Alex Murdaugh shows no emotion as he is found GUILTY of murdering his wife Maggie, 52 and son Paul, 22, on June 7, 2021

Murdaugh, 54, who was facing between 30 years and life in prison, will serve two consecutive life sentences Friday,for slaughtering his wife and son at the family’s hunting lodge in Moselle, South Carolina 

Jury spent 45 minutes deliberating s before reaching unanimous decision of guilty on two murder and two weapons charges a day earlier

Judge who castigated Murdaugh for being ‘a monster controlled by drugs’ told him you will deplored his duplicitous character, before and during the trial

Murdaugh’s defense team said they will file an appeal within the next 10 days

The disgraced legal scion, 54, showed no emotion on his face but was shaking as the verdict was read out at the Colleton County courthouse in Walterboro, SC

Alex Murdaugh, 54, scion of a once proud southern legal dynasty family was found guilty Thursday, of murdering his wife and son after a jury of seven men and five women spent less than two hours deliberating in reaching the unanimous decision at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina.
He was convicted of two counts of murder and two weapons charges.
In a seismic shift Friday, Murdaugh whose eminent southern legal dynasty has wielded immense judicial power in the region for three generations, was handed two life sentences without the possibility of parole, on Friday morning.
Murdaugh was heckled on his way out of court today after being sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and and 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh in June 2021.

Murdaugh who was facing between 30 years and life in prison, will serve two consecutive life sentences for murdering Maggie and Paul near the dog kennels at the family’s hunting lodge in South Carolina. 
Among those in court today and throughout the trial was Murdaugh’s surviving son Buster, who listened to Judge Clifton Newman announce that his father would spend the rest of his life in prison – without the possibility of parole. 

Alex Murdaugh is led out of the courthouse to a waiting prison van to begin his life sentence

As Murdaugh was ushered into a prison van, a heckler shouted: ‘Buster’s next!’ 
He added: ‘Justice for Stephen Smith!’, referring to the unsolved 2015 death of a 19-year-old friend of Buster. 
Stephen’s body was found by the side of the road and initially his death was ruled as a hit-and-run. 
Police revisited the case, however, and found he had a blunt force trauma wound to the head. 
Many have connected Buster to the death of Smith because his family’s name appears more than nine times in the investigative file into the teenager’s death. 
The deceased teen’s mother maintains that her son’s death may be connected to the fact that he was gay and has been pushing for a reopening of the investigation.
Buster has never been arrested or charged in connection with Smith’s death. 

The judge had dismissed a defense motion for mistrial. After the sentencing on Friday, Murdaugh’s attorney, State Senator Dick Harpootlian, announced plans to appeal. He also defended putting him on the stand.  
Before handing down his sentence, Judge Clifton Newman gave a searing assessment of Murdaugh’s ‘duplicitous’ character and said it’s possible his opioid addiction turned him into a ‘monster’. 
‘You have to see Paul and Maggie during the nighttime when you’re attempting to go to sleep. I’m sure they come and visit you. I’m sure,’ he said. 
Murdaugh replied: ‘All day, all night.’  
Judge Newman shot back: ‘I’m sure. And they will continue to.’ 

Judge blasts Alex Murdaugh at sentencing

Murdaugh, who was blank expression in court, continued to deny his guilt and told the unimpressed judge he would “never hurt” his wife and son.
Newman said he understood the state’s decision not to pursue the death penalty, he commented on the weight of Murdaugh’s conviction and sentence in light of his family’s historic influence in the Low Country courts.
“As I sit here in this courtroom and look at the portraits of many judges and court officials … your family, including you, have been prosecuting people in this courtroom and many [defendants] have received the death penalty, probably for lesser conduct,” he said.

Last night, the disgraced legal scion, showed no emotion on his face but was shaking as the verdict was read out at the Colleton County courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, following six weeks of harrowing testimony.
His surviving son Buster at first impassive, put his head in his hands as the verdict was read. The convict then turned to face his son and his sister Lynn as he was cuffed and led away.
Significantly, neither of his male siblings – younger brother John Marvin, who testified earlier this week, or his elder sibling Randy – were in court.

Last night, the disgraced legal scion, 54, showed no emotion on his face but was shaking as the verdict was read out at the Colleton County courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, following six weeks of harrowing testimony.
His surviving son Buster at first impassive, put his head in his hands as the verdict was read. The convict then turned to face his son and his sister Lynn as he was cuffed and led away.
Significantly, neither of his male siblings – younger brother John Marvin, who testified earlier this week, or his elder sibling Randy – were in court.

Murdaugh the court heard brutally shot dead his wife Margaret ‘Maggie’ Murdaugh and younger son Paul, at the family’s 1,800-acre hunting estate in Moselle on the night of June 7, 2021.
The disbarred attorney lied to cops about his alibi before making the sensational decision to take the stand where he changed his story to fit the damning evidence.
But the State convinced jurors with a video which proved he was at the scene just moments before he blasted Paul’s brains out with a shotgun and mercilessly turned an assault rifle on his wife of 27 years, shooting her twice in the head.
Murdaugh will return for sentencing at 9.30am Friday. He faces 30 years to life in prison after being

His surviving son Buster appeared stony-faced and sat with his hand covering his mouth beside his girlfriend Brooklynn White he looked down at the ground as the guilty verdict was read.
Murdaugh was then led away in handcuffs after being convicted of shooting dead his wife Maggie and son Paul

Prosecutor Creighton Waters was cheered by the public as he addressed a press conference outside the court, proclaiming: ‘Justice was done today.
‘It doesn’t matter who your family is, it doesn’t matter how much money you have or people think you have, it doesn’t matter how prominent you are. If you do wrong and break the law and if you murder, then justice will be done in South Carolina.’
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said Maggie and Paul had been ‘brutally murdered … by someone that they loved and someone that they trusted.’

He paid tribute to his team for their work and said ‘we can’t bring them back but we can bring them justice.’
Murdaugh’s defense attorney Jim Griffin, who earlier broke down as he implored jurors not to find his client guilty, said outside the court: ‘Obviously we’re disappointed but until he’s sentenced we will have no further comment.’
Judge Newman dismissed a defense move for a mistrial and thanked the jury for their finding. The judge said: ‘The circumstantial evidence, direct evidence, all of the evidence pointed to one conclusion, and that’s the conclusion that you all reached.’

Murdaugh, who wept throughout the trial as the jury were told in gruesome detail how his wife and son were brutally executed and shown harrowing images of the crime scene, gave a blank expression as the judge spoke to the court. 
Buster Murdaugh who sat behind his father every day during the trial and testified for the defense, switched from his once defiant stance earlier in the trial to a passive expression, before finally putting his head in his hands as the jury’s unanimous decision was read. 
The handcuffed defendant after his conviction turned to look at his son Buster and his sister Lynne. He then shook hands with his attorney Dick Harpootlian and was escorted out of the room.
Murdaugh was transported in black prison van to the local Colleton County jail where he has been remanded during the trial.