NEW ORLEANS — A woman wanted in connection with last week’s death of prominent Pottsville jeweler Patrick Murphy surrendered to authorities on Sunday.
New Orleans police said Megan Hall, 25, accompanied by her attorney, turned herself in at New Orleans Central Lockup in the 2800 block of Perdido Street.
Hall was then committed to Orleans Parish Prison without bail pending a hearing before a magisterial judge within the next 48 hours, prison officials said Sunday.
Homicide detectives charged Hall with second-degree murder after the body of Murphy, 62, was discovered just before noon Thursday lying on a bed inside the Empress Hotel in the 1300 block of Ursulines Avenue.
Detectives said they were alerted to the death after hotel employees discovered the man’s body.
Hall fled the area but was identified through high-definition security images.
The video surveillance shows Murphy and Hall entering the hotel around 2 a.m., and Hall leaving alone around 4 a.m.
Although the initial death was listed as “unclassified,” detectives said the investigation led them to change the manner of death to homicide and obtain a warrant for Hall’s arrest.
The cause of death has been listed by the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office as “homicide by cutting” caused by “sharp force injuries.”
Murphy was reportedly visiting New Orleans with his wife, Kim, but it was not known how he came to meet Hall or why the two ended up at the Empress Hotel.
New Orleans police Detective Patrick Guidry and the homicide unit are continuing their investigation into the death.
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