Rich, famous… and killer. The millionaire lawyer Alex Murdaugha member of one of the most powerful families in the southern United States, was found guilty this Thursday of having murdered his wife and son, a case that kept American society on edge for weeks and that inspired one of the most successful documentaries on Netflix: “The Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal”.
“The proof of guilt is overwhelming,” said the judge Clifton Newman following the jury rendered its verdict unanimously.
Standing in the courtroom, Murdaugh, whose family for three generations has given numerous local judges and prosecutors, he remained impassive, although he blinked non-stop.
enough less than three hours of deliberation for jurors to find him guilty of shooting his wife to death Maggie Murdaugh, 52and his son Paul Murdaugh, 22, on June 7, 2021 near the kennel of his extensive estate of South Carolina, named Moselle.
Murdaugh faces life in prison, sentence will be known this Friday
Murdaugh was accused of accused of having stolen huge amounts of money from his law office, from friends and even from his housekeeper’s sonand having coldly executed his own relatives to avoid being discovered.
The case fascinated the United Stateswhere the documentary “The Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal”is among the most viewed on Netflix, to the point that the last week alone had more than 40 million views.
“He fooled everyone, but don’t be fooled by this master con man”released Wednesday the prosecutor Creighton Waters to the jurors, in their closing argument.
“Why would he have killed the two people he loves most in the world?” The defense lawyer, Jim Griffin, replied in turn, considering the accusation an “absurd theory” and asking for Murdaugh’s acquittal for 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.
“It was all an illusion”
Throughout the trial, information networks broadcast live the parade of disappointed colleagues and friends, who counted as Murdaugh, 54, he stole millions of dollars.
Murdaugh admitted to these frauds, which he attributes to bad investments and an addiction to opioidscrimes 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 crumble, 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.
The last video of the son, compromising
According to the prosecutor, Murdaugh used his professional experience to tamper with the crime scene, change clothes and erase conversation history, the prosecutor said. He also “made an alibi” by visiting her 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 mansion’s kennel that day.
Last week the defendant admitted to lying, but said it was due to paranoia caused by his drug dependency. He nevertheless denied the double murder. Confronted with the truth, “go back, change and invent a new story,” the prosecutor reacted.
Now, regardless of the conviction for the murders, They will also judge him for the fraud of his relatives and the issue of opiates. Maybe that deserves a new story on Netflix.
AFP/HB
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