Murdaugh Murder Case Ends in Conviction

Murdaugh Murder Case Ends in Conviction

(NewsReady.com) – A South Carolina lawyer has been convicted of a horrific double murder. After a six-week trial, a jury found Alex Murdaugh guilty of killing his wife and son in 2021. Now, he’s facing life in prison.

On June 7, 2021, Maggie Murdaugh (52) and her son Paul (22) were found shot dead at the family’s lodge in Islandton, South Carolina. Maggie had been gunned down with a rifle, while Paul had been killed with a shotgun; the blast had completely removed his brain from his skull. Murdaugh told cops he believed the killings were linked to threats his son had received over a 2019 boating accident when Paul — who was drunk at the time — crashed a speedboat into a bridge. His friend was killed in the accident. He also said he had been away visiting his mother, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s.

However, a growing pile of evidence quickly painted a different picture. It turned out Murdaugh had a serious drug addiction problem and had been stealing money from his law firm and clients. Prosecutors argued that he’d murdered his wife and son to cover up his financial crimes. Then police turned up a Snapchat video uploaded by Paul Murdaugh just five minutes before he died — and it proved Alex Murdaugh had been at the lodge, not with his mother as he claimed. He admitted having lied to cops about where he was, but insisted he wasn’t responsible for the killings.

After six weeks of testimony from 76 witnesses, the jury took just three hours to decide they didn’t believe him. On March 2, they unanimously found him guilty of the murders. The next day, he was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. However, he’s also likely to face charges related to the millions he stole from his law firm; those could add up to another 700 years to his sentence.

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