Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison on Friday, bringing to a close the undignified and dramatic fall of the scion of a powerful legal dynasty.
Murdaugh resolutely asserted his innocence. “Good morning, your Honor. I’m innocent, and I would never hurt my wife Maggie or my son PawPaw. Many thanks “he stated.
Murdaugh’s façade of innocence was dispelled, and he appeared before the judge as a killer who had been found guilty. He was also wearing wrist and leg shackles and a beige prison jumpsuit for the first time.
Before imposing the penalty, Judge Clifton Newman chastised the 54-year-old offender.
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As a “lawyer, a man from a recognized family who has controlled justice in this community for almost a century,” he portrayed Murdaugh’s former status as a prominent community member.
Even if Murdaugh continues to reject his guilt in front of others, Newman warned him that he’ll still have to live with the terrifying crime he’s committed within his own mind.
“I understand that seeing Paul and Maggie at night when you’re trying to fall asleep is necessary. They undoubtedly came to see you. Sure, he replied.
A minimum prison term of 30 years to a maximum of life in prison might have been given by Newman.
One day after, the jury found the murderous father responsible for the deaths of his wife and son to escape punishment for his financial crimes guilty of two counts each of murder and possessing a weapon during the commission of a serious felony.
At the family’s hunting estate known as Moselle, Murdaugh shot his son Paul, 22, in a feed room next to the dog kennels on June 7, 2021. He then killed his wife, Maggie, 52, with a rifle.
After less than three hours of deliberation, the panel reached a guilty decision on Thursday in the Colleton County Courthouse.
Jurors had to sit through a tiresome six-week trial and the testimony of 76 witnesses while being paid just $20 per day. The trial received international attention and was initially scheduled to last three weeks.
Throughout their brief discussions, the jurors didn’t ask the judge a single question or seek further explanation.
Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters informed the tribunal that the disgraced lawyer committed the double murders as a last-ditch effort to protect himself.
His former law firm’s chief financial officer approached Murdaugh about unpaid fees on the day of the killings, and he had a hearing for a wrongful death case related to a deadly boat accident scheduled for later that week.
Mallory Beach, 19, died, and four other companions were hurt when Paul Murdaugh’s father’s boat smashed into a bridge. Murdaugh was now the subject of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.
Murdaugh purchased time with the murders, according to Waters, postponing an ultimate financial reckoning. Later, he was accused of stealing approximately $9 million from his clients and the law practice he worked for, which was established by his great-grandfather, the chief prosecutor for five Lowcountry counties.
For 87 years, the Murdaugh family’s three generations ran the office. Only Murdaugh’s late father, Randolph Murdaugh III, was able to end the reign when he retired in 2005. This week, Murdaugh testified in court and admitted to being a drug user, a thief, and a liar, but he vehemently denied killing his wife and kid.
He could not explain away, though, a critical and ultimately crucial piece of evidence in the case.
He claimed to have been napping at the main home when they were killed and never went to the kennels that night while speaking to his friends, family, and investigators.
Yet a video found on Paul’s phone in 2022 showed Murdaugh with both victims at the crime scene four minutes before they were shot to death, destroying his alibi. He stated that his oxycodone addiction caused him to become anxious about law enforcement, despite having a particularly warm rapport with the district attorney’s office and the sheriff’s offices in the area.
The Murdaugh name held immense sway, and Alex Murdaugh even worked as a volunteer prosecutor, wearing a badge and driving a car with blue police lights.
When Murdaugh took the witness stand last week, Waters told the jury that he was a shrewd conman who had tried to trick them.
“This man made his living by lying. When faced with a situation for which he was unprepared, he seamlessly and quickly switched to a fresh falsehood after lying about the case’s most crucial facts “said Waters.
“He also deceived Maggie and Paul, and both of them paid with their lives. Do not fall for his tricks, too “said the prosecutor.
Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, the defense attorneys, frequently depicted Murdaugh as a loving husband and father who was incapable of perpetrating such a horrific act.
Griffin claimed in summaries that the investigation “failed terribly” and that the real murderer would have been discovered if the investigators had done their job.
