In the USA, the spectacular murder trial of lawyer Murdaugh is nearing its end. The man who has already been found guilty is now being sentenced to life imprisonment. Behind it is a story that would probably be too crazy even for Hollywood.
Well-known US attorney Alex Murdaugh has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife and son. Judge Clifton Newman sentenced the 54-year-old to two consecutive life sentences in Walterboro, South Carolina. Murdaugh again denied his guilt.
The jury found it established that South Carolina native Murdaugh, who comes from a well-known legal family, shot and killed his wife Maggie and 22-year-old son Paul on June 7, 2021 at the family hunting estate. On Thursday, the jury found him guilty after just under three hours of hearings. "The evidence is overwhelming," Newman said.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters had called for the maximum sentence, saying the "depravity, callousness and selfishness of these crimes were breathtaking". Waters described Murdaugh as a "cunning manipulator, a man who put himself above everyone else - including his family". "He betrayed the trust of so many people, including his friends, his family, his partners, his job and most importantly, Maggie and Paul," Waters said.
Murdaugh - dressed in beige convict overalls and handcuffs - again protested his innocence. "I respect this court, but I am innocent," said the lawyer. "I would never harm my wife Maggie and my son (...)," he assured. His son Buster was in the courtroom with him.
The lawyer alerted the police in 2021 and said he had found the bodies of his wife and son. Later, however, he himself came under suspicion - and was finally accused of double murder in July 2022. The trial generated tremendous interest in the United States, with television stations broadcasting from the courtroom almost daily. Murdaugh admitted in court that he lied about his presence at the crime scene. His voice can be heard on a cell phone video that his son Paul recorded shortly before the fatal shooting.
Murdaugh had previously stolen millions of dollars from his law firm, from clients and even from the family of a former maid who had collected insurance money after the woman's death in a fall. Among other things, he needed the money to finance his opioid addiction.
According to the prosecution, Murdaugh feared in the summer of 2021 that he would soon be exposed - and wanted to prevent this by killing his wife and son and buying himself time. Then, a few months after the double murder, he paid a man to kill him and his other son collected $10 million in life insurance. Murdaugh was only injured by the shot and survived. He admitted to investigators that he paid the perpetrator.
The streaming service Netflix recently released a widely watched series entitled "The Murdaugh Murders: Scandal in the Southern States". It also deals with another case: the murdered son Paul had been involved in a boat accident two years earlier in which a 19-year-old died. Paul Murdaugh was charged with driving the boat while intoxicated.
