Murdock facing robbery charges

By Alexandria Randolph

Sonja Rai Murdock, known locally for kidnapping her daughter without rights to custody, has been returned to Burnet County authorities and will face adjudication on robbery charges.

Murdock was transferred back to Burnet County custody on Thursday, March 3, following her arrest in Virginia in February. The 28 year-old woman was on the lam for a little over five months after kidnapping her eight-year-old daughter from the girl's guardian, a grandmother living in Horseshoe Bay, on Aug. 18.

Murdock was arrested in Albemarle County, Virginia, by sheriff's deputies on Jan. 8 with the help of Horseshoe Bay Police Department investigators.

Murdock was booked into the Burnet County Jail on March 3 with a residential address in Charlotesville, Virginia. A mug shot on the Burnet County Jail database shows that Murdock had changed her appearance; her hair, previously reported by jail records as “sandy blonde” was cut short and colored black.

District Attorney's Office officials said Murdock was apprehended in Virginia and once returned to Burnet County, will face charges of robbery and bail jumping. She was first charged with aggravated robbery in February 2013 after Marble Falls Police Department officers said she hid in the bathroom of Chili's restaurant until closing, at which time they said she emerged and attacked a pregnant manager while trying to escape with cash. She pled guilty to the charge of robbery, a second-degree felony, in August 2014. Court deferred her adjudication for 10 years, but moved to adjudicate when she broke probation and fled last August.  

For more, see The Highlander on Friday, March 11.