Simpson was acquitted of the killings but was later found liable for the deaths in a civil suit. But Waters disputed that too, noting that Murdaugh was comforted by officers in his initial police interview. The footage belowrecorded by an Osage in the 1920s and shared with me by a descendant, Meg Standingbear Jenningsprovides a glimpse of what the region looked like during the oil boom. They were very curious about how far up they can go up that stairwell, said Raleigh News & Observer reporter Demorris Lee, who went with the jurors, according to a Court TV report. He avoided accountability his whole life. Jurors in Alex Murdaugh s murder trial on Wednesday arrived at the crime scene where the disgraced lawyers wife and son were fatally shot in June 2021. Jurors on Wednesday visited the South Carolina estate where prosecutors say disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh shot and killed his wife and son, Murdaugh has denied any role in the fatal shootings. Inside, they saw bullet holes in walls and shards of glass from windows shattered by gunfire. Kate Rossmaniths micro-documentary, Unnatural Deaths, can be seen on The Guardian. 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. It was the stuff of nightmares. Crime scene expert refutes defense claim that Maggie's shooter was short Sutton testified that the angle of the shots indicated that the shooter had to have been between 5 foot 2 and 5 foot 4. Utah wildlife officials suggest catching, Oregon lawmakers propose bill that would give $1K, Hunter charged for killing pet dogs he thought were, Venus, Jupiter shine during night sky kiss: How, Space just got bigger: Scientists add thousands of, Augusta, USC Aiken women fall in Peach Belt Conference, Vaughn Taylor Championship junior tournament moves, Authorities issue warrants for UGAs Jalen Carter, Does your child have food allergy? He fooled Maggie and Paul, too, and they paid for it with their lives. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool), Dog kennels at the Murdaugh Moselle property on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 in Islandton, S.C. A private investigator demonstrates what he believes happened inside the SUV the day Chris Vaughns family was shot to death. 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. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool), A hose in the dog kennels at the Murdaugh Moselle property on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 in Islandton, S.C. Christopher Vaughn, of Oswego, Illinois, is seen in his police interview declining to even say the names of his murdered three children and wife. March 1, 2023. 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. [15], Smith was incarcerated in the Administrative Segregation Unit in the Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina. At the time, it was said that whereas a typical American might own a car, each Osage owned eleven of them. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool), Prosecutor Creighton Waters holds up a composite sketch Alex Murdaugh helped make during closing arguments in Murdaugh's double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, in Walterboro, S.C. He has been doing it for 10 years.. Is that something that would make somebody paranoid? he said Wednesday while replaying parts of the interview. Testimony concluded on Tuesday after more than 75 witnesses took the stand over about five weeks. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. However, it was determined that the light would not have turned red for her unless a vehicle was present on the intersecting road. 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. Courtesy the Bartlesville Area History Museum, Courtesy the Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoman Collection, Courtesy the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Courtesy the Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries, Rose No. No one knew who he was. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The records inside show his three children Abigayle, 12, Cassandra, 11, and Blake, 8 were each shot twice. 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. 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 were also seen driving toward a wooded area across the street from the estate. My new book, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, grew out of trying to understand who that figure was, and the investigation led me to one the most sinister crimes in American history. 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. Fearing his years of stealing from his law firm and clients would be exposed and hoping to maintain his lofty standing in the community, Murdaugh killed his wife and younger son in the hopes it would make him a sympathetic figure and draw attention away from the missing money, prosecutor Creighton Waters told jurors. Large pools of dried blood still stained classroom floors. Waters noted that Murdaugh told jurors that he woke up just minutes later to go visit his ailing mother. 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, 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. Jurors have visited the South Carolina estate where prosecutors say disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh shot and killed his wife and son. But 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. 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. Judge Clifton Newman allowed the visit but cautioned jurors about the differences in how the property looks now. The relationship was rocky due to mutual allegations of infidelity, and they separated several times. I can see how both sides can benefit from a jury seeing that, Nettles said. Testimony concluded Tuesday in Alex Murdaughs double murder trial, and the jury could begin deliberations as early as Wednesday afternoon. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. But there was no blood spatter or DNA linking the killings to Alex Murdaugh or anyone else, and prosecutors never laid out how they think Murdaugh could have killed his family, cleaned himself up, disposed of the clothes and weapons, and composed himself in the 15-minute window before GPS data shows he left the property to visit his ailing mother. Vaughn also confessed to an affair in December 2006 after a trip to Mexico. Some of them posed as cattlemen, another as an insurance salesman. [2], The case gained international attention because of Smith's false claim that a black man had kidnapped her sons during a carjacking. Judge Milton Wharton did not release all of the courtroom evidence. Heres some of whats on our to-do list. In the News Published on October 12, 2021. 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. It was among the F.B.I.s first major homicide investigations. [8], Later investigation revealed that detectives doubted Smith's story from the start and believed that she murdered her sons. The clues and insights into the Vaughn murders became public after Will County Judge Daniel Rozak ordered the case file unsealed Thursday. Another Osage, Henry Roan, was shot in the back of the head. No questions can be asked and no talking will be allowed on the trip. Is that an aggressive interview? After searching, All rights reserved. At one point in the A partially-melted bowl of ice cream had been left on a banister on the first floor. He has proven over and over again that he will do anything to keep that hamster wheel going and avoid accountability. He lived a wealthy life, Waters said. As all of these pressures were mounting, the defendant killed Maggie and Paul, Waters said, pulling out his cellphone and waving it. Jurors have visited the South Carolina estate where prosecutors say disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh shot and killed his wife and son. The use of the family weapons collaborates it. Murdaugh, a now disbarred attorney from a prominent South Carolina family who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, maintains he found his wife, Maggie, Murdaugh's fear that his decade-long theft would be exposed and his desire to maintain his lofty standing in the community led him to make sure his wife and younger son were at the family's Colleton County home on June 7, 2021, so that he could kill them as part of a clever plan aided by his knowledge of how criminal cases are constructed, prosecutor Creighton Waters told jurors. Web20 titles. Through an investigation, a suspect was identified and taken into custody at the scene. The end of the episode features Lucille walking away from her car, with Buster asleep in the back seat as it rolls into a nearby body of water. It was the stuff of nightmares. This story originally appeared in the June 27, 2011 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times: A magazine article about staging crime scenes and making the death appear to be a suicide was taken by police from the home of Christopher Vaughn after the June 2007 shooting deaths of his wife and three children, newly released court records show. Vaughn, 36, also spent a half-hour at a Plainfield shooting range the night before the murders, the documents say, firing at targets with a gun later seized by police from between his dead wifes feet. Killers Von Taylor, and Edward Deli, were ex-cons, and on the run from their half-way house. The judge has warned them that some things have changed on the property since the crime occurred. And who drives way off the highway to a frontage road when a passenger begins to feel ill? 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. The 12 [10] Her motivation was reportedly to facilitate a relationship with a local wealthy man named Tom Findlay. The Osage had removed the panel not to forget what happened, as so many Americans had, but because they cant forget. March 1, 2023. [18], She will be eligible for parole in November 2024. Taken in 1924, the picture showed a seemingly innocent pageant of members of the tribe alongside white settlers, but a section had been cut out. [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. 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. 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. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. 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. Jurors on Wednesday visited the South Carolina estate where prosecutors say disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh shot and killed his wife During the penalty phase, Tommy Pope, the lead prosecutor in the Smith case, argued passionately in favor of sentencing Smith to death. The accident has been hailed preventable since, and the music world was never the same. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool), Watch: Astros SP Luis Garcia debuts new windup after rule changes, Houston facing severe thunderstorms, possible tornadoes Thursday, Oops! The defense will get to sum up its case on Thursday. [12], In 1995, David Bruck and Judy Clarke served as co-counsel for Smith. We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the worlds hidden wonders. The defense has argued that police ignored the possibility that anyone else could have killed them and called experts who said investigators did not adequately examine the crime scene. In desperation, he turned to Tom White, a former Texas Ranger, to take over the case. On Wednesday, Vaughn, 31, died while in custody at Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee, where he had been housed off and on since his arrest on Dec. 14, 2015. The timeline puts him there. Hes manufacturing an alibi. The prosecutions star crime scene expert said there wasnt enough evidence collected at the scene to definitely say whether there were one or two shooters at the kennels. When I asked the museum director why, she said it contained the image of a figure so frightening that shed decided to remove it. [13] It took the jury only two and a half hours to convict her of murdering them. The jury ultimately voted against imposing the death penalty. The biggest breakthrough of the case was her description of the carjacking location. Many of them went up to about the fourth, fifth step and would turn back and look, even wave their hands to see, look behind them to see if they can fall or if they can possibly catch themselves.. 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? 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. And they were all reaching a crescendo the day his wife and son were murdered by him, Waters said. Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution, "LAWYERS TO REVEAL DEFENSE FOR SUSAN SMITH COULD PLEAD INSANITY OR MENTAL ILLNESS FOR MOTHER OF DROWNED BOYS", "Susan Smith, Mother Who Killed Kids: 'Something Went Very Wrong That Night', "Susan Smith Profile of a Child Killer", "Susan Smith: 20 years later, case still a shocker", "Lawyer keeps even the most loathed criminals off death row", "Former South Carolina prison guard says Susan Smith could kill again if paroled", "Susan Smith, convicted of killing her young sons, could be freed in 2024", "Arrested Development: "The Cabin Show"/"For British Eyes Only", U.S. News Year in Review Susan Smith Trial Dec. 28, 1995, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Susan_Smith&oldid=1139119474, American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, People convicted of murder by South Carolina, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by South Carolina, Articles with dead external links from January 2023, Pages using infobox person with multiple parents, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. 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