On a summer evening in Tucson, Arizona, the lives of several people were irrevocably changed in a burst of violence. It was August 10, 1979, at the Ranch House Bar, a known hangout for bikers, when a confrontation escalated into a deadly shooting. When the chaos subsided, two men were dead and another was wounded. One of the deceased was Barry Collins, a 28-year-old male from North Carolina.
The incident began with a dispute between a biker named Jasper Newton McMurtrey and three other
men inside the bar. According to McMurtrey's account, the confrontation took a dangerous turn when one of the men allegedly pointed a gun at him. In response, McMurtrey opened fire, his actions leaving a bloody scene in his wake. Barry Collins and another man, Albert Hughes Jr., a resident of Tucson, were fatally shot. A third individual was also wounded in the shooting.
Following the deadly encounter, law enforcement swiftly moved in, and Jasper Newton McMurtrey was arrested. He was subsequently charged with the murders of both Barry Collins and Albert Hughes, as well as for the assault on the third man who had been injured. The legal process moved forward, and in 1981, McMurtrey was convicted of the charges brought against him and sentenced to death for his role in the tragic events at the Ranch House Bar.
The case, however, did not end there. Years later, in 2003, McMurtrey's conviction was overturned. The reversal was based on significant concerns regarding his mental competency at the time of his original trial and questions about the effectiveness of his legal representation. This development led to a new legal chapter in the case. Rather than face a new trial, McMurtrey entered into a plea agreement. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter. This plea resulted in a new sentence of 21 years in prison. After serving approximately five years of this new sentence, Jasper Newton McMurtrey was released from prison on June 30, 2009.
