Outside his paramilitary career, little is known about him, although Martin Dillon, author of a book on the "Shankill Butchers", wrote that John and William acted as muscle for their younger brother when the latter was engaged in petty crime at school.
[2] According to Dillon, John Murphy was party to the murder of rival loyalist Noel "Nogi" Shaw on 30 November 1975.
After being shot in a loyalist drinking-den, Shaw's body was thrown into a laundry basket and dumped in an alleyway.
A suspended sentence was imposed on William Murphy (the elder) for possession of ammunition uncovered during a search of the family home in Battenberg Street.
[citation needed] John Murphy died on 10 August 1998 in a car crash at the junction of the Grosvenor Road and the Westlink in Belfast.