Thomas Francis Murphy

Born on December 3, 1905, in Manhattan, New York City, New York, Murphy's grandfather was a police officer and his father chief clerk of the city's Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity. Murphy attended Regis High School and then received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1927 from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Laws in 1930 from Fordham University School of Law. He entered private practice of law until 1942. From 1942 to 1950, Murphy served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He became head of the criminal division in 1944 and from 1949 to 1950 served as prosecutor in the two perjury trials of Alger Hiss, winning a conviction in the second after the first ended in a hung jury. Murphy served briefly as New York City Police Commissioner from September 1950 to June 1951. At the time of his appointment, the New York Times described him as "a reader of Proust as a change from law books" and said that members of all political parties greeted his appointment with such unanimity as to suggest that he was "certain of continued tenure if he does the job expected of him". After he resigned to become a federal judge, New York City Mayor Vincent Impellitteri said Murphy had laid the groundwork for ridding the department of corruption: "He had restored the self respect of police officers who had suffered through the greed of their corrupt comrades."