Alex Murdaugh was detained seconds after being convicted of the murders of his wife and children.
A jury convicted the discredited lawyer guilty of the heinous 2021 murders on Thursday. Murdaugh remained steadfast while the jury deliberated. He moved his head back and forth slightly after learning his destiny.
Neither Murdaugh, 64, nor his surviving son Buster, 26, who was present for the judgment, exhibited any emotion immediately after the decision.
Officers quickly encircled Murdaugh and handcuffed him, taking him to jail.
The jury deliberated for three hours before returning a guilty judgment. That occurred after weeks of evidence from more than 75 witnesses who testified.
He is due to be sentenced at 9:30 a.m. on Friday.
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Maggie, 52, and Paul, 22, were discovered dead on the 1,770-acre property in Islandton, South Carolina, where the family’s hunting lodge was situated on June 7, 2021.
Murdaugh was charged with the murders more than a year after the corpses were recovered. He was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of having a weapon while committing a violent crime, and he was found guilty on all counts.
Murdaugh’s murder trial started on January 23, 2023. Throughout the dramatic legal procedures, the jury was given a mobile phone video Paul transmitted to his buddies on the night of the killings.
Related: Alex Murdaugh Murder Jurors to Visit ‘Moselle’ Crime Scene
The film, which was shot near the property’s dog kennels, included the voices of Paul, Maggie, and Murdaugh. Murdaugh first denied being in the vicinity of the dog kennels on the night of the killings, but while testifying in his own defense, he acknowledged lying about his movements that evening.
Murdaugh reportedly contacted his wife on the evening of June 7, 2021, and asked her to meet him at the family’s estate.
Murdaugh informed his wife that his 81-year-old father, Randolph Murdaugh III, was in poor condition and that she needed to visit him before he died, according to a law enforcement source close to the inquiry.
The pair had struck a hard point in their marriage, according to multiple sources, and she was living at the family’s beach home on Edisto Island, about an hour away from the family’s estate.
Maggie originally rejected to meet him at the family home, instead proposing they meet at the hospital, according to a law enforcement source. Finally, she agreed to meet at the property, intending to drive her husband to the hospital in her own car.
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Maggie reportedly messaged a friend on her way to the residence, claiming that something about her husband’s conduct seemed “fishy,” according to a law enforcement source.
“He’s up to something,” Maggie is said to have written to a pal.
Maggie arrived at the location, left her vehicle running, and went to the estate’s dog kennels, where her son, Paul, was photographing a dog he was minding for a friend.
What transpired next is unknown, but Maggie and Paul were shot down near the dog kennels. Authorities claim Paul’s corpse was discovered “half in and half out” of the dog kennels.
Paul was shot in the chest and head at close range with a shotgun. Maggie was shot many times, including once in the back and again when she was laying on the ground. She was hit with 300 Blackout ammunition fired from an AR-style weapon. They were both declared deceased at the site.
Even after his conviction, Murdaugh faces further legal challenges.
He is facing hundreds of accusations for suspected financial crimes such as stealing money from his legal practice, scamming customers, and computer offenses.
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Prosecutors suspect that he allegedly scammed his former housekeeper’s family of a $4.5 million insurance payment after she died in a bizarre slip-and-fall event at his home. A trial will be convened for those charges at a later date.
