Alex Murdaugh is facing 30 to years to life in prison after jurors unanimously found him guilty of the murder of his wife and son. And he could potentially face an extra 700 years for other crimes he admitted to in his trial, outlets such as the Daily Mail and The New York Post claim.
On Thursday, the disgraced legal scion was found guilty of murdering his 52-year-old wife Maggie and 22-year-old son Paul on June 7, 2021, following a high-profile trial that lasted six weeks.
The bodies of the mother and son were found near the dog kennels at their hunting estate. The two had sustained fatal gunshot wounds. Murdaugh had refuted the charge against him throughout his trial. Following his conviction, he faces 30 years to life behind bars.
A former client of the convict, who Murdaugh stole $1 million from - rejoiced when news emerged of the guilty verdict. The victim even tweeted "justice is served," per the the Daily Mail.
A lawyer representing other victims commended the jurors for taking Murdaugh's apparent emotional distress with a grain of salt.
While professing that he did not commit the double murder, the disbarred lawyer confessed to stealing from more than a dozen clients as well as his law firm.
The frustrated defendant told prosecutors during the trial: "You have charged me with murdering my wife and my son, and I have sat here for these weeks listening to this financial stuff that I did wrong, that I’m embarrassed by.
"I’m happy to talk with you about that as much as you would like to talk about. I’m required to talk about it as much as you want to talk about it. But the fact is I cannot specifically remember sitting down for the details you’re asking for.
"But what I can tell you is that in all of these financial situations, I stole money that was not my money, I misled people I shouldn’t have misled, and I did wrong. I can tell you that."
Murdaugh's financial crimes will be looked into at a later date.
During the explosive trial, the prosecution claimed that Murdaugh killed his wife and son to distract from his financial misconduct, which the defendant's attorneys claimed was ridiculous.
Around the time Murdaugh murdered his wife and son, the family was facing legal action from the family of a teenager, who died after his son crashed a boat into a bridge in December 2019 while under the influence of alcohol.
Lawyers argued that a pre-trial hearing in that case, which was supposed to take place just three days after the double homicide, would have shed light on Murdaugh's financial crimes. They said this was a motive for Murdaugh to kill his two family members.
According to Murdaugh, a vigilante killed his son Paul after learning about the fatal boat crash. He had no answers when asked why his wife was killed too.
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