Brodey Murbarger’s dad is Jayson Murbarger, an Illinois State Trooper based in the Fairfield area who testified for his son’s defense at the October 2022 murder trial and whose own wife had died in a hypothermia case less than seven months before Megan Nichols disappeared.114 News. State Trooper’s Wife Dies After Stranded in Floodwaters His testimony was narrow but central to the defense’s theory of the blood evidence, and his family had already been through a widely reported tragedy before his son was ever charged.
Who Jayson Murbarger Is
Jayson Murbarger served as an Illinois State Trooper working in and around Fairfield, the small southern Illinois community where his son Brodey grew up.114 News. State Trooper’s Wife Dies After Stranded in Floodwaters His law enforcement career shows up in the public record beyond the Nichols case as well, including an Illinois appellate decision involving a 2001 traffic stop he conducted.2FindLaw. People v. Grove
The Murbarger family has deep roots in the area. An obituary for Jayson’s mother, Barbara Jean Lister, lists him as a Fairfield resident and names Brodey among her grandchildren.3Dignity Memorial. Barbara Lister Obituary
Testimony at Brodey Murbarger’s Trial
The defense at Brodey’s 2022 first-degree murder trial in Wayne County Circuit Court called only two witnesses: Brodey himself and his father. Jayson Murbarger took the stand to speak to a specific piece of physical evidence — the condition of the 2009 Dodge Avenger his son had been driving in July 2014, the month Megan Nichols vanished.
Jayson told the jury that the trunk of that Dodge Avenger “often leaked water.” He also said he was “unaware of any other fluids that may be in the trunk.”4WRUL. Jury Handed Murbarger Murder Case Brief as it was, that testimony was the factual peg the defense needed for its innocent explanation of the blood in the trunk.
Why the Leaking Trunk Mattered
The state’s forensic case relied heavily on the car. Illinois State Police field tests on a dark spot in the trunk had originally come back negative, but FBI DNA testing later confirmed the stain in the trunk liner contained Megan Nichols’ blood, and luminol testing revealed additional traces of blood beneath the trunk lining.5Oxygen. Brodey Murbarger Killed Megan Nichols After Plan to Run Away
When Brodey testified in his own defense, he offered the jury an alternative story. He said that months before Megan disappeared, her blood ended up on a T-shirt he was wearing during a sexual encounter with her. He said he placed the soiled shirt over the trunk’s locking mechanism while changing clothes, and that the leak his father had described could have carried blood from the shirt deeper into the trunk lining. He claimed he later threw the shirt in a ditch.614 News. Ill. Murder Suspect Takes Stand Day 8 of Trial
Jayson’s testimony about the leak was what allowed that story to be told as more than pure assertion by the defendant. The broader defense argument, made in closing, was that the state’s case was built on “speculation and circumstantial” evidence and that Brodey had no motive to kill Megan.4WRUL. Jury Handed Murbarger Murder Case
The jury did not accept it. After roughly two hours of deliberation, they convicted Brodey on all three counts of first-degree murder.5Oxygen. Brodey Murbarger Killed Megan Nichols After Plan to Run Away
The Death of Jennifer Murbarger
The family had already lived through a public tragedy before Brodey was ever a suspect. Jayson’s wife, Jennifer Murbarger, died on December 27, 2013. She was 42.
Jennifer drove her vehicle into the backwaters of the Little Wabash River in rural Jasper Township. Her car was found abandoned, and search crews using a state police airplane located her beneath ice near the vehicle. She was transported to Fairfield Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead there. The Wayne County Coroner ruled the cause of death hypothermia.114 News. State Trooper’s Wife Dies After Stranded in Floodwaters
Jennifer’s death came less than seven months before Megan Nichols disappeared from Fairfield on July 3, 2014. Brodey was 18 that summer. Jennifer’s earlier death is also noted in the obituary of Brodey’s paternal grandmother, Barbara Jean Lister, which lists Jennifer as having preceded Barbara in death.3Dignity Memorial. Barbara Lister Obituary
What the Record Doesn’t Say
Jennifer’s death was ruled hypothermia, and the file contains no suggestion that her death was treated as suspicious or connected in any way to the Nichols case. Public reporting on the murder case also does not indicate that Jayson Murbarger faced any professional discipline in connection with his son’s crime or his testimony. Where the record is silent on those points, this article is silent too.
After the Verdict
On January 27, 2023, Wayne County Circuit Judge Michael Molt sentenced Brodey Murbarger to 50 years in prison with three years of mandatory supervised release. The judge had entered three concurrent 50-year sentences, one for each murder count, but noted that Illinois law “does not allow more than one 50-year sentence with one death, regardless of the three counts.”7FindLaw. People v. Murbarger, No. 5-23-0430
At sentencing, Brodey’s counsel argued for a lesser term, citing mitigating factors that included his lack of criminal history, his age of 18 at the time of the offense, his academic record — he had graduated high school, junior college, and college — and his work mentoring students. Prosecutors responded that his academic record undercut any suggestion of an underdeveloped brain, pointing out he had been an A.P. honors student who went on to publish articles and serve as a college instructor.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, whose office prosecuted the case after a referral from the Wayne County State’s Attorney, said in a statement: “When Megan Nichols disappeared in 2014, the lives of her family and friends changed forever. Throughout this case, my office has been committed to obtaining justice for Megan and for her loved ones.”8Illinois Attorney General. Attorney General Raoul’s Office Obtains 50-Year Prison Sentence in Wayne County Murder Case
In April 2026, the Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District, affirmed Brodey’s conviction and 50-year sentence. The court vacated two of the three murder convictions under the “one-act, one-crime” rule because there was one victim and one act, leaving the conviction for murder by means unknown intact. The change had no practical effect on his time in prison.9WFIWAM Radio. Appeals Court Upholds Brodey Murbarger’s Conviction and 50-Year Sentence in Megan Nichols Murder Case Brodey is incarcerated at Menard State Penitentiary in southern Illinois and is not eligible for parole until October 7, 2070, though under Illinois law he may seek parole review after serving 20 years of his sentence because he was 18 at the time of the offense.