WINONA – Police chief Johnny Hargrove is releasing few details regarding the robbery of the Winona branch of the Bank of Kilmichael last Tuesday, other than to confirm that a suspect has turned himself in to police.
Hargrove said that on Saturday, Oct. 17, Carroll County resident, Verlander Murphy, turned himself in after more than a week on the run. Hargrove said Murphy became a suspect in the robbery after a photo of him from the bank surveillance camera was circulated in the local media.
The police station received numerous phone calls from individuals claiming to know who the suspect was, and that information led police to Vaiden, in Carroll County, which borders Montgomery County.
Police said on Tuesday, Oct. 6, around 10 a.m., a black man of slender build walked into the Bank of Kilmichael in Winona, jumped over the counter, grabbed an undisclosed amount of cash and left. Hargrove said the suspect did not have a weapon and he left the premises on foot.
Murphy was identified as the suspect in the surveillance footage and their investigation led police to Vaiden. Hargrove said they later learned that Murphy had left the state and was staying with acquaintances in Memphis, Tenn.
Hargrove said that’s when Murphy called police.
“He called me and said he was tired of getting other people in trouble for something he had done,” Hargrove said. “We knew he was in Memphis. And we were getting ready to charge the people who were housing him.”
Hargrove said police met Murphy at Pilot Truck Stop on U.S. Highway 82, which is also a designated Greyhound Bus stop. When Murphy exited the bus, he was taken into custody without incident.
Murphy, 50, who has several prior misdemeanors with Winona and Vaiden City Court, was charged with felony robbery.
Since the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations (MBI) are also investigating this case, Hargrove said he will turn Murphy over to whichever agency will impose the “stiffer penalty.”
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