Jack Roland Murphy, known in the surf community as “Murph the Surf” — and known later in the prison system for helping thousands of others despite his convictions as a murderer and jewel thief — died this weekend at age 83, according to the Florida Surf Museum.
Murphy was living in Crystal River, on Florida’s west coast. No cause of death was given.
He left behind a life that had more wave action than a day at the Banzai Pipeline.
Murphy and the late Hall of Fame surfer Dick Catri, fellow “pool boys” at ritzy Miami Beach hotels in the mid-’50s, were widely credited for the surfing evolution in Brevard County, starting with Styrofoam boards in the south Melbourne Beach area.
Murphy, who liked to be referred to with the simple “Murf,” not only became a surfing champion (state longboard titles in 1962 and ’63) and owner of a surf shop in Cocoa Beach, he also was a musician, author and artist. According to Murphy, he and Catri were the first to surf the famed Sebastian Inlet, in 1959.
But, Murphy also had a dark side.
Murphy was charged (with two accomplices) in what was called “The biggest jewel heist of the 20th Century” at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and pleaded guilty of stealing the famous Star of India sapphire among a reported $3 million in gems in 1964.
Reports once said, Murphy decided on the robbery just to see if he could. After spending 21 months in jail on Rikers Island in New York’s East River, Murphy was free.
Then, in December of 1967, Murphy was charged with an accomplice for two murders (the second never went to trial) when two women were found bludgeoned to death in the Fort Lauderdale waterways and what is still known as the Whiskey Creek Murders. Reports say one of the women was trying to extort more money from Murphy emanating from a deal involving stolen stocks.
After pleas of insanity that fell on deaf ears, a jury convicted Murphy of first-degree murder on March 1, 1969, earning him a life sentence.
Just before that sentence, however, a judge had slapped another life sentence on Murphy, when he and his accomplices were convicted in early 1968 of trying to rob a wealthy Miami Beach socialite of her funds at her home.
After serving 19 years in maximum security Florida prisons, Murphy was paroled in 1986 for good behavior and then devoted his life to working with inmates in the field of prison ministry, something he started while incarcerated, sort of his epiphany.
Murphy, Catri surf pioneers
Catri and Murphy became friends innocently enough.
To earn money, Catri went to work at a pool on Miami Beach, fetching towels for the rich and famous at a hotel where promoter and world champion high diver Bert Williams staged water shows for tourists. One of the show’s stars was Murphy, a surfer from Carlsbad, Calif.
Together they became the main event for the Petersen Aquacade Water Show. Catri practiced four hours a day, learning to dive from as high as 100 feet. Murphy was the stunt-diving comedian, while Catri was his straight man. Their acts often consisted of fire and alligators.
In the winter of ’57, Murphy opened Catri’s eyes to surfing.
“He was the first person I ever saw stand up and ride a wave,” Catri once told FLORIDA TODAY. “I went bonkers.”
As luck would have it, two FBI agents from California were investigating the hotel where Catri worked. It was owned by mob boss Meyer Lansky. Catri and Murphy talked the agents into sending them two surfboards when they returned to California, and the rest is history.
The next year, Murphy and Catri decided to take a trip to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, where the surf was usually pumping. But they never made it. They hopped over to Palm Beach, then Vero Beach. All they saw was flat waves.
Then, six-foot waves in Indialantic. Paradise.
“We surfed for hours,” Catri said.
They attracted a crowd, too, and even made money by renting their boards.
Catri said they spent 27 days in Brevard that summer and never saw another surfer. But their surfing legacy was just getting started.
“Everybody focuses on the jewel heist and the Whisley Creek Murders, but if you look, he was one of the early surfing pioneers and then was involved in prison ministries the rest of his life,” said John Hughes, executive director of the Florida Surf Museum in Cocoa Beach.
Murf’s Surf Shop — the first in Florida and perhaps the first on the East Coast — opened in 1960 in Indialantic, where Catri later would open Shagg’s.
“(Murphy) held the first surf contest here, called SurfCapades, in Indialantic where the casino used to be (now Nance Park) and he was our first Surfing Santa, when he got into a Santa suit and surfed in these huge (14-foot) storm waves,” Hughes said.
The Starlite Hotel on Highway A1A in Cocoa Beach is where Murphy and Catri stayed in those early days, “making surfboards and taking care of beach rentals and concessions” in exchange for room and board, said Hughes, who has written a few articles on “Murph” for the museum.
Catri’s surfing legacy also was just getting started. In 1996, he and Murphy were in the first class inducted into the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame.
‘Spiritual close friend’
Melbourne’s George Robinson, who has been in the surfing industry 50 years with his George Robinson Surf Designs, truly understood what Murphy was about later in life.
“He was one of my spiritual close friends,” said Robinson, who along with Murphy were speakers at Catri’s crowded Celebration of Life service at Sebastian Inlet three years ago. “Jack was the real deal; You won’t find many Christians like him.”
Murphy’s parole from prison led to a new chapter in his life.
“He was so thankful, always, how God delivered him out of prison and spared him,” Robinson said. “He will always be a modern day Apostle Paul. … He found the true purpose of being a Christian.”
Murphy penned a little book called “Jewels of the Journey: Murf Talks to Wiseguys,” that he handed out to those who would listen. And there were thousands.
“This guy had such a great effect on people, especially in prisons, to encourage them,” Robinson said. “The last thing he was working on was helping many of those convicted of rape, so many had been wrongly convicted …”
Murphy also helped build up Bill Glass Ministries: Behind the Walls, started by Glass, an 11-year veteran of the National Football League.
“They’d bring in movie stars, notorious criminals, inside prisons and it was quite effective, and Jack was a big part of that,” Robinson said. “He was non-stop, Russia, all over this country … He realized how God had spared him. He gave his heart to the Lord.”
Kimberly Catri Cullen, one of Catri’s three daughters, recalled Murphy with her note on the Florida Surf Museum Facebook page: “He lived an Epic Story. He was his own antagonist and protagonist, so many cliff hangers, plot twists and a Happy Ending. His faith was so strong, there is no doubt with those who knew him where he is now. He will be missed as all legends are, with the world being a little more quiet and sad.”
A film based on Murphy’s life, titled “Live a Little, Steal a Lot,” starring Robert Conrad, was released in 1975.
Murphy once spoke at Royal Oak Country Club in Titusville to talk about his reformed life and came into the FLORIDA TODAY offices.
In April, Sports Illustrated did an in-depth story, entitled “The Fascinating Story of Murph the Surf,” focusing on his life of peaks and valleys.
“Very few people I can connect with, and I’ve been to 30 countries,” said Robinson, a chaplain for 33 years. “From the street to the business, from the surf to prisons, he encouraged people, he really loved people, and didn’t take life for granted.
“He was infamous for what he did in the ’60s, but that wasn’t the person (he turned out to be).”
Contact Grossman at 321-242-3676 or hgrossman@floridatoday.com. Support our work by subscribing to FLORIDA TODAY.
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