WALTERBORO, S.C. — Disgraced South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh was convicted of murder Thursday in the shooting deaths of his wife and son in a case that chronicled the unraveling of a powerful Southern family with tales of privilege, greed and addiction.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours before finding Murdaugh guilty of two counts of murder at the end of a six-week trial.
Murdaugh, 54, faces 30 years to life in prison without parole when he is sentenced, which in South Carolina is typically right after the verdict but can be delayed if a judge chooses.
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For 20 months, Alex Mudaugh told everyone that he wasn’t at the kennels but while testifying in his own defense, he finally admitted he was there.
“He lied because that’s what addicts do. He lied because he has a closet full of skeletons,” Griffin said.
Prosecutors said all Murdaugh did was lie — to the people he was stealing from, to police about a key fact in their investigation, to his family about his drug use and even about the order in which he checked his wife and son for signs of life, switching who he checked first in different police interviews.
Griffin said that showed how badly the state wants to convict Murdaugh at all costs, referring to prosecutors’ closing argument where they said the evidence showed Maggie Murdaugh died while running to see her son.
“Alex was running to his baby. Can you imagine what he saw?” Griffin said. “And is it evidence of guilt that he doesn’t remember what the sequencing was at that moment?”
Griffin said his time as a prosecutor left him pained to say the State Law Enforcement Division either fabricated or lied about evidence.
The lead agent on the case said on the stand that he told the grand jury that indicted Murdaugh 13 months after the deaths that the T-shirt Murdaugh was wearing when police arrived had high velocity blood spatter from his son that happens when someone is shot at close range.
But other agents in the case had already reported further testing on the shirt showed no blood on it and the shirt was never mentioned by prosecutors at the trial.
Meadors said law enforcement is not on trial, Murdaugh is.
The prosecutor said he was offended that Murdaugh’s defense is claiming that law enforcement “didn’t do their job while he is withholding and obstructing justice by not saying, ‘I was down at the kennels.’”
And there was the matter of the blue rain jacket that state agents said was covered in gunshot residue when it was found at Murdaugh’s mother’s house. Investigators theorized Murdaugh wrapped guns in it to hide on his parents’ property, but Murdaugh’s family didn’t recognize it and it wasn’t his size.
Griffin ended his closing argument with a plea to the jury.
“On behalf of Alex, on behalf of Buster, on behalf of Maggie and on behalf of my friend Paul, I respectfully ask you do not compound a family tragedy with another,” Griffin said, his voice breaking.
Earlier Thursday, Judge Clifton Newman removed a juror because she discussed the case with other people. Five jurors have had to be replaced during the six-week trial, leaving the jury with just one alternate during deliberations, which began at 3:50 p.m. (EST) on Thursday.
Newman’s exchange with the juror Thursday was pleasant. He asked her if she needed the bailiff to get any of her things from the jury room. She said she had her purse and a dozen eggs that a fellow juror brought for each juror from his farm.
Fiset said the lone alternate juror marks an alarming development given the risk of illness posed by COVID-19. In a case with less direct evidence, she expects a longer deliberation — and a longer period for members to remain healthy.
“They are one person away from this jury being a mistrial,” Fiset said.
