Alex Murdaugh trial: Detective explains key crime scene mystery after killer begins appeal
Murdaugh was convicted last week for murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul in June 2021
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A lead investigator in the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh has offered an explanation for a key mystery from the trial after Alex Murdaugh took the first official step toward an appeal of his conviction.
Detective Laura Rutland, one of the first officers at the Moselle estate crime scene in South Carolina, was asked during trial testimony about hairs found in Maggie’s hand after she was killed. While she was unable to offer much of an explanation on the stand - she now has one.
Ms Rutland explained to Fox News a bullet that struck Maggie’s skull had ripped out much of her scalp, leaving hair not only in her hand but also scattered around her body.
The revelation came hours after Murdaugh’s attorney Dick Harpootlian announced that his defence had filed a notice of appeal.
Meanwhile, Murdaugh has been separated from other inmates and is under round-the-clock surveillance for his own safety at the Kirkland Correctional Institution, where he is awaiting permanent placement in a high-security prison.
South Carolina’s Department of Corrections released his new mugshot on Wednesday, capturing the 54-year-old smiling softly.
Where is Alex Murdaugh in prison?
Alex Murdaugh was handed two consecutive life terms at his sentencing on 3 March, hours after the guilty verdict came down. The sentence will be served at one of the state’s seven maximum security prisons, which only house violent criminals.
Upon leaving the court, he was handed over to the custody of the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDOC) and taken to the Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia.
All male inmates are originally taken to this facility after sentencing, which is one of the state’s maximum security prisons.
Once there, he is expected to have a two-month evaluation including mental and physical health checks.
This evaluation – together with the inmate classification system – will be used to determine which of South Carolina’s highest-security prisons Murdaugh will be sent to spend the duration of his sentence.
The evaluation process takes about 45 days, the SCDOC said in a statement following Murdaugh’s sentencing.
Murdaugh vows to appeal murder conviction
Disgraced legal dynasty heir and convicted family killer Alex Murdaugh is already planning to appeal his verdict after a jury of 12 found him guilty of the murders of his wife and son.
Defence attorneys Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian told reporters on Friday they would fight the murder conviction which has landed Murdaugh behind bars for life.
Mr Harpootlian said that they will be filing appeal documents within 10 days and vowed that they would appeal his conviction all the way up to the US Supreme Court.
Despite the verdict, Mr Harpootlian insisted Murdaugh is innocent and said that they had no regrets about putting him on the witness stand in his own defence.
Murdaugh had “no choice” but to testify in his murder trial because he had been “made out to be a monster who stole from children, crippled people” and others, he said.
“Did he pull it off? He apparently didn’t,” he said.
When asked if they believe Murdaugh is innocent, Mr Harpootlian quickly shot back: “Yes!”
Portrait of Murdaugh’s grandfather goes back up at courthouse
A portrait of Alex Murdaugh’s grandfather that was removed from the Colleton County Courthouse at the start of the trial has now been put back up.
Judge Clifton Newman had ordered the temporary removal of Randolph “Buster” Murdaugh Jr’s portrait over fears that it could influence the jury by serving as a reminder of the family’s power and influence in the South Carolina Lowcountry.
Randolph Murdaugh Jr was given the prominent place in the courthouse after serving as solicitor of the 14th Judicial Circuit from 1940 until 1986.
He had taken that role over from his father, Randolph Sr, who was killed in a train crash in 1940.
Murdaugh’s father, Randolph III, also served as solicitor.
VOICES: Will Alex Murdaugh remember what brought him down?
“Alex Murdaugh is now slated to spend the rest of his life in prison for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul. The astonishing murder trial delivered its final twist on Thursday evening when the jury returned its guilty verdict after less than three hours — a tiny fraction of the time they listened to unspeakably gruesome testimony about the killings.
“While some of the 12 jurors may elect to reveal their identities and speak to the media in the coming days, as one already has, we’ll likely never have a full picture of what happened in the deliberation room. But having followed the courtroom circus in the most minute detail from our New York newsroom, there’s little doubt in my mind that the verdict hinged on one out of 75 witnesses: Murdaugh himself.”
The Independent’s Megan Sheets writes:
Will Alex Murdaugh remember what brought him down?
On the stand at his murder trial, Alex Murdaugh was able to remember a mountain of tiny details — but was at a loss for a few key big ones. Holes in his memory didn’t go unnoticed by the jury
Murdaugh is facing another 700 years on financial crimes
Separate to the murder case, Alex Murdaugh is facing a staggering 99 charges from 19 separate indictments for a string of financial fraud schemes.
He is accused of stealing at least $8.7m from settlements from dozens of legal clients he represented through his law firm PMPED.
Part of the plots involved Murdaugh negotiating wrongful death and other settlements for his clients and then stealing the money for himself, according to prosecutors.
The alleged schemes date back as far as 2011 but were on the brink of being exposed at the time of the murders.
Alex Murdaugh, centre, is handcuffed in the courtroom after a guilty verdict of his double murder trial was read aloud at Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina
During his trial, prosecutors said that Murdaugh killed his wife and son to distract from his financial crimes.
Among the slew of charges are counts of: fraud, attempted tax evasion, money laundering, embezzlement, obtaining signature or property by false pretenses, forgery, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.
Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
But, in court during his murder trial, he confessed under oath to stealing from PMPED and at least 18 law firm clients.
Among the victims are the family of Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaugh family housekeeper who died in a mysterious trip and fall death back in 2018.
Did Murdaugh race and class save him from death penalty?
Observers have argued that Alex Murdaugh was able to avoid the death penalty because of his wealth, race, and family background, coming from a line of lawyers and prosecutors who presided in Hampton County for generations.
“It is hard to ignore the fact that that the decision provided yet another example of racial and class privilege in the death penalty system,” Austin Sarat, a death penalty expert and jurisprudence professor at Amherst College, wrote in USA Today.
Describing death row, Professor Sarat noted, “Throughout U.S. history, it has been a place heavily populated by poor Black men.”
In South Carolina, a state with a population that’s two-thirds white, half of the 35 people on death row are Black.
During Murdaugh’s sentencing, Judge Clifton Newman pointed to similar ironies.
The Independent’s Josh Marcus has more:
Alex Murdaugh avoided death sentence because of ‘racial privilege,’ observers say
Murdaugh family has presided for generations over South Carolina courts
WATCH: Moment Alex Murdaugh is convicted of murdering wife and son
Alex Murdaugh made a desperate confession to avoid a murder conviction. It likely sentenced him to 700 extra years
Alex Murdaugh has left himself with no escape from a lifetime behind bars after he admitted to a string of financial crimes under oath at his murder trial.
Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul at the family’s $4m Moselle estate in Islandton and has been sentenced to life in prison in South Carolina.
Despite his conviction, Murdaugh continues to profess his innocence – even when given a last-ditch chance to confess at his sentencing hearing.
His legal team of State Senator Dick Harpootlian and friend Jim Griffin have already vowed to fight the guilty verdict, by appealing the case all the way up to the US Supreme Court.
But, as prominent attorney Duncan Levin told The Independent’s Rachel Sharp this week, it won’t make any difference.
Read more from our exclusive interview:
Alex Murdaugh’s desperate confession likely sentenced him to 700 extra years
Exclusive: Prominent attorney Duncan Levin tells Rachel Sharp that even if Murdaugh’s planned appeal of his murder conviction is successful, he’s still destined to spend his life behind bars
SC AG Wilson speaks of pride over state’s handling of Murdaugh case
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has said that he is “proud” of the way the state handled Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial and secured justice for Maggie and Paul.
Mr Wilson, who made a brief appearance questioning the prosecution’s final witness in the trial, also urged people to remember the victims of the saga.
“I’m back in the office after six weeks, and I keep thinking about how proud I am of our prosecution and law enforcement team for how they handled the Murdaugh trial. Your position, power, and station in life don’t matter. In South Carolina, no one is above the law,” he tweeted on Tuesday.
“Justice was served for Maggie and Paul last week. And we’re not finished. I want to remind everyone that the people Alex Murdaugh hurt are not characters in some saga. They’re real people who are dealing with the very real effects his crimes.
“This case has caught national attention, and I’ve heard documentaries and even movies are being made. In the midst of all that, I urge you to remember the victims and their voices. All of Alex’s life has been about him. Don’t let that continue.”
How Alex Murdaugh’s son helped seal his guilty verdict from beyond the grave
Since birth, he enjoyed the privileges that came from being the heir to a local legal dynasty.
For a decade he got away with stealing millions of dollars from his law firm, legal clients and friends.
And for 13 months he evaded justice after murdering his wife and adult son in a brutal fashion on the family’s estate.
But, in the end, Alex Murdaugh’s crimes caught up with him.
And it was his own son who unknowingly helped cement his downfall from beyond the grave with a damning 50-second cellphone video of a dog.
The Independent’s Rachel Sharp reports:
How a 50-second video of a dog brought down Alex Murdaugh
Paul Murdaugh had no idea that a video of a dog he took to send a friend would lead to justice for him and his mother – and the conviction of his own father for their murders. Rachel Sharp reports
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