Former secretary of state arrested for DUI

By Isabella Alves and Tom Coulter

Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Via Wyoming News Exchange

CHEYENNE – Former Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Murray was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol at 12:39 a.m. Friday at his residence.

Murray, 61, who was elected secretary of state in 2014, resigned from the position last year following two separate allegations of prior sexual misconduct.

According to the arrest report, Laramie County Sheriff’s deputies went to Murray’s residence on Wildflower Drive in Cheyenne after they received a report of an accident with injuries that occurred at Cowpoke and Silver Spur roads.

When officers arrived to the accident scene, the vehicle in question, a 2016 white GMC Yukon, wasn’t there.

Officers then went to the address where the vehicle was registered and saw Murray standing in the driveway, according to the arrest report.

Officers observed Murray had slurred speech, poor balance and an odor of alcohol, according to the arrest report. He told officers he drank alcohol earlier that night, but hadn’t been drinking since he returned home.

Murray repeatedly told officers there hadn’t been an accident and wouldn’t answer the deputy’s questions, according to the arrest report. In the garage, deputies observed a vehicle matching the description from the accident with front-end damage on the passenger bumper.

Deputies also observed an airbag deployment on the driver’s side of the vehicle, but Murray continued to state there was no accident, according to the booking sheet.

Murray refused to do a standard field sobriety test when the deputy asked and was read implied consent.

Deputies received a warrant for Murray’s blood and took him to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center. After he was cleared by CRMC, he was taken to the Laramie County jail, where he also wouldn’t answer deputies’ questions.

Murray’s political fall began in December 2017 when a woman made allegations on Facebook that he assaulted her more than 30 years ago when they worked together at a Cheyenne law firm.

The following month, a second woman said in a statement to the Casper Star-Tribune that Murray forcibly kissed her in 1988.

Both women were 18 at the time the alleged incidents took place.

In response, Murray denied the first allegation and said he could not recall the second alleged incident.

Before the allegations, Murray told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle he was considering a run for governor in the 2018 election.

Yet in February 2018, just two months after the first woman’s statement became public, he resigned.