Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

MichaelBluejay · 2012-01-25 23:24:20

http://www.kvue.com/news/Witnesses-soug … 95763.html
http://www.kvue.com/news/Cyclist-killed … 66023.html

The victim is Justin Patrick Murphy, 25, who was biking on the frontage road of Research Boulevard near Oak Knoll Drive (where's there's no bike lane, shoulder, or sidewalk), when he was killed by a Ford F-150, which then typically left the scene.

He reportedly lacked not only a rear light, but also a rear reflector, kind of odd since all bikes come with reflectors when they're sold.

Insult to injury is that the media labels this an accident even though they have no idea whether it was truly accidental. While it probably was indeed an accident, we don't know for sure. But KVUE thinks they know for sure.

rickb · 2012-01-26 00:46:54

Not odd at all regarding missing reflectors. It is the custom for fashionable bike riders to strip off safety equipment -like reflectors- from bikes. Maybe they want a minimalist and sleek look. This thinking is quite misplaced in my opinion. Better visibility to that pickup driver might have preserved Murphy's life.

Last edited by rickb (2012-01-26 00:50:00)

Donald Lewis · 2012-01-26 07:05:12

I have seven bikes. Some of them had reflectors when they were sold, but some of the bikes I built myself and never had reflectors. None have reflectors now. I do have reflective tape on my seat bag that goes from bike to bike, and on my helmet. The seat posts will not accommodate a seat bag and reflector both on most of the bikes. On the bikes where there is room, I have a taillight. Whatever the law says, a reflector alone is not good, so I have a bright helmet taillight and a bright flashing taillight on the seat bag. So I ride with two or sometimes three taillights but no reflectors per se. Unfortunately, there are lots and lots of cyclists out there riding totally stealth.

I suppose its possible that the driver of the F-150 saw the cyclist and decided to kill him, but I think its reasonable that this was reported as an accident. This is not to deny that the motorist's negligence may have been far more egregious than that of the cyclist riding stealth. In fact, it likely was, which would explain the hit and run aspect.

savanni · 2012-01-26 11:21:15

I could see the possibility that the driver didn't see the cyclist at all before the collision (nicely unloaded word in this case). But I'm really not sure how the driver could have avoided hearing the collision. Driving away at that point... well... strikes me as murder (loaded word chosen intentionally) whether by intent, negligence, or cowardice.

The other part that galls me: statesman.com and kvue.com do not list the incident in any place that I can find. I've gone digging. Unless I have the link above or know to search for "cyclist killed", there's no way I would know that this had happened. Instead, on their front page... "New four-day comedy festival"; "Taco Bell enters breakfast arena"; "San Antonio company launches shoes designed for pregnant women"; "Cedar Park's Dollahite driven to make his mark on Daytona track". Not exactly Top Stories when a life has been extinguished and when the police would like to find the vehicle involved. So, the general public will not know that a driver killed a cyclist and ran. -- cycling74 says in a message below that this paragraph is incorrect. I stand corrected.

Well, except that I'm going to post it on G+ and others will post it on Facebook and maybe information will propagate that way.

So... is there any proper response for us? Inundate the news websites with emails demanding that they put more publicity on a death than on Taco Bell's plans? Put together a measured response and get that, instead posted?

Last edited by savanni (2012-01-26 11:39:26)

cycling74 · 2012-01-26 11:22:01

Bikes should not come with silly reflectors anymore, they are a false sense of security from an outdated CPSC safety initiative from olden days. Bright rear lights, however do work. That is, unless the driver who runs you down was drunk. In that case, any helmet worn would be riding you for protection.

It's creepy to think that somewhere, in some garage sits a slightly damaged F150 probably awaiting mail order parts in order to not tip off police by taking it to a (local) body shop. That is, if the police are even investigating this.

cycling74 · 2012-01-26 11:25:49

savanni wrote:

The other part that galls me: statesman.com and kvue.com do not list the incident in any place that I can find.

Google "Austin cyclist killed"

It's been front page on both sites for the past few days.

badgnome · 2012-01-26 11:44:56

Just because they did not find a light on his body or bike does not mean he wasn't wearing one. A lot of lights are attached to messenger bags or clothing and when the collision occurs is sent into the weeds. Do they scour the area for such articles? Hope so.

I heard a report last night that supposedly he was walking beside his bike at the time of collision.

I hope someone does the right thing and turn in the driver even if they are a friend/relative.

cycling74 · 2012-01-27 11:28:04

Now they know the exact time of the impact: "But his family said something went terribly wrong late Tuesday, when around 10:30 p.m. his girlfriend heard the phone suddenly go dead."

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/pic … 28427.html

MichaelBluejay · 2012-01-28 16:00:12

That Statesman article also says that he was walking his bike when he was hit.

Also, he was 25 years old and going home from his job at Apple. That hits home, because I worked at Apple when I was 25, and biked home every day.

In related news, a suspect in a hit-and-run pedestrian fatality in NYC has been arrested: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/s … -1.1001241

cycling74 · 2012-02-01 12:52:15

They found him. But as is tradition, the charges are pretty weak. Hit and run while drunk is difficult to prove after the alcohol has left the system. Reminds me of the case of Gabrielle Nestande.

An Austin man has been charged in a fatal collision in Northwest Austin last week that left 25-year-old Justin Patrick Murphy dead. Michael Joseph Eggenberger, 31, is charged with failure to stop and render aid, a felony. Officers said Murphy was walking his bicycle in the northbound service road of U.S. 183 near McNeil Drive the night he died. Relatives said Murphy would often call his girlfriend during the five-mile trek home from his Apple Inc. job. On Jan. 23rd, about 10:30 p.m., Murphy's girlfriend said the phone suddenly went dead, his family said. She and relatives searched for him until they received word that he was killed. Austin police connected the hit-and-run to a Ford F150, an arrest affidavit said. Eggenberger came forward through his attorney Thursday, the affidavit. Travis County jail records show his bail is $25,000; Eggenberger was not in custody this morning.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/ … al_hi.html

Story was just updated to include this explanation:

Eggenberger told police he was driving his sister's vehicle, a Ford F150, home from downtown Austin the night of the fatal crash.

Eggenberger said "he came to an immediate stop after the collision and that he looked back to see what he had hit," the affidavit said. He then told police "he saw nothing in the roadway, so he drove to a nearby parking lot to examine the damage under better lighting."

Seeing no blood or hair on his vehicle, Eggenberger said he "assumed he did not collide with a person," it said.

The following day, he saw media coverage on the crash the next day and "became concerned he may have been responsible," the affidavit said.

Last edited by cycling74 (2012-02-01 14:05:52)

fergusonbikes · 2012-02-01 20:28:50

Sounds like he has a good lawyer. You can't prove that he is lying or was drunk. I don't think any charges will stick either, but I'm not a lawyer. It is sad to see this happen. Sadly, it seems to be every man for himself out there. You can't count on the law for protection or justice. And justice means very little when you're in the grave. I now realize as a cyclist that if you choose to ride on the road (and especially at night), you must do everything humanly possible to be seen by motorists and to come home to your family safely.

(After thinking about this) But, maybe they could interrogate the motorist and get him to confess to seeing the hit cyclist. How long did he look? Where was the debris relative to the road? Why did he wait so long to come to the police and why through a lawyer? Is there any evidence that he purposely cleaned blood off of his truck? Where is this evidence?

Questions hopefully detectives and prosecutors are asking if they actually give a damn.

Last edited by fergusonbikes (2012-02-01 20:40:28)

chuckthomas · 2012-02-01 23:21:51

One factor at work here is 'shock denial'. Some people just can't handle the shock and devastation of hitting and killing someone and immediately rationalize it to themselves as something much much less severe. So they keep driving.

chuckthomas · 2012-02-01 23:25:50

http://www.havenhealth.org/healingwithhaven/April06.pdf

MichaelBluejay · 2012-02-02 00:05:30

[edited now that there are new details from the most recent Statesman article]

According to the Statesman:

* The driver actually turned himself in the day after the media publicized the collision, which itself was a few days after the crash, which accounts for the delay.
* It's unclear whether the cyclist was walking the bike or riding it.
* Maximum penalty is up to 10 years.

According to the driver's affadavit, the day after the collision he "became concerned that he may have been responsible". Yeah, the exact same time, the exact same location, and the exact same color, make, and model of vehicle, *AND* he knows he hit something, and it seems he's *wondering*, "Huh, could that have maybe been me?"

I'm betting he won't do any time in jail. Whether or not he gets any jail, it would be great if they simply took his driver's license away for life. However, since the code lists only fine or jail as penalties, that won't happen. I wish license revocation were explicitly listed in the code as a possibility for punishment.

cycling74 · 2012-02-02 10:19:55

He said he was driving his sister's 2006 Ford F-150 home from downtown Austin when he saw a "black blob" in front of his vehicle and heard a thud, an arrest affidavit said.

uh huh. "black blob"

Best description yet of how peds and cyclists look to a drunk driver. Be careful out there.

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/aus … 42113.html

fergusonbikes · 2012-02-03 14:45:44

The new statesman report says a lot. The fact that another motorist (bus driver) found Mr. Murphy in the road, I believe, strengthens any case the prosecution might have.

I've heard of many motorists not even being charged in instances such as this one, so maybe the fact that he is being charged means that some pretty damning evidence can be brought up against him.

Any idea about the percentage of hit and run/failure to render aid cases where charges were actually filed and ended up sticking?

bizikletari · 2012-02-03 16:57:18

Most probably Eggenberger will be, at the most, admonished and order to do some community service restitution for the killing of Patrick Murphy. And that semblance of justice will be, just because HE called the police through a lawyer.

Unfortunately in Austin, the majority of voters still do not consider killing someone with a vehicle as an homicide; not even an unintentional homicide. For the majority of Austinites people not in cars are not real people.

Austin is a very "progressive" city that does not give sidewalks to their pedestrians and is slowly painting bike lanes after years and years of advocacy work from the community.

In such environment, killing a cyclist or a pedestrian will hardly be prosecuted and APD won't even investigate, or do so half-heartedly. So when someone turns himself in it is the only chance to have some degree of clarification of the who did it and the how it happened.

Almost a year ago Andrew Runciman was murdered and abandoned on South Lamar, we are still waiting for Acevedo's APD to find the murderer.

MichaelBluejay · 2012-02-03 20:28:50

fergusonbikes wrote:

Any idea about the percentage of hit and run/failure to render aid cases where charges were actually filed and ended up sticking?

Not exactly, but back during the years when I tried to track serious car/bike collisions, I found that about half the cases were hit-and-runs (!), prosecution wasn't a given, and that even when there was prosecution, significant penalty wasn't a given. Poke through these:

No justice for cyclists
List of cases
Why no justice?

Chuck_McNeil · 2012-03-05 11:00:58

There will be a memorial ride for this young man Wednesday 3/7/12.
Details are posted in the Rides/Events section of this forum.

waywardsuol · 2012-04-05 16:18:52

I know I am coming in to this convo late, but my girlfriend just told me about his memorial that she happened to catch a short glimpse of on a tv show she had recorded and my google search landed me here. It was a sad site. Truth is, a bus driver didnt find Patrick. I did. I don't care what anyone says, Patrick was wearing Desert Storm camo pants and boots that I saw and identified clearly, though I did have to swerve since he was already on the ground and took me a quick second to realize that was a body on the road. I can imagine it wouldn't have been too hard to see the light brown pants and boots and jacket pop out at you even at night, even without reflectors. The bus driver had to swerve out of the way because I was standing on the far right lane directing cars to switch lanes afraid they might hit him again while I had 911 on the phone. In a further saddened state of disgust, many pedestrians got off at the bus stop a few feet away just to look at the body. Human nature I guess, though one other person that stopped was a nurse. I wanted to reach out to the family to say that as far as I know, at least one person (me) was there praying over his body. He was a kid. There are no side walks or bike lanes on that service road. The bus driver later came back after he returned the bus to the parking garage to speak to the cops because there was a very brief moment when they thought the bus hit Patrick since it swerved. RIP Patrick.

owlman · 2012-06-20 21:54:20

the slow wheels of justice... Travis Co docket search shows a hearing next month. This page says type UDS that means he's not even indicted yet.

Defendant
EGGENBERGER MICHAEL JOSEPH

Attorney
HOOD LESTER L

Cause
D-1-DC-12-300233

Setting Date/Time
7/12/12 09:00

Court
299TH

Floor
8

Type
UDS

Charge
FAIL TO STOP AND RENDER AID

owlman · 2015-07-22 15:00:40

Just to add the sad conclusion to this thread, the failure to stop and render aid charge was dropped in 2014. He used the Nestande "I didn't know I hit a person" defense.

Michael Joseph Eggenberger II, 33, pleaded guilty to a delivery of a controlled substance and will be placed in a substance abuse residential treatment program for the next five months before he is released under community supervision.
His lawyer, Mindy Montford, said prosecutors have dropped a charge against him for failure to stop and render aid in the death of Justin Patrick Murphy, 25, due to issues with evidence.
“My client has maintained all along that he did not know he had hit an individual that night,” she said. Under the statute that he was charged, the state would have had to prove he knew he had hurt someone and fled the scene.
Austin police have said Eggenberger came forward through his lawyer three days after the incident. He told detectives he saw a “black blob” and then heard a thud while driving at night in the northbound frontage road of U.S. 183 near McNeil Drive. Eggenberger said he stopped after the crash but “saw nothing in the roadway” and “assumed he did not collide with a person,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crim … -in/nh2tm/

Bicycle Austin forum

#1 2012-01-25 23:24:20

Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#2 2012-01-26 00:46:54

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#3 2012-01-26 07:05:12

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#4 2012-01-26 11:21:15

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#5 2012-01-26 11:22:01

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#6 2012-01-26 11:25:49

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#7 2012-01-26 11:44:56

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#8 2012-01-27 11:28:04

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#9 2012-01-28 16:00:12

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#10 2012-02-01 12:52:15

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#11 2012-02-01 20:28:50

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#12 2012-02-01 23:21:51

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#13 2012-02-01 23:25:50

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#14 2012-02-02 00:05:30

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#15 2012-02-02 10:19:55

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#16 2012-02-03 14:45:44

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#17 2012-02-03 16:57:18

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#18 2012-02-03 20:28:50

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#19 2012-03-05 11:00:58

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#20 2012-04-05 16:18:52

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#21 2012-06-20 21:54:20

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

#22 2015-07-22 15:00:40

Re: Cyclist Justin Patrick Murphy killed by a hit-and-run Ford F-150, 2012

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