Barret Paul Murphy appears in a Santa Barbara courtroom November 13, 2017 on attempted murder, assault with intent for sexual assault, rape by force, oral copulation, burglary, and domestic violence inflict injury.
A former real estate agent faces a lengthy mental hospital stay after being found not guilty of a domestic assault by reason of insanity.
Barret Paul Murphy appeared Monday in Santa Barbara County Superior Court before Judge Michael Carrozzo for a placement hearing.
On Oct. 11, 2017 Mr. Murphy was charged with attempted murder, forcible rape and assault with intent to commit rape, among other charges.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges on Dec. 29, 2017, but on April 22 of this year, Judge Carrozzo found Mr. Murphy not guilty of infliction of corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and stalking by reason of insanity.
The remaining charges were dropped in February. according to court records.
Mr. Murphy was scheduled to be placed in a state mental hospital Monday, but the hearing was continued to June 17. Senior Deputy District Attorney Ben Ladinig said he expects the hospital placement to last “a significant period of time.”
According to a report from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, at around 7:26 a.m. on Oct. 6, 2017 deputies responded to a call for service in the Montecito area.
The reporting party said a woman was screaming for help and was being chased by a male subject with a knife in his hand.
Deputies responded and contacted Mr. Murphy who had already contacted Montecito Fire Protection District personnel himself.
Mr. Murphy was detained while deputies conducted an investigation. They determined that he broke into the victim’s home, sexually assaulted her and attempted to kill her with the knife he had been holding.
The victim managed to escape and flag down a passing vehicle for help.
Mr. Murphy was arrested and booked into County Jail. He was 49 years old at the time of his arrest. He has remained in jail on $1 million bail ever since.
According to his Linkedin and Zillow profiles, Mr. Murphy was a Santa Barbara and Montecito area real estate agent who worked for Sotheby’s and Teles Properties over his 14-year career.
The California Bureau of Real Estate reported Mr. Murphy had an active salesperson license at the time of his arrest, but he was no longer associated with any brokerage firm.
An online artist biography for the Santa Barbara punk rock band Boxheads, claimed Mr. Murphy formed the band in 1983 with his late brother, Sean, in their Carpinteria home.
According to the band’s online profile, Mr. Murphy left the band in its early years to pursue other projects, but in 2012 he brought band members back together. They played gigs together until 2016.
