Eventually, though, cracks began to appear in his story. The records inside show his three children Abigayle, 12, Cassandra, 11, and Blake, 8 were each shot twice. March 1, 2023. The relationship was rocky due to mutual allegations of infidelity, and they separated several times. The key piece of evidence connecting Alex Murdaugh to the killings is a video Paul Murdaugh shot from the kennels about five minutes before he last used his cellphone. Part of HuffPost News. In many cases, it doesnt happen because the trial is taking place years later, so the scene has changed and taking jurors there could provide a false impression of what happened. The windows of the vans, which picked up the group inside the gated area behind the courthouse, were blacked out to maintain the jurors anonymity. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool), The feed room where Paul Murdaugh's body was found at the Murdaugh Moselle property on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 in Islandton, S.C. When he stopped briefly to adjust luggage in a roof rack, he told police, he was shot by his wife as he got 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. John Marvin Murdaugh took the stand as the defense's final witness in the Walterboro, South Carolina, courtroom. Courtesy the Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries, Finney No. There is zero evidence pointing to any other scenario. The clues and insights into the Vaughn murders became public after Will County Judge Daniel Rozak ordered the case file unsealed Thursday. For her family, friends and others in Laramie, Ms. Wileys murder became a festering wound. Got a tip? Alex Murdaugh's brother wept Monday as he told jurors that he had to clean what remained of his slain nephew, Paul Murdaugh, at the crime scene and described it as "the hardest thing" he'd ever been through. Once closing arguments are finished, the jurors will get their instructions and begin deliberating what they learned during a trial that has included more than 75 witnesses and lasted more than six weeks. 7.2. No one knew who this man was. At the time of the murders, Waters said, Murdaugh was facing questions about finances in a lawsuit related to a fatal boat crash caused by Paul. It was the stuff of nightmares. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. Chris Vaughn was convicted of murdering his wife, Kim, Jurors began the day with a visit to the crime scene, where a pool reporter said at least one of them carefully inspected the door frame of a storage closet where Paul Murdaugh was standing when he was killed. Still, Waters said there is enough evidence to link the killings to the financial crimes and to Alex Murdaugh being the only person with the motive, means and opportunity to kill his wife and son. Investigators said his 22-year-old son, Paul, was shot twice with a shotgun and his 52-year-old wife, Maggie, was shot four or five times with a rifle outside of the kennels on their property. Jurors have visited the South Carolina estate where prosecutors say disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh shot and killed his wife and son. [10] Her motivation was reportedly to facilitate a relationship with a local wealthy man named Tom Findlay. When I asked the museum director why, she said it contained the image of a figure so frightening that shed decided to remove it. Many of the old boomtowns of this era now resemble ghost towns. Jurors saw the spot where Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldmans bloodied bodies were found on the walkway leading up to her Brentwood condominium. [11] She said that there was no motive nor did she plan the murders, stating that she was not in a right state of mind. They will be able to review about 800 documents, photographs, videos of police interviews of Alex Murdaugh and other exhibits while deciding on a verdict. They were also cautioned to watch for snakes. Alex Murdaughs theft of millions of dollars was about to be revealed so he killed his wife and son to buy time to figure a way out, a prosecutor said Wednesday during closing arguments in the disgraced South Carolina attorneys murder trial. Find more AP coverage of the case: https://apnews.com/hub/alex-murdaugh. [13] It took the jury only two and a half hours to convict her of murdering them. The distance between the kennels where the bodies were found and the home where Murdaugh says he had been napping has been a key component of the trial. She took me to a cemetery in Grayhorse, in Osage County, where many of her relatives who were killed are buried. Jurors have visited the South Carolina estate where prosecutors say disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh shot and killed his wife and son. Prosecutors had argued against the visit to Moselle, given that the property has changed in the 20 months since the killings, but Judge Clifton Newman ruled in favor of the defense on Monday. Testimony concluded on Tuesday after more than 75 witnesses took the stand over about five weeks. By this time, the Vaughn family had also arrived on the scene, and saw that the elderly woman needed help. COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Jurors in Alex Murdaughs murder trial will get to see for themselves the rural hunting estate where his wife and son were killed, following in the footsteps of other juries that have viewed crime scenes in cases that captured the nations attention. Within two months, Mollies mother died of suspected poisoning. Oilmen, such as J.P. Getty and Frank Phillips, would bid in the shade of a stately tree, which became known as the Million Dollar Elm. Then they began to be mysteriously murdered off. Someone had planted a bomb under her sisters house that killed everyone inside, including Rita. Investigators started to search the nearby lakes and ponds, including John D. Long Lake, where their bodies were eventually found. [19], The season three premiere of Arrested Development ("The Cabin Show") features a flashback scene in which Lucille Bluth (Jessica Walter), having recently gone off her postpartum medication, is watching a news story about Smith, to which she replies "Good for her! The defense will get to sum up its case on Thursday. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool), The entrance to the house at the Murdaugh Moselle property on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 in Islandton, S.C.. Crime scene visits by juries are relatively rare but have occurred in a number of other high-profile prosecutions, including the 1995 murder trial of O.J. The records inside show his three children Abigayle, 12, Cassandra, 11, and Blake, 8 were each shot twice. During the penalty phase, Tommy Pope, the lead prosecutor in the Smith case, argued passionately in favor of sentencing Smith to death. Earlier on Wednesday, jurors went to the scene of the crime that has been detailed throughout the six-week trial. The prosecutor said he thought Murdaugh rehearsed his testimony and was scared to deviate, so he couldnt give specifics when Waters asked for details that would seem memorable such as his last conversation with his wife at the kennels before she died. During my research, I collected an extensive archive of photographs. One newspaper claimed that sexual relations between them had continued until six months before the murders. Waters noted that Murdaugh told jurors that he woke up just minutes later to go visit his ailing mother. "[14] The defense's theory of the case was that Smith drove to the edge of the lake to kill herself and her two sons, but her body willed itself out of the car. It took more than a year for federal agents to hack into the young mans locked iPhone and find it. Kim was shot once under the chin, and the children were each shot twice in their SUV on the side of the road. Her father committed suicide when she was six years old, and Smith herself attempted suicide at age 13. The main house at the Murdaugh Moselle property on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 in Islandton, S.C. Heres a look at the practice of having juries view crime scenes and some other notable cases: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A JURY VISITS A CRIME SCENE? Why in the world would an innocent, reasonable father and husband lie about that? Ive been taking continually longer and more remote trips figuring that when the time comes Ill be ready.. The forensic timeline puts him there. Her mother then married Beverly Russell, a member of the local chapter of the Christian Coalition, who later was revealed to have molested Smith when she was a teenager. Send it to The Daily Beasthere. Rockefeller Audio 2022. He has proven over and over again that he will do anything to keep that hamster wheel going and avoid accountability. [7] She married David Smith, and they had two sons. Finally, it appears the Oswego man wrote an ominous blog entry just weeks before the shooting about wrapping up a few last things before disappearing into the remote wilderness. This is a case about despair and sadness. Mug shot of Christopher Vaughn from the Will County Jail Web site in June 2007. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Some of them posed as cattlemen, another as an insurance salesman. The judge has warned them that some things have changed on the property since the crime occurred. But, as I discovered from my research, the extent of the killings was far greater than the Bureau ever exposed, and there were scores, perhaps hundreds, of murders that went unsolved. On Monday, in one of their last witnesses before resting, the defense brought a crime scene expert to the stand who said he believed the killings were likely committed by two people. A filing from February 2011 says Christopher Vaughn, who had been shot twice, waved down a passing motorist and said he thought his wife shot him. Nine days later, Will County authorities arrested Vaughn and charged him with the four murders. And even supposing the family had a particular fondness for Knight's Action Park and Caribbean Water Adventure in Springfield, that park doesn't open until 10 a.m. Who needs a luggage rack for a day trip? While on the stand, Murdaugh admitted that he had initially lied to authorities about being at the kennels shortly before the murders because of his drug-fueled paranoia. The use of the family weapons collaborates it. The defense has called 14 witnesses, including Alex Murdaugh himself, who during hours of at-times emotional testimony admitted to stealing from his clients and lying to investigators about his whereabouts the night of the murders but repeatedly denied fatally shooting his wife and son. " much to the concern of her son Buster (Tony Hale). Judge Clifton Newman allowed the visit but cautioned jurors about the differences in how the property looks now. He did not deny, however, that he spent a half hour at Mega Sports Shooting Equipment and Range in Plainfield the night before his family was killed. Like other Chicagoans, we have ideas about what the next mayor should do. He then decided to adjust a loose luggage rack on top of the SUV at which time he reportedly said he was shot. Matthew Vaughn is an English film director, producer and screenwriter born in 7 March 1971. Associated Press reporter Terry Spencer contributed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Aided by his knowledge of how criminal cases are constructed, he hatched a clever plan to make sure they were at the familys Colleton County property on the night they were killed, June 7, 2021, he said. Though Vaughn isnt identified as their author, they appear under his user name and are signed with his e-mail address. [22], Smith appears briefly in archival footage in the 2002 film Bowling for Columbine in a scene about "dangerous black guys".[23][24]. The jury in the double murder trial of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh -- who is accused of killing his wife and younger son at the family's property in He has been doing it for 10 years.. The pressures on this man were unbearable, and they were all reaching a crescendo on the day his wife and son were murdered by him, Waters said. After the shootings, Vaughn was not initially a suspect; in fact, he voluntarily spoke with police on several occasions. "You just can't really appreciate the spatial issues without actually seeing them," defense attorney Richard Harpootlian told the court on Monday. [15], Smith was incarcerated in the Administrative Segregation Unit in the Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina. By the second day of the investigation, the police suspected that she knew their location and hoped that they were still alive. The family of one Osage in particular, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target of the conspiracy. Testimony concluded Tuesday in Alex Murdaughs double murder trial, and the jury could begin deliberations as early as Wednesday afternoon. Jurors have visited the South Carolina estate where prosecutors say disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh shot and killed his wife and son. Jurors were also seen driving toward a wooded area across the street from the estate. JAMES POLLARD and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, Associated Press, Security guards keeping shoppers safe at Fordham, Hoboken mayor wants water company investigated, NY man who killed pet dogs believed they were coyotes, Womens History Month: Highlighting women in medicine, Garcelle Beauvais in front and behind the camera, Catching up with the cast of Onyx Collectives Bruiser, Eric Jones continues to leave audiences mind-blown, Devotion director JD Dillard takes a story to new, Bruce Davison continues to be a work of art in Hollywood, Learn how to be your best self in a new relationship, Catching up with Chef Robert Irvine on his new book, Actor Adrian Holmes from Bel-Air talks about season, Conversations to have to change your childs financial, NJ salon owner is helping girls embrace their curls, Rangers KAndre Miller suspended 3 games for spitting, Kane incoming? Bill Nettles, a criminal defense lawyer and former South Carolina U.S. attorney who is not involved in the case, said the visit could give jurors a sense of scale to make more-informed decisions about the timeline and other questions such as whether Murdaugh could have heard the gunshots across the grounds that have arisen during the trial. 1 most stressful city for workers in U.S. Turner: State takeover of Houston ISD could happen as soon as next week, Houston rap royalty Bun B on returning to Rodeo for another Takeover, 'Call me a Nazi': Former Houston-area pastor calls for state book ban, W&P Porter bowl review: A container that makes office lunch easy, Why the Texans should take Bijan Robinson with the No. Unlike the bloody murder scene described in court, the feed room on Wednesday had no visible signs of trauma after appearing to be redone with paint and new plywood. The timeline puts him there. To extract that oil, prospectors had to pay the 2,000 or so registered members of the tribe for leases and royalties. WHY DOES MURDAUGHS TEAM WANT JURORS TO GO THERE? Today Vaughn is charged with all four murders, but his defense team argues his wife turned the gun on him and the children before killing herself. The 12 jurors and two alternatives gathered around 9 a.m. at the Colleton County Courthouse before loading into three secured transport vans and leaving 10 minutes later. At 5:15 am, a motorist driving on I-55 spotted Christopher Vaughn bleeding and limping away with his parked SUV. Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Vince Vaughn, Heather Graham, Jon Favreau, Ron Livingston. Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. [2] According to the South Carolina Department of Corrections, she will be eligible for parole on November 4, 2024. Waters said Alex Murdaugh has been lying for years to cover up his opioid addiction and the millions of dollars he stole, so it would be easy to lie about being at the kennels and killing his family, and to lie while testifying in his own defense last week. Simpson and last years trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz. They were also cautioned to watch for snakes. The jurors will visit the property Wednesday morning. Jurors have visited the South Carolina estate where prosecutors say disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh shot and killed his wife and son. Always having to stay one step ahead of the game. A Private Investigator Shows How He Believes Bloodstains Prove Chris Vaughn Didnt Stage A Crime Scene. The Osage had removed the panel not to forget what happened, as so many Americans had, but because they cant forget. The 54-year-old attorney is standing trial on two counts of murder in the shootings of his wife and son at their Colleton County home and hunting lodge on June 7, 2021. When I visited the Osage Nation Museum, the director had retrieved, from the basement, an image of the missing panel. Vaughn also said when he found out there was nothing he could do for his three now-deceased kids, he tried to strap his slumped-over wife into her seatbelt - thus, Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). It was not immediately clear why they went into the tree area. She lived with her husband Bill and a maid in this house, not far from Mollie: Early one morning in 1923, Mollie heard a loud explosion. (Joshua Boucher/The State via AP, Pool), Buster Murdaugh, the son of Alex Murdaugh, listens as prosecutor Creighton Waters describes his father as a "family annihilator" during closing arguments in Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, in Walterboro, S.C. The forensic timeline puts him there, he said, noting that after the murders its a different world for Murdaugh. Among them was the article found in a magazine for private investigators about the effect of television on criminal suspects who stage crime scenes based on Hollywood portrayals. [2], The case gained international attention because of Smith's false claim that a black man had kidnapped her sons during a carjacking. Rate. [16], During Smith's incarceration at the Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution, two correctional officers, Lieutenant Houston Cagle and Captain Alfred R. Rowe Jr., were charged after having sex with her. Web20 titles. He left behind a widow and ten children. Alex Murdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison without parole if convicted of the killings, for which he has pleaded not guilty. Their hour-long field trip to the Moselle hunting estate in South Carolina came shortly before closing arguments began in what has been dubbed the trial of the century by local media. As all of these pressures were mounting, the defendant killed Maggie and Paul, Waters said, pulling out his cellphone and waving it. A private investigator demonstrates what he believes happened inside the SUV the day Chris Vaughns family was shot to death. CHICAGO (CBS) -- Jurors in Christopher Vaughn's family murder trial were shown graphic photos of the defendant's dead wife and three children, and prosecutors Christopher Vaughn, of Oswego, was was sentenced to four life terms on Nov. 27, 2012, for fatally shooting his wife and three children after pulling off Interstate 55 near As all of these pressures were mounting, the defendant killed Maggie and Paul,' Waters said, pulling out his cellphone and waving it. [13] In their opening statement, Clarke argued Smith was deeply troubled and experienced severe depression. His family has a history of prosecution. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. A Drug Hit. An eye-opening journey through the history, culture, and places of the culinary world. The key piece of evidence connecting Alex Murdaugh to the killings is a video Paul Murdaugh shot from the kennels about five minutes before he last used his cellphone. She then pointed to the missing panel and said, The devil was standing right there.. Stevie Ray Vaughans Early Life Stevie is hugged by his brother Jimmie. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool). Although the weapons used to kill the victims havent been found, an expert testified that the markings on the bullet casings found near Maggie Murdaughs body matched those found on casings at a shooting range on the familys property. March 1, 2023. This is a carousel. The use of the family weapons collaborates it. The first 911 call for help came at 5:25 a.m. from a passerby who saw Vaughn on the side of the road. Web"The Vaughn family's dogs, a golden retriever and schnauzer, were taken Thursday afternoon to an animal shelter, next-door neighbor Susan Stasinos said. Perhaps most compelling is an article reportedly found in the defendant's home -- a magazine story about staging crime scenes and "making the death appear to be a suicide," according to the Chicago Sun-Times. In the early 20th century, the members of the Osage Nation became the richest people per capita in the world, after oil was discovered under their reservation. It all happened after Vaughn pulled the familys SUV over on Interstate 55 near Channahon on the way to the Springfield water park on June 14, 2007. [6], After graduating from high school in 1989, Smith made a second attempt to kill herself after a married man she was in a relationship with ended their affair. For nine days, she made dramatic pleas on national television for their safe return. The defense would get to sum up its case later Wednesday. The tour of the crime scene happened before jurors were to head back to court in Walterboro to hear closing arguments in the closely watched murder trial. They asked for jurors to be allowed to visit the property in order to help them understand how small the storage room is where Paul Murdaugh was killed and the distance between the two bodies. Alex Murdaugh repeatedly told everyone, starting with the first investigator to respond to the killings, that he hadnt been at the kennels that night. The pressures on this man were unbearable. This defendant has fooled everyone everyone who thought they were close to him, Waters said. This conflicted with her statement that she did not see any other cars there when the carjacking took place. 231. Hes manufacturing an alibi. Courtesy Melville Vaughan When the FBI took up the case, in 1923, agents badly bungled the probe. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool), A bullet hole is seen from inside of the feed room at the Murdaugh Moselle property on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 in Islandton, S.C. His attorneys said his visit was irrelevant. [12], In 1995, David Bruck and Judy Clarke served as co-counsel for Smith. (Joshua Boucher/The State via AP, Pool), The hanger and dog kennels are seen where the bodies of Paul Murdaugh and Maggie were found at the Moselle property on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 in Islandton, S.C. Although the weapons used to kill the victims haven't been found, an expert testified that the markings on the bullet casings found near Maggie Murdaughs body matched those found on casings at a shooting range on the family's property. Jurors have visited the South Carolina estate where prosecutors say disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh shot and killed his wife and son. It permits a 3D appreciation for what has otherwise been a two-dimensional presentation in court, said Benjamin, a past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. 1. The tour of the crime scene happened before jurors were to head back to court in Walterboro to hear closing arguments in the closely watched murder trial. Heres a later photograph of White with Hoover: To unravel the mystery, White assembled a team of undercover operatives, including an American Indian agent. And his lies and his guilty actions afterward confirm that.". The victim was transported to the hospital. A mother and her children were murdered while going on a trip to a water park. The estate went to Frances, daughter of John Vaughan. After an exhaustive investigation, there is only one person who had the motive, who had the means, who had the opportunity to commit these crimes, and also whose guilty conduct after these crimes betrays him, prosecutor Creighton Waters said during his closing arguments. He was born in a log cabin on the frontier in Texas and began his career as a lawman when justice was often meted out by the barrel of a gun. Man Accused Of Slaying Family Had Article On Staging Crime Scenes, "making the death appear to be a suicide,", Vaughn shot in the leg, and his wife and children murdered. Police were called about the first shooting at around 12:30 a.m. at the Family Dollar store on Hemphill Street. Testimony ended Tuesday in the South Carolina double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh, as the court prepared to bring jurors on Wednesday to the scene where The jury ultimately voted against imposing the death penalty. The tour of the crime scene happened before jurors were to head back to court in Walterboro to hear closing arguments in the closely watched murder trial. Jurors have visited the South Carolina estate where prosecutors say disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh shot and killed his wife and son. He dozed off in the shortest nap in the history of the South, Waters quipped. Vaughn also allegedly used the online screen name "dewoodsman" to write about his desires to flee his life and move to the Canadian wilderness. In 1923, these Osage received collectively what would be worth today more than $400 million. This has been a tough job, Waters said. Jurors have visited the South Carolina estate where prosecutors say disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh shot and killed his wife and son. A portion of the article talked about making deaths appear like suicides. Murdaugh, the disgraced South Carolina attorney, is accused of killing his wife and son at dog kennels near their home on June 7, 2021, as his career and finances were crumbling. Another Osage, Henry Roan, was shot in the back of the head. The tour of the crime scene happened before jurors were to head back to court in Walterboro to hear closing arguments in the closely watched murder trial. https://casetext.com/case/people-v-vaughn-194, https://investigatinginnocence.org/christopher-vaughn, https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2021/9/5/22656272/effort-underway-free-christopher-vaughn-conviction-murdering-wife-kids, https://patch.com/illinois/shorewood-il/blood-expert-pokes-holes-in-chris-vaughn-s-killing-story, On September 20, 1988, Tara Calico left her home in New Mexico to go on a bike ride she took, In November 1981, actress Natalie Wood mysteriously drowned off the coast of Southern California during a boating trip with her, In July 2014, 52 year old Lynn Messer mysteriously disappeared from her familys 260-acre farm in Bloomsdale, Missouri. This photograph shows an Osage camp on their new reservation: Around the turn of the century, oil deposits were discovered under this land. She had claimed that a traffic light had turned red causing her to stop at an otherwise empty intersection. The 54-year-old attorney is standing trial on two counts of murder in the shootings of his wife and son at their Colleton County, S.C., home and hunting lodge on June 7, 2021. Camren Wynter hit a three-pointer with 0.7 seconds left to give Penn State a 68-65 victory against Northwestern. Defense attorneys argued that Kathleen Peterson had died in a 2001 accidental fall. In 1923, after the death toll reached more than two dozen, the case was taken up by the Bureau of Investigation, then an obscure branch of the Justice Department, which was later renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation. South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED); This page was last edited on 13 February 2023, at 13:21. The 54-year-old attorney is standing trial on two counts of murder in the shootings of his wife and son at their Colleton County home and hunting lodge on June 7, 2021. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool), The caretaker's house at the Murdaugh Moselle property on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 in Islandton, S.C. Murdaugh, 54, faces 30 years to life in prison if he is convicted of murder. His law firm was also looking into his previous cases. In 2003, jurors went to the North Carolina home of novelist Michael Peterson where his wifes body was found at the bottom of a staircase. The documents show the Vaughn familys trip to Knights Water Park in Springfield also was planned the night before the murders, after Vaughns wife accused him of spending too little time with their kids. Is that an aggressive interview? The accident has been hailed preventable since, and the music world was never the same. Before resting on Tuesday, prosecutors brought forward experts to dispute some of the defense witnesses' theories on how the shootings occurred and called former Murdaugh law partner Ronnie Crosby to the stand to discuss Alex Murdaugh's tactics as a trial attorney. Here is a look at some of the evidence and motives law enforcement have explored during the course of their investigation. 2023 Atlas Obscura. Oswego police said the They also briefly headed to the estates main house. Prosecutors opposed the visit, saying the scene looks different than it did in June 2021, as trees and vegetation have grown and no one has lived on the property since the killings.
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