A Northland man who attempted to murder his terminally ill mother has been sentenced to 11 months’ home detention in the High Court at Auckland today.
His mother, Catherine Murphy, was hospitalised in late 2023 with abdominal pain, leading to her diagnosis of advanced and terminal ovarian cancer.
According to court documents, Catherine had intended to be discharged for palliative care until her death at home, but her condition deteriorated and she remained in hospital.
During this time she was being treated with fentanyl and haloperidol to relieve her pain and discomfort.
By late November 11, as a result of the medication, she was “largely noncommunicative and observed to be sleeping or unconscious”, the document said.
That night Alexander Murphy repeatedly pressed hospital staff to administer top-ups, claiming Catherine to be in acute discomfort or pain, however, staff found her instead to be asleep or comfortable at the time.
The next evening, after her clinicians increased the automatic dosage Catherine was receiving, Murphy asked if a nurse could administer the whole 24-hour infusion in one go.
Later, when he was alone with his mother, a witness walked in and he was holding a syringe.
After she left he administered the medication to Catherine to end her life.
The next day, after staff attempted to reassure him their treatment was adequate, he told them the syringe “only contained water” and that he had refilled it “after administering the entire syringe of medication”.
His mother passed away on November 14 at an Auckland hospital, the cause of her death remains undetermined.
Justice Pheroze Jagose said Murphy deliberately acted to end his mother’s life when there was no “compelling evidence” to shorten it.
Murphy’s lawyer, Adam Pell, told the court his client’s act was out of “compassion and love” and something he would have to live with forever.
“Mr Murphy deeply regrets his actions in the final stages of his mother’s life,” Pell said.
He highlighted Murphy’s work with people in Northland who have cognitive issues, a recent substantial donation to a school and his volunteer role coaching a local sports team.
Pell submitted home detention would be an appropriate sentence, which the Crown did not oppose.
Justice Jagose said Murphy was making genuine efforts to change, but his previous family violence conviction, which he was discharged on, substantially reduced his ability to receive a discount for previous good character.
“Although both are your acts of violence against members of your family, their respective circumstances are so distinct your previous convictions do not warrant any uplift on account of your personal deterrence or risk of reoffending now.”
He then relayed that Murphy’s probation officer had calculated his risk of reoffending as “negligible”.
Ahead of the sentencing, Justice Jagose told the court he received letters from community members which emphasised Murphy’s long-standing contribution.
“But it stands to be assessed in the balance also with your conduct in your private life, recognising family violence is a scourge in our society.”
With these factors in mind, Justice Jagose granted Murphy a further 5% discount for good character and 15% for remorse, on top of 25% for a guilty plea, from his sentence starting point of 40 months.
This reduced his sentence to 22 months imprisonment, making him eligible for a sentence of home detention.
Because Justice Jagose said Murphy would be released after half of that sentence, he imposed 11 months of home detention.
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
