MyFox Boston

December 20, 2006

Court: Police Must Justify Secret Files in Murray Disappearance

CONCORD, N.H. -- The state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday state police must give more detailed descriptions and reasons for withholding their investigative files in the disappearance of Massachusetts college student Maura Murray.

State police "have not met their burden to demonstrate how disclosure of the requested documents could reasonably be expected to interfere with any investigation or enforcement proceedings," the court said in a unanimous decision.

Murray was 21 years old when she was last seen on the night of Feb. 9, 2004, shortly after crashing her car into a snowbank next to Route 112 in Haverhill.

Her father, Fred Murray, of Weymouth, Mass., had sued to obtain the investigative files under the state Right-to-Know Law, saying the information would aid private investigators trying to determine her fate. However, the volunteer private investigators disagreed that police should be required to disclose their files.