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Mr. Waters told jurors that a “perfect storm” had been approaching Mr. Murdaugh — and, by extension, his wife and son — on the day of the murders. Earlier that day, Mr. Murdaugh had been confronted by his law firm’s financial chief, who accused him of pocketing a six-figure check that he was supposed to pass along to the law firm. The judge agreed this week to let jurors view the property, despite opposition from prosecutors who said it has changed since the killings, including that trees have grown taller and thicker than what they were in the summer of 2021. Testimony in the murder trial ended on Tuesday, and closing arguments began shortly after jurors returned to the courtroom Wednesday. Fast forwarding many years later to June 7, 2021, Alex called 911 to report the shooting of his wife, Maggie, and their son, Paul. Aside from being horrific, they likely gained even more media attention due to Paul Murdaugh's own ongoing trial, in which he was charged with a wrongful death suit for a fatal boat crash that occurred while he was boating under the influence.
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The family had been living in Hampton, South Carolina -- a roughly 20-minute drive from Islandton -- but after that house sustained damage during a hurricane, they relocated to the Moselle home, Buster Murdaugh told the court. The massive estate, known as Moselle, has been at the heart of the trial -- and played a big role in the Murdaugh family's life before the grisly killings. Interestingly, House Beautiful reported the house on Moselle Road was put on the market in February 2022 and is currently under contract. The Crosby Land Company listed the massive, 1772 acres of property for $3.9 million.
Moselle’s dark history
Alex Murdaugh's Moselle home, scene of double murder, to be sold - Greenville News
Alex Murdaugh's Moselle home, scene of double murder, to be sold.
Posted: Tue, 09 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Along with the infamous hunting lodge, the sprawling estate features a farm, two miles of river frontage for freshwater fishing and kayaking, dog kennels, plenty of turkey and deer for on-site hunting, and a custom-built home constructed in 2011. In addition to cellphone data, one of the strongest pieces of evidence against Alex (more on the trial ahead!) was a Snapchat video captured by Paul that put his father at the kennels—the scene of the crime—minutes prior to the murders. Alex had previously claimed to be napping at the main home on the property during that time frame, and the video reveals his duplicity.
Murdaugh testimony only confirmed his guilt, jurors say
Murdaugh family's infamous Moselle estate set for February online auction - ABC NEWS 4
Murdaugh family's infamous Moselle estate set for February online auction.
Posted: Thu, 28 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Custom built in 2011, it also boasts mahogany doors, heart pine floors, a grand staircase, a chef's kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances and granite countertops, a billiards room and custom gun cabinets. Located approximately 70 miles from Charleston, the Moselle Estate House is private and secluded, surrounded by upland open fields and a mature old growth hardwood forest, the home's listing notes.
The proceeds of that initial sale went to the Murdaugh family's surviving son, Buster, and victims of a 2019 boat crash involving Paul, reported the Greenville News, citing a settlement approved in January by a South Carolina judge. The guilty verdict followed a nearly six-week-long trial, more than 20 months after the June 2021 fatal shootings of Mr. Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie, 52, and their younger son, Paul, 22, on the family’s rural estate. Alex Murdaugh’s family long dominated the legal scene in his small South Carolina county, but for the last six weeks Murdaugh has been on the other side of the courtroom, standing trial on murder charges in the shootings of his wife and son. Alex Murdaugh’s surviving son, Buster Murdaugh, testified that his father was “destroyed” and “heartbroken” after the killings. He said that when he spoke with his father about 20 minutes after prosecutors say the murders took place, Alex Murdaugh sounded “normal” — at a time that Mr. Murdaugh’s lawyers say he had yet to discover the bodies of his wife and son.
The minimum sentence for murder is 30 years in prison, and prosecutors have said they will seek a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Dick Harpootlian, one of Mr. Murdaugh’s lawyers, said he planned to appeal the verdict. The crucial, minute-long video recorded at the kennels happened to capture Mr. Murdaugh’s voice in the background. It was taken by Paul Murdaugh in one of his last living moments, an act that inadvertently helped to secure the conviction of his father. Murdaugh, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, maintains he found his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, fatally shot when he returned to Moselle from a visit to his sick mother on the night of June 7, 2021.
Judge vacates conviction of man whose identity was stolen in ‘Kafkaesque’ case
Condolences poured in, and people wondered who might have targeted his family. But there was soon even more scrutiny of his finances, leading to indictments on dozens of financial crimes — and then to murder charges. The jury traveled past the “no trespassing” signs on Wednesday to visit the place where Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and their younger son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, were killed, near the property’s dog kennels. Much of the trial focused on Mr. Murdaugh’s lies, including the one that he repeated to police in three interviews after the murders, in which he claimed to have not been at the family’s dog kennels. The 1,700-something acre property includes the house the family lived in for several years, as well as dog kennels, a cabin, and stretches of swamp lands, plotted fields and forests in which Murdaugh would go hunting for deer and other game with his two sons.
The game room became a part of Murdaugh’s trial since that was where his large collection of guns was stored. The actual guns used in the shootings — an assault rifle and a shotgun — have not been found. The sale also includes a 1,140-square-foot guest cottage, according to the listing by Crosby Land Sales. “I am a next-door neighbor, with our home about a mile from this house. We seek a new neighbor to enjoy this gorgeous house and land,” Godley said in the statement. The house and 21 acres were separated from the roughly 1,700 acres the Murdaughs owned.
This is the same path Murdaugh has walked every day of the trial, but there are more reporters and onlookers here than at any other moment. Alan Wilson, the South Carolina attorney general whose office prosecuted Alex Murdaugh, walks out of the Colleton County Courthouse to applause from onlookers. Prosecutors pointed to two specific events in the week of the murders that they suggested may have led Mr. Murdaugh to kill his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and their younger son, Paul Murdaugh, 22. The trial was a reckoning for Mr. Murdaugh, who long avoided legal consequences for his stealing and lying — things he admitted to from the witness stand — as he led a life of privilege and wealth. The dog kennels, the area where the bodies were found, have no animals inside. The estate went up for sale last year, several months after the killings, according to CNN affiliate WJCL.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division helped with forensics in the initial investigation, which was led by South Carolina Highway Patrol. But in June 2021, about two weeks after Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were killed, the law enforcement agency said that it was opening a new inquiry based on information gathered during investigations into the double homicide. She has said that on the night of her son’s death, he was driving home from a night class at a technical college where he was training to become a nurse.
The South Carolina Supreme Court disbarred Murdaugh on Tuesday, confirming the inevitable after Murdaugh’s attorneys declined to contest arguments at a June disbarment hearing. Murdaugh wrote 437 checks worth $2.4 million that his friend cashed over eight years, keeping some of the money for himself and giving the rest for wide-ranging illegal activities, according to the indictments unsealed last month. State police said information they gathered in the Murdaugh investigations also led them to review what was initially reported as the hit-and-run death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith in Hampton County in July 2015, although they didn't provide more details.
The sentence for Murdaugh’s financial crimes is a kind of insurance policy to prevent his release if his murder conviction is overturned. Under South Carolina law, Murdaugh will have to serve almost 23 years of the sentence, even if he is a model prisoner. His lawyers are seeking a new trial, citing allegations that the court clerk tampered with the jury. A different judge will decide whether to grant Murdaugh a hearing in which jurors, the clerk and possibly even Newman could be questioned under oath. Murdaugh once worked for the century-old, family-founded law firm, which discreetly boasted of securing million-dollar verdicts for accidental deaths, product liability or workplace safety cases. Murdaugh, a now notorious South Carolina fraudster and disbarred attorney, is currently serving two consecutive life sentences after being convicted in March of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, at the family's hunting estate in June 2021.
The indictments handed up by a grand jury in Colleton County, where the shootings happened, contend Murdaugh killed his wife with a rifle and his son with a shotgun. They include no details on how police linked Murdaugh to the deaths after 13 months of investigation. More details may be released in a bond hearing, which has not been scheduled. Prosecutors, who contend Murdaugh killed his wife and son to distract from his financial crimes, did not present direct evidence against him. Mr. Murdaugh had already spent that money and more, prosecutors said, and was no longer able to move enough money around to cover his tracks.
OMAHA, Neb. (CNN) - Two brothers from Nebraska survived a real-life nightmare when they were sucked out of their home by a tornado. She added that the bounce house, which is owned by the family, flew backward in the incident. The sheriff’s office says another child was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. “We would like to extend our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the grieving family,” said the sheriff’s office in a press release.
Against his attorney's advice, Alex Murdaugh decided to take the stand in his own defense. Under questioning by attorney Jim Griffin, Murdaugh is hoping the jury will look past his lies and believe that now he's telling them the truth. After the judge ruled Murdaugh's alleged financial schemes could be brought in, the state called the firm's CFO Jeannie Seckinger.
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