Observations
After graduating from the University of Connecticut in 1981, Murray worked for six years as a commercial salmon fisherman in Ketchikan, Alaska. The seasonal job lasted four months and filled Murray's pocket with enough cash so he could travel and explore the world. During his twenties he spent two winters in Europe, wandered through India, Nepal and East Africa, and most significantly, hitchhiked 40,000 across North America, where he learned to connect with people living in the shadows of American society. The travel experiences triggered Murray's career in journalism, which began shooting dramatic images from Southeast Alaska. Returning east, Murray worked at the Litchfield Enquirer, the oldest weekly newspaper in Connecticut, from 1987 to 1989, and then the Register-Citizen in Torrington, Connecticut, where he was the chief photographer from 1989 to 1993.
When serious leads aren't followed up by law enforcement, Bill and Jan Smolinski scour the woods for the remains of their missing son Billy, who was murdered in August 2004.
Story and Photographs By John Murray
Picture the murder of Billy Smolinski as a crystal vase. Hold it in your hands. Spin it around. Now drop it on the kitchen floor and watch it shatter into a thousand pieces. Each shard of glass represents a clue into who killed Billy on August 24th, 2004. When patched together the vase reveals the gruesome truth of who murdered Billy, and why. The vase points to the spot Billy is buried in the Naugatuck Valley.
The Calling
Story By John Murray
Donna Palomba continues to fight back.
This time it’s not against a masked rapist, two incompetent Waterbury police officers, or an insensitive newspaper; now Palomba and her Jane Doe No More organization are taking on modern American society, and its response to sexual assault.
Game On
Column By John Murray
Waterbury Mayor Michael Jarjura is seeking a record sixth consecutive term.
(Editor’s note - the following observations by John Murray were sharpened by dozens of interviews and conversations with political insiders throughout Waterbury)
After serving ten years as mayor of Waterbury one might think that Mike Jarjura had a firm grip on the local Democratic Party - his party - but you’d be wrong. As we careen towards election day 2011 Mayor Jarjura faces a revolution within the Democratic Party - much of it his own creation.
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The Triangle
Column By John Murray
Marriages crash, couples fight, and the divorce rate in America remains at staggering heights. When the fog lifts there is usually an aggrieved ex-spouse harboring thoughts of vengeance. This is not news.
But the marriage of Ron and Cheryl Tompkins is not your typical love story gone south. It involves a cop and a federal lawsuit alleging an abuse of power by a prominent state prosecutor.
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The Search
Column By John Murray
Billy Smolinski was murdered six years ago. The effort to crack the case involves local, state and federal police. The Smolinski Family is now working closely with private investigator Todd Lovejoy, pictured above, tracking down leads.
Six years is a long time to hold your breath.
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The Storyteller
Column By John Murray
Dave Howard after a book talk at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia
One day before Abraham Lincoln was murdered at the Ford Theater in Washington D.C., a soldier from the Union Army entered the statehouse in Raleigh, North Carolina, and swiped one of the 14 original copies of the Bill of Rights. Robert E. Lee had already surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, but word traveled slow, and members of General Sherman’s army continued to plunder the South.
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The Fire
Story By John Murray
Fire makes steel.
For Jan and Bill Smolinski a fire of angst and pain engulfed their lives after their 31 year old son Billy vanished six years ago. The fire is so hot it could shatter friendships and destroy their marriage, Left alone, the fire would consume them.
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Penpa Tsering sings Tibetan songs with great joy as he fights to keep his endangered culture alive. Penpa, pictured below, is one of 200,000 Tibetan refugees scattered around the world, and thoughts of his homeland are never far from his mind. Growing up in Tibet was difficult for Penpa - can a seven year old boy ever forget the horror of seeing the naked body of his murdered father?
Papastan.
When I first heard the term I thought it was a distant country in central Asia that the United States was planning to invade. But when you add a space between the a and the s, and capitalize the s, you end up with Papa Stan, an endearing name several young women at Crosby High School use to refer to Dr. Stanley Foster, a Waterbury plastic surgeon.