SHAUN MURPHY, accused of the beating death of a Cortez teen last summer, prepares to enter the Montezuma County courthouse for a hearing Wednesday afternoon. Murphy decided to drop his motion to change his plea of guilty to second-degree murder.

Apparently ready to face prison, Shaun Murphy, who admitted to the beating death of Fred Martinez last June but then wanted a jury trial, has withdrawn his motion to change his original plea of guilty of second-degree murder.

Standing handcuffed before District Court Judge Sharon Hansen, Murphy explained that he decided to withdraw the motion in order to "get sentenced early and get it all over with — to get the ball rolling."

Sentencing is scheduled for June 3 at 9 a.m.

In a recent letter to the court, Murphy said he took the second-degree murder plea because he feared losing in trial and receiving a life sentence. A first-degree murder charge was dropped under the agreement.

"I have two kids that I would really like to be a father to and if i get a life sentence then i cant do that," wrote Murphy.

But in the same letter, Murphy stated that "i would have a chance to get a lesser charge if i would take this all the way. . . . Ma’am i didn’t intentionaly or even knowingly allegedly kill this guy I'm being tried for."

Murphy also suggested in the letter that his defense attorney, Pamela Brown, was ineffective. Brown was seeking advice from the court on whether representing Murphy in the motion constituted a conflict of interest. But it was a moot point.

"You want to proceed to sentencing based on your original plea?" Hansen asked Murphy, who responded: "Yes, ma’am."

"Do you understand that you are entitled to have a hearing and one of the things I would have done was asked you specifically what you felt your attorney had done or not done that led to the conflict of interest. You understand now I will not be able to hear that?"

Murphy said he did, and added that he looked forward to more regular visitation hours once he is relocated to the long-term prison after sentencing.

"In prison I will be able to hold my kids, talk to my kids," he said.

Reaction to the reversal was muted.

"For the victims in this case I feel great empathy, and believe the (guilty) plea agreement was just. I’m pleased he did not try and change it," said District Attorney Joe Olt. "We (plea-bargained this case) to save the taxpayers a ton of money and save the community the aggravation of a long trial."

Martinez was a well-liked Cortez teenager with a promising future, teachers and friends said. He was found dead, his body badly beaten, in a canyon south of Cortez June 21, 2001. Murphy reportedly admitted to hitting Martinez in the head with a rock on the night of June 16, but said that when he left Martinez was still alive. He claimed the action was in self-defense.

Speculation that the killing was hate-motivated because Martinez was reportedly gay or transgendered brought national attention to the case. Witnesses told police that Murphy bragged he had just "beat up a fag" on the night of the murder.

John Peters-Campbell of the 4 Corners Gay and Lesbian Alliance for Diversity was pleased but solemn after Wednesday’s hearing.

"Nothing in this case is satisfying," he said. "But a trial outcome can be iffy and could have dragged on. We’re hoping for the maximum sentence."

Murphy faces between four and 48 years in prison. Olt said he would be seeking the maximum amount.

"We are going to go through as much time as we need to present exactly what happened that day," he said. "We want the court to understand fully what happened in this particular matter."