Sumith Prasad
Showtime’s documentary series ‘Catching Lightning’ revolves around “Lightning” Lee Murray, who emerged as one of the hottest MMA prospects in the early 21st century. Lee was a resilient fighter, and his fame rose when rumors that he had knocked out UFC champion Tito Ortiz in a street brawl started to spread. Lee made his UFC debut in 2004, beating Jorge Rivera with a triangle armbar submission. While Lee’s life as a mixed martial arts fighter was on a rise, he stunned the world with his involvement in the Securitas depot robbery, the largest robbery in the United Kingdom at the time.
Lee joined a gang of robbers to kidnap Securitas depot manager Colin Dixon, his wife, Lynn Dixon, and their young son and hold them as hostages along with other Securitas employees at the depot while stealing around £53 million from the place. When Lee’s involvement got confirmed by the authorities, he started to be known as the “mastermind” behind the robbery, a label which was contested by the fighter. While most of his accomplices got arrested, tried, and jailed in the United Kingdom, Lee was in another country seeking safety. However, he couldn’t hide from the authorities for long.
Where is Lee Murray Now?
After the Securitas depot robbery on February 21-22, 2006, Lee Murray escaped to Morocco. When the MMA fighter became a prime suspect, the police officers started to keep an eye on his family members. A few months after the robbery, the police found out that Siobhan, Lee’s wife at the time, was traveling to Spain from London with Stacey, former partner of Paul Allen, another prime suspect in the case. Siobhan and Stacey traveled to Morocco from Spain without being aware of the police officers on their tail, unintentionally leading the authorities to Lee and Paul. In June 2006, a group of British officials collaborated with Moroccan authorities to arrest Lee and Paul in the capital city of Rabat.
Since Lee was a Moroccan, the British authorities couldn’t retrieve him from the North African country. Although they succeeded in getting Paul back, Lee stayed imprisoned in Morocco. The British authorities then requested the prosecution of the fighter in Morocco on behalf of the United Kingdom. In June 2010, Lee was sentenced to ten years in prison for the crime he committed in the United Kingdom. The British officials found Lee’s sentence “too lenient,” and the prosecution appealed the same, asking for an increase in the sentence. As per reports, Lee attempted to escape from prison in 2009 and failed, which further affected his chances of walking away from prison at the end of the original sentence.
In November 2010, a Moroccan court added fifteen years more to Lee’s sentence, making the same twenty-five years in total without any parole or chances of an early release. “And obviously give me a lot longer than what everyone else got in England. Like, why everyone else got 15, you know, I got 25 out here, it’s incredible. Unbelievable. Like, why should I be doing 25 years when everyone’s doing 15,” Lee reacted about his increased sentence, as per ‘Catching Lightning.”
Lee is currently imprisoned in Prison Locale de Tiflet 2, a local prison located in the city of Tiflet, Morocco. Lee and Siobhan got divorced in 2009, while he was in a Moroccan prison. He married Nicola while he was in prison and the two of them have a son named Lorenzo.
Lee Murray is Likely to be Released in 2035
Lee Murray is expected to be released from prison in 2035. If King Mohammed VI of Morocco doesn’t grant him a pardon in the coming years, the fighter is expected to complete around 28 years in prison, considerably more than the years his accomplices did or would spend in jail. Although Lee has to wait for another 12 years to attain freedom, he already has plans for his life ahead. “My plan is to open up my own gym. Depends on obviously when I get out of here [prison]. You know, if I can’t fight then I am obviously going to still be involved in MMA, you know. There’s no way I could live outside and not be involved in MMA,” Lee said about his future, as per ‘Catching Lightning.’
“Fighting’s my life. Fighting’s in my blood If I am not in there fighting myself, I’m going to be taking people in there. One way or another, I need to win that UFC title. My story isn’t finished. This isn’t the end,” Lee further added. Even while Lee is in prison, he is training hard to get back to the ring. Along with reuniting with his family, the fighter dreams of winning the UFC championship after being released from prison.
