A Missouri family’s vacation in Aspen was shattered late Friday afternoon when a boulder crashed through the windshield of their SUV, killing the husband and father of three young boys.
Thomas Murphy, 45, of Kansas City, Mo., was fatally injured at the wheel of the family’s Chevrolet Tahoe when a rock the size of a small suitcase tumbled down the embankment onto the car.
His wife, Jennifer, in the front passenger seat, was not injured. Their 11-year-old boy was injured when the rock tumbled to the rear of the car. Two other boys, ages 8 and 4, were not injured.
Murphy was senior vice president for marketing at Sprint Communications. According to Jeff Bedwell, a friend, Murphy and his family had just finished their vacation in Aspen and were packed in the car heading back home when the accident occurred.
The car was headed west on Colorado 82 near Snowmass Creek Road, about four miles southeast of Basalt, when the rock fell.
According to the state patrol, Murphy was unconscious, slumped over the wheel. Jennifer Murphy, unable to reach the brake pedal, shifted the car into neutral and steered while it coasted to a stop, nearly a mile from where the boulder fell.
Emergency responders took the family to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs, where Murphy was pronounced dead.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
