WASHINGTON.- A lawyer for a wealthy family in the southern United States, Alex Murdaugh, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife and son, a case that kept the country on edge for weeks.
“The proof of guilt is overwhelming”, stated Judge Clifton Newman following the jury returned its unanimous verdict.
Standing in the room, Murdaugh, scion of a family of three generations of local prosecutors and judges, he remained undaunted, though he blinked non-stop.
Less than three hours of deliberation were enough for jurors found him guilty of shooting to death his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and son Paul, 22, on June 7, 2021 near the kennel on his sprawling South Carolina estate, named Moselle.
He was accused of stealing vast amounts of money from his law office, from friends and even from his housekeeper’s son, and of having executed their relatives to avoid discovery.
The case fascinated the United States, where the documentary “The Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal”, is among the most viewed on Netflix, with 40 million views last week.
“He fooled everyone”, but “don’t be fooled” by this “master scammer”, released Wednesday by prosecutor Creighton Waters to jurors.
“Why would he have killed the two people he loves most in the world?” His lawyer Jim Griffin responded on Thursday, denouncing an “absurd theory” and asking for his acquittal citing the absence of material evidence.
The jurors visited the farm on Thursday to better understand the layout of the place. It was the first time in a month and a half that television cameras were unable to film.
Throughout the trial, information channels transmitted live the parade of disappointed colleagues and friends, who told how Alex Murdaugh, 54, stole millions of dollars from them.
Murdaugh acknowledged these frauds, which he attributes to bad investments and an addiction to opiates.and for which he will be tried following the double homicide.
The shadows over Alex began following a young woman died in a boat accident piloted by her son under the influence of alcohol in 2019. The justice was interested in the state of the father’s finances to find out if he might pay the possible damages and damages.
“All the illusion of his life was going to collapse, he mightn’t bear it,” the prosecutor stated.
In his opinion Murdaugh murdered his relatives to buy time before attempting suicide. In early September, he asked an accomplice to kill him so that his son would receive $10 million in life insurance. But the bullet barely grazed him.
According to the prosecutor, Alex Murdaugh used his professional experience to tamper with the crime scene, change his clothes and erase the conversation history, the prosecutor said. Also “made an alibi” by visiting his senile mother and making calls right following the crime, Waters said.
“But there’s one thing he mightn’t control”said the prosecutor. A video recorded by his son minutes before he died, in which his father’s voice is heard, despite the fact that he always denied having been near the kennel that day.
Last week the defendant admitted to having lied, but said that it was due to a paranoia caused by his dependence on drugs. He nevertheless denied the double murder.
Confronted with the truth, “go back, change and invent a new story,” the prosecutor reacted.
PA Agency
THE NATION
