(Seguin) — Guadalupe County is recognizing a longtime lawman for his years of serving and protecting area families.
With the help of Guadalupe County Sheriff Arnold Zwicke, Guadalupe County Commissioners officially celebrated the retirement of Sgt. Robert Murphy. Murphy who began his career at the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office on April 18, 1994, was honored for his contributions throughout the last 28 years.
Publicly thanking him was Zwicke who remembers first meeting Murphy during the police academy. He says it wasn’t too much later that the two were again reunited under the leadership of former Sheriff Melvin Harborth.
“When I look back at Robert’s career, I thought about a couple of situations that could have easily ended his career. A Sunday night on Adams Bluff where he and I went to a call for a disturbance, we were met at the door with a man with a 30-30. I thought we bought the farm that night and then in April of 97 where Robert was involved in a shootout with a guy with an assault rifle. Thankfully, the good Lord wasn’t ready for you Robert. Robert I also thought about the night that you left the city limits of Marion to respond as my only backup for a double homicide on Old Marion Road. Do you remember we arrived just minutes after the call and they told us the shooter was still inside the house? As we slowly cleared the house, the air conditioner came on causing a door to slam in the hallway. Luckily the shooter had already left and I’m pretty sure that was one of them nights that we had to go home and change our underwear because I know I did,” said Zwicke. “Robert you dealt with it all. Go and enjoy your life knowing that you made a difference in the people’s lives and a difference in Guadalupe County.”
Zwicke says over the years, Murphy worked various positions within the sheriff’s office. For the last several years, he served as a sergeant in the cold case unit. He says although his focus was on one department, he knew he could always count on Murphy’s assistance no matter where the job took him.
“I thought back through the last 28 years that we worked together. Robert wrote many search warrants, arrest warrants not only for his cases but helping others. He oversaw most of the investigations in the jail were officers and inmates were assaulted and he assisted fellow officers from all over the United States. During Robert’s career, he witnessed many senseless acts of violence, many homicides, sexual assaults – you name it – dealing with many grieving families giving them a sense of closure who are dealing with the loss of a loved one. Robert also shared the good side of cases that had pleasant outcomes. Robert’s job was simply to seek the truth in each case he worked,” said Zwicke.
During the public recognition at a recent commissioner’s court meeting, Murphy thanked both Harborth and Zwicke for the opportunity to not only serve the residents but to serve them well.
“You can tell a lot about a sheriff’s office by the people that work there, and I can say that I have been blessed to have worked with two of the finest sheriffs in the state of Texas and the finest deputies, detention officers, dispatchers, and admin staff that anybody could ever hope for. I’d put our sheriff’s office up against anybody in the state of Texas and I think we’d come up on top. I’ve also been blessed to work with some of the finest prosecutors, some of the finest people in the clerk’s office, road and bridge and any other county employees. It has made this job good and when I started many many years ago, Sheriff Harborth, he said, ‘as long as you do the right thing, everything is going to be okay’ and Sheriff Zwicke said the same thing to me. Just do the right thing and I like to think that our sheriff’s office, we do the right thing. We really care about the citizens of this county, and I couldn’t have made it without my wife and my children because my wife has been my rock throughout all the good times and the really bad times. So, thank you,” said Murphy.
Joining Murphy at the retirement and plaque presentation were his wife Lupe and their two daughters, Sarah and Victoria.