South Carolina
Jurors: Murdaugh didn't help his defense by testifying
WALTERBORO, S.C. (AP) — Alex Murdaugh didn't help his defense when he took the stand at his trial for the murder of his wife and son, three jurors said on Monday.
Murdaugh's testimony only managed to cement what they were already thinking — that he easily lied and could turn on and off his tears at will, the jurors said on the NBC Today show.
The key piece of evidence in finding the lawyer guilty, they said, was a video on his son's cellphone that was shot minutes before the killings at the same kennels near where the bodies were found at their sprawling estate in rural South Carolina.
Murdaugh's voice can be heard on the video even though he insisted for 20 months that he hadn't been at the kennels that night. Investigators didn't see the video for more than a year before advances in hacking enabled them to unlock Paul Murdaugh's iPhone. They shared it with the defense ahead of the trial.
When he took the stand, the first thing Murdaugh did was admit he had lied to investigators about being at the kennels, saying he was paranoid of law enforcement because he was addicted to opioids and had pills in his pocket the night of the killings.
"The kennel video, that just kind of sealed the deal," juror Gwen Generette said.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours Thursday before finding Murdaugh guilty of killing his 22-year-old son, Paul, with two shotgun blasts and his 52-year-old wife, Maggie, with four or five rifle shots.
The now-disbarred lawyer maintained his innocence when he was sentenced Friday to spend the rest of his life in prison for the murders.
Murdaugh was convicted in the same court circuit where his father, grandfather and great-grandfather tried cases as the elected prosecutor for more than 80 years. Murdaugh's family founded the area's most powerful law firm a century ago. For decades, that meant that practically anyone who ended up in court on either side of the law in Colleton or Hampton counties would have a Murdaugh watching their back or staring them down.
His background was part of the reason jurors didn't find his testimony believable.
"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.
Prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty, and the judge handed down the harshest possible sentence he could — consecutive life sentences without parole.
Murdaugh admitted stealing millions of dollars from the family firm and clients, saying he needed the money to fund his drug habit. Before he was charged with murder, Murdaugh was in jail awaiting trial on about 100 other charges, ranging from insurance fraud to tax evasion.
Defense attorneys said they will base an appeal largely on the judge's allowing jurors to hear evidence of crimes Murdaugh has not been convicted of, which they say smeared his reputation.
After six intense weeks at the courthouse in Walterboro, key players returned to their normal lives.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters, whose love of the guitar was a favorite bit of chatter among true crime fans, tweeted a video of himself jamming. Judge Clifton Newman was seen in a courtside seat rooting for South Carolina to win the Southeastern Conference title in women's basketball.
And defense lawyer Jim Griffin, admonished during the trial for tweeting an opinion piece criticizing the investigation, returned to Twitter with a post that said "Walterboro, you were a gracious host. Happy Trails." He included a photo of his head stuck through the hole of a painting of a cowboy riding a chicken, with "I was at the Murdaugh trial" written at the top.
Arizona
Mistrial declared in Tucson for man charged in girl's death
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A mistrial was declared after a jury in southern Arizona was unable to reach a verdict on a murder charge against a man accused of killing a 6-year-old girl.
The Arizona Daily Star reports a judge declared the mistrial Friday in the case against Christopher M. Clements, who was charged with murder in the death of Isabel Celis. Isabel was reported missing from her bedroom in her parents' home in Tucson in April 2012.
In a separate case last year, Clements was sentenced to life in prison for the 2014 death of 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez.
A different Pima County Superior Court jury heard Clements' murder trial involving Celis.
Defense attorneys pointed to the lack of physical evidence, with no fingerprints or DNA connecting Clements to Isabel's disappearance or death.
Prosecutors acknowledged that but called the circumstantial evidence, including Clements' computer and cellphone records, "overwhelming."
Clements, a convicted sex offender with a long criminal record, was arrested in 2018 and indicted on 22 felony counts in the girls' deaths.
Gonzalez disappeared while walking to a friend's house in June 2014 and authorities said her body was found days later.
Celis' remains were not recovered until 2017. Authorities said Clements was identified as a suspect in March of that year after he led federal investigators to her remains in exchange for the dropping of unrelated charges.
Clements said he had nothing to do with Celis' death and he only knew the location of the body, according to authorities.
Massachusetts
Woman killed in 1978 identified, son thanks police, town
GRANBY, Mass. (AP) — Nearly 45 years after a woman was found shot to death on a logging road in western Massachusetts, investigators have identified her through advanced genetic testing.
Patricia Ann Tucker, 28, was found buried under leaves off a road in the town of Granby on Nov. 15, 1978, investigators said at a news conference Monday. She had been shot in the head.
For decades, the woman known as "Granby Girl" was buried in a local cemetery with a headstone marked "Unknown."
About two years ago, Massachusetts authorities obtained Tucker's DNA profile through a forensic laboratory and eventually identified a woman in Maryland who was likely related to her, Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan said. Police contacted the woman. She led them to Tucker's son, who was 5 years old when Tucker vanished. Comparison of his DNA to Tucker's resulted in a 100% parent/child match.
"First I would like to say thank you to everyone in trying to identify my mother and wrapping your arms around her, especially the community of Granby," her son, Matthew Dale, said in a statement read at the news conference by First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne. "Thank you for never giving up on her. At least I have some answers now after 44 years.”
