Former South Carolina attorney Richard “Alex” Murdaugh will be sentenced Friday just after staying convicted of murder in the fatalities of his wife and son.

Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and Paul Murdaugh, 22, had been killed in the vicinity of canine kennels at the family’s residence in June 2021. After listening to far more than five weeks of testimony from over 75 witnesses — which include Murdaugh himself — and going to the crime scene, the jury took much less than a few several hours Thursday to find Murdaugh, 54, guilty of two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon in the commitment of a violent criminal offense.

The minimal sentence for murder is 30 yrs in prison. The South Carolina Lawyer General’s Office is trying to get existence in prison without having the probability of parole.

Prosecutor after verdict: ‘Justice was done’

Waters said in his closing argument Wednesday the state’s circumstantial proof showed Murdaugh experienced the suggests, motive and prospect to commit the criminal offense and his lies just after the killings confirmed his guilt. Waters stated Murdaugh, a member of a prominent authorized dynasty that ran a prosecutors business office in Hampton County for far more than 80 years, killed his relatives to prevent his alleged economical crimes from currently being exposed and ruining his family’s legacy and his effective law exercise.

“Justice was performed right now,” Waters said a information meeting immediately after the verdict. “It doesn’t subject who your loved ones is. It doesn’t issue how much dollars you have … If you do incorrect, if you break the law, if you murder, then justice will be accomplished in South Carolina.”

Murdaugh frequently denied killing his relatives when he took the stand in his possess protection past 7 days, but admitted to lying to investigators about his whereabouts the night of the murders. Murdaugh to begin with explained to police he was not at the family’s dog kennels just before finding the bodies there, but his voice was captured on a video taken on his son’s cellphone minutes prior to prosecutors feel the killings happened.

Murdaugh also admitted thieving millions from his purchasers and law agency as effectively as attempting to orchestrate his own loss of life in what investigators identified as a botched lifestyle coverage fraud scheme.

Murdaugh’s attorneys criticize prosecution’s evidence

Meanwhile, Murdaugh’s attorneys criticized the prosecution’s deficiency of immediate evidence and concept of motive and argued legislation enforcement failed to correctly investigate the case and fabricated evidence in opposition to Murdaugh.

Murdaugh has been charged with far more than 100 other counts related to alleged crimes which include money laundering, tax evasion, and drug trafficking which could have a penalty of additional than seven generations of jail time.