Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced South Carolina lawyer accused of murdering his wife and son to elicit pity and distract attention from financial crimes that threatened to topple his reputation, was found guilty Thursday of their murders.
After deliberating for three hours, the jury of seven men and five women convicted Murdaugh, 54, of two counts of murder in the fatal shootings of Margaret, 52, and her youngest son, Paul, 22, in June 2021. He faces 30 years. to life in prison without parole.
The jury also convicted him of two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime, which carry an additional five years in prison.
Murdaugh blinked repeatedly but was stone-faced as he stood in court as the guilty verdicts were read. Each juror was then asked if the verdicts were correct and they said yes.
Sentencing was adjourned until 9:30 am Friday.
Murdaugh’s lawyers filed for a mistrial after the verdicts were read. The motion was denied by the judge, who said the verdict was a matter for the jury and there was insufficient evidence to convict Murdaugh.
«The evidence of guilt is overwhelming and I deny the motion,» said State Circuit Judge Clifton Newman.
Newman thanked the jurors later, saying their verdict was supported by the evidence.
«All the evidence pointed to one conclusion. That’s the conclusion you all came to,» he said.
The relatively short deliberation period followed a lengthy trial that began in late January and included nearly six weeks of testimony from 75 witnesses, including Murdaugh.
In closing arguments Thursday, the defense described Murdaugh, who was disbarred last year on the charges, as a family man in a loving relationship with his wife and children.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin stressed that the state had no direct evidence that he pulled the trigger before calling 911 on the night of June 7, 2021, to say that he had found the bodies of his wife and son near the kennels on his preserve. hunting in rural Colleton County.
Investigators had testified that Paul was shot twice with a shotgun, while Margaret was shot. multiple times with an AR-style rifle. No weapon has been found. Agents said they matched the murder weapons using shell casings from family firearms.
The prosecution built a lengthy case based on circumstantial evidence to convince the jury that Murdaugh was guilty, using electronic data and video taken from the victims’ cell phones to suggest that he alone had the motive, means, and opportunity to kill his wife and son.
According to prosecutors, Murdaugh had been defrauding clients for years and used the money, in part, to feed his addiction to painkillers.
Murdaugh had also been under pressure from a lawsuit involving Paul, who at the time of his death was facing trial for three felony boating under the influence of alcohol in connection with a 2019 boating accident that killed a teenage passenger. .
During the state’s closing arguments on Wednesday, lead prosecutor Creighton Waters said Murdaugh had a lot to lose if his financial malfeasance was exposed, but the deaths of his wife and son quickly halted the law firm’s investigation and blocked the state’s case. boat accident in his favor.
One of the state’s key pieces of evidence was a video taken from Paul’s cell phone from the kennels, in which three voices—Paul, Margaret, and Murdaugh—were heard talking about a dog in the minutes leading up to 8:50 p.m.
Murdaugh repeatedly told investigators that he was taking a nap and then had gone to visit his mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease, before returning home to find his wife and son dead.
When asked why his voice could be heard on the video, Murdaugh admitted on the stand last week to lying about his location before the murders due to his drug addiction and general paranoia.
But Waters said in closing arguments that he challenged the belief that another killer or killers knew to go onto the family property at the exact moment Murdaugh was not there and use the family firearms and kill his wife and son.
After the verdicts, Waters said the conviction brings justice for Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, and thanked the jury.
«We had no doubt that if we were given the chance to make our case in a court of law, they would see through the latest scam that Alex Murdaugh was trying to pull, and they did,» Waters said.
The trial drew intense coverage for a case that was first classified as an unsolved double homicide but soon escalated into broader allegations of financial fraud, a hit-for-hire plot and drug addiction, and revived investigations into other deaths. curious linked to the Murdaugh family.
Murdaugh’s defense team did not immediately comment on the verdict.