By JEFFREY COLLINS and JAMES POLLARD (Associated Press)
WALTERBORO, S.C. (AP) — In 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.
Judge Clifton Newman requested Murdaugh if he had something he wished to say earlier than sentencing him to 2 consecutive life phrases, and the South Carolina legal professional maintained his innocence.
“As I tell you again, I respect this court. But I am innocent. I would never under any circumstances hurt my wife Maggie and I would never under any circumstances hurt my son Paul-Paul,” Murdaugh responded.
“And it might not have been you. It might have been the monster you become when you take 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 opioid pills. Maybe you become another person,” Newman replied, noting Murdaugh’s decadeslong dependancy to painkillers.
In prolonged feedback, Newman requested Murdaugh what he meant when he mentioned “oh, what a tangled web 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 when I lied, I continued to lie,” Murdaugh replied.
“And the question is when will it end? You continued to lie and lie throughout 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, a person from a respected family who has controlled justice in this community for over a century. A person whose grandfather’s portrait hangs at the back of the courthouse that I had to have ordered removed in order to insure a fair trial,” Newman mentioned.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters mentioned not one of the victims of the crime — members of Murdaugh’s household and the mother and father and relations of his spouse — wished to talk on behalf of the prosecution earlier than sentencing.
“The depravity, the callousness, the selfishness of these crimes are stunning. The lack of remorse and the effortless way in which he is, including here, sitting right over there in this witness stand — your honor, a man like that, a man like this man, should never be allowed to be among free, law abiding citizens,” Waters mentioned.
Outside the courthouse Friday, Tracy Kinsinger, 58, had one aim: to make sure that Murdaugh noticed his do-it-yourself signal studying “Murderer” that he made after a “mad dash” to Walmart for crafting provides. For Kinsinger, who got here from Beaufort, South Carolina, the result was a vindication of the authorized system.
“The truth is he brought shame upon himself, his family, the community, his profession,” Kinsinger mentioned. “It’s disgraceful.”
Prosecutors requested for a life sentence to carry Murdaugh chargeable for what they are saying are many years 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 informed ABC News that when deliberations started, the jury instantly took a ballot that got here again with 9 responsible votes. It didn’t 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 similar kennels close to the place the our bodies could be discovered.
The voices of all three Murdaughs could 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 regulation enforcement as a result of he was hooked on opioids and had capsules in his pocket the night time of the killings.
“A good liar. But not good enough,” Moyer mentioned.
Prosecutors didn’t have the weapons used to kill the Murdaughs or different direct proof like confessions or blood spatter. But 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 without end.
Through greater than 75 witnesses and almost 800 items of proof, jurors heard about betrayed pals and shoppers, Murdaugh’s failed try and stage his personal demise 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 residence 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. Before 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 Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel mentioned the case serves as a discover to anybody who aided in Murdaugh’s dozens of different alleged crimes.
“Today is not the end. It’s the next step in the long road to justice for every person who has been victimized by Alex Murdaugh,” Keel mentioned.
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Find extra AP protection of the case: https://apnews.com/hub/alex-murdaugh
___ Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”