Murdaugh faces life in prison
A South Carolina legal dynasty is at the center of Richard “Alex” Murdaugh's high stakes double murder trial, which culminated this week as jurors deliberated less than three hours before finding the former attorney guilty of murdering his wife and son in 2021. Murdaugh was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences Friday.
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This week, we talk with USA TODAY reporters N'Dea Yancey-Bragg and Anna Kaufman about their coverage of Murdaugh's trial.
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'A legal saga stretching back nearly a decade'
The build-up to a verdict in the Murdaugh trial was intense: a Netflix docuseries heightened focus on the scandals and criminal allegations surrounding the disbarred attorney and his disgraced family legacy, while the trial itself attracted massive public attention.
Amid true crime hype and a high-drama trial, USA TODAY has been present at all angles of this story, unpacking key evidence revealed in Netflix's "Murdaugh Murders" and paying attention to every courtroom twist and turn, especially Murdaugh's dramatic testimony in which he admitted to lying.
"It is a complicated case and it took a team effort to cover it," Yancey-Bragg said. "I was really surprised that the verdict came in so quickly given that there was so much evidence in the case and some legal observers were worried about a hung jury!"
Publishing quality journalism over the noise means grounding the coverage in hard facts, Kaufman said: "This is a case that has garnered attention from true crime junkies and Hollywood alike, but at the root of it is a real story about two people who were slain."
The team also leaned on the knowledge of fellow reporters in the newsroom and the USA TODAY network in South Carolina.
"Through the larger network we are able to draw on a deep familiarity with the case," Kaufman said. "There’s a flavor of local reporting unique to our status as not just USA TODAY but a web of small-town newspapers that know their backyards better than anyone else."
That's it for now.
Are you excited to watch some Oscar-nominated films this weekend? Or are you tuning into college basketball to avoid facing some heavy winter snow? Perhaps you've got spring fever and are vying for some cherry blossom pics? Either way, have a splendid weekend. I'll be here next week with more from the newsroom.
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Best wishes,
Nicole Fallert
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Murdaugh faces life in prison
