Day 28: Judge will sentence Murdaugh Friday after guilty verdict in murder trial

Alex Murdaugh, a once prominent Hampton-based attorney from a well-known politically connected family, is on trial in the deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul.

Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty. He faces life in prison without parole if found guilty. The trial started Jan. 23 with jury selection, opening arguments and the initial round of witness testimony.

How to watch the Murdaugh double murder trial, who to follow from The State, Island Packet

8:30 p.m. — Waters: Alex tried to dodge accountability

During a press conference held after Murdaugh was found guilty of the murders of his wife and son, lead prosecutor Creighton Waters thanked jurors for their service and delivering the guilty verdict.

“Alex Murdaugh tried on last con to prevent the accountability he has never faced,” Waters said, “but the jury saw through that and properly found he murdered his wife and son in cold blood.”

During Waters’ cross-examination for Murdaugh, he repeatedly insisted that when “accountability” was closing in on Murdaugh, “bad things” would happen, such as his family’s deaths and the Labor Day weekend shooting that sent him to a Savannah hospital.

Defense attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin did not address the media.

8:04 p.m. — AG Wilson: ‘We got to be a voice’ for Maggie, Paul

Attorney General Alan Wilson has begun a press conference outside the Colleton County Courthouse.

Wilson was met with an enthusiastic crowd, cheering and clapping as he noted the “emotion” of the trials.

“We got to bring justice and be a voice for Maggie and Paul Murdaugh,” Wilson said.

8 p.m. — Attorney General to hold press conference

Attorney General Alan Wilson will speak at a press conference outside the Colleton County courthouse at 8 p.m.

7:17 p.m. — Sentencing to take place tomorrow

Judge Clifton Newman said Alex Murdaugh’s sentencing will take place tomorrow morning.

The minimum sentence for his murder charges is 30 years for each charge, with the maximum being life in prison, Newman said.

“The state will be ready at 9:30 in the morning, your honor,” lead prosecutor Creighton Waters said.

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian agreed.

7:13 p.m. — Individual polling concludes, verdict unanimous

The court has individually polled each juror. All jurors confirmed they agreed with the guilty verdict.

Defense attorney Jim Griffin has made a motion for a mistrial and requested a directed verdict from Judge Clifton Newman.

Newman denied both motions.

“The jury has now considered the evidence for a significant period of time, and the evidence of guilt is overwhelming,” Newman said. “I deny the motion.”

7:05 p.m. — Jury finds Alex Murdaugh guilty of murder

After just three hours of deliberation, a Colleton County jury has found Alex Murdaugh guilty of all charges in the deaths of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.

The charges carry a sentence of life without parole.

6:41 p.m. — Jury has reached verdict

The jury has ended its deliberations and reached a verdict after almost three hours of deliberation.

Deliberations began at 3:50:24 p.m. this afternoon.

4:49 p.m. — Expectations as jury deliberates

The jury has been deliberating for more than an hour.

Per the court, the jury can deliberate up to 10 p.m. They are not sequestered.

For now, there is no plan to order dinner for the jury members, who have coffee, tea, water and snacks, the court said.

Court proceedings will start immediately if there are any questions from the jury or a verdict, and reporters were advised to stay close to the courthouse.

Sources told The State that Judge Clifton Newman is not inclined to have the jury deliberate over the weekend, meaning if they come back without a verdict Friday, Newman would bring the jury back Monday.

3:50 p.m. — Jury begins deliberations

The jury has been dismissed and deliberations have started after Judge Clifton Newman delivered the jury’s charge for more than 30 minutes.

The primary panel of 12 jurors left for the jury room, and the one remaining alternate was intended to be dismissed.

Both lead prosecutor Creighton Waters and defense attorney Jim Griffin asked that the alternate be retained, in case any of the 12 primary jurors were unable to continue for any reason.

Newman asked Alex Murdaugh if he was in agreement.

“Yes sir,” Murdaugh said.

Murdaugh has been charged with the murders of Paul and Maggie, as well as possession of a firearm in both instances. If convicted, Murdaugh would serve a life sentence without parole.

Court entered recess at 3:45 p.m. to await the verdict.

Jury started deliberating at 3:50:24 p.m. Thursday.

3:04 p.m. — Judge charges jury

The jury has returned from its lunch break and received its charge from Judge Clifton Newman.

“Under the Constitution and laws of South Carolina, you are the finders of the facts in this case. I do not have the right to pass upon the facts or to even express any opinion that I might have as to them,” Newman said, “because this is a matter solely for you the jury to determine. As jurors then it is your duty to determine the effect, the value and the weight of the evidence presented during this trial.”

1:45 p.m. — Court breaks for lunch

Closing arguments have concluded. Judge Clifton Newman sent the court into recess until 3 p.m.

When jurors return, Newman will provide their charge before deliberations begin.

1:36 p.m. — Meadors: Paul ‘had insurance’ to prove Alex’s guilt

In his ongoing, passionate rebuttal argument, prosecutor John Meadors raised his voice as he mentioned Paul Murdaugh.

“Paul Knew. ‘Dad, I’ve got some insurance,’” Meadors began. “’Not the kind of insurance you’ve made money off of, insurance you gave some clients back and some you didn’t. I’ve got some insurance on you. I don’t know why you killed me, I’ve made some mistakes … I know I’ve opened your life, your fake life with this boat case, I know that, but if you go lie and say you weren’t down here, I’ve got you. I don’t when it’ll come out, I don’t know if you’ll lie, but it’s going to come out.’”

Murdaugh admitted to years of deceit when he took the stand in his own defense, but denied involvement in Maggie and Paul’s murders. Meadors asked jurors to remember his testimony.

“What he did when he took the stand was he corroborated he’s a liar, he corroborated the fact he doesn’t tell the truth, the one thing that’s more important than anything,” Meadors said. “How can you believe him on the ultimate issue, when the only thing they’ve corroborated for you throughout the investigation, throughout this trial and throughout (prosecutor Creighton Waters’) cross-examination is that he’s a liar. And that’s all you can judge people on.”

Meadors finished his rebuttal at 1:39 p.m.

1:21 p.m. — Alex ‘cleaned up’ after murders, prosecutor argues

Prosecutor John Meadors argued Murdaugh cleaned himself up after the murders, appearing “clean” despite claiming he’d run to check Paul and Maggie’s pulses.

“You can’t do that in the 20 seconds he said he did it. You can’t, and they’ve tried to change that,” Meadors said. “What did (investigator Laura Rutland) say? He’s clean, he’s clean, he’s clean. He washed up, you can hear the water running in the dog video, you hear it.”

Meadors also rebutted Murdaugh’s account of his drug abuse.

“If you took as many pills as he (said) he did, you’d be dead,” Meadors said.

If Murdaugh’s voice hadn’t been identified on Paul’s video taken at the kennels, Meadors claimed he probably wouldn’t have taken the stand to defend himself. That night, Murdaugh was in his right mind and made a conscious decision to lie to investigators, Meadors said.

1:05 p.m. — Meadors: Alex visited mother ‘because he loves Alex’

When Murdaugh first got news of his father’s failing health, prosecutor John Meadors said he didn’t go visit that day despite his law office being closer to his parents’ home than Moselle.

Murdaugh waited to visit his mother until around 9:30 that evening, which Meadors said was unusual, especially given the stay’s short duration.

“He wasn’t going to love his mama, he wasn’t going to be with her,” Meadors said. “He was going there because he loves Alex. He loves Alex, and he was going there to create his alibi. At 9:30 at night? Use your common sense.”

Both legal teams have repeatedly asked jurors to recall a tenet that attorneys have held in near-sacred regard throughout the trial: guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Meadors added the caveat that reasonable doubt and no doubt are different.

“You can’t answer every question, and the law doesn’t require it. If after hearing the evidence you are firmly convinced of the defendant’s guilt, you must find him guilty,” Meadors said.

An uncertain motive, Meadors added, shouldn’t pause the jury’s application of common sense. Murdaugh’s circumstances around the time of the murders pointed to financial ruin and potentially lengthy jail time.

“I don’t know why he did it,” Meadors said. “I think he did it to protect the one he loves most. I think he did it to protect Alex, and keep his lifestyle.”

12:55 p.m. — Meadors urges jury to use common sense in verdict

During his rebuttal argument, prosecutor John Meadors asked the jurors who will decide Murdaugh’s fate to use common sense when examining the circumstances of Maggie and Paul’s deaths.

Meadors said it was near impossible that vigilantes striking back at the Murdaugh family following Paul’s 2019 boat crash would go to Moselle, not bring their own guns, know that Murdaugh was gone, and know that Paul and Maggie were at the kennels that night.

“You know what? We don’t need a gun. There’ll be guns there for us to use. ... They’ll have guns there for us and we can use them. Does that make any sense whatsoever?” Meadors pushed jurors to consider.

12:48 — Meadors: Defense put ‘law enforcement on trial’

Prosecutor John Meadors began his rebuttal with a passionate counter to the defense’s claim that law enforcement “fabricated” evidence to push Murdaugh’s guilt, equating it to putting “law enforcement on trial.”

“I once called (defense attorney Dick Harpootlian) an automatic smokescreen machine. I think what the defense is doing right now is more like an eclipse,” Meadors said. “I find it offensive the defendant, who was also a part-time solicitor, is claiming that law enforcement didn’t do their job while he is withholding and obstructing justice by not saying, ‘I was down at the kennels, I was down at the kennels, I was down at the kennels.’ And he’s going to blame everybody else?”

Meadors said the case was about “being real.”

“And that defendant has never been real,” Meadors said. “They’re going to blame everybody but Alex. Everybody.”

12:45 p.m. — Prosecution rebuttal argument begins

Prosecutor John Meadors will deliver the prosecution’s rebuttal.

Before his argument began, Meadors told Judge Clifton Newman he expected to speak for around 40 minutes.

12:27 p.m. — Defense argument ends

During cross-examination of Murdaugh, lead prosecutor Creighton Waters pointed to inconsistencies in Murdaugh’s testimony and suggested he’d been changing his stories to better fit “his timeline” of June 7, 2021.

Defense attorney Jim Griffin hit back at that accusation in his closing, instead arguing the prosecution has “manipulated” evidence to indict Murdaugh on murder charges, including presenting misleading evidence to the grand jury.

SLED originally claimed blood spatter was found on Murdaugh’s shirt, but confirmatory tests for blood returned negative results. Lead investigator David Owen said he’d never seen those results.

“The state wants you to view this through the diabolical monster lens that they have tried to paint, but the law requires you to view it through the lens of innocence, where none of these things, individually or taken together, can prove conclusively Alex’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” Griffin said.

On behalf of the Murdaugh family and “my friend Paul,” Griffin asked jurors to not “compound this family tragedy with another” before ending his argument.

His closing lasted roughly two hours.

12:16 p.m. — Alex asked for police officer to look after Buster

When officers arrived at Moselle on June 7, 2021, Murdaugh asked Colleton County Sheriff Buddy Hill if a police officer could be sent to look after Buster, his surviving son.

Griffin said he played the clip to respond to prosecutors’ suggestion Murdaugh wasn’t concerned for Buster’s safety after the murders.

“And they want to come in here and tell you he wasn’t concerned for Buster’s safety?” Griffin said. “Once again, I’m glad the Colleton County Sheriffs deputies were wearing body cameras.”

Murdaugh was “consistently” wrong when investigators asked him to give a time estimate, Griffin added, whether it was “consequential or inconsequential.”

Griffin focused on the discrepancies in an attempt to draw suspicion away from Murdaugh’s misstatements and paint them as mistakes instead of lies.

12:09 p.m. — Griffin: Alex couldn’t act normal after he ‘blew away’ family

Between leaving to visit his mother and returning to find Paul and Maggie’s bodies, witnesses testified Murdaugh seemed normal in phone conversations.

Griffin argued Murdaugh wouldn’t have been able to control his emotions if he had killed his family.

“Their theory is he just blew the people he loved the most in this world, he blew them away,” Griffin said.

The gruesome nature of the murders should also have left Murdaugh covered in blood and gore, Griffin argued, which were never found on Murdaugh’s hands or the rest of his body.

11:58 a.m. — Alex didn’t have Maggie’s phone, defense says

Defense attorney Jim Griffin pointed to discrepancies between when Murdaugh’s phone and Maggie’s phone recorded steps.

In the period between 9:05 p.m. and 9:07 p.m. on June 7, 2021, Murdaugh’s phone was logging steps while Maggie’s phone was not, Griffin said.

Griffin said Murdaugh’s phone was not recording steps at the rapid “scurrying” pace prosecutors have suggested could point to him leaving the crime scene, calculating only around 1.05 steps a second during that time.

11:39 a.m. — Griffin: No evidence Alex did anything while at kennels

Defense attorney Jim Griffin asked the jury how Murdaugh could have “butchered” his wife and son within a “matter of minutes,” before disposing of the evidence.

He redirected the focus of his closing argument briefly after.

“This is the wrong question to be asking yourselves, because the question you’re tasked with answering is: has the state presented evidence that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Alex Murdaugh butchered Paul and Maggie without leaving a trace of evidence, all within a matter of minutes?” Griffin asked.

The lack of physical evidence, Griffin said, does nothing but prove Murdaugh was at the crime scene having “pleasant family conversation” with Paul and Maggie before they were killed.

While Murdaugh’s voice was captured in an 8:45 p.m. video taken minutes before the state theorizes Maggie and Paul were killed, Griffin said time of death is still too uncertain to say when the pair were murdered.

The state’s “entire case” has been built on supposing since Paul and Maggie Murdaugh’s phone activity stopped around that time, that means they must be dead, Griffin said.

11:32 a.m. — Griffin: Alex didn’t throw Maggie’s phone

Prosecutors have hinted Murdaugh may have thrown his slain wife’s phone out of his car when he was driving to his mother’s home from Moselle.

Maggie’s phone was found about half a mile from the crime scene on the side of Moselle road.

Cellphone data recovered from Maggie’s phone showed several different data points, including the phone’s log of when the screen light came on.

Griffin said it was impossible for Murdaugh to have thrown the phone from his car, since the screen light didn’t come on after the vehicle passed where Maggie’s phone was found.

“The answer is no, he didn’t, because if you throw it out the window, at a minimum, the display light’s going to come on, and when the display light comes on, it registers,” Griffin said. “They are desperate to prove that Alex threw the phone out the window, there is no evidence of that.”

11:25 a.m. — ‘There’s two shooters out there,’ defense says

Defense attorney Jim Griffin criticized the prosecution of going through “gymnastics” to explain how Murdaugh may have staged the murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh using two weapons.

“That should tell you that there’s two shooters out there,” Griffin emphasized.

11:18 a.m. — ‘Not a fact’ family weapons killed Murdaughs

The state has suggested family weapons were used to kill Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, defense attorney Jim Griffin said, but that may not be the case.

Maggie was killed with a .300 Blackout rifle and Paul was shot with a shotgun. The Murdaughs owned both types of weapon, but Griffin suggested the weapons were common enough anyone could have used them.

“The ballistic evidence is the shot shells were fired by the same gun,” Griffin said. “Don’t know that you really need an expert for that, but that’s what the testimony was on the shotgun.”

The extractor and ejector tool marks found on .300 Blackout cartridges found at the house and shooting range matched those found at the crime scene, earlier ballistic experts testified. Griffin pointed out the firing pin marks left on the cartridges did not match.

“In David Owen’s notes he said the ballistic expert can’t be 100% sure until you have the gun ... this ballistic examination is somewhat soft-science, it’s come under criticism,” Griffin said. “It’s not gospel.”

10:58 a.m. — Griffin: ‘No evidence’ Alex would kill family to hide finances

Defense attorney Jim Griffin continued his effort to undercut the prosecution’s motive theory that Murdaugh killed his family to distract from a bevy of unraveling financial crimes.

Griffin said there’s “no evidence” Murdaugh would kill someone else to hide those misdeeds.

“When Alex is at financial collapse, he doesn’t go kill somebody else, he gets someone to kill him,” Griffin said, referencing the 2021 Labor Day weekend shooting. “This is a natural response. People don’t go kill someone else. They kill themselves (to keep from) being exposed. ... I don’t have the adjective for (the state theory), that is so outlandish, … totally illogical, irrational and insane.”

10:52 a.m. — Griffin: Witnesses supported Alex’s love of family

Several witnesses that took the stand throughout the trial have supported Murdaugh’s close relationships with his wife and son, defense attorney Jim Griffin argued.

“Which brings us to the question why. Why, why, why would Alex Murdaugh, on June 7, execute his wife Maggie and son Paul that he loved. Why?”

The prosecution argued Murdaugh killed his family to draw attention away from his emerging financial crimes.

“Oh, and it worked too, by the way,” Griffin said mockingly. “Because he killed his wife and son, Jeanne Seckinger (Murdaugh’s former law firm CFO) stopped asking questions for a couple weeks.”

10:43 a.m. — Alex lied to cover ‘closet full of skeletons’ attorney says

Defense attorney Jim Griffin said Murdaugh lied to law enforcement because of his drug-induced paranoia and to keep scrutiny away from his personal life.

“Now why did he lie? That’s certainly a fair question,” Griffin said. “And frankly, I probably wouldn’t be sitting over there right now if he did not lie. But he did lie, and he told you he lied … he lied because that’s what addicts do. He lied because he had a closet full of skeletons and he didn’t want any more scrutiny on him.”

Griffin reiterated Murdaugh did not lie to “cover up” the murders of Maggie and Paul.

10:35 a.m. — Murdaugh family never saw blue rain jacket

None of the Murdaughs recognized a blue rain jacket found at Libby Murdaugh’s home when SLED investigators showed it to them, defense attorney Jim Griffin said during closing arguments.

The rain coat became another instance of “fabricated evidence” unlinked to the murders, Griffin argued. The jacket had a significant amount of gunshot primer residue on the inside, which the prosecution suggested means it may have been used to wrap up and dispose of potential murder weapons.

10:28 a.m. — Griffin: SLED ‘fabricating’ evidence in Labor Day weekend shooting

“Some of my best friends are law enforcement. I don’t make that claim lightly,” defense attorney Jim Griffin said, moments after declaring SLED agents began “fabricating” evidence to charge Murdaugh with the murders of his wife and son.

Griffin said Murdaugh’s long struggle with drug abuse that led up to him being shot by a Hampton County roadside, which Murdaugh said was an attempted suicide, made Murdaugh an “easy target” for SLED.

Griffin also criticized SLED for misrepresenting evidence before the state grand jury that Murdaugh’s white T-shirt had blood on it after it was seized by law enforcement.

“They went from Mr. Bloody Shirt before the trial,” Griffin said, “To Mr. Clean during the trial ... how’d you not know that there’s this hematrace test that said they’re no blood? I say it somewhat in jest, but, did a dog eat his email? How does a lead investigator in a case not get the lab report that says there’s no blood?”

10:15 a.m. — Griffin: Police ‘decided’ Alex committed murders

When law enforcement arrived at Moselle to find two dead bodies and Murdaugh wielding a shotgun, defense attorney Jim Griffin said it would be reasonable for first responders to consider him a suspect.

If the investigators had done a “competent” job in their investigation, however, Griffin said Murdaugh should have been removed from suspicion immediately.

“What doesn’t strike us as fair, is that the next morning, June 8, after the gruesome murders of Maggie and Paul, this is what is issued: A press release from Colleton County and SLED that says, ‘At this time there’s no danger to the public,’” Griffin said. “You have two people who’ve been executed within … 100 yards, 200 yards from Moselle Road. They’ve been slaughtered, and at this time there’s no danger to the public? Does that tell you that on June 8, that law enforcement had decided it had to be Alex Murdaugh? It’s a fair question for you to ask yourselves; it’s a question that’s not been fairly answered in this trial.”

Griffin added the defense was “baffled” that Maggie and Paul’s clothes were tested for DNA, especially after a witness testified human hairs were found in Maggie’s hands. Griffin noted that evidence was not brought up again.

10:05 a.m. — Griffin: ‘Law requires’ jury presume Alex innocent

Early in his opening arguments, defense attorney Jim Griffin reminded jurors of their charge to review the evidence presented in the trial and presume Murdaugh’s innocence until proven guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“I’m sure many of you (when Murdaugh was arrested and charged) thought, ‘Oh, good. They got him,’” Griffin said. “But those opinions, and each of you when you filled out your questionnaire, affirmed and agreed that you would leave those opinions at the doors of the courthouse, and that’s what the law requires.”

“If there’s any reasonable doubt that causes you to hesitate to write guilty, then that requires you to write not guilty,” Griffin said.

10:01 a.m. — Defense begins opening arguments

Defense attorney Jim Griffin has risen to begin defense’s closing arguments.

“I don’t know why they call it arguments,” Griffin said. “I’m not here to argue with you, I’m here to go over the evidence that’s been presented.”

Lead prosecutor Creighton Water gave a roughly three-hour closing argument Wednesday.

9:44 a.m. — Juror removed days before deliberation

Judge Clifton Newman announced a member of the jury was removed after a long, on-the-record conversation with that juror and legal teams Wednesday night.

Newman said he’d been issued a complaint from a member of the public claiming the juror had engaged in “improper conversations” with someone outside the jury.

During in-court hearings, Newman said, the two “waffled” on the nature of their conversation. The juror, Juror No. 785, had contact with at least three other people.

The juror was brought out separately from the rest of the jury before the defense closing argument began Thursday morning.

“Despite my order to not discuss the case with anyone that, intentionally or unintentionally, you’ve had some discussions with some folks not on the jury, which is going to require me to remove you from the jury,” Newman said. “You have been a, by all accounts, great juror, and smiled consistently, and have seemingly been attentive to the case and performed well. I’m sure that with all the time invested in it you hate not to continue, or maybe you’re ready to go, I don’t know.”

Newman thanked Juror No. 785, a woman, for their service in “this long trial.”

Before being dismissed, Juror No. 785 was asked if they had everything they needed. The juror indicated they had “a dozen eggs” and their purse, which Newman sent the bailiff to retrieve along with other personal belongings.

Juror No. 254, an alternate, will now become part of the 12-member jury.

9:30 a.m. — Defense turn to give closing argument

Defense attorney Jim Griffin will give their closing argument starting this morning.

Time ran out Wednesday after lead prosecutor Creighton Waters spent roughly three hours detailing why the state believes Murdaugh, 54, killed his wife and son the night of June 7, 2021. Hours earlier, the jury visited the site of the crime scene.

“Maggie and Paul deserve a voice,” he implored the jury. “They need a voice because they can no longer speak.”

Prosecutors could deliver a rebuttal closing after Griffin finishes. Then it’s up to Judge Clifton Newman to charge the jury before they start deliberating. On Wednesday, Newman retired to his chambers with prosecutors and defense attorneys to discuss a “matter” that has been alluded to throughout the afternoon. No details have been provided.

Court TV reached out to the Colleton County court about deliberations and the verdict. Here are questions and answers:

▪ How long will they deliberate? It’s up to the jury.

▪ Sequestration? There is no decision at this time.

▪ Jury Questions and Request? Yes, on the record.

▪ Will the jury have technology to view exhibits? Yes.

▪ Attorneys presence? They will be somewhere close, but not required to be in the courtroom.

▪ Time of notice of verdict? The longer the deliberations, the more notice will probably be given because the attorneys and staff will be dispersed

▪ Weekends? Yes, they will deliberate through the weekend if necessary.

Meanwhile, Dateline NBC advised it’ll have a two-hour Friday special on the Murdaugh family.

It’ll include an interview with Chris Wilson, a Bamberg attorney and Murdaugh’s longtime friend who testified at the trial.

From Dateline: “During the two-hour special, Chris Wilson tells (Craig) Melvin in an exclusive interview that it was ‘hard’ to testify against his former longtime friend Alex at the trial regarding allegations Alex misdirected funds from a previous case they had worked on together. Wilson explained, “There’s a relationship there that I thought was based on trust and respect, and all of those things that when you find out it’s not, it’s hard to relive that, hard to talk about it.’”