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Many months have gone by since the Murdaugh murder trial sent shivers of schadenfreude through the United States' collective spine. Murdaugh lost that one bigtime, and it should be noted that nowadays, his lawyers are asking for a new trial, hoping to get their notorious client off on the second go-round. Maybe they will, it remains to be seen, and I'll be sure to disseminate the information in this space when I find out. But I really doubt that a second trial,if it ever happens, will be as sensational as the first. That one kept me glued to my TV screen,
hoping the rare thrill of watching an American oligarch called to account would never end. My attorney brother and I, a retiree from the criminal justice system, armchair-quarterbacked thr whole process, texting joyfully back and forth. It was better than the Superbowl! For those of you who have been living abroad, or under a rock, I recount: Last winter, South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh was convicted of killing his wife Maggie and their 22-year-old son Paul on June 7,2021. Both were slaughtered in the darkness of their hunting lodge stables,with multiple gunshots to their head,chests and wrists. The patriarch claimed to have "found" their mutilated bodies-- until cell phone data placed him at the crime scene the very instant before their horrible deaths. However,his motive was hard to formulate, because... who in his right mind would butcher his own family? Prosecutors alleged that his business-related woes made him crazy (he'd been fired by his law firm for embezzlement). But I suspect that's just part of it: the guy stood, as they say down in Florida, up to his ass in alligators. His wife and son had become inconvenient.
His wife was contemplating a costly divorce and
little Paul had stirred up serious trouble by causing a female friend's
death in a boating accident (he'd been drunk while steering the ill-fated boat). Now the boy was under indictment and facing a civil trial for wrongful death. Initially, Dad
tried to smokescreen the mess by attempting to manipulate others involved in the tragedy, but the community reacted with indignation. No doubt this came as a surprise to him; generations of political and legal dominance in South Carolina had empowered his family to get away with just about anything. However, little Paul was still indulging in the type of behavior that had gotten him into serious trouble to begin with. Still drinking and boating with his buddies--his father must've felt he was impossible to control. Easier to kill him. At that time, the Murdaughs were also suspect in two other murders: that of their longtime housekeeper,who'd stumbled upon evidence of Alex Murdaugh's opioid drug addiction, and a gay male villager rumored to be "dating" Buster, the Murdaugh's older, allegedly straight son. Both of these unfortunate individuals had damning information on the Murdaughs, so it 's believed that the Murdaughs did something about it--even though both of these murders remain
unsolved. Good thing that on March 2,2023, the dynasty got nailed on OTHER charges: Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of four counts of murder and weapons possession and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without parole. The judge closed by telling Murdaugh that the ghosts of his murdered wife and son would visit him every night in jail. The prosecution wasted no time singing its own praises. They paraded their staff before the cameras. They congratulated each other before the microphones. This was a big deal, indeed.
"This is how it's done right here in South Carolina,y'all", they intoned. "Here,justice will prevail no matter who you are or what you have, or what yo' daddy's last name wuz". Too bad it took about a century for South Carolina justice to catch up to this family, who once exercised almost Gothic control of the area. But let's not dwell on that. Let's just celebrate that it was finally done,and that those betting Alex Murdaugh would get off scott free lost their bets. The Murdaugh conviction was nothing short of a miracle; it's easy to become cynical in this country, where justice applied effectively to the rich and powerful is a rarity. Take Donald Trump, another wealthy white patriarch repeatedly accused of crimes, not against individuals, but against the ENTIRE United States. Yet, despite
the bipartisan uproar,
the public indignation and even all the recently uncovered evidence of his wrongdoing (some of it from his own mouth)
Trump still walks free--and one has to ask, for how long?
