Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife and son after less than three hours of deliberation by a South Carolina jury.
A South Carolina jury of murdering his wife and son after less than three hours of deliberation on Thursday.
CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman said it was «shocking» that the jury made a decision so quickly. Jurors also did not ask to have any testimony re-read or see any evidence again.
«It was one thing for them to come to a rather quick decision, meaning a day or two, if they were going to find Alex Murdaugh guilty,» Klieman said. «It’s another thing to come to the decision within three hours.»
The most likely explanation, she said, was Murdaugh’s . While testifying, the embattled lawyer about his whereabouts the night of the murders. The prosecution also had a video from Murdaugh’s son’s phone that proved that Murdaugh was at the site of the murders, with his wife and son, just minutes before they were killed.
«Instead of a foreperson deciding to go through every piece of evidence, which many forepeople will do, that they really decided to look at a couple pieces of evidence, and I would bet my house that what they really discussed were the lies of Alex Murdaugh and his testimony, which is always the risk of putting a defendant on the witness stand,» Klieman said.
