Somto Bisina
South Carolina lawyer, Alex Murdaugh, has been found guilty of murdering his wife and son to distract him from his multi-million dollar financial crimes.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours before convicting Alex Murdaugh, 54, of two counts of murder at the end of a six-week trial. He faces 30 years to life in prison without parole for each murder charge.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe verdict concludes a six-week long trial that examined where Murdaugh was on June 7, 2021—the night that Maggie and Paul were shot and killed at the family’s hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina.
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The pair died near the lodge’s dog kennels as a result of multiple gunshot wounds, a State Law Enforcement Division press release said at the time. Murdaugh was the one who called 9-1-1 and reported the deaths.
Murdaugh had told prosecutors that he was visiting his parents that night, and afterward came home to find Paul and Maggie dead. However, his voice could be heard in a timestamped Snapchat video,recorded by the kennels on Paul’s phone soon before their time of death.
“The evidence of guilt is overwhelming,” South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman said as he rejected a defence motion for a mistrial. He scheduled sentencing for Friday morning.
Murdaugh had pleaded not guilty to killing his wife and youngest son in an attempt to conceal years of financial corruption – fraud that he himself had acknowledged in court.
During his trial testimony, Murdaugh confessed to lying because he said his longtime opioid abuse made him “paranoid,” and that he was advised by law partners to not speak until Danny Henderson—his former fellow law firm partner, arrived at the scene.
The pressure of being questioned by authorities from the State Law Enforcement Division also prompted him to lie, he said.
