Murdaugh Trial Freelance Class
Murdaugh Trial Freelance Class
Murdaugh Trial Freelance Class
3/1/2023
A small town in Walterboro, SC is getting national attention. Attorney Alex Murdaugh is being
accused of killing his wife and son on his 2000-acre hunting estate. The trail has been a series
twists and turns involving lies, drugs and scandals which is why it’s being dubbed the trail of the
century in south Carolina. On June 7th in 2021, police dispatch received a call at 10:30pm from a
distraught Alex murdaugh stating he had found his wife and son shot down near their dog
Officials believe that Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were murdered between 8:30 and 9:00pm
and Alex claimed he was not home during that time, but a snap chat video posted by Paul
minutes before his murder tells a different story. The video doesn’t specifically show Alex, but
his voice is distinctly heard. Last week in the court room Alex confessed to being in the video
and changed his alibi stating he was in fact at the kennels but left right before his family was
killed. He claims he lied to police in the beginning because of an opioid addiction he was
Murdaugh has a history of lying in recent years which has resulted in 19 indictments and 99
criminal charges involving money laundering, tax evasion, insurance fraud and forgery. His
crimes were in connection with his family law firm in which he would swindle and steal from
clients. A man of this nature could easily be portrayed as guilty. The twist is that Alex is an
impressive performer and when on the stand he puts on a convincing show professing his
3/1/2023
innocence. He even has some of the jurors in tears when he gives his statement. Although,
Subtle clues and body language say something different. Body language specialist Janine Driver
appeared on CNN and claims his deception is obvious. For example, when he’s asked a
straightforward question, “did you kill you wife and son?”, he softly nods his head “yes” while
There’s no doubt that some of the jury will see through his deception but I believe that he has
convinced at least a few that he’s innocent. This will result in a hung jury or mistrial, which is all
Murdaugh’s defense team needs to throw the case. If this happens the prosecutors will have to
charge Alex again and start the trail all over. This is good news for Murdaugh because acquittal
rates in criminal trials are significantly higher after hung juries than during original trials.
Hopefully prosecutors can convince the jury that Murdaugh was the only person who had a
motive to kill his wife and son. That motive lies in the million-dollar debt and criminal charges
he had weighing on his shoulders. He was a career criminal who had swindled insurance
companies for large sums of money in the past, who’s to say this wasn’t the same. Regardless
of the outcome of this trail, Murdaugh isn’t off the hook yet. He still has to serve significant
time in prison for his other crimes which is a tactic his defense team may use to their advantage
to gain sympathy from the jury. Deliberations are scheduled to begin Wednesday, March 1 st and
Citations
Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas. “Jurors in Alex Murdaugh Murder trail visit the crime scene.” The
New York Times, 3 Mar. 2023, Jurors in Alex Murdaugh Murder Trial Visit the Crime Scene -
Roy, Barsha. “How did Alex Murdaugh do on the stand? Body language experts weigh in as
https://www.sportskeeda.com/pop-culture/how-alex-murdaugh-stand-body-language-
experts-weigh-internet-spots-major-giveaway