A jury discovered Alex Murdaugh responsible of killing his spouse and son on Thursday, after just some hours of deliberation.
Murdaugh was a distinguished lawyer who hailed from a historic, well-known South Carolina household with a number of members working within the regulation, however he has fallen from grace lately following allegations that he killed his spouse and son and dedicated monetary crimes towards his purchasers and regulation agency.
The investigation into the deaths of Maggie and Paul Muraugh started nearly two years in the past when Alex Murdaugh known as police on June 7, 2021, telling them that he had discovered them useless after he returned house from visiting his mom.
Officers discovered Maggie, who was 52 years previous, hit with 4 or 5 bullets from a rifle and Paul, who was 22, shot twice by a shotgun. A report on the crime scene indicated that they had been injured close to canine kennels on the household’s rural property, known as Moselle, earlier than being shot within the head.
Murdaugh’s attorneys confirmed he was an individual of curiosity within the investigation by October of that yr, however he was not arrested till one yr after the killings occurred.
Prosecutors argued within the trial that Murdaugh killed his spouse and son to distract from monetary crimes that he dedicated. With out entry to the weapons used within the killings, the proof that the prosecution has centered on has been matters just like the brutality of his spouse and son’s deaths and details about financial institution information.
The protection turned to consultants to scrutinize the best way that investigators dealt with the scene. The consultants testified that they discovered investigators didn’t mud for fingerprints or acquire and check blood.
Household and buddies had been additionally in a position to stroll across the crime scene. The our bodies had been lined by a sheet, which may take up fluid, as a substitute of a tarp and the sheet was not saved. Rain, on some events, fell on Paul’s physique.
However Murdaugh’s credibility concerning the night time the killings occurred was thrown into query after the prosecution proved he lied to police about his whereabouts. A video that Paul took, which was locked in his telephone for a yr earlier than authorities gained entry to it, revealed that Alex was current on the kennels the place his spouse and son had been shot 5 minutes earlier than officers assume it occurred.
Murdaugh informed officers that he was by no means on the kennels, however his voice was on the video that Paul took.
His attorneys made what authorized consultants stated was a dangerous transfer in having Murdaugh himself testify in his personal protection. He adamantly denied to his personal attorneys and to prosecutors throughout cross-examination that he killed his spouse or son or that he would ever damage them.
Murdaugh admitted, although, to stealing hundreds of thousands of {dollars} from purchasers he represented and from his regulation agency.
Following the homicide trial, Murdaugh will stand trial for the monetary crimes he has been accused of, a few of which he has admitted to. He has been charged with about 100 different counts of economic and different crimes.
For one cost of insurance coverage fraud, prosecutors allege that Murdaugh requested somebody to kill him to permit his surviving son, Richard, may obtain $12 million from life insurance coverage. He’s additionally dealing with costs of tax evasion and cash laundering.
Jurors had been taken to the scene of the crime Wednesday following the tip of Murdaugh’s testimony, earlier than closing arguments occurred.
Up to date at 7:50 p.m.
Julia Shapero contributed to this text.
