Alex Murdaugh receives 2 life sentences after being found guilty of murdering his wife and child

Disabled lawyer for almost two years Richard “Alex” Murdaugh54, was involved in the shooting of his wife, Margherita pizza “Maggie” Murdaughand one of his sons Pablo murdaugh, on June 7, 2021. At the sentencing hearing, the former lawyer pleaded not guilty and swore he would not harm his wife or child. Following his March 2 guilty verdict, Alex received two life sentences, one for each count of murder, in prison. The sentences will be carried out simultaneously.

On the day of the guilty verdict, Alex was also found guilty of two weapons charges. The 54-year-old man has defeated one of the charges in his case. Jurors deliberated for several hours and considered six weeks of testimony from 70 witnesses. The day before the verdict, they toured the 1,700-acre crime scene.

In July 2022, Alex was accused of “shooting to death” his two family members on their Islandton, South Carolina, property known as the Moselle. During that time, he was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of weapons. Though he pleaded not guilty, he his son, Buster, 26, defended his father in his testimony on Feb. 26, 2023. During the statement, the 26-year-old said his father called him after allegedly finding the bodies of Maggie and Paul. “He said, ‘Are you sitting?'” He reminded him, a PEOPLE. “He looked weird and then he told me my mother and brother had been killed.”

Alex’s son also noted that his father was “heartbroken” after the tragic accident. “I was heartbroken,” Buster told the judging panel. “I walked in the door and saw him, I hugged him.” Additionally, he said his father was “destroyed” by his family’s death. Despite Buster’s accounts, prosecutors told the jury in closing arguments on March 1, 2023, that Alex has been “stealing” and “lying” from her clients for many years. “The evidence he heard shows that the defendant became so dependent and so addicted to the speed of money that the millions of dollars in legal fees he received were not enough and he started stealing,” the audience said. ministry. Creighton waters said at the time, Cnn.

Prosecutors also said Alex was “under duress” at the time of the deaths of his wife and child. “The pressures on this man were unbearable and were mounting the day he killed his wife and child,” Waters said. In February 2019, a woman was allegedly “thrown overboard” from a boat belonging to Alex. Subsequently, his family filed a lawsuit against him, adding to the aforementioned “pressure”.

Alex later confessed to lying about his whereabouts on the night of the murders. He initially claimed that he was nowhere near the kennel on his property that the bodies of his wife and child were found. Alex finally admitted why he lied and said he was “sorry” for what he had done. “I lied to them,” he said, through United States today. “I guess I can’t reason and I lied about being there and I’m sorry I lied.” At the time of the guilty verdict, Alex faced “30 years in prison for life without parole,” according to Los Angeles Times.

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