Cousin testifies that accused killer seemed 'normal,' report says

The California resident was the first witness in the murder trial of Gregg Murphy, 57, of Stanhope.

Gregg Murphy enters court in this 2012 file photo. (File Photo)

NEWTON -- The cousin of a Stanhope handyman accused of stabbing a woman to death said he once came home to the California apartment they shared to find all the curtains open, the faucets going, the burners lit and Gregg Murphy sitting at the living room table, tapping a foot-long butcher's knife, the New Jersey Herald reported.

Lawrence Murphy told his cousin he couldn't stay with him anymore, and the two have hardly spoken in the 30 years since. The California resident was the first witness in the murder trial of Gregg Murphy, 57, of Stanhope.

Murphy allegedly stabbed Mariann Ferreira, 56, in her Green Township home on Dec. 2, 2012 after discussing home improvements. Murphy allegedly confessed to the killing and has rejected a plea deal for 30 years in prison.

A medical report by a state forensic psychologist said Murphy was insane at the time of the killing, First Assistant Sussex County Prosecutor Gregory Mueller has said. Murphy spent time in a California psychiatric hospital in the 1980s, around the time Lawrence Murphy kicked him out, authorities said.

Aside from the incident with the knife, Lawrence Murphy said his cousin was quiet, but "pretty normal." He also testified that his cousin knew the difference between right and wrong.