According to one of the panellists, who did not want to be named, Murray was a "very distant second" to Edwards who took up her role at Christchurch City Council in June 2014.
The panel member said the group did one face-to-face interview with Murray after Edwards was out of the running.
"The rest of the candidates put forward were very weak and I think this reflected the fact it wasn't a job people wanted," the member said.
"A number of us suggested going back to market as Nigel wasn't right but Bob took over and ran hard with it."
Simcock carried out several video interviews with Murray and recruitment agency Sheffield, the member said.
"On the panel at least half wanted to go back to the market but we were simply thanked for our contribution and told that it was a board decision. The rest is history."
The member said the panel was dismissed and Simcock took the decision to the full board behind closed doors.
Simcock confirmed one candidate withdrew their application before the final round because they had been offered another job but would not say who the candidates were.
"The person who withdrew was never interviewed or seen by the panel or board so I don't know how it can be said they were preferred by the panel," he told the Herald.
Asked whether members of the panel wanted to go back to the market and advertise the position again he said there may have been discussions about it but it "clearly wasn't a collective panel" opinion because they did do so.
"The panel (which included a majority of board members) and board met together and all panel members were given the chance to make any comments to the board they wished and a collective panel recommendation was made to appoint Dr Murray. The board then met separately to make the final decision which is their legal obligation. They accepted the panel's recommendation."
The Herald reported in early December a letter from Simcock to then State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie dated June 8, 2014, seeking permission to pay Murray more than the SSC's remuneration policy allowed for newly appointed chief executives.
"We received 28 formal applications and among those Dr Murray was clearly the standout candidate," Simcock wrote.
Murray resigned in October amid an expenses scandal involving $218,000 of taxpayer money, which is now being investigated by the SSC.
The panel member said they were shocked to learn Sheffield was paid more than $73,000 in fees with disbursements and GST, taking the total amount the company invoiced to $110,000, or about 25 per cent of the value of Murray's salary by Waikato DHB for the recruitment.
They said Sheffield, which began the search in March 2014, supplied "sub-rate questions" to ask the candidates.
"The questions were so low level, like it was an interview for a third-tier manager. To now learn it cost $110,000 is terrible."
Sheffield executive director Ian Taylor said the company was aware of the poor performance of Fraser Health Authority in Canada where Murray resigned as CEO at the time he was hired at Waikato but the information they had about it was not balanced'.
"In the knowledge of that information our reference checks were done to probe those," he said.
He said the company was participating in the State Services Commission investigation into Murray's appointment and spending and he was supportive of that.
Simcock, who resigned on November 28 after the Herald revealed the Serious Fraud Office was making preliminary inquiries into Murray's spending, previously defended the recruitment, saying all of Murray's references checked out.
But Murray, who Simcock was warned off hiring by former Labour MP Sue Moroney and Association of Salaried Medical Specialists director Ian Powell, had a history of high spending.
At Fraser Health Authority in British Columbia, Murray spent $140,000 in 18 months and he spent $128,000 in less than two years while boss of Southland District Health Board in 2006-7.
Edwards declined to comment, saying it was a private matter.
- Additional reporting Amy Wiggins
