The Murders of Alex Murdaugh's Wife and Son have been Found Guilty

A jury reached its verdict after nearly three hours of deliberation Thursday after hearing testimony from over 70 witnesses, including Murdaugh himself, who denied involvement in the crimes but admitted lying to investigators and cheating his clients. In addition to two murder charges, he was also charged with possessing a weapon involved in a violent crime.

In the murder case, Alex Murdaugh faces up to thirty years in prison upon being sentenced by Judge Clifton Newman. A large crowd gathered to hear the verdict reading, but Alex Murdaugh, 54, showed no emotion. A handcuff was wrapped around his wrist, and he was silently escorted out of the courtroom.

The justice system would be restored

Announcing the verdict outside the courthouse, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said it showed "no one is above the law." According to lead prosecutor Creighton Waters, justice will always be served in South Carolina.

As part of deliberations, the jury visited Moselle, the family's estate, on Wednesday. Several gunshot wounds were found near the kennels on the Murdaugh family estate in June 2021, killing Margaret Murdaugh, 52, and Paul Murdaugh, 22.

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To gain sympathy for financial wrongdoings

A year later, Alex Murdaugh was charged with the murders of the victims after calling 911 to report the discovery. The prosecution alleges that Alex Murdaugh killed his wife and son to distract from his financial wrongdoings and gain sympathy from his family's legacy of prominent attorneys.

Throughout the trial, the defence has argued that police ignored the possibility that anyone else might have killed their husband and father and portrayed him as a loving husband and father. According to Murdaugh, his addiction to painkillers caused him to think paranoidly, which he blamed for lying to investigators.

Timeline assembled by investigators

In his nearly four-hour closing argument, Waters stated that Murdaugh was the only individual with the motive, means, and opportunities to commit these crimes and that his "guilty conduct" betrayed him afterwards. Waters emphasized the importance of credibility to the jurors and painted Murdaugh as an individual accustomed to anticipating how jurors would interpret things.

A prosecutor, Waters said, has given closing arguments to juries in complex cases. A defendant like this knows how to construct a complex case. Consider whether they are putting together defences and alibis. Waters testified that investigators assembled a timeline of the Murdaughs' cell phones on the day of the murders. 

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Defaulted on their responsibilities

According to a video from Paul Murdaugh's phone, Alex Murdaugh was at the kennels minutes before the shooting - contrary to his earlier statement that he had never been there. According to the defence, investigators failed to carry out their responsibility in the case, concluding immediately that Murdaugh had killed his wife and son and never investigating other options.

In his closing argument on Thursday, defence attorney Jim Griffin discussed the numerous opportunities investigators missed by not collecting footprints, fingerprints, and DNA, among others. In addition, he replayed videos showing how much Alex Murdaugh loved his wife and children. Despite the financial day of reckoning, there is no evidence that he would have killed the people he loved most.

Alex Murdaugh is facing charges

Griffin also addressed Alex Murdaugh's admission on the evening of the shootings that he lied to investigators about his alibi. Alex Murdaugh resigned from his law firm following his wife and son's murders and claimed he had funnelled stolen money from clients into a fake banking account for years. He also said he had entered an opioid rehab facility.

Several charges against Alex Murdaugh are pending, including money laundering and staging his death for the surviving son to receive the $10 million life insurance policy. As part of the lawsuit against his housekeeper Gloria Satterfield, he was also accused of misappropriating settlement funds in February 2018 after she fell in the Murdaugh family home and died.

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