A convicted murderer was sentenced Wednesday to three and a half years in prison for providing false testimony that upended the trial of his ex-girlfriend, who was accused in the same homicide.
New Brunswick provincial court Judge Natalie LeBlanc also ordered Zachery Murphy’s sentence to run concurrently with the life sentence he’s been serving since 2021.
The Crown prosecutor in the case asked that Murphy get a five-year consecutive sentence for the crime of perjury, which he committed when he lied as a witness during the trial of Angela Walsh in January 2023.
LeBlanc said the Criminal Code doesn’t allow her to do that.
“So [the sentence] may have other impacts to you, sir, in terms of parole or any other peripheral items, but it won’t be more time on top of your life sentence,” LeBlanc said to Murphy, who appeared in Fredericton court by video.
Murphy and Walsh were jointly charged with first-degree murder in the homicide of Clark Greene, whose body was found near a gazebo in Fredericton’s Wilmot Park in April 2020.
Murphy pleaded guilty to the lesser second-degree murder in November 2021 and was set to testify as a Crown witness in Walsh’s first-degree murder trial.
Murphy had given a sworn statement to police following the crime, in which he admitted to hitting Green in the head with a pipe, followed by Walsh stabbing Green multiple times.
At Walsh’s trial, Murphy was expected to deliver testimony mirroring his earlier statement but instead testified he was the one who stabbed Greene, all while being unaware of what Walsh was doing at that exact moment.
The testimony effectively ended the trial, as it prompted the Office of the Attorney General to consent to allow Walsh to plead guilty instead to the lesser charge of second-degree murder.
She was later sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 13 years.
Perjury threatens foundation of justice, judge says
In deciding Murphy’s sentence, LeBlanc said she considered the gravity of the offence.
She said the truth is of absolute necessity during legal proceedings, and witnesses are required to respect that when providing testimony.
“This ensures that courts can deliver a fair and just outcome,” she said. “When witnesses perjure themselves, the very foundation of the justice system that is threatened.”
She said Murphy’s testimony was being relied on heavily in the Crown’s case against Walsh, considering he was the only known witness to the crime.
When Murphy unexpectedly changed his story in the witness box, LeBlanc said the prosecution was undoubtedly left with no choice but to end the trial.
“Mr. Murphy’s choice to commit perjury did not come early in this process, but rather, at the end of the investigation and preliminary inquiry, a jury selection, and during the course of an actual first-degree murder trial,” LeBlanc said.
“It is difficult to imagine a more serious set of circumstances.”
Murphy’s life sentence came with the chance of parole eligibility after 11 years, meaning he’ll be able to apply around the year 2032.
LeBlanc said his perjury sentence could have some implications for his eventual parole, but did not elaborate on how.
