This is breaking news Thursday night (at least they avoided a Friday verdict).
The disgraced South Carolina lawyer was found guilty of murdering his wife and youngest son. What a tragedy!
We didn't follow the case much, but there appeared to have been lots of extrinsic and unrelated evidence about Murdaugh stealing money from clients.
That always worries us. Jurors are not trained to put aside evidence of wrongdoing. Prosecute a person for murder, and prove that they also stole, just makes the jury more likely to convict on the murder count.
It seems like that occurred here.
Your thoughts?
UPDATE: We just read some of the defense closing. No physical evidence was obtained. Murdaugh was accused of "butchering" two people, and there was no forensic evidence. Very troubling, along with the fact that the police never considered any other suspects. That always troubles us the most- when investigators focus on one suspect from the beginning.
11 comments:
Murdaugh's family is a bunch of insulated good old boys who monopolized criminal prosecutions in that town for generations. Murdaugh himself is a degenerate drug-addicted scion of privilege who was fleecing his clients to pay for his drugs and lifestyle. Murdaugh's dead son Paul was a degenerate nasty violent drunk who killed a girl while drunk diving a boat. Paul's dad and granddad were breaking into people's hospital rooms after the crash, intimidating them to be quiet or lie to protect Paul. Even when Paul was arrested, he still got the rich white boy treatment, being spared arrest and the prosecutor provided the "mugshot" by just snapping a photo in the court hallway, so dear little Paul would never to have suffer the indignity of being booked.
Now that Paul's head was blown off and his father Alex is convicted of the murder, both are removed from a society. Two birds with one stone. Win-Win. And that venal Southern Gothic family can finally suffer some shame and disgrace which is long overdue.
This Daily Mail article will give you a good summary of this interesting case ;https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11814911/The-damning-evidence-brought-family-annihilator-Alex-Murdaugh.html
What will Zilber do after that embarrassing and crushing defeat ? Spent over $500,000 of other people's money to get less than 1,000 votes.
Mr. Update: YOU did not sit in the jury box so, YOU probably are not in a good position to question the verdict. We all know that a conviction can be had when the idiot defendant lies about everything.
I wouldn’t base your thoughts just on reading the defense closing. The cell phone evidence was damning. Murdaugh said he was visiting his Mom—who has Alzheimer’s and couldn’t remember—at the time of the shooting. But the cell put him there, AND there’s a recording with just him and his wife and son at the time of the murder. When confronted at trial he said he lied and made up his alibi because he was on drugs.
I listened to a good portion of the trial and went back and forth on guilt. But then I thought if I was wavering, that I'm a reasonable person and therefore my doubt is reasonable which means that I would have had to find him not guilty.
Totally agree about the forensics. That's where I had my doubts. Explosive gunshots with biological matter all over the place but so no physical evidence linking to the defendant. If he did it, I have trouble reconciling how he was able to dispose of blood, brains, guns, clothes, all within such a short time period without any traces being on him, golf cart, car, carpet, etc. And if none of those places were tested, why not?
Just watched sentencing. Why the f** do we think that a defendant who has maintained his innocence will now all of a sudden show remorse for a crime he's said he didn't commit? I HATE that that's an element of sentencing or early release issues.
Next big murder trial now:
The Charlie Adelson murder for hire case. FSU professor gunned down in his own driveway. It has everything. Money, sex, a hired hit man. Just got continued to the fall. It has some Miami connections.
his alleged financial crimes came in, it seems, under "motive", which is bizarre as the state doesnt even need to prove such.
judge's comments after the verdict "you (jury) did the right thing" are also a little bit worrying. even if in his heart he was voting Guilty, and even if he would directed a guilty over a NG, why say something like that?
reminds me of nikolas cruz's broward judge hugging the state after the verdict. anything, any reprimand ever come of that? Broward PD should be recused from every one of her cases
This case in Britain is pretty outrageous:
The Telegraph
Pedestrian jailed for three years over death of cyclist she shouted at to get off pavement
Telegraph reporters 1 day ago
A partially-sighted and disabled pedestrian has been jailed for three years over the death of a cyclist she shouted at to get off the pavement.
CCTV footage recorded Ms Grey shouting “get off the f-----g pavement” moments before Mrs Ward wobbled into the road and into the path of a VW Passat.
Mrs Ward was pronounced dead at the scene following the incident on Oct 20 2020 in Huntingdon, Cambs.
Grey, who was described as "childlike", was convicted of manslaughter last week and appeared before Peterborough Crown Court on Thursday for sentencing.
The court had previously heard that police inquiries had failed to establish whether the pavement was a shared cycle-way or not.
Judge Sean Enright, passing sentence, said he acknowledged the partial blindness, cognitive and mobility issues and cerebral palsy that Ms Grey suffered from.
However he added: "It does not reduce your understanding of right or wrong."
He also said that up until pre-sentencing remarks, Grey had not expressed a "word" of remorse.
Gillian Hayter, Celia's daughter, said in a victim impact statement: "The lack of any remorse from the accused cannot be underestimated in having a profound effect on us all."
She added: "The panic and disbelief and shock of losing her in such an awful accident was hard to comprehend. But the news that it was not a tragic accident but a deliberate act of violence was incomprehensible.
"Mum is the least violent person. We have not had a chance to properly grieve and the court case has been a constant reminder to us that mum is no longer here."
Auriol Grey has been jailed for three years © Provided by The Telegraph Auriol Grey has been jailed for three years
In another victim impact statement, the driver of the VW Passat spoke of the untold trauma she has experienced since that day.
Carla Money, a mum to two young children, said she was a confident driver on her way home from a playdate with her two-year-old when Mrs Ward fell into the path of her car.
She said her "whole life" was turned upside down, and it had taken her years to gain the confidence to drive again. She said she had been suffering from PTSD which had led to the breakdown of her marriage.
She added: "My heart aches for Mrs Ward's family, they are forever in my heart."
In a probation officer's report read in court today it stated that Ms Grey has "difficulty expressing emotions of any sort overtly, but does write them down".
Grey, of Bradbury Place, Huntingdon, Cambs, has cerebral palsy, partial blindness and cognitive and mobility issues.
The court was told that she is vulnerable and could be exploited by other prisoners.
It is understood Grey’s lawyers plan to appeal the sentence.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pedestrian-jailed-for-three-years-over-death-of-cyclist-she-shouted-at-to-get-off-pavement/ar-AA188HPj
122, the lady should have never been given a driver's license and surely shouldn't be driving now. If it was intentional and it seems like it was, three years is a joke and an insult.
https://www.wjcl.com/amp/article/murdaugh-murders-timeline-evidence/42846491
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