Jurors reached a decision in three hours. During a six-week trial, Mr. Murdaugh’s life disintegrated.
Alex Murdaugh, a fourth-generation lawyer whose family dominated small-town courtrooms in parts of South Carolina, was convicted on Thursday of murdering his wife and son, ending the dramatic fall of a man who had substantial wealth and powerful connections but lived a secret life in which he stole millions of dollars from clients and colleagues and lied to many of his closest friends.
Mr. Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife
During a nearly six-week trial, Mr. Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife, Maggie, 52, and their younger son, Paul, 22, on their rural estate in June 2021. The Murdaugh family had run a regional prosecutor’s office in South Carolina’s Lowcountry for more than 80 years and a prominent law practise for much longer, so the terrible murder resonated across the state.
“Today’s decision illustrates that no one, no matter who you are in society, is above the law,” state attorney general Alan Wilson said at a press conference. As prosecutors exhibited a video contradicting his lengthy claim that he had not been there, Mr. Murdaugh claimed from the witness stand that he had left the dog kennels where the crimes happened several minutes before the gunshots. Jurors found him guilty. The important minute-long kennels video captured Mr. Murdaugh’s voice. In his last moments, Paul Murdaugh took it, which helped condemn his father.
Prosecutors said that Mr. Murdaugh killed his kid with a shotgun and then shot his wife with a rifle when she rushed over to see what occurred. Mr. Murdaugh texted and called his wife and visited his sick mother, according to prosecutors.
Source: People.com
Mr. Murdaugh remained mute during the verdicts. Buster Murdaugh, his oldest son, sat in the courtroom with a hand over his lips after testifying about how distressed his father was following the deaths.
Mr. Murdaugh was also convicted of two counts of weapon possession during a violent offence.
Judge Clifton Newman said he will sentence Murdaugh on Friday morning. The minimum term for murder is 30 years, but prosecutors will seek life without parole. Mr. Murdaugh’s lawyer, Dick Harpootlian, said he will appeal the conviction.
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The trial was a reckoning for Mr. Murdaugh, who lived a life of privilege and money while stealing and lying, as he acknowledged to on the witness stand.
He earned millions as a lawyer for his family’s company in addition to the stolen money.
Mr. Murdaugh wanted to become the region’s top prosecutor like his father, grandpa, and great-grandfather, but he only prosecuted a few cases over two decades as a volunteer. Yet, he had blue flashing lights and a prosecutor’s insignia on his car dashboard, which prosecutors said showed he thought he was above the law.
This July, Mr. Murdaugh was disbarred for several financial offences, including stealing $8.8 million. Mr. Murdaugh claimed he used the money to fund an opioid addiction that cost him tens of thousands of dollars a week.
On Thursday, prosecutor John Meadors offered a brief final argument in rebuttal, encouraging jurors not to trust Mr. Murdaugh’s testimony of innocence. The seven-person panel began deliberations about 4 p.m.
The case started with motive. Mr. Murdaugh killed to generate sympathy and conceal his longstanding theft, according to prosecutors.
On Thursday, another of Mr. Murdaugh’s lawyers, Jim Griffin, told jurors that the idea that he would try to avoid financial scrutiny by involving himself in a murder inquiry was implausible.
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