Fox News Digital spoke to a South Carolina juror about the Alex Murdaugh case. He said that faith helped the jury panel get through a difficult trial. The jury also called the dog-kennel video “crucial evidence” during deliberations.
James requested that his last name not be revealed. He said that the panel had prayed before entering the courtroom to deliver a verdict sending Murdaugh into prison for his rest of life.
“We prayed together. James, also known as juror number one, said that they prayed together before going in and before coming out to deliver the verdict. 530 during the six week Walterboro, South Carolina trial. That was a major factor in our being able to accept our decision.
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Rebecca Rosenberg interviews a juror in the Alex Murdaugh case in Walterboro, SC on Friday, March 3, 2023. He is being identified as James. ” (Rebecca Rosenberg/Fox News Digital)
From deliberations to a quick verdict
The panel took less than three hours for the panel to convict Paul’s disgraced scion from a once powerful legal family of shooting his 22-year old son Paul and Maggie, 52.
James is 22 years old, the same age of Paul at the time he was killed in the vicinity of the dog kennels on the family’s Islandton hunting estate. It happened on June 7, 2021.
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The 12 jurors were first to enter the deliberation area. They took a vote. It was nine votes for guilty and three for not guilty.
Alex Murdaugh is sentenced to the maximum life imprisonment at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro (South Carolina) on Friday, March 3, 2023. Murdaugh was found guilty of all charges related to the murders of his son and wife.
After going through all the questions, they calmly discussed and voted again.
He said that “we were all pretty sure we understood what had happened and we knew who pulled the trigger”, Fox News Digital reported. He was wearing a tie featuring a Constitution motif.
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He was joined by 10 other jurors who returned to the Colleton County Courthouse on Friday. They watched as Murdaugh, dressed in a prison-issue jumpsuit with shackles and wearing a beige prison-issue jumpsuit, was sentenced to a double life.
The trial lasted six week, twice as long than expected, and jurors heard from at least 76 witnesses.
Video of dog kennel was crucial
James, a Clemson University graduate who is a construction worker, stated that all evidence was important but that the video from the dog kennel was especially “crucial.”
Murdaugh told friends, family and investigators repeatedly that he did not go to the dog-kennels on the night of the murders.
Investigators recovered a cell phone video that Paul had taken at 8:45 p.m. in April 2022. This was four minutes before the prosecutors claim that he and his mother were killed.
The clip featured Maggie and Murdaugh speaking in the background about Bubba, their yellow lab. This caught the patriarch’s alibi and forced him to stand and admit the lies.
James stated, “I think it was incredible timing on Paul’s part.” “I don’t believe anyone would have known that he was there if it weren’t for that video. Although I believe there is a lot evidence to support Alex’s claims, I feel that this does confirm it.
Alex Murdaugh (with Morgan Doughty), Paul Murdaugh (with Maggie Murdaugh) Doughty claims that Paul physically abused him in a Netflix documentary. (Courtesy Netflix)
James stated that Paul helped him solve his own murder.
He said, “It speaks volumes that someone who couldn’t talk was able to be witness even after their death.”
The prosecution’s case was strengthened by a visit to the crime scene
The jury visited Moselle, the murder scene, to help them understand the crime. Ironically, although the defense requested the excursion, it may have helped the prosecution’s case.
You can see the hanger and dog-kennels where Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were found dead at the Moselle property. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool).
According to experts’ testimony, Murdaugh was standing close to the doorway when the shotgun was fired to shoot the first non-fatal shot at Paul’s chest. Paul was in the middle the feed room.
The second shot was taken from an upward angle, grazing Paul’s shoulder and entering his neck.
The feedroom where Paul Murdaugh was shot and killed at his sprawling hunting estate Moselle.
James noticed a 1-inch threshold at the bottom of the feedroom door, which helped to explain the unusual trajectory of the second shot.
“I believe that if Murdaugh is looking at Paul and he’s just fired a buckshot which, if it’s not firm enough, can rock you pretty hard, I think he might have been unbalanced. James stated that he thinks he could have tripped above that threshold, which would have put him on the ground shooting upwards. “It makes sense for the angle of this shot,” James said.
Rebecca Rosenberg interviews a juror in the Alex Murdaugh case in Walterboro, SC on Friday, March 3, 2023. He is being identified as James. ” (Rebecca Rosenberg/Fox News Digital)
Murdaugh’s testimony did not decide the case
James stated that Murdaugh’s two-day long testimony stand did not decide the case.
He noted that there was sufficient evidence to be able to gather the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office’s (SLED) evidence and produce it by Paul.
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However, Murdaugh’s testimony showed jurors how the disbarred lawyer deceived people so convincingly and effortlessly by often combining the truth with a lying.
Alex Murdaugh’s latest mugshot. (South Carolina Department of Corrections).
James stated that the prosecution’s argument about a “perfect Storm” gathering and Murdaugh was at the brink of financial reckoning was a good idea, but not a convincing motive.
He said, “I don’t think I’d ever be capable of answering why someone would do that.” “But I do know that there are people out there that don’t understand, and they do things that don’t make sense. It happened, and it shouldn’t have.
Alex Murdaugh’s son, Buster Murdaugh stands in the courtroom following his father’s conviction for all charges regarding the murder of his son and wife at the Colleton County Courthouse, Thursday, March 2, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool)
He pointed out that the prosecution didn’t need to prove motive; it was the actual evidence which sealed Murdaugh’s fate.
James said that he felt deep empathy for Murdaugh and Buster, his 26-year-old son, as well as the rest of his family who were regulars in the courtroom.
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He said, “I don’t want the situation that they were in on anyone.” “I felt for them and had no idea what they were feeling. But I know it was difficult for them.”
Chris Eberhart contributed this report.
