Alex Murdaugh has been convicted of murdering his wife and son after a six-week trial that revealed the prominent lawyer’s spectacular fall from grace.
The 54-year-old shot his wife Margaret, 52, four or five times with a rifle outside dog kennels on their rural Colleton County property in South Carolina on 7 June 0221.
On the same day, he shot his 22-year-old son Paul twice with a shotgun.
Prosecutors had said the lawyer, from a well-known and wealthy family, carried out the killings in an effort to distract from the fact he had been stealing from the family firm.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours after hearing from more than 75 witnesses and considering nearly 800 pieces of evidence.
They were told about betrayed friends and clients, Murdaugh’s failed attempt to stage his own death in an insurance fraud scheme, a fatal boat crash in which his son was implicated, the housekeeper who fell to her death in the family’s home, the grisly scene of the killings and Bubba, the chicken-snatching dog.
But it was a mobile phone video shot by his son Paul that appeared to seal his fate – it was filmed minutes before his death and witnesses testified that it captured the voices of all three family members.
When he gave evidence, Murdaugh admitted stealing millions of dollars from clients but insisted he had not killed his wife and son, having told police he was asleep when they were attacked.
“I would never hurt Maggie, and I would never hurt Paul – ever – under any circumstances,” he said.
He will be sentenced later and faces 30 years to life in prison without parole.
The story features in a Netflix documentary series – Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal. In it, residents in their hometown of Hampton County question the family’s influence, historically, over local law enforcement.