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AP) WHITPAIN TWP. A woman killed her longtime husband hours before he was to leave on a trip to Morocco to try to impregnate his new second wife, prosecutors said in murder charges filed Thursday. some direct quotes would be greatly appreciated.
Myra Morton, 47, turned herself in Thursday to face murder and related charges in the death of Jereleigh Morton, 47, who was shot in his bed early Sunday morning in his million-dollar home outside Philadelphia.
The killing happened just hours before Jereleigh Morton was to travel to Africa to try to conceive a baby with his second wife, whom he met on the Internet last year and married in March, prosecutors said.
Myra Morton had reluctantly agreed to the second marriage and even traveled to Morocco to sanction it under Islamic law, authorities have said.
On Sunday, she told police that an intruder came into the bedroom and shot her husband.
Authorities, though, found no signs of a break-in.
"Myra Morton's description of events is thoroughly inconsistent with the physical evidence found at the scene," authorities wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.
Montgomery County prosecutors charged Morton with first-degree murder, third-degree murder and related counts.
They suggested that jealousy and control of the Mortons' more than $6 million in assets were possible motives for the killing.
"Six million dollars is an awfully large motive," First Assistant District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said.
Morton, accompanied by two attorneys, didn't comment on her way in to surrender to authorities.
She arrived Thursday wearing a full black cloak and face veil that left only her eyes showing, clothing customarily worn by some very conservative Muslim women. just wait for it...
One of her lawyers, Brian J. McMonagle, said after her arraignment Thursday afternoon that he had only been on the case for 48 hours and still needed to evaluate the charges and evidence.
"She's going through a horrific time. Her world has been devastated by these events," McMonagle said.
The Mortons, who hail from North Philadelphia, converted to Islam about 20 years ago. They lived in a small Philadelphia row house until a medical malpractice settlement over their teenage daughter's death netted them a reported $8 million in 2005. How exactly is this important to the story? If they had converted last week, would that make any difference?
They paid $1 million cash for a sprawling suburban home near Ambler, and Jereleigh retired from his job as a handyman to dabble in real estate. They lived in the home with their surviving daughter and her family.
Morton met his second wife, Zahra Toural, 35, on the Internet in December 2006, investigators said. She lives in Morocco -- authorities didn't specify where -- and married Morton there on March 19, prosecutors said.
Myra was reluctant to accept the second marriage and she told friends that she was upset her husband was "no longer paying attention to her," Ferman said.
Morton wrote in her diary -- portions of which were filed in court papers earlier this week -- that she went to Morocco to approve the marriage and get paperwork in order.
"I go give him the permission, because he argues with me when I protest this marriage," the diary reads.
Shortly after her husband married Toural, Myra Morton sent a letter to immigration authorities that ended up at the U.S. State Department. When? give me dates.
In it, she wrote that her husband was trying to bring Toural over on a tourist visa. She also urged the government to keep Toural out of the United States, going so far as to accuse the other woman of having connections to terrorists. direct quotes?
"She was really trying to protect her turf," Ferman said.
Islam allows men to marry up to four women, provided they secure the approval of their other wives and are able to provide equally for all of them. Prosecutors have said they aren't sure whether Pennsylvania's polygamy ban would apply to a marriage in a foreign country.
Though Myra Morton claimed an intruder killed her husband, investigators said the evidence at their Whitpain Township house didn't point to that.
Jereleigh was shot twice in the head with his own gun, which had been kept in a relatively inaccessible place, authorities said. Also, a police dog didn't find any scent on a patio on which the intruder was said to have escaped, something Ferman described as "highly unusual."
In addition, Myra said she was lying in bed next to her husband when he was shot. There was no blood spatter on her, but there was blood on her side of the bed, authorities said.
"She would have been soaked in blood as well, and that did not happen," Ferman said.
When Morton was arraigned early Thursday afternoon in Blue Bell, she was no longer wearing the headcovering and veil at the request of law enforcement. She said nothing during the proceeding and sat with her head slightly bowed. This is more for the law enforcement. Why is her wearing a scarf a threat? I mean, I can get the face covering, but let the sister cover her hair, dag.She was held without bail pending an Aug. 20 preliminary hearing.
I know I probably am just whining about it because I'm cranky, but this is just so odd I guess. If you wanna read it without my silly comments, here it is. (Oh, Yahoo has a slideshow, where they first show the sister without hijab, then in the last few pics show her with the whole getup. It was like wtf?
)kyw.com - Montgomery Co. Woman Charged In Husband's Death
. Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioon.
