Man Pleads Guilty to 2015 Longview Murder

LONGVIEW – A Kilgore man was sentenced to 45 years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to a September 2015 murder and waiving all rights to appeal. According to KETK, Gary Murphy was charged with the killing of Arnold McCollaum in a Longview motel. He stabbed McCollaum in the neck and held him down as he bled to death. He told police he killed McCollaum over money and a drug deal. Prior to Murphy’s original December 2016 trial date, he was found incompetent and sent to Rusk State Hospital for competency restoration. He came back to Gregg County in late 2017 and was to have gone on trial this coming Monday.