Police Rule Death Accidental

A veteran sports reporter for the Delaware News Journal was killed late Friday when he was struck by an airplane propeller at an airport in Richmond (VA).

Correspondent Ed Murphy, 46, of Wyoming (DE), was in Virginia to cover Delaware State University in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament. Virginia State Police ruled the death an accident.

Murphy started working for The News Journal on a part-time basis in 1980 and became a full-time staff reporter in 1997. He covered Delaware State and high school athletics during his career.

Troy Bell, spokesman for Richmond International Airport, said Murphy was a passenger on board the aircraft. It was piloted by News Journal photographer Gary Emeigh of Milford (DE). Bell said that just before midnight Friday, Murphy got out of the Cessna 172, to remove the the wheel chocks prior to taxi.

"At that point, he got in the path of the propeller and suffered the injury," Bell said. Virginia State Trooper Anthony T. Gillis said the plane was about to head back to Delaware at the time of the accident. Bell said Murphy died before airport rescue personnel arrived. He said there has not been a similar propeller accident at Richmond International Airport for at least two years.

Gillis said a report will be filed Monday but that the complete investigation will take about six weeks.

"I Miss Him Already"

Jack Ireland, who has known and worked with Murphy in The News Journal sports department since 1980, said Murphy started in the newspaper's Dover bureau as a part-time news assistant and worked hard to become a full-time reporter.

In addition to his sister, Patty, 47, Murphy is survived by his mother, Josephine Gemberling of Dover, and a brother, Paul Gemberling, 35. Funeral arrangements are pending.

FMI: www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal