Update on Coralrose Fullwood

March 3, 2009

I’ve spent all day trying to wrap my head around the news breaking today on the death of Coralrose Fullwood. From the beginning, I’ve tried to avoid automatically assuming that her dad was guilty of involvement in her death. Most everyone thought he was involved, I just did not want to think so. I guess because I can’t imagine my husband doing such a thing to one of my daughters, and don’t want to think that any other father could. But what is coming out now is that, at the very least, Dale Fullwood knew the man who is now in jail charged with Coralrose’s death. Not a good thing.

NORTH PORT – The man charged with killing 6-year-old Coralrose Fullwood visited the bar where her father, Dale, worked and was once seen huddled with Fullwood looking at child pornography on a laptop computer, law enforcement documents show.

Patrick Dewayne Murphy was seen at the Motor Sports Cafe in North Fort Myers at least two or three times before Coralrose was abducted and killed in September 2006, former employees and patrons told North Port detectives.

In documents released by the state attorney’s office, the witnesses say Murphy ordered only Budweiser in a bottle and usually sat by himself in a corner spot. One night, however, Murphy was with another man, who had a tattoo near his eye, and spoke with Dale Fullwood, a Motor Sports bartender.

Fullwood took out his computer, a co-worker later told police, and put it on the bar.

He huddled with Murphy and the other man. When the co-worker walked by the screen, he saw an image of what appeared to be child pornography, investigative records show.

When Murphy was connected to the girl’s abduction and death through DNA on a comforter in July 2008, he was not a suspect in the case. Detectives aggressively pursued any connection between Murphy and the Fullwood family starting in August 2008, after the DNA match.

And the detectives found what they were looking for by interviewing employees and patrons at the Motor Sports bar, which closed shortly after Coralrose’s death.

At a minimum, detectives can now say that the two men knew each other and had spoken on several occasions at the bar.

Once again, I’d like to thank Chief Terry Lewis, and all of the officers of the North Port Police Department, for not giving up, and for persisting in the search for the man responsible for killing Coralrose. If her dad is somehow involved, then I guess that the NPPD keeps up their investigation until they have the proof they need to say that he pays the price for his involvement.

The full story can be found at the Herald Tribune at the links below. The second story has some pretty weird stuff in it. I haven’t decided what to make of it yet. Sorry not to include the whole articles here, but HT has started adding “do not republish” stuff at the end of their stories.

New disclosures in Coralrose slaying

Documents shed new light on Fullwood murder

Posted in SW Florida news, crimes against children