Three of the jurors who convicted Alex Murdaugh of murdering his wife and son said Monday that the high-powered attorney’s own testimony convinced them he was guilty.
The jurors were also swayed by a cellphone video that recorded Murdaugh’s voice near his family’s dog kennels minutes before his son Paul and wife, Maggie, were killed there.
“The kennel video definitely played a major part,” juror Amie Williams said Monday on the “Today” show.
Maggie and Paul were shot dead June 7, 2021, on the Murdaugh family estate in Colleton County, S.C. When police arrived on the scene, Murdaugh told them he was nowhere near the dog kennels when his family was murdered.
However, investigators obtained cellphone video from Paul’s phone that recorded his father’s voice at the scene. Multiple witnesses testified for the prosecution that it was Murdaugh’s voice on the recording, but hearing him speak at trial sealed things for at least one juror.
“When he got on the stand, I was like, ‘OK, so it was him,’” juror Gwen Generette said on “Today.” “I don’t know him, so I never knew his voice, but I realized it was him in the kennel video, and that just kind of sealed the deal.”
Additionally, the jurors were not moved by Murdaugh’s emotions on the stand.
“We already know that he’s a lawyer. He’s able to be emotional with cases. He’s able to be emotional with himself. He knows … when to turn it on and off. So I think that we were able to read right through that,” juror James McDowell said.
Murdaugh’s decision to testify in his own defense was criticized by legal experts. Early in his testimony, he admitted he lied to officers.
“If I was him, I don’t think I would have (testified),” McDowell said. “But I think that he believes that he’s so convincing that he felt like that was his last resort.”
