The double murder trial of Richard ‘Alex’ Murdaugh continues. The former lawyer, 54, has been charged with the murder of his wife, Maggie, 52, and their 22-year-old son, Paul. His wife and his son were murdered near the kennels on his property on June 7, 2021.
According to the arguments of the prosecutors, Murdaugh stole money from his clients and decided to kill his wife and son to create sympathy, buy time and thus cover up his financial crimes they were regarding to be discovered.
The testimony of Alex Murdaugh
This week, Murdaugh shared his testimony for the first time at the trial. Lawyer He denied killing his wife and son. However, admitted to lying to investigators regarding when he last saw them alive.
Murdaugh admitted to lying for almost two years regarding being at the pound with his wife and son shortly before their murders. The defendant justified his lie with his addiction to opioids, saying that this clouded his thinking and created distrust in the police, CBS News reported.
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For years, Murdaugh had told police he was taking a nap. and that he did not go to the pound before leaving the house to visit his sick mother in another city.
Nevertheless, several witnesses testified that they believed they heard Murdaugh’s voice along with that of his son and his wife, which was recorded on cell phone video taken at the kennel regarding five minutes before the shooting. It took investigators more than a year to hack into Paul Murdaugh’s phone and find the video.
How might the Alex Murdaugh trial end? Possible convictions and in which states there is a death penalty
Murdaugh has been jailed since October 2021, as he was denied bail. Both the defense and the prosecutors agreed that the prominent ex-lawyer might not pay to avoid jail time. Last year, state prosecutors clarified that they would not seek the death penalty for Alex Murdaugh.
If found guilty of double murder, Murdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison. In the case of being declared innocent, he would not leave prison as a free man either, since He has also been charged with over 100 other offences, ranging from customer theft to tax evasion. On these charges he is also being held without bail.
In these states there is a death penalty.
At the moment, Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty or execution, is authorized in 27 states of the American Union. In addition, it is also allowed by the federal government and the United States military.
Los states that still authorize capital punishment are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota , Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
