The decide presiding over the South Carolina homicide trial stated the proof towards the ex-lawyer is ‘overwhelming’.
Alex Murdaugh, the 54-year-old scion of a longstanding authorized dynasty in South Carolina, has been discovered responsible of the murders of his spouse and youthful son, after a jury in the US deliberated for lower than three hours.
Within the wake of the decision, Murdaugh’s defence staff swiftly moved to have the proceedings declared a mistrial. However Decide Clifton Newman rejected the enchantment.
“The proof of guilt is overwhelming,” Newman instructed the court docket.
The highly-anticipated verdict brings to an in depth six weeks of testimony and proof, as prosecutors sought to hyperlink the previous lawyer to the capturing deaths of his spouse Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and his 22-year-old son Paul Murdaugh. He now faces between 30 years to life in jail.
Alex Murdaugh’s defence staff offered its closing arguments forward of the jury deliberation on Thursday, with lawyer Jim Griffin pointing to what he thought of severe flaws within the homicide investigation.
Griffin argued that investigators and prosecutors jumped to conclusions about Murdaugh, zeroing in on him as a suspect with out correctly accumulating proof or contemplating various theories.
The defence alleged that investigators failed to gather fingerprint and blood proof whereas discarding key supplies just like the victims’ garments and the material sheet used to cowl the our bodies, which might have carried DNA pointing to different suspects.
Griffin additionally famous there was no DNA proof linking Murdaugh to the crime scene. The homicide weapons have been additionally not recovered.
“How might he have butchered Maggie and Paul with out leaving a hint of proof inside a matter of minutes?” Griffin stated. Given the quantity of blood splatter from the shootings and the quick window of time Murdaugh would have needed to act, Griffin argued there was no manner his consumer might have pulled off the crime.
“He had 17 minutes. He must be a magician to make all that proof disappear,” Griffin stated.
However the prosecution in the end delivered the ultimate remarks to the jury, arguing in its rebuttal that the 12-member panel didn't have to resolve each thriller within the Murdaugh case to know he was responsible.
“You possibly can’t reply each query and the legislation doesn’t require it,” lawyer John Meadors instructed the jury.
Meadors additionally denounced the defence’s technique of criticising the legislation enforcement investigation. He implied it was hypocritical for the defendant to take action, highlighting inconsistencies in Murdaugh’s testimony as proof he was “obstructing justice”.
Maggie and Paul Murdaugh have been discovered shot to dying outdoors the canine kennels on their huge rural property in an remoted a part of Colleton County, South Carolina, on June 7, 2021. Alex Murdaugh known as emergency providers at 10:07pm that night time, claiming to have discovered the our bodies.
4 to 5 rifle pictures have been recognized on Maggie Murdaugh’s physique. Paul Murdaugh, in the meantime, had been killed by two blasts from a shotgun, every with a different-sized bullet.
All through the proceedings, Alex Murdaugh has denied any involvement within the double homicide, saying he was on a go to to his ailing mom, who has dementia, on the time of the deaths.
Initially, Murdaugh additionally claimed to be nowhere close to the canine kennels within the lead-up to his 911 name.
However a key piece of prosecution proof positioned him within the neighborhood. After a 12 months of makes an attempt, investigators had managed to unlock Paul Murdaugh’s iPhone, which contained a video taken close to the kennels on the night time of the assault. The elder Murdaugh’s voice may be heard on the recording.
Previously a private damage lawyer earlier than being disbarred final July, Alex Murdaugh belongs to a robust authorized household in South Carolina. His great-grandfather, grandfather and father have been all elected solicitors to the state’s 14th Circuit Courtroom, placing them accountable for pursuing and prosecuting felony circumstances in 5 South Carolina counties.
Along with Thursday’s homicide trial, Murdaugh continues to face greater than 100 expenses for crimes together with quite a few monetary misdeeds. He's accused, for example, of stealing $7m from his household’s legislation agency and taking cash from his shoppers’ authorized settlements, to the tune of $8.8m.
Murdaugh additionally suffered from opioid dependancy. He was arrested in October 2021 outdoors a Florida rehabilitation facility, although the homicide expenses would come months later, in July 2022 — greater than a 12 months after the shootings passed off.
Thursday’s trial — and different alleged crimes linked to the Murdaugh household — have been the topic of documentary TV sequence on HBO and Netflix.
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