Prosecutors seek life without parole for Warren murder suspect

Owen Morris pleads not guilty at arraignment in Rhode Island Superior Court Wednesday

By Ted Hayes
Posted 8/1/18

Prosecutors are seeking life without the possibility of parole for Warren resident Owen Morris, 21, who is accused of brutally murdering his former chiropractor nearly seven months ago.

Mr. …

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Prosecutors seek life without parole for Warren murder suspect

Owen Morris pleads not guilty at arraignment in Rhode Island Superior Court Wednesday

Posted

Prosecutors are seeking life without the possibility of parole for Warren resident Owen Morris, 21, who is accused of brutally murdering his former chiropractor nearly seven months ago.

Mr. Morris, who turns 22 next week, was arraigned Wednesday morning, Aug. 1, in Rhode Island Super Court in Providence. Appearing before Magistrate Luis Matos, Mr. Morris pleaded not guilty to the crime and was ordered held without bail pending a pre-trial conference in October.

Mr. Morris’s court appearance lasted less than five minutes. Bound in ankle and hand cuffs and wearing a blazer, khakis and oxford shirt, he appeared sullen as he entered the courtroom shortly before 10 a.m. His parents, Spencer Morris and Allison Newsome, watched the proceedings from the first row of seats. The plea was entered on his behalf by his attorneys, including Jason Knight of Barrington.

Mr. Morris has been held without bail at the ACI in Cranston since his arrest about two weeks after the crime. He is accused of stabbing his former chiropractor, Dr. Clive Bridgham, to death in his East Providence home on Wednesday, Jan. 10. Prior to Dr. Bridgham’s death, the two had an at times contentious relationship, with Mr. Morris once accusing the doctor in an official complaint to the state of inappropriate professional conduct.

Mr. Morris, whose family owns homes in Warren and on Prudence Island, Portsmouth, is a former lacrosse player at the University of Rhode Island. It is through his athletic endeavors that he first started working with Dr. Bridgham, a noted sports physician who once operated the Barrington Chiropractic and Sports Medicine Clinic in Barrington. However, the relationship had became strained in recent years. Mr. Morris filed a complaint against Dr. Bridgham with the Rhode Island Department of Health in 2016, alleging that the doctor “violated the professional boundaries of the chiropractic physician-patient relationship” during the course of their acquaintance. It was not the first time Dr. Bridgham had been involved in such conduct. In April 2003, he was placed on three years of probation by the Department of Health after admitting to a sexual encounter with someone who was described as a “sibling” of a family he was treating.

As a result of Mr. Morris's complaint, Dr. Bridgham voluntarily surrendered his license in November 2017.

Apart from saying the two “knew each other personally and professionally,” authorities have not commented further on the relationship between Mr. Morris and Dr. Bridgham. However, East Providence police, who conducted the initial investigation after finding the doctor’s body on Thursday, Jan. 11, believe Mr. Morris planned the murder in advance. That was borne out by the grand jury, which handed down its indictment on first degree murder charge on Wednesday, July 11.

“This was 100 percent directed. This was not random, this was not a chance thing. This was without question a direct attack,” East Providence Police Chief Christopher Parella said shortly after Mr. Morris’s arrest.

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