Alex Murdaugh trial updates: Murdaugh guilty on two counts of murder in death of wife, son
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The video above will play a live video stream of the verdict in the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial or a replay upon completion.
After six weeks of court proceedings - a theatrical ride that included everything from graphic brain injury testimony and a bomb threat to a chicken-chasing dog named Bubba - a Colleton County jury is now deliberating the guilt or innocence of accused family killer and disgraced lawyer Richard "Alex" Murdaugh.
Multiple media outlets are reporting the jury has reached a verdict around 6:50 p.m. Thursday.
Murdaugh, indicted July 2022 on two counts of murder and matching weapons charges in the June 7, 2021 killings of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, is facing life in prison without parole.
Judge Clifton Newman charged the jury with their duties under the law after lunch Thursday, as Murdaugh, sitting at the defense table, looked on with apparent confidence on his face.
"We'll be in recess, waiting for the verdict," Newman said.
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The jurors, seven white men, three white women, and two Black women, were excused from the courtroom to deliberate at 3:36 p.m. and began deliberation shortly thereafter. Paper copies of the indictments were sent back to them around 3:45, and the cart full of evidence exhibits was rolled back to them around 8:50 p.m.
A member of the Murdaugh defense team told The Hampton County Guardian the judge has decided to give the jurors until 10 p.m. tonight. If no verdict is ready by then, court will adjourn until Friday.
Judge Newman has also decided that would be no weekend deliberations - if no verdict is reached by 10 p.m. Friday then the jury will return at 9:30 a.m. on Monday.
The closing arguments echoed the massive amount of testimony and evidence the jury has been exposed to during the trial, but with more emotion, as both the State and Murdaugh's defense got one final chance to appeal to the hearts of minds of the dozen citizens who will decide guilt or innocence.
State v. Richard a. Murdaugh Jury Charge by USA TODAY Network on Scribd
Alex Murdaugh's defense: State's case is all "fabrications"
Murdaugh defense attorney Jim Harpootlian's closing argument could be summarized as a shopping list of "fabrications" by state police and State prosecutors. According to Griffin, the S.C. Law Enforcement Division (SLED) did not properly preserve the crime scene or thoroughly investigate the killings, and the State fabricated blood spatter evidence, the controversial blue raincoat coated with GSR that could have been years old, and fabricated matching shotgun shell loading patterns when talking to the Colleton County Grand Jury that indicted Murdaugh in July 2022.
Furthermore, SLED zeroed in early on Murdaugh - and only on Murdaugh, he added.
"We believed we've shown conclusively that SLED failed miserably in investigating this case," said Griffin.
Even more "outlandish," irrational," and "insane," said Waters, is the State's motive that Murdaugh's financial house of cards was collapsing so he murdered his family as a distraction - a motive that is "totally fabricated."
Griffin took the State's mountain of circumstantial evidence and went down the list, attempting to discredit and cast doubt on the accuracy of each one.
At the end of his remarks, Griffin showed some emotion before the jury, urging the jury to find Murdaugh not guilty.
"On behalf of Maggie and my friend Paul, don't compound a family tragedy with another one."
State's rebuttal: Alex Murdaugh case all about common sense, what's real
Assistant Attorney General John Meadors summed up the State's rebuttal by talking about common sense, what's real, and making the right choices.
He reminded the jury about Murdaugh's many lies and inconsistencies when faced with contradictory evidence, and contrasted those lies with witnesses that spoke out against him - people that he called "real," unlike the defendant, who lied for 627 days before taking the stand and changing his story about being at the crime scene.
"I think he did it to protect the person he loved the most - Alex."
Meadors closed his remarks by asking the jury to make the right choice and convict Murdaugh.
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Thursday a.m. updates in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial
WALTERBORO, S.C. (AP) — A juror was removed Thursday from the jury that will soon deliberate the fate of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh in his double murder trial because she discussed the case with other people.
Five jurors have now been removed from the panel over the six-week trial and just one alternate remains as the defense prepared to make its closing argument and deliberations could begin. The other jurors have had to leave because of COVID-19 or other medical problems.
Judge Clifton Newman said it didn’t appear the juror intentionally violated the order he gives each day for the jury not to talk about the case with anyone.
“Though it does not appear the conversations were that extensive, it did involve the juror offering her opinion on evidence received up to that point in the trial,” Newman said.
Murdaugh, 54, faces 30 years to life in prison if he is convicted of either murder count. Investigators said his 22-year-old son, Paul, was shot twice with a shotgun and his 52-year-old wife, Maggie, was shot four or five times with a rifle outside dog kennels on their Colleton County property on June 7, 2021.
Closing arguments by defense attorney Jim Griffin and prosecutor John Meadors concluded at 1:40 p.m. Thursday before the lunch recess. The jury will receive its charges after lunch.
The judge said he initially was told the juror spoke to two people and state agents interviewed those people. Then, the judge brought the people into his chambers and they waffled on what they initially said.
Still, Newman told the juror he had no choice.
“Intentionally or unintentionally, you’ve had some discussions with some folks not on the jury, which is going to require me to remove you,” Newman said.
Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian said he didn’t disagree with Newman’s decision but thinks having two State Law Enforcement Division agents tied to the case — one who testified and a second involved in the investigation — interview the people the juror talked to was “a continuum of a calamity of errors” that included how badly the defense thinks the murder probe has been handled.
Newman also indicated he wasn’t happy with how state agents handled the juror matter.
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.
“We get a lot of interesting things, but now a dozen eggs,” Newman said.
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Thursday a.m. updates in the Alex Murdaugh trial
The Alex Murdaugh double murder trial will continue with the defense's closing arguments at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, in which Murdaugh's attorneys will be quick to point out issues of reasonable doubt, such as the lack of a "smoking gun" and eyewitnesses.
But Creighton Waters, S.C. Attorney General prosecutor, concluded his afternoon of closing remarks Wednesday with, "We couldn't bring you the eyewitnesses, because they were murdered."
The jury has a "tough job" to make a "tough" decision: to vindicate Paul and Maggie, who were cut down in the prime of their lives," added the prosecutor.
"Maggie and Paul deserve a voice," Waters said. "They need a voice because they can no longer speak."
The prosecutor then held up two photos - pictures of the bullet-ravaged bodies that were so graphic Judge Clifton Newman ordered them sealed from public view - and made one final appeal to the jury.
"This is what he did. This is what he did right here. This defendant has fooled everyone... he fooled everyone close to him... he fooled them all. He fooled Maggie and Paul and they paid for it with their lives."
"Don't let him fool you, too."
Check back for updates
SC attorneys, observers weigh in on possible verdict in Alex Murder trial
Attorneys who have been following the six-week-long Alex Murdaugh double-murder trial say the outcome remains uncertain, but that a guilty verdict or hung jury is likely.
"It could come down to the gut feeling of a single juror," Greenville attorney Cindy Crick said. "I do not think this jury will find him not guilty, but I do think there could be one or more jurors who might hang the jury because they have reasonable doubt and cannot vote to convict."
Greenville attorney William Yarborough said a visit Wednesday to the outdoor kennels at the family property of Moselle, where Murdaugh's wife and younger son were fatally shot in 2021, could be the decision-maker.
Here's their take on what the jury may decide - and why.
Alex Murdaugh murder trial: State's evidence likely to impact the Colleton County jury
What evidence will have an impact on the Colleton County jury in the Alex Murdaugh trial, and will it stick? What is the State's most powerful evidence?
Here's Michael DeWitt's analysis of what may transpire in court.
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This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Alex Murdaugh trial live stream, updates: Verdict reached
