In a six-week televised trial in which the defendant suddenly took the stand to argue his innocence, Richard “Alex” Murdaugh was convicted guilty of the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.
After three hours of deliberation, the jury returned with the verdict. Murdaugh was convicted on two counts of murder and two weapons offenses. Murdaugh swayed slightly as the verdicts were read, then looked to his son Buster and nodded as he was shackled by sheriff’s deputies.
“He may be taken away,” Clifton Newman, the judge, remarked as Murdaugh was escorted out. He’ll be back in court on Friday for sentencing. For each of the murder convictions, Newman has the option of imposing a sentence ranging from 30 years to life in prison without the possibility of release.
Even though one of Murdaugh’s brothers, John Marvin, testified on his elder brother’s behalf, neither sibling appeared in court. Murdaugh’s attorneys promptly requested a mistrial, which Newman denied.
“The circumstantial evidence, direct evidence, all of the evidence, only pointed to one conclusion – the conclusion that you all reached,” he said before dismissing the jury.
Murdaugh had been in prison in South Carolina since October 2021
Murdaugh, 54, had been imprisoned in South Carolina since October 2021 on felony fraud charges stemming from a deal concerning the death of a housekeeper.
Over 75 witnesses were called throughout the murder trial. Authorities claim Murdaugh shot and killed his family members to divert attention away from his financial misdeeds.
Murdaugh maintained on the witness stand that he would never intentionally harm Maggie or Paul, yet he never specifically denied killing them outside of a not-guilty plea.
The case, which was the subject of a recent Netflix documentary, has provided an opportunity to investigate power and corruption in South Carolina’s low country, where the Murdaughs created deep roots of influence as moonshiners during Prohibition.
Mistakes by detectives at the crime scene
Mistakes by detectives at the crime scene, as well as subsequent evidence mishandling, looked to jeopardize a conviction at times. Defense attorneys highlighted numerous concerns that they considered caused reasonable doubt.
But, as prosecutors worked to weaken Murdaugh’s position that unknown assailants were responsible, a not guilty judgment began to appear unlikely to most observers.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said outside the court that he hoped the verdict would restore faith in the justice system. He emphasized that many people had doubts about Murdaugh’s ability to be held accountable.
“No one, but no one, is above the law,” he said. “Our justice system gave voice to Maggie and Paul who were brutally mowed down by someone they loved and trusted.”
The decision did not answer questions about at least two additional fatalities linked to Alex Murdaugh, the disbarred lawyer whose family had ruled over this swampy low land for over a century.
Dating back three generations, the Murdaughs wielded significant clout in the judiciary, as state attorneys general, and through a prominent law firm that brought lucrative civil-award malpractice lawsuits that firms would rather settle than allow go to trial. Murdaugh country” was the five-county district surrounding the family’s seat in Hampton.
Murdaugh said he was visiting his mother and had not been at the dog kennels at the time prosecutors estimated the murders occurred – around 8.50 p.m. He admitted on the witness stand that he had visited the kennels based on cellphone evidence. Yet, he claimed to have driven a golf cart back to the main home, 500 yards distant, before the shootings.
Prosecutors alleged Murdaugh left the estate shortly afterward to see his mother in attempt to create an alibi
Prosecutors claimed Murdaugh left the estate shortly after to see his mother construct an alibi. However, investigators never investigated his mother’s home, giving the defendant time, some believed, to recover and dispose of the murder weapons and clothing, which were expected to be highly contaminated with blood evidence.
Many topics remain unsettled in the case. State authorities in South Carolina are still looking into two fatalities that occurred before Maggie and Paul’s murders: housekeeper Gloria Satterfield in 2018 and Stephen Smith three years earlier.
When the murder case was presented to jurors, they heard graphic testimony regarding the crime scene and whether one assailant could have committed both crimes based on the estimated angles of the deadly shots. The jury also went to the crime scene.
Maggie Murdaugh, 52, was slain by five hunting rifle rounds, while Paul Murdaugh was killed by two shotgun blasts. Both perished in an instant.
Yet, when police arrived on the site after Murdaugh dialed 911 at 10.07 p.m. that night, they did not notify the community that a gunman or shooters were on the loose. Murder charges were eventually filed after state investigators were called in and Murdaugh admitted to embezzling.