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Within the fruits of the once-prominent lawyer’s fall from grace, Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in jail with out parole Friday after being convicted of murdering his spouse and son.
Decide Clifton Newman requested Murdaugh if he had something he needed to say earlier than sentencing him to 2 consecutive life phrases, and the South Carolina legal professional maintained his innocence.
“As I let you know once more, I respect this courtroom. However I’m harmless. I might by no means underneath any circumstances harm my spouse Maggie and I might by no means underneath any circumstances harm my son Paul-Paul,” Murdaugh responded.
“And it won’t have been you. It may need been the monster you develop into once you take 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 opioid capsules. Possibly you develop into one other particular person,” Newman replied, noting Murdaugh’s a long time lengthy dependancy to painkillers.
In prolonged feedback, Newman requested Murdaugh what he meant when he mentioned “oh, what a tangled internet we weave” whereas on the stand in his personal protection, when he admitted mendacity to investigators about being on the kennels the place Maggie and Paul Murdaugh have been killed.
“I meant once I lied, I continued to lie,” Murdaugh replied.
“And the query is when will it finish? You continued to lie and lie all through your testimony,” Newman mentioned.
Newman additionally touched on the Murdaugh household’s historical past as they stood in a courtroom on the circuit the place his father, grandfather and great-grandfather tried circumstances because the elected prosecutor for greater than 80 years.
“A lawyer, an individual from a revered household who has managed justice on this neighborhood for over a century. An individual whose grandfather’s portrait hangs behind the courthouse that I needed to have ordered eliminated to be able to insure a good trial,” Newman mentioned.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters mentioned not one of the victims of the crime — members of Murdaugh’s household and the dad and mom and family members of his spouse — wished to talk on behalf of the prosecution earlier than sentencing.
“The depravity, the callousness, the selfishness of those crimes are beautiful. The shortage of regret and the easy approach during which he’s, together with right here, sitting proper over there on this witness stand — your honor, a person like that, a person like this man, ought to by no means be allowed to be amongst free, legislation abiding residents,” Waters mentioned.
Outdoors the courthouse Friday, Tracy Kinsinger, 58, had one aim: to make sure that Murdaugh noticed his do-it-yourself signal studying “Assassin” that he made after a “mad sprint” to Walmart for crafting provides. For Kinsinger, who got here from Beaufort, South Carolina, the end result was a vindication of the authorized system.
“The reality is he introduced disgrace upon himself, his household, the neighborhood, his career,” Kinsinger mentioned. “It’s disgraceful.”
Prosecutors requested for a life sentence to carry Murdaugh liable for what they are saying are a long time of mendacity, stealing and utilizing his household’s appreciable clout of their tiny county to his benefit. The Colleton County jury deliberated for lower than three hours earlier than discovering Murdaugh responsible of killing his 22-year-old son with a shotgun and his 52-year-old spouse with a rifle on June 7, 2021.
Juror Craig Moyer instructed ABC Information that when deliberations started, the jury instantly took a ballot that got here again with 9 responsible votes. It did not take lengthy to persuade the opposite three.
The juror agreed with prosecutors that the important thing piece of proof was a video locked on his son’s cellphone for a 12 months — video shot minutes earlier than the killings on the identical kennels close to the place the our bodies could be discovered.
The voices of all three Murdaughs may be heard on the video, although Alex Murdaugh had insisted for 20 months that he hadn’t been on the kennels that night time. When he took the stand in his personal protection, the very first thing he did was admit he had lied to investigators about being on the kennels, saying he was paranoid of legislation enforcement as a result of he was hooked on opioids and had capsules in his pocket the night time of the killings.
“A very good liar. However not adequate,” Moyer mentioned.
Prosecutors didn’t have the weapons used to kill the Murdaughs or different direct proof like confessions or blood spatter. However that they had a mountain of circumstantial proof, together with the video placing Murdaugh on the scene of the killings 5 minutes earlier than his spouse and son stopped utilizing their cellphones eternally.
By greater than 75 witnesses and practically 800 items of proof, jurors heard about betrayed pals and shoppers, Murdaugh’s failed try and stage his personal dying in an insurance coverage fraud scheme, a deadly boat crash during which his son was implicated, the housekeeper who died in a fall within the Murdaugh dwelling and the grisly scene of the killings.
The now-disbarred legal professional admitted stealing thousands and thousands of {dollars} from the household agency and shoppers, saying he wanted the cash to fund his drug behavior. Earlier than he was charged with homicide, Murdaugh was in jail awaiting trial on about 100 different prices starting from insurance coverage fraud to tax evasion.
At a information convention after the sentencing, South Carolina Regulation Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel mentioned the case serves as a discover to anybody who aided in Murdaugh’s dozens of different alleged crimes.
“In the present day is just not the top. It’s the following step within the lengthy street to justice for each one who has been victimized by Alex Murdaugh,” Keel mentioned.
(AP)
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