 843-TIPS (8477). Crime Stoppers may provide as much as $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.

Trapp asked people to call even if they think their information may not be of value.

“We prefer people to call us and allow us to talk to them and make that determination,” he said. “I cannot, at this time, rule anything in or rule anything out.”