Murphy pleads guilty in weapons case tied to officer killings

Joseph Murphy, 63, pleaded guilty Thursday morning in Onondaga County Court to criminal possession of a weapon, resolving the weapons case that grew out of the aftermath of the 2024 killings of Syracuse police Officer Michael Jensen and Onondaga County Sheriff’s Lt. Michael Hoosock.

Prosecutors said the case centered on a rifle taken from the Murphy household after the fatal shootings. The long gun was not the weapon Christopher Murphy used in the ambush, but it was not compliant with New York State law, and prosecutors said taking it from the home violated the SAFE Act.

Murphy was arrested in August 2024 after investigators examined firearms removed from the home following the April 14, 2024, attack in the Town of Salina. That shooting began after officers tried to stop a suspicious vehicle that had been reported traveling more than 100 mph. Christopher Murphy opened fire, killing Jensen and Hoosock in one of the most painful incidents in recent Onondaga County history.

Under the plea, Joseph Murphy is facing four months with weekend stays in jail. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 2.

The guilty plea comes as the county continues to mark the loss of the two officers. On April 14, 2026, a bronze monument honoring Jensen and Hoosock was unveiled on Tipperary Hill, with Syracuse Police Chief Mark Rusin and Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley present alongside family members and community supporters. The memorial placed the fallen officers in a public space that many Syracuse residents already associate with local pride and remembrance.

For Onondaga County readers, the plea settles one legal question left in the wake of the ambush: whether the firearm seized from the Murphy home was lawfully possessed under state law. The sentence in July will determine the final penalty in Joseph Murphy’s case, even as the killings themselves continue to shape public safety conversations across Syracuse, Salina and the wider county.