Husband's murder shocks Morocco woman

[Henia 11]

SALE, Morocco — Zahra Toural was shocked by the shooting death of her husband in the United States. But the Moroccan woman was just as alarmed when her American friend — who was also married to the victim — was charged in his killing.

Jereleigh Morton was killed last week while sleeping at his home outside Philadelphia. His first wife, Myra Morton, turned herself in Thursday to face murder charges.

"We did everything together, and she was a sister and a friend," Toural, 36, dressed in traditional mourning garb of a white gown and headscarf, told The Associated Press in an interview in her home Tuesday. "She said she was happy here."

The killing happened hours before Jereleigh Morton was to travel to Morocco to try to visit Toural, whom he met on the Internet last year and married in March.

The death rocked the Mortons' Pennsylvania community and its repercussions reached across the Atlantic to this neighborhood on the outskirts of Sale, near Rabat, the Moroccan capital.

Toural said that for Myra Morton, the neighborhood became a second home. "She said she loved Morocco and the whole family loved her. She brought us gifts and helped me improve my English," Toural said.

Myra Morton had reluctantly agreed to the second marriage and even traveled to Morocco to sanction it under Islamic law, authorities have said.

But according to friends and family, Myra Morton, 47, was against her husband's decision to take a second wife after Myra lost the ability to have children.

Islam allows men to marry more than one woman provided they secure the approval of their other wives. Prosecutors have said they aren't sure whether Pennsylvania's polygamy ban would apply to a marriage in a foreign country.

Montgomery County prosecutors charged Myra Morton with first-degree murder and related counts. They suggested that jealousy and control of the Mortons' assets, valued at more than $6 million, were possible motives for the killing.

At least some of Jereleigh Morton's estate may go to Toural if Pennsylvania courts choose to recognize her marriage in Morocco to Morton, her lawyer, Patrick Artur, said Tuesday from Philadelphia.

The Mortons, who came from North Philadelphia, converted to Islam over 20 years ago. They lived in a small Philadelphia row house until a medical malpractice settlement over their teenage daughter's death netted them a reported $8 million in 2005.

Toural said she and Myra Morton became instant friends when the Mortons first visited Morocco last February.

"Jereleigh said from the beginning that he wanted to have children, and Myra didn't have any problem with him taking a second wife," Toural said.

Morton bought a large house for the trio to use in Casablanca, Morocco's commercial capital.

Montgomery County authorities said in an affidavit that Myra Morton had complained to friends and family about Toural.

In April, Myra Morton sent a letter to immigration authorities that ended up at the U.S. State Department.

In it, she wrote that her husband was trying to bring Toural over on a tourist visa. She also urged the government to keep Toural out of the U.S., going so far as to accuse the other woman of having connections to terrorists.

"How could she do that?" Toural said. "I'm not a terrorist. I'm a good person. I took care of her."

Toural said she finds it equally hard to accept that she is a widow.

"I'm still in shock. I still ask myself if (Jereleigh) is really gone."

[MHandMB 0]

Wow, that's such a sad story. I feel bad for everyone involved. But why on earth would she have agreed to the second marriage if it was obviously bothering her so much?

[allousa 1]

Hicham and his family live in Sale. I'll have to ask him if he's heard about this.

[peezey 0]

UMMM, I really doubt the 1st wife considered the 2nd wife like a sister, considering she didn't want the 2nd marriage so much she shot the man.

[Nasturtium 500]

Wow, that's such a sad story. I feel bad for everyone involved. But why on earth would she have agreed to the second marriage if it was obviously bothering her so much?

I think sometimes some women think maybe they can make it work.. they really don;t want to leave him and think they can just hold on.. only the reality of the situation hits them, they realize it feels like cheating or they cannot get over it somehow, and they just fall apart and the marriage is over. I know it works for some people, but for many it feels like cheating and it's hard to get over feelings of betrayl and whatnot.

[browneyez40 0]

UMMM, I really doubt the 1st wife considered the 2nd wife like a sister, considering she didn't want the 2nd marriage so much she shot the man.

I agree. This is the first I've read of the Moroccan woman speaking out... in other articles the wife doesn't echo those sentiments.

This is a really big deal in the Philadelphia area. Really shocking.

[allousa 1]

Hicham and I discussed the whole taking another wife idea...he said "Good God, NO! You're already a handful...I couldn't take another!!!!"

[browneyez40 0]

Another article-

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_top/2...co_slaying.html

Wife to be charged in Montco slaying

Myra Morton will turn herself in, sources said.

By Jeff Shields and Emilie Lounsberry

Inquirer Staff Writers

NBC10

Jereleigh Morton , 47,was killed inhis bed Sunday.

RELATED STORIES

Update: Wife of slain millionaire charged with first-degree murder

One of two women married to Montgomery County millionaire Jereleigh Morton, who was shot dead in his bed Sunday, is scheduled to be charged today in the case, her defense attorney confirmed last night.

Myra Morton, 47, who had told police that her husband was killed by an intruder, will surrender to authorities at 9 a.m., two sources close to the case have told The Inquirer. They would speak only on condition of anonymity pending the arrest.

"There's no doubt she's going to be arrested," one of the sources said yesterday. "It's a fait accompli."

Morton's attorney, Center City lawyer Brian J. McMonagle, said the report of her surrender was correct.

"She just lost her husband and is about to lose her liberty," McMonagle said. "She is experiencing extreme grief and heartache at this very delicate time in her life. . . . She's pretty much devastated."

Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman declined to comment.

Jereleigh Morton, 47, was killed hours before he was scheduled to board a flight for Morocco, the home of his second wife, whom he married under Islamic law in March, according to court documents.

A search warrant affidavit filed Monday said that investigators found no evidence of forced entry at the Mortons' Whitpain Township home, and that two shells fitting Jereleigh Morton's own Glock .40-caliber handgun were in the bedroom. The family moved to the house near Ambler in 2005 after receiving $8 million in a medical malpractice settlement that resulted from the death of their teenage daughter.

Myra Morton told detectives she consented to her husband's second marriage because doing so was required under their religion. A written note expressed unhappiness and anger about the relationship.

Only a small minority of Muslims practice polygamy.

"I go give him the permission because he argues with me when I protest this marriage," read the handwritten note, found by detectives at the Morton home. "I run all over her country trying to get the papers together. He treats me different now while we're there. His whole world is her. He brings me home sick and returned to her to finish marriage papers."

The warrant also says investigators were seeking DNA samples from Myra Morton to compare to evidence found on her husband's gun and at the scene.

McMonagle said he did not know what evidence, if any, linked Myra Morton to the killing. "I'm really looking forward to examining what it was that led them to the conclusion that it was necessary to arrest her, as opposed to anyone else in the world."

The Mortons were married at least 20 years, and McMonagle described Myra Morton as a "caring, devoted, loving wife and mother." He said Jereleigh Morton had been "extremely well thought of."

One of the sources said authorities had found Jereleigh Morton's other wife near Casablanca, Morocco's largest city. Her name was not available.

Investigators made contact with the woman, the source said, but she has not been asked to travel to the United States at this time. "Everything we've been told [about the marriage] has been confirmed," the source said.

Prosecutors had asked the U.S. Department of State to help find Morton's second wife, though it was unclear how she was found. Messages left at the U.S. consulate in Casablanca and the Moroccan consulate in New York were not returned yesterday.

Myra Morton and her adult daughter - who lived in the house on West Mount Pleasant Avenue with her husband and their child - were the beneficiaries of Jereleigh Morton's will, according to authorities. Jereleigh and Myra Morton were worth $6 million, she told detectives, according to the affidavit.

The Mortons received $8 million of the $14 million settlement in 2005 in connection with the death of their daughter Aatifa. The lawsuit said she died after suffering from Crohn's disease that had been misdiagnosed as ulcerative colitis.

Nicknamed T.T., Aatifa became ill at age 13 in 1999. She suffered from fever, pain, and a sepsis infection and died on May 31, 2001.

Crohn's is a chronic inflammation of the digestive tract. Symptoms and their severity vary but can include bleeding, weight loss and skin problems. It is believed to be caused by a faulty immune system.

After the settlement, the family moved from a small rowhouse on West Allegheny Avenue in North Philadelphia into the modern, $1 million house in Whitpain.

Morton, known as Jerry, went from handyman to real estate investor who rehabilitated houses and owned a karate school in Germantown and an electrical supply company, a cousin said.

He was a member of the Germantown Masjid on Germantown Avenue near Stenton Avenue in Philadelphia, according to members interviewed at the mosque yesterday.

[Henia 11]

UMMM, I really doubt the 1st wife considered the 2nd wife like a sister, considering she didn't want the 2nd marriage so much she shot the man.

Ye, I am thinking the same.

Look the series Big Love ... the first wife even thou she agreed to the marriage, she is oblvious not wanting the plural marriage now.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Very VERY few women can find lasting happiness with such a situation. Even in some MENA countries where polygyny is legal, (and where some women have little recourse to get out of such a marriage) -- very VERY few are happy with it, and many are quite miserable.

[Henia 11]

Very VERY few women can find lasting happiness with such a situation. Even in some MENA countries where polygyny is legal, (and where some women have little recourse to get out of such a marriage) -- very VERY few are happy with it, and many are quite miserable.

I would have to agree on this. And *my opinion* is that the few that are only in for the maintenance... not really the I love you type of marriage.

[mybackpages 0]

There was a story about this a couple days back that mentioned the Moroccan wife was discovered after she posted a message on the local news forum board, thather husband had not arrived in Casa. The article also stated that the husband's desire togo to Morocco to have a child with the Moroccan wife may have been the breaking point for the american wife.

[browneyez40 0]

There was a story about this a couple days back that mentioned the Moroccan wife was discovered after she posted a message on the local news forum board, thather husband had not arrived in Casa. The article also stated that the husband's desire togo to Morocco to have a child with the Moroccan wife may have been the breaking point for the american wife.

Yeah it was on NBC 10. This was how I first heard of the story. Her complete posting is here-

http://www.nbc10.com/news/13857698/detail.html

[Utha 10]

Most of Moslem men take poligamy just for sexual intention, not to raise's one's honour as a widow who lost her husband in religious battles like Prophet Muhammad did. I am not surprise if there is non Moslem who insult us since even Moslem itself doesn't practise the correct Syariah. They are so picky, they only grab the Syariah which is fit and suitable with their sexual desire.

[RAKASA 0]

wow... this has been dredged up from the abyss of old MENA posts. Someone had a little time on their hands.