Muslim Wife Accused in Bigamist Husband's Death

(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) In August 2007, a 47-year-old Muslim woman, Myra Morton, reported to police that an intruder broke into her home and shot her husband of 27 years.

Jereleigh Morton, 47, died immediately.

Investigators, however, could find no evidence to support the break-in story. Furthermore, Jereleigh Morton was shot twice in the head with his own weapon which was not easily accessible, authorities said. Suspicions arose.

"Myra Morton's description of events is thoroughly inconsistent with the physical evidence found at the scene," authorities wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.

As a consequence, Myra Morton was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder and related counts.

The motive for the killing is unclear, however, it's noteworthy that Jereleigh "Sadik" Morton died only hours before he was planning to travel to Morocco to impregnate a woman, Zahra Toural, 35, he met on the Internet and married in March 2007.

Prosecutors did say that Myra Morton was distressed at the thought of sharing the family's wealth with another woman. Millions were collected by the Mortons in 2001 in a medical malpractice settlement.

Notably, both Mortons are originally from Philadelphia and converted to Islam about 20 years ago.

At a pretrial conference last Friday, Myra Morton's attorneys expressed interest in resolving the case without a trial. Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Steven Latzer indicated that his office would be receptive to a plea agreement, provided Morton pleads guilty.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.