Murdaugh trial

The South Carolina attorney general and prosecutors who were on the Alex Murdaugh double murder case are reacting to a guilty verdict, saying that it was ...

[kill Paul](https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/crime), his son, in a feed room attached to dog kennels at the family's estate, and used a rifle to kill Maggie, his wife, who was 52. [ALEX MURDAUGH: TIMELINE OF ONCE-POWERFUL SOUTH CAROLINA LAWYER'S SPECTACULAR DOWNFALL](https://www.foxnews.com/us/alex-murdaugh-timeline-once-powerful-south-carolina-lawyers-spectacular-downfall) Murdaugh then said he called 911. "Nineteen seconds. It doesn't matter what you think, how prominent you are if you do wrong, if you break the law, if you murder. [Waters said](https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/crime/police-and-law-enforcement) in closing arguments. "Our criminal justice system worked tonight. Yes, it is." Yes, It is. It doesn't matter how much money you have or people think you have. [ALEX MURDAUGH CONVICTED THURSDAY OF FATALLY SHOOTING HIS WIFE AND SON](https://www.foxnews.com/us/alex-murdaugh-convicted-thursday-fatally-shooting-wife-son) [South Carolina](https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/us-regions/southeast/south-carolina) attorney general and prosecutors who worked the Alex Murdaugh double murder case are reacting to the guilty verdict handed down by a South Carolina jury on Thursday night, saying it's the result of massive teamwork.

Prosecutors argue Alex Murdaugh killed his relatives to distract from multi-million-dollar financial fraud crimes. Hours before, one of the 12 jurors was ...

"All parties are entitled to a fair and impartial trial," he said. "You have been by all accounts a great juror, and smiled consistently and seemingly been attentive to the case and performed well," he told the woman in front of the court. "I'm not suggesting that you intentionally did anything wrong, but in order to preserve the integrity of the process and in fairness to all the parties involved, we are going to replace you with one of the other jurors."

"The evidence of guilt is overwhelming," the judge said after the jury verdict was read in court.

But they were unable to find either firearm and produce them at trial. This was the same thing." The case against him was based entirely on circumstantial evidence. Reporters shouted questions, though he remained silent. 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.

The jury in the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh has found him guilty of murdering his wife and son. The 54-year-old scion of a prominent and powerful ...

A South Carolina jury found disbarred attorney Richard "Alex" Murdaugh guilty of murder in the 2021 killings of his wife and son. Also in the news: A ...

[pits advocates against lobstermen](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/28/saving-endangered-right-whales-pits-advocates-against-lobstermen/11109487002/). [Angela Bassett](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2023/03/02/angela-bassett-talks-oscar-nomination-black-panther-wakanda-forever/11322727002/)is long overdue for an Oscar. [Here's a guide](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2023/03/02/new-movies-see-week-creed-3-operation-fortune/11358229002/) to new movies that will satisfy every cinematic taste. [sign up for the email here](https://profile.usatoday.com/newsletters/Daily-Briefing/). [TV Review](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2023/03/02/daisy-jones-and-the-six-review-featherweight-flop/11359786002/): Riley Keough can sing, but ''Daisy Jones & the Six'' is a featherweight flop. [Biden wants more nursing home staff](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2023/03/03/biden-nurses-medicare-medicaid-funding-nursing-homes-reform-staffing/11311567002/), but owners say they need more funding. [This has been a long, complex trial](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/03/02/alex-murdaugh-verdict/11364191002/). ''Just hang in there, girl.'' [Time announced its 2023 Women of the Year](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2023/03/02/time-women-of-year-2023-quinta-brunson-cate-blanchett/11386102002/): Quinta Brunson, Cate Blanchett, more honored. [Here's a look at back at significant milestones for women in Congress](https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2023/03/02/history-women-milestones-congress/11357670002/). [Murdaugh himself took the stand in his own defense last week](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/23/alex-murdaugh-testifies-murder-trial/11330239002/). You can listen to the podcast every day on [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/5-things/id975311694), [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/01lfF43JXe9yW6AKxxwhUC), or on your smart speaker. [5 Things podcast](https://art19.com/shows/5-things), Hampton County Guardian Managing Editor Michael DeWitt, Jr.

Alex Murdaugh taking the stand was a "fatal" move for him in his double murder trial, South Carolina's Attorney General Alan Wilson said Friday ahead of ...

And killing them was the price he was willing to pay to preserve his way of life." Lawyers for Murdaugh moved for a mistrial after the verdicts were read. "One of the things that I would get from people in the street ... And he was getting desperate," he said. It goes back to the boat case. "What you have is a family legacy that is over 100 years old, you have a man that has lived a lifestyle of privilege in a world that many of us will never know, and all of that was going to end eventually. Murdaugh was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole. That was a major piece of the state’s case," Wilson said. “When he took the stand, I think that was fatal for him ultimately," Wilson said. the night of the murders, countering his denial to investigators that he had last seen his family at dinner time. [Snapchat video evidence taken from Paul’s cellphone](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/prosecution-alex-murdaugh-trial-wraps-case-hard-evidence-killed-wife-s-rcna70485) that placed Murdaugh at the estate’s kennels at 8:44 p.m. [convicted the 54-year-old disgraced Lowcountry lawyer](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jury-finds-alex-murdaugh-guilty-murders-wife-son-n1303261) of murdering his wife, Margaret, 52, and son Paul, 22, at their hunting estate in rural Colleton County in June 2021.

Defense says in final arguments South Carolina police 'failed miserably' to consider alternative suspects in death of wife and son.

It had been covered in gunshot residue, but was never tied to Murdaugh at trial, despite using it as a basis for the charges against him. “He fooled Maggie and Paul, too, and they paid for it with their lives. He lied because he had a closet full of skeletons. They pointed to Murdaugh’s addiction to painkillers as the reason for doing so. But prosecutors later found that the T-shirt tested negative for blood, and argued at trial that it appeared to be laundered. Prosecutors argued that Murdaugh, 54, murdered his wife and son to prevent longstanding financial crimes from becoming public.

The 54-year-old disbarred South Carolina lawyer faces a sentence of 30 years to life in prison for each murder conviction.

"This defendant has fooled everyone — everyone who thought they were close to him," Waters told the jury in his closing argument. He was facing a financial reckoning, they said, that also included his liability in a court case over a fatal 2019 boating accident in which Paul, then 19, was said to be driving. Prosecutors never produced the two murder weapons used to kill Maggie and Paul, and there were no eyewitnesses. But after witnesses identified Murdaugh's voice in a cellphone video taken by Paul at the kennel around 8:45 p.m. Newman had said he would render his sentence after any victim impact statements, but prosecutor Creighton Waters began his remarks by saying the state did not have anyone who wanted to deliver a victim statement. "It's so unfortunate, because you had such a lovely family of such friendly people — including you," the judge told Murdaugh. The sentencing closes a six-week-long trial that charted Murdaugh's fall from grace. Murdaugh said repeatedly that he didn't go with his wife and son to the dog kennels where they were shot and killed, saying that he stayed in the house, and took a nap before leaving to see his ailing mother. The court session began shortly after 9:30 a.m. Thank you." "Good morning, your honor. Newman told Murdaugh that each of the punishments apply to "the rest of your natural life," adding that the sentences are consecutive.

NPR's Juana Summers talks with Neal Baer, former executive producer of Law and Order: SVU, about American audiences' fascination with crime stories.

We're getting more and more because I think there's more and more fear, so we look to these programs to give us some sustenance and some hope, and yet in and of themselves that - they probably promote more fear. Maybe it makes us feel, in some ways, safer that we can be listening to it within the safety of our own homes. Well, also, I think people like to have endings, and they like to have justice. So they want to know, like, everything about the DNA, everything about transfer of evidence. I mean, this case already has several documentary series about it, and there could be more in the works. This is a story, of course, about real loss of lives, but it is also one that has captivated audiences across the United States.

Alex Murdaugh's sentence came down Friday, after a jury took less than three hours Thursday to convict him in his family's murders.

Murdaugh was a partner at a powerful law firm with his name on it. "And the question is when will it end?" Defense attorneys had maintained Murdaugh was a loving father and husband who would not harm his family, and they argued authorities did not properly examine other suspects. Wearing a brown jumpsuit and handcuffs, left the courtroom under the watch of a law enforcement official. All he did was blow snot." Prosecutors had argued Murdaugh's motive was to distract and delay investigations into his growing financial problems. Instead, the hearing stood out for Newman's direct exchanges with Murdaugh, whose defense the judge said represented "an assault on the integrity of the judicial system." "I know you have to see Paul and Maggie during the night times when you're attempting to go to sleep. The judge also noted Murdaugh's longtime addiction to painkillers. Murdaugh, he added, always wanted to take the stand. "Amazingly to have you come and testify that it was just another ordinary day. You can convince yourself about it but obviously you have the inability to convince anyone else about that," Judge Clifton Newman said moments before handing down two consecutive life sentences.

Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife Maggie Murdaugh and son Paul Murdaugh in 2021. Here is a complete timeline of the trial.

[confronted Murdaugh in the past](https://people.com/crime/buster-murdaugh-knew-little-bit-dad-drug-addiction-mom-brother-found-pills/) about his drug use. [son's role in a 2019 boating accident](https://people.com/crime/victims-of-2019-boat-crash-involving-paul-murdaugh-seek-65m-from-late-murdaughs-estates/) that led to the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach. Murdaugh has said he took up to [60 pills a day](https://people.com/crime/alex-murdaugh-admits-taking-60-oxycodone-pain-pills-daily-before-wife-son-death/) to feed his addiction. [usage of Maggie's phone](https://people.com/crime/alex-murdaugh-last-text-revealed-court/) on the night of her murder, both before and after she died. The timeline is important to both the prosecution and the defense, as authorities have stated that Murdaugh visited his mother to create an alibi for his whereabouts the night of the murders. that lasted three minutes; according to authorities, Maggie also sent messages to a friend that night as she headed to the property, saying something [felt "fishy"](https://people.com/crime/alex-murdaugh-allegedly-lured-wife-cabin-texted-friend-seemed-fishy/) about Murdaugh's behavior. [a responding officer's body cam](https://people.com/crime/alex-murdaugh-cries-court-body-cam-footage-son-wife/) was shown in court, which showed Maggie and Paul's bodies, Murdaugh was seen wiping away tears — though an officer who was called to the crime scene reported that Murdaugh didn't seem upset, saying there were no "visible tears." [maintained his innocence](https://people.com/crime/alex-murdaugh-did-not-have-anything-to-do-with-the-murders-of-his-wife-and-son-attorneys-say/). According to authorities, [a video Paul took](https://people.com/crime/alex-murdaugh-trial-prosecutors-discuss-son-cell-phone-video/) at 8:45 p.m. [Murdaugh](https://people.com/crime/where-is-alex-murdaugh-now/) has struggled with severe opioid addiction for years, allegedly spending [$50,000 a week on drugs](https://people.com/crime/alex-murdaugh-paying-50000-week-for-drugs-his-lawyer-says/). [cell phone video](https://people.com/crime/alex-murdaugh-case-mountain-evidence-police-say-proves-murdered-wife-son/) placing him at the estate during the time of the murders. [Alex Murdaugh was found guilty](https://people.com/crime/alex-murdaugh-guilty-murdering-wife-son/) of murdering his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and his son Paul Murdaugh, 22.

A judge will decide Friday what penalty to give disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh for killing his wife and adult son.

In a remarkable courtroom moment, the judge in Alex Murdaugh's murder trial spoke in stark and personal terms ahead of the disgraced lawyer's sentencing ...

That is the sentence of the court and you are remanded to the state Department of Corrections. For the murder of Paul Murdaugh, whom you probably loved so much, I sentence you to prison for murdering him for the rest of your natural life. I sentence you for the term of the rest of your natural life. Murdaugh, I sentence you to the state Department of Corrections on each of the murder indictments. And then that necessitated more lies and continued to lie, and I say when will it end, it has already ended for many who have heard you and concluded that it will never end. “It might have been the monster you become when you take 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 opioid pills, and maybe you become another person. I have not been able to get anyone, any defendant, even those who have confessed to being guilty to go back and explain to me what happened at that moment in time when they opted to pull the trigger, when they opted to commit the most heinous crime known to man.” I don’t question at all the decision of the state not to pursue the death penalty. And reflect on the last time they looked you in the eyes, as you looked the jury in the eyes.” “This has been perhaps one of the most troubling cases not just for me as a judge, for the state, for the defense team, but for all of the citizens in this community, all the citizens in this state, as we have seen based on the media coverage throughout the nation,” Newman said. A lawyer, a person from the respected family who has controlled justice in this community for over a century, a person whose grandfather’s portrait hang at the back of the courthouse that I had to have ordered removed in order to ensure that a fair trial was had by both the state and the defense. In fact, as I have presided over murder cases over the past 22 years, I have yet to find a defendant who could go there, who could go back to that moment in time when they decided to pull the trigger or to otherwise murder someone.

Disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh has now been convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in a trial that attracted intense public attention to the ...

"We called this our Super Bowl, and not because of the media attention, but just because of the effort that we knew that we would have to put into this." "We should all strive for a world where the effort to take anybody's liberty gets the same scrutiny as this case," he said. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. And I can't be prouder of a team in my life," he said during a news conference. In addition to the intense online and media attention the case received, it also attracted crowds outside the courthouse since it began on Jan. Pope said the Murdaugh case has offered an opportunity to educate the public about the justice system. Raymond Johnson, a civil rights activist who carried a sign reading "JUSTICE COMING SOON" and who led others in a prayer. Discovery released a three-part series a year after Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were killed, HBO Max launched a three-part documentary in November and Netflix last week released "Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal" for U.S. She said she's been particularly interested to see how the state's legal system treats "one of their own." Coltan Scrivner, a researcher at the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University in Denmark, said a human desire to avoid getting duped has developed into a natural curiosity about signs of danger. Although the dolls garnered praise, some other displays of public interest in the case have been less well-received. And amid the commotion of the trial, some legal observers have found an important opportunity for education.

The disgraced South Carolina lawyer was charged in the murders of his wife and son. His defense argued that investigators fabricated evidence.

In his new version of events, Murdaugh admitted being there, but he said he went back to the house minutes before 9 p.m. In his closing argument, Waters stressed to jurors that he thinks one thing was missing from the two days Murdaugh spent testifying. "You want to leave the eggs or take the eggs?" But, he said, she would be replaced so that the integrity of the trial would remain intact. Griffin began his statement with an overview of the criminal legal system, comparing the trial to an instant-replay review in college football. The court received a complaint from a member of the public saying the juror, a woman identified only as juror No. He noted that South Carolina law doesn't require the state to prove premeditation or motive in a murder case. Griffin accused the agency of a list of failures, saying the state never explained if tests were performed on hair he said was found in Maggie's fingers. Once investigators seized on the idea that tests showed high-velocity blood spatter on Alex Murdaugh's T-shirt, he added, they refused to dismiss that idea and pursued it "with vengeance." As for the lies Murdaugh admitted telling, Griffin said his client lied because "that's what addicts do." But when the state was faced with mixed results and questions over tests of Murdaugh's shirt, Griffin said, they embraced a "Mr. A defense attorney for Murdaugh sought to sow doubt about the work by police and forensics teams, saying they fell far short of preserving evidence from the crime scene.

After deliberating for less than three hours Thursday, the jury in the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh found him guilty of murdering his wife and son, ...

[prosecution argued Murdaugh’s motive](https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/02/us/alex-murdaugh-trial-defense-closings-thursday/index.html) in the killings was to distract and delay investigations into his financial wrongdoing. [denied](http://www.cnn.com/2023/02/23/us/alex-murdaugh-murder-trial-thursday/index.html) killing his wife and son. In the prosecution’s telling, the motive was Murdaugh’s attempt to distract and delay investigations into his growing financial problems. Griffin acknowledged Murdaugh had lied about being at the dog kennels where his wife and son were killed on the night of the murders. And the opportunity was Murdaugh’s presence at the crime scene, “Our criminal justice system worked tonight,” Wilson said. “Everyone who thought they knew who he was, he’s fooled them all. He further admitted to [stealing millions of dollars](https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/24/us/alex-murdaugh-murder-trial-friday/index.html) from his former clients and law firm and lying to cover his tracks. has fooled everyone, everyone, everyone who thought they were close to him,” prosecutor Creighton Waters told the jury. “I find it offensive that the defense … Murdaugh kept a stony face while the verdicts were read. His only remaining son, Buster Murdaugh, could be seen wiping tears from his eyes.

The jury on Thursday convicted Alex Murdaugh, a prominent South Carolina lawyer, of murdering his wife and son.

The prosecution seized on that admission — how readily, and easily, he had lied to the police, his family and friends — in an attempt to convince the jury that he was lying about not having killed his wife and son. He also said that when he spoke with his father about 20 minutes after prosecutors say the murders took place, Alex Murdaugh sounded “normal” — at a time that Mr. “He said that he did not know who it was, but he felt like whoever did it had thought about it for a long time,” Ms. Murdaugh’s law firm confronted him, accusing him of pocketing about $800,000 in lawyer fees that he was supposed to have deposited into the firm’s account. Murdaugh testified that he had feared an admission that he was at the kennels before the murders would cause the police to consider him a suspect. Defense lawyers also noted that the police had issued a statement in the days after the killings saying that no immediate threat to the public existed. Murdaugh was wearing when police arrived after he called 911 — it would have been covered in blood and body matter, his lawyers argued — and the DNA of an unknown man was discovered under Mrs. That was an indication, they argued, that the authorities were investigating only Mr. After denying for more than 20 months that he was at the dog kennels where his wife and son were found shot to death, Alex Murdaugh confessed that he had lied about his whereabouts. Murdaugh’s phone from the day of the killings had been overwritten. Murdaugh told his lawyer that he had been there for a few minutes, but then had left, laid down at the house, and driven to check on his ailing mother who lived about 15 minutes away. He blamed his lies to the police on paranoia spurred by opiate dependency, as well as his distrust of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, a state investigative agency.

Before defense attorney Jim Griffin began his closing argument, South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman removed one of the jurors for talking about ...

Murdaugh initially told police he was not at the family's dog kennels before finding the bodies there, but [admitted in court he lied to investigators](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/23/alex-murdaugh-testifies-murder-trial/11330239002/) and that his voice could be heard on the video. He said there was not enough time for Murdaugh to have committed the crimes and hidden the evidence before driving to his mother's house.] [Prosecutor describes Murdaugh's 'motive,' 'means,' 'opportunity,' and 'guilty acts'] [Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters said "gathering storm" was threatening Murdaugh's family legacy and successful law practice and Murdaugh killed his family to avoid being held accountable. [Defense attorney criticizes prosecution's evidence, motive] [Murdaugh’s defense attorney Jim Griffin began his closing argument by emphasizing that the jury must presume Murdaugh is innocent unless they believe the prosecution has met their burden to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.] [Griffin said investigators with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division failed to collect key evidence from the crime scene because they were too focused on Murdaugh as a suspect.] ["We believe that we've shown conclusively that SLED failed miserably in investigating this case and had they done a competent job that Alex would have been excluded from that circle a year ago, two years ago," Griffin said.] [Griffin said Murdaugh's financial problems and drug addiction made him an "easy target" for investigators and law enforcement began fabricating evidence against him. “As all these pressures were mounting, the defendant killed Maggie and Paul," Waters said. "He would have to be a magician to make all that evidence disappear." "How could he have butchered Maggie and Paul without leaving a trace of evidence in a matter of minutes?" "What kind of sense does that make?" Meadors argued Murdaugh would not have admitted to lying unless the video placing him at the scene was found. [is seeking life in prison](http://bit.ly/3XXu8O3) if Murdaugh, 54, is convicted in the killings of his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and son Paul Murdaugh. Meadors rehashed testimony about a blue, poncho-like raincoat found at Murdaugh's parent's home which had gunshot residue on it and Murdaugh changing clothes day the of the killings. The juror was replaced with an alternate.

A Snapchat video, a missing gun and unanswered calls - here are the moments that will weigh on jurors.

Prosecutors alleged that Mr Murdaugh used one of these - a .300 Blackout assault-style rifle - to kill Maggie. The Murdaughs at one point had two custom Blackout rifles, given to Paul and his brother Buster as Christmas gift. But Mr Murdaugh's elderly father was dying, and so Mrs Proctor encouraged her to support him. I loved Maggie "more than anything," he said. But Mr Murdaugh testified that Maggie had not planned to see his parents, and that he asked his wife to simply return because he wanted to be with her. The prosecution has argued Mr Murdaugh killed his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, in attempt to conceal years of financial crimes, crimes he himself admitted to in court.

Jurors -- and the packed gallery -- heard testimony from dozens of witnesses since the trial started on Jan. 23 in the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, ...

Jurors were able to visit the feed room at the dog kennels where Paul Murdaugh was shot, saw the shed where his mother's body was found and paid a brief visit to the Murdaugh home itself. To demonstrate Paul Murdaugh being shot in the back of the head at point-blank range, as put forth by the defense, State Attorney General Alan Wilson walked through a courtroom doorway past Kinsey, then turned and pointed a rifle over his head as Kinsey bent over. During his testimony, he denied shooting his wife and son but admitted to lying to investigators about his whereabouts the night of the murders. Forensic pathologist Jonathan Eisenstat testified that Paul Murdaugh's fatal shot to the head was delivered downward, not upward, as pathologist Dr. Alex Murdaugh was called by his defense team to testify and took the stand for several hours on Feb. He had said he was napping at the family house before visiting his mother, then found the bodies upon returning home.

Defense attorneys representing Alex Murdaugh wrapped their closing arguments in his double-murder trial Thursday afternoon after six weeks of testimonies, ...

He also faces [charges](https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan/2021/11/19/alex-murdaugh-indicted-on-dozens-of-money-laundering-fraud-charges/?sh=4504b8ce2e5b) for allegedly hiring a former client to murder him last fall in a scheme to allow his son to collect a $10 million life insurance policy. The previous four left for health reasons. Clifton granted the request despite opposition from prosecutors, who argued the property has changed since Maggie and Paul were found dead. [removed](https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/03/02/juror-removed-from-alex-murdaugh-murder-trial-for-discussing-case-outside-courtroom/?sh=67994c694247) one of the 12 jurors from the panel before the defense made its closing arguments Thursday morning, after that juror improperly discussed the matters of the case outside of the courtroom. [financial crimes charges](https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan/2022/01/21/alex-murdaugh-facing-over-70-financial-crimes-charges-after-indictments-allege-he-defrauded-victims-out-of-nearly-9-million/?sh=4dbf942f7007), including money laundering and computer crimes counts, for allegedly swindling nearly $9 million from victims. [Police found](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/14/us/alex-murdaugh-shooting-arrest.html) Murdaugh on the side of a road in South Carolina with a gunshot wound in his head.

Disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of killing his wife and son after a multi-week double murder trial culminated in just a few hours of jury ...

Notably, the shotgun and rifle allegedly used in the killings were not found. [See all Hill.TV](https://thehill.com/hilltv) [See all Video](https://thehill.com/video) [House](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/) [Defense](https://thehill.com/policy/defense/) [State Watch](https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/) [House](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/) [See All](https://thehill.com) [alex murdaugh](https://thehill.com/tag/alex-murdaugh/) [Alex Murdaugh trial](https://thehill.com/tag/alex-murdaugh-trial/) [sentencing](https://thehill.com/tag/sentencing/) [trial](https://thehill.com/tag/trial/) [verdict](https://thehill.com/tag/verdict/) [Court Battles](https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/) [Court Battles](https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/) [State Watch](https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/) [Court Battles](https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/) [See All](https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/) “You don’t lie and misremember being at the scene of a murder when you said you weren’t even there, or being at the scene where your family was brutally murdered. [replaced](https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-top-headlines/ap-defense-says-zeal-to-convict-murdaugh-derailed-investigation/) throughout the six-week trial. You don’t lie about that.” He’s set to be sentenced Friday morning. [Physical evidence](https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-u-s-news/ap-inadequate-investigation-takeaways-at-murdaugh-murder-trial/) brought forth in the Alex Murdaugh case and trial was lacking. [admitted](https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-top-headlines/ap-alex-murdaugh-testifies-in-his-own-defense-at-murder-trial/) during the trial to lying initially to investigators about when he last saw his family alive, conceding that he was with his wife and son at the kennels shortly before he left to visit his mother. [rare visit](https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-top-headlines/ap-why-do-juries-view-crime-scenes-like-the-murdaugh-estate/) on Wednesday to the Murdaugh estate where the two murders took place to get a three-dimensional picture of the crime scene. [said](https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-top-headlines/ap-defense-says-zeal-to-convict-murdaugh-derailed-investigation/) Maggie Murdaugh was shot four or five times with a rifle, and Paul Murdaugh was shot twice with a shotgun. [countered](https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-top-headlines/ap-defense-says-zeal-to-convict-murdaugh-derailed-investigation/) that the investigation was poorly conducted and evidence was misrepresented amid eagerness to convict him for the murders.

The jury in the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh reached a verdict after nearly three hours of deliberations.

But he did lie, and he told you he lied," Griffin told the jurors." He also said he entered a rehab facility for opioid addiction. "Which brings us to the question, why?" "There's no evidence that he would do that." The bodies of Margaret Murdaugh, 52, and Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds near the dog kennels at the family's estate in June 2021, authorities said. "He's given closing arguments to juries before.

NPR's Juana Summers talks with Neal Baer, former executive producer of Law and Order: SVU, about American audiences' fascination with crime stories.

We're getting more and more because I think there's more and more fear, so we look to these programs to give us some sustenance and some hope, and yet in and of themselves that - they probably promote more fear. Maybe it makes us feel, in some ways, safer that we can be listening to it within the safety of our own homes. So they want to know, like, everything about the DNA, everything about transfer of evidence. I mean, this case already has several documentary series about it, and there could be more in the works. I think that's been a big, big selling point for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" for year 24 that it's been on - that we get the bad guys. Well, also, I think people like to have endings, and they like to have justice. It has comeuppance. This is a story, of course, about real loss of lives, but it is also one that has captivated audiences across the United States. It has wealth. It has greed. It has families. A South Carolina jury has found attorney Alex Murdaugh guilty of the murders of his wife and son.

Alex Murdaugh's defense team used closing arguments in his double-murder trial to make a plea to jurors and claim Murdaugh was the only target for state ...

That juror will be in a separate room from the rest of the jury. The contact did involve the juror offering her opinion on evidence received up to that point, he said. The mention of the eggs drew laughter from the gallery. “I respectfully request that you do not compound a family tragedy with another.” Owen testified he never saw the report that showed the shirt had no blood on it. I think he loved Paul,” Meadors said. The prosecutor pointed out other strong circumstantial evidence as well like the changing of Murdaugh’s clothing. “On behalf of Alex, on behalf of Buster, on behalf of Maggie and on behalf of my friend Paul,” Griffin said. “He had 17 minutes. Prosecutors have used a video taken at 8:44 p.m. Why? “With your voice, you can tell the state they can’t lie to a grand jury and bring you a case built on theory and speculation,” Griffin said.

Leading up to Alex Murdaugh's guilty conviction Thursday of two counts of murder, the public attention on the case had intensified.

Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison Friday after a jury found him guilty of the murder of his wife and son. Follow for live news updates.

“I think that was a problem in the jury deliberations. “They’re weighing a murder case, then they’d just heard two weeks of financial crime cases that he’s obviously guilty of,” Griffin said. It was a murder trial," attorney Dick Harpootlian said.

Alex Murdaugh has been sentenced: “Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for the June 2021 murders of his ...

[12:30 Report](https://thehill.com/social-tags/1230-report/) [Biden](https://thehill.com/social-tags/biden/) [CPAC](https://thehill.com/social-tags/cpac/) [D.C. Should you order the same dish as your dining partner, much less your spouse? household, according to a new report shared exclusively with The Hill.” [Livestream](https://bit.ly/3IPJ4HS) [Livestream](https://bit.ly/41HyICu) Prosecutors argued at trial that Murdaugh committed the murders to distract from his financial crimes, while the defense criticized investigators’ handling of the crime scene and the lack of physical evidence.” [Livestream](https://bit.ly/3KSYduI) Sniff. Haha. Murdaugh came from a prominent South Carolina family of lawyers, several of which served as top prosecutors in the area. [https://bit.ly/3qmIoS9](https://bit.ly/3qmIoS9) [https://bit.ly/30ARS1U](https://bit.ly/30ARS1U)

Judge Clifton Newman, who sentenced Alex Murdaugh to life in prison, has earned plaudits for his even-handed demeanor throughout the trial.

He returned to South Carolina in 1982 and started a private law practice. Newman was the first person in his family to be born in a hospital. Supreme Court school desegregation case, an experience that helped propel him into a career in the law. In high school, he played the role of a lawyer from New York City in a play based on a landmark 1954 U.S. Among the most poignant moments came when Newman spoke to Murdaugh about his wife and son. Newman’s 40-year-old son, Brian, died just weeks before the Murdaugh trial would pull Newman away from his home for more than a month.

Alex Murdaugh's sentence came down Friday, after a jury took less than three hours Thursday to convict him in his family's murders.