Alex Murdaugh found guilty of double murder (screen cap)South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh, 54, was found guilty of double murder Thursday in the shooting deaths of his wife and son. The jury needed less than three hours to deliberate and come to a unanimous decision.
Murdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison without parole when he is sentenced.
From AP News:
Murdaugh’s fate appeared sealed by cellphone video taken by his son, who he called “Little Detective” for his knack for finding bottles of painkillers in his father’s belongings after the lawyer had sworn off the pills.
Testimony culminated in Murdaugh’s appearance on the witness stand, when he admitted stealing millions from clients and lying to investigators about being at the dog kennels where the shootings took place but steadfastly maintained his innocence in the deaths of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.
Prosecutors didn’t have the weapons used to kill the Murdaughs or other direct evidence like confessions or blood spatter.
But they had a mountain of circumstantial evidence, led by a video locked on Paul Murdaugh’s cellphone for more than a year — video shot minutes before the killings that witnesses testified captured the voices of all three Murdaughs.
Maggie Murdaugh, 52, was shot four/five times with a rifle, and Paul Murdaugh, 22, was shot twice with a shotgun on June 7, 2021.
Legal experts expect Murdaugh’s team to appeal based on the judge allowing evidence of the financial crimes to be introduced in this trial.
Following the guilty verdict, Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers attempted to make a motion for a mistrial, which the judge promptly denied, saying:
‘The evidence of guilt is overwhelming. I deny the motion.’ pic.twitter.com/Gy2OKc0TYI
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 3, 2023
BREAKING: After just three hours of deliberations, a jury has found Alex Murdaugh guilty in the murders of his wife and son.
"I've been watching Alex as the verdict has been read and he had virtually no reaction at all," CBS News' @NikkiBattiste reports. https://t.co/tqkfnopsJr pic.twitter.com/SP0BQ5Ma0a
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 3, 2023
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