Murphy is part of the reason scrutiny of the fire remains intense. Other tragedies this year - the deaths of 21 people in a nightclub stampede and 13 people in a porch collapse - never attracted such an ardent champion of reform.
A public official who represents the interests of children and the elderly in court, Murphy has built his reputation as an outsider willing to challenge anyone in government.
He blames ``the Chicago way'' for the October fire deaths. He said ``clout killed those people'' in the days after the fire, and he hasn't backed down.
He maintains that the power of politically connected building owners and managers has kept the city from requiring them to make their buildings safe.
``This building was a death trap,'' said Murphy, 64.
The building had no sprinkler system above the ground floor and its stairwell doors locked automatically when closed. All six victims were found in a smoky stairwell, unable to get below the 12th floor where the fire raged, and unable to get back into a hallway.
Murphy insists that none of the probes sought by politicians can be independent because everyone appointing investigators has taken campaign money from Elzie Higginbottom, whose company is part of the management of the county building.
Higginbottom and his company have donated more than $300,000 over the past decade to politicians, including Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine, county board President John Stroger and Mayor Richard Daley.
Those politicians have shied away from responding directly, but they insist their investigations will be thorough and independent.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich hired James Lee Witt, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to conduct an investigation for $1 million.
Blagojevich first said he would not get involved, then said he would name someone to investigate if a panel picked by the county was ineffective. He then said the panel - which had not yet been named - lacked expertise.
Later that day, Stroger appointed a five-person panel led by Abner Mikva, a former federal judge and congressman.
Murphy contends that when the county bought and renovated the building in 1996, it should have added a sprinkler system and an override on the stairwell doors that would automatically unlock them in an emergency.
A ``grandfather'' clause in the city's fire code allows high-rises built before 1975 to operate without sprinkler systems or lock overrides, and the county building was built in the 1960s.
The lack of safety features is likely to play a major role in several lawsuits that have been filed by survivors and the families of victims.
``Sometimes you go to a scene of a disaster and you realize, 'My God, nobody could survive this.' This one is not like that,'' said Daniel Kotin, whose law firm represents two of the survivors.
Alderman Bernard Stone said Thursday he expected to change the city code to require the lock overrides on all buildings.
