States Attorney
Elmhurst Man Gets 75 Years for Murder of Teen
WHEATON - DuPage County State’s Attorney Joseph E. Birkett announced today that Judge Robert Anderson sentenced Anson Paape, 41 (d.o.b. 5/17/66) of 846 S. Hawthorne, Elmhurst, to 75 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the July 9, 2004, shooting death of eighteen year-old Michael Murray, also of Elmhurst.
Today’s sentencing is the result of an Elmhurst Police Department and State’s Attorney’s Office investigation into a shooting at Paape’s home shortly after 7 p.m. on July 9 that left Murray dead from a single gunshot wound to the forehead.
The investigation revealed that during a birthday party for Michael held at Paape’s home, Paape urged Michael and three other teenagers to go downstairs to play a poker-like card game. Bullets were distributed to the players and the cards were dealt. After the first round was played, the winning player was to point a gun loaded with one bullet to the head of the person to his right and pull the trigger. After the first round however, Paape loaded the gun with a single bullet, spun the cylinder, held it to the head of Michael Murray and fired one shot, killing him. The frightened teens immediately ran from the home. Several minutes later, Paape also fled the scene. Two days later Paape was taken into custody.
“Today, Mr. Paape learned that he will, more than likely, spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murder of Michael Murray, killed on his eighteenth birthday,” remarked Birkett. “I would like to express our deepest sympathies to the family, friends and relatives of Michael Murray. While today’s sentence cannot bring Michael back, perhaps it can bring some measure of closure to those who were close to Michael and allow them to continue on with their lives knowing that justice was served in this terrible tragedy.”
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