Disgraced ex-lawyer Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison - BBC

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By Kayla Epstein in Walterboro, South Carolina, & Madeline Halpert in New York

BBC News

Disgraced ex-lawyer Alex Murdaugh has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife and son in a case that shocked the US.

The hearing in South Carolina came one day after a jury took less than three hours to convict the 54-year-old.

Murdaugh's wife, Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22, were shot at close range on their family estate on 7 June 2021.

Prosecutors argued he killed his wife and son to divert attention from his financial crimes and gain sympathy.

Judge Clifton Newman called the case "one of the most troubling" he had seen and noted Murdaugh's past "as a well-known member of the legal community".

"You've practised law before me, and we've seen each other at various occasions throughout the years," he said, calling it "especially heart-breaking for me" to learn of Murdaugh's arrest and prosecution, more than a year after the murders were committed.

Alex Murdaugh headed a legal dynasty that for decades had occupied a powerful place - the jurisdiction was described by some as "Murdaugh Country".

Judge Newman said he understood the decision by the state not to seek the death penalty, but noted that Murdaugh's own family had had people executed for less.

"Your family, including you, have been prosecuting people here in this courtroom, and many have received the death penalty, probably for lesser conduct," he said.

The disbarred attorney was convicted of two counts of murder after a six-week trial.

• Why Alex Murdaugh's legal woes are far from over
• Key evidence that brought down Alex Murdaugh

During the trial, investigators revealed how Murdaugh stole nearly $9m from clients, to fund an addiction to painkillers and a lavish lifestyle.

At Friday's sentencing, Murdaugh spoke briefly twice, to maintain his innocence. His lawyers said they would appeal against the life terms within 10 days.

Murdaugh's surviving son, Buster Murdaugh, dressed in a simple navy-blue blazer, sat still and silent throughout the proceedings - even as the judge sentenced his father to two consecutive life sentences.

The judge also suggested the murders may have been carried out under the influence of the drugs.

"It might not have been you, but it may have been the monster you became when you took those pills."

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Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters said the evidence against the South Carolina lawyer was "overwhelming" and showed him to be a "cunning, manipulative man who placed himself above all others, including his family".

• Buster, Bubba, Paw-Paw - who's who in Murdaugh trial
• The twists and turns of the Alex Murdaugh trial

Murdaugh, meanwhile, restated his claim that he was not guilty.

"I would never hurt my wife and I would never hurt my son," he said in brief remarks at the hearing. He stared ahead and did not react as his sentence was read.

A video filmed by Paul Murdaugh just minutes before he was shot featured the voice of his father in the background, dramatically contradicting his claim he was not there at the time.

A juror who convicted him told ABC News that was the moment he began to suspect the defendant was guilty.

A new mugshot released by the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) shows that Murdaugh's head has now been shaved.

According to local media, male prisoners normally undergo some sort of haircut upon arriving in prison.

The SCDC said in a statement that "like all inmates" he will spend the next 45 days in the intake process - during which time his medical and mental health will be assessed, as will his educational level.

After the 45-day period, he will be sent to a maximum-security prison.

CBS

During a news conference after the sentence was handed down, Murdaugh's lawyers said they did not believe it was a mistake for him to take the stand during the trial. They called Judge Newman's decision to allow evidence related to Murdaugh's financial crimes to be included in the murder trial "erroneous".

The state's case "was about character, not about motive", defence attorney Dick Harpootlian said. Murdaugh had been cast as a "despicable human being", he said.

The high-profile case has captured national attention and sparked true crime podcasts and documentaries.

Related Topics

• South Carolina
• United States

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2023-03-04 00:09:23Z
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Joe Biden: Cancerous lesion removed from US president's chest, White House physician confirms - Sky News

A lesion removed from President Joe Biden's chest a month ago was cancerous, a White House doctor has confirmed.

The lesion was a basal cell carcinoma - a common form of skin cancer - the president's long-term physician, Dr Kevin O'Connor, said on Friday.

Mr Biden, 80, requires no further treatment after "all cancerous tissue was successfully removed" during a routine physical examination at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on 16 February this year.

The site of the removal on his chest has "healed nicely", Dr O'Connor added.

Mr Biden will continue regular skin screenings as part of his routine health plan.

Basal cells are easily treated particularly when they are caught early, Dr O'Connor said.

They don't typically spread like other cancers but could grow in size, hence why they are removed.

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Mr Biden was declared healthy and "fit for duty" by doctors last month.

About a month before his treatment, the president accompanied his wife of 45 years, Jill Biden, as she underwent surgery to remove two cancerous skin lesions on her face and chest, with a third taken from her left eyelid out of "an abundance of caution".

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Image: President Biden and his wife of 45 years, first lady Jill, seen at the White House in January Pic: AP

The first lady, 71, spent more than eight hours at the same medical facility in Maryland for the out-patient procedure.

The couple are long-term campaigners on fighting cancer after their son, Beau, died from brain cancer aged 46 in 2015.

Speculation over the president's medical status has been high since he first declared his bid for the White House in 2019 and has intensified since he said he intended to run for a second term in 2024.

He has yet to officially declare his re-election bid, although an official announcement is expected in the spring.

Mr Biden is already the oldest US president in history - and will be 86 at the end of his second term if he is re-elected.

Image: Mr Biden seen arriving at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on 16 February Pic: AP

Image: President Biden seen leaving the healthcare facility in Maryland, on the same day Pic: AP

He vowed to work with the Republicans in his State of the Union address in February - but political rivals branded him "unfit to serve as commander-in-chief", amid concerns from Democrat voters over his age.

Last week he stumbled on the steps of Air Force One as he boarded the jet to leave Poland on 22 February.

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Biden stumbles on steps boarding plane to leave Poland

Two years earlier, he fell up the stairs as he got on the presidential plane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, stumbling three times.

A White House spokesperson insisted it was a mere "mis-step", adding the president was "just fine and did not even require any attention from the medical team who travels with him."

Read more:
Biden makes surprise visit to Kyiv to mark anniversary of Ukraine war
Analysis: Biden throwing punches after entire presidency on the ropes

In November 2021, Mr Biden transferred his presidential powers to his deputy, Vice President Kamala Harris for a "brief period of time" while he went under anaesthetic for a routine colonoscopy.

He has previously suffered a series of health issues including an irregular heartbeat in 2003, while he was senator for Delaware.

Mr Biden also had surgery for two brain aneurysms in 1998 - but in 2014 an examination of the affected arteries showed them to be operating correctly.

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2023-03-03 22:52:37Z
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Wagner chief urges Ukraine’s Zelenskyy to abandon Bakhmut - Al Jazeera English

Russian troops and mercenaries have rained artillery down on the last access routes to the besieged Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, bringing Moscow closer to its first victory in half a year after the bloodiest fighting of the war.

The head of the Wagner Group, a private Russian army, said on Friday that the eastern salt-mining city, which has been blasted to ruins, was now almost completely surrounded with only one road still open for Ukraine’s soldiers.

The Reuters news agency reported intense Russian shelling of routes leading west out of Bakhmut, an apparent attempt to block Ukrainian forces’ access in and out of the city. A bridge in the adjacent town of Khromove was damaged by Russian tank shelling

Ukrainian soldiers were working to repair damaged roads, and more soldiers were heading towards the front line in a sign that Ukraine was not yet ready to give up the city. To the west, Ukrainians were digging new trenches for defensive positions.

The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, visited Bakhmut on Friday for briefings with local commanders on how to boost the defence capacity of front-line forces.

Victory in Bakhmut, with a pre-war population of about 70,000 people, would give Russia the first major prize of a costly winter offensive after it called up hundreds of thousands of reservists last year. It says it would be a stepping stone to capturing the surrounding Donbas region, an important Russian war aim.

Ukraine says the city has little intrinsic strategic value but that the huge losses there could determine the course of the war. It recaptured swathes of territory in the second half of 2022, but its forces have now been on the defensive for three months.

Ukrainian servicemen ride a tank towards the front-line town of Bakhmut [Lisi Niesner/Reuters]

“Units of the private military company Wagner have practically surrounded Bakhmut,” Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said, appearing in combat uniform in a video posted on Telegram.

“Only one route [out] is left,” he said. “The pincers are closing.”

He called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to order a retreat from Bakhmut to save his soldiers’ lives. The camera panned to show three captured Ukrainians – a grey-bearded older man and two boys – asking to be allowed to go home.

The commander of a Ukrainian drone unit active in Bakhmut, Robert Brovdi who goes by the name “Madyar”, said in a video posted on social media that his unit had been ordered by the military to withdraw immediately. He said he had been fighting there for 110 days.

Both sides say they have inflicted devastating losses in Bakhmut. Kyiv has said its forces are still holding out there while acknowledging that the situation has deteriorated this week.

Volodymyr Nazarenko, Ukraine’s deputy national guard commander, told Ukrainian NV Radio the situation was “critical”, with fighting going on “round the clock”.

“They take no account of their losses in trying to take the city by assault,” he said. “The task of our forces in Bakhmut is to inflict as many losses on the enemy as possible. Every metre of Ukrainian land costs hundreds of lives to the enemy.”

“We need as much ammunition as possible,” Nazarenko said. “There are many more Russians here than we have ammunition to destroy them.”

Scholz-Biden meeting

The Kremlin, meanwhile, warned the West against providing more arms to Ukraine as key Kyiv backers, United States President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, were to meet on Friday in Washington.

The past few days have generated alarm in Russia over its own potential vulnerabilities after Moscow reported a number of drone attacks on targets deep within Russia followed by what it said was an armed cross-border raid on Thursday.

President Vladimir Putin was shown on television on Friday telling his Security Council to step up “anti-terrorism measures”.

Scholz was due to meet Biden at the White House to discuss additional military aid to Ukraine. Germany makes the Leopard tanks promised in January and expected to be the core of a new Ukrainian armoured force.

Scholz has been criticised by some Western allies for taking a cautious public stance towards arming Ukraine although he has overseen a big shift in policy from a country that was Russia’s biggest energy customer on the eve of the war.

Kyiv’s ambassador in Berlin, Oleksii Makeiev, said Germany was now taking more of a leadership role in arming Ukraine.

Washington is expected to announce its latest military aid package worth $400 million and mainly made up of ammunition and armoured vehicles. The US has provided nearly $32bn in weaponry to Ukraine since the invasion.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers on both sides are believed to have been killed since Russia invaded its neighbour a year ago.

Moscow, which says it has annexed nearly a fifth of Ukraine, accuses Kyiv of posing a security threat. Ukraine and its allies say the invasion was an unprovoked war of aggression.

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2023-03-03 18:30:22Z
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Alex Murdaugh verdict: Disgraced lawyer guilty of killing wife and son - BBC

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By Kayla Epstein in Walterboro, South Carolina & Jude Sheerin in Washington

BBC News

A powerful South Carolina lawyer has been found guilty of murdering his wife and son to distract from his multi-million dollar financial crimes.

The jury deliberated for less than three hours before convicting Alex Murdaugh, 54, of two counts of murder at the end of a six-week trial.

He faces 30 years to life in prison without parole for each murder charge.

Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were shot at close range near the dog kennels on their family estate on 7 June 2021.

Alex Murdaugh stood impassively as he learned his fate during Thursday evening's hearing in Walterboro.

"Today's verdict proves that no-one, no matter who you are in society, is above the law," said South Carolina's top prosecutor, Attorney General Alan Wilson.

• Power, privilege, murder and the downfall of a dynasty
• What we've learned from Alex Murdaugh murder trial

The case - chronicling the downfall of a family born to power and privilege - has captivated the country, inspiring documentaries on Netflix and HBO.

Murdaugh was once an influential personal injury attorney in the state, and for decades until 2006 his family members had served as the leading prosecutors in the area. Such was their influence that the jurisdiction became known as "Murdaugh Country".

But the trial heard that for years he had been stealing from his law partners and clients to feed an addiction to painkillers and an extravagant lifestyle.

Murdaugh had pleaded not guilty to killing his wife and youngest son in an attempt to conceal years of financial corruption - fraud that he himself had acknowledged in court.

After the 12-person jury's verdict, dozens of spectators gathered outside the back of the court where officers ushered a handcuffed Murdaugh quickly into a black van.

Reporters shouted questions, though he remained silent. As police tucked him inside the vehicle, one man behind the media line shouted that he was praying for him.

Maggie Murdaugh/Facebook

It took more than a year for investigators to arrest Murdaugh as they untangled the complex case.

In a risky move for any murder defendant, Murdaugh took to the witness stand, trying to convince the jury that someone angry over a deadly 2019 boating accident involving Paul could have killed his son to seek revenge.

"I would never hurt Maggie, and I would never hurt Paul - ever - under any circumstances," Murdaugh testified.

The case against him was based entirely on circumstantial evidence. No direct evidence - things like a murder weapon, blood on his clothing or an eyewitness - was presented at trial.

Instead the prosecution focused on an incriminating Snapchat video taken by Murdaugh's son just before the murders.

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Paul and his mother were killed at the kennels on the family's sprawling hunting estate, known as Moselle.

For 20 months after their murders, Alex Murdaugh told law enforcement repeatedly he had not been at the dog kennels at all that evening, and was at home napping.

But in the Snapchat video filmed by Paul just minutes before the shootings, the defendant's voice could be heard in the background.

On the stand at trial, Murdaugh admitted he had lied, saying his years-long addiction to painkillers had put him in a paranoid state.

The court also heard of Murdaugh's bizarre attempt to stage his own death in an insurance fraud scheme just three months after he murdered his 52-year-old wife and 22-year-old son. The hitman he hired botched the shooting and the bullet only grazed his head.

Facebook/Maggie Murdaugh

Local resident Jessica Williams, 38, stood outside the court watching the proceedings on the phone with her six-year-old daughter.

"I am so happy," she told BBC News after the verdict was announced, adding: "I remember where I was when the verdict for OJ Simpson came down [in 1995]. This was the same thing."

Early on in the proceedings, Judge Clifton Newman ruled that prosecutors could bring in evidence of Murdaugh's alleged financial crimes.

Investigators say he stole millions from clients and colleagues, including $3.7m (£3m) in 2019 alone. And at trial, Murdaugh admitted to wide-scale theft.

Prosecutors argued it was these crimes that drove him to murder - that he thought the deaths of Maggie and Paul would gain him sympathy and stave off a reckoning over his other misdeeds.

Murdaugh and his defence team had argued in court that this theory was ludicrous and financial problems would never have led him to murder.

• Buster, Bubba, Paw-Paw - who's who in Murdaugh trial

Several witnesses testified that on the night of the murders Alex Murdaugh had asked Maggie, who had been at the family's other property in nearby Edisto Beach, to return to Moselle.

Maggie much preferred Edisto to Moselle and hadn't planned on leaving, her sister Marion Proctor told the court. But Murdaugh's elderly father was dying, and so Mrs Proctor encouraged her to support him.

Alex Murdaugh and his two sons were fond of hunting, and Moselle was home to a collection of guns.

Prosecutors alleged that Murdaugh had used one of these - a .300 Blackout assault-style rifle - to kill Maggie, and another weapon to kill Paul. But they were unable to find either firearm and produce them at trial.

Maggie was shot four or five times with a rifle and their son was shot twice with a shotgun, the trial heard.

Related Topics

• South Carolina
• United States

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2023-03-03 06:10:00Z
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Greece train crash which left 57 dead was 'mainly due to tragic human error', prime minister says - Sky News

At least 57 people have died in a train crash in Greece, with the country's prime minister saying the disaster appeared to be mainly down to "tragic human error".

The search continues for survivors after a passenger service collided with a freight train carrying shipping containers and travelling in the opposite direction but on the same track at speeds believed to be up to 100mph.

Carriages derailed and then burst into flames in Greece's deadliest rail crash in living memory. Temperatures in one carriage rose to 1,300C (2,370F) after it caught fire.

Some passengers kicked through windows to escape the inferno late on Tuesday, while others were thrown 40 metres due to the impact of the crash.

The passenger service had left Athens and was heading to the northern city of Thessaloniki when the collision happened near the central town of Larissa, 200 miles north of the capital.

Many of the victims were thought to be university students returning home after a long holiday weekend.

Some 48 people remain in hospital.

More on Greece

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The passenger train was said to be carrying around 350 passengers. More than 200 people who were left unharmed were taken by buses to Thessaloniki.

Stergios Minenis, 28, who jumped to safety from the wreckage, said: "There was panic... The fire was immediate. As we were turning over we were being burned, fire was right and left."

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'People were screaming'

A passenger, who escaped from the fifth carriage, told Skai TV: "Windows were being smashed and people were screaming... One of the windows caved in from the impact of iron from the other train."

Another said: "There was fire next to us. We found a hole and from there we managed to get out. The wagon started to spin, and then it ended up on its side and we got out.

"It was a nightmarish 10 seconds, in the flames. There was panic in the carriage, you couldn't see around you because of the smoke."

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called it "a horrific rail accident without precedent in our country," as he promised a full, independent investigation.

He said it appeared the crash was "mainly due to a tragic human error," but did not give further details.

A station master was arrested as investigators tried to work out why the two trains had been on the same track "for many kilometres", while the country's transport minister Kostas Karamanlis has resigned.

Eight rail employees were among those killed, including the two drivers of the freight train and the two drivers of the passenger train, according to Greek Railroad Workers Union president Yannis Nitsas.

Read more:
What we know so far about the crash
Questions now turn to how the tragedy happened

Image: The location of the rail crash

The rescue operation will continue into the night, with heavy machinery needed to move the huge train carcasses, so crews can painstakingly search through the wreckage.

"It's unlikely there will be survivors, but hope dies last," said rescuer Nikos Zygouris.

Larissa's chief coroner, Roubini Leondari, said 43 bodies had been brought to her for examination, and would require DNA identification as they were largely disfigured.

"Most (of the bodies) are young people," she told ERT. "They are in very bad condition."

The government declared three days of national mourning until Friday, with flags flying at half-mast in a tribute to the victims.

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2023-03-03 04:41:15Z
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Belgian mother who murdered her five children euthanised at own request - on 16th anniversary of killings - Sky News

A mother who killed her five children has been euthanised at her own request - 16 years to the day after their murders, her lawyer has said.

Genevieve Lhermitte slit the throats of her son and daughters - aged three to 14 - with a kitchen knife at their family home in the Belgian town of Nivelles on 28 February 2007.

The children's father was out of the country at the time of the killings, after which Lhermitte attempted to take her own life, but failed and was charged with the murders.

Psychologists and psychiatrists told her trial jury she was suffering from a severe mental disorder at the time of the killings.

She was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in December 2008, before being moved to a psychiatric hospital in 2019.

Image: Experts said Lhermitte's was suffering from a severe mental disorder at the time of the killings

The 56-year-old's lawyer Nicolas Cohen confirmed reports in local media that his client had been euthanised on the 16th anniversary of the killings on Tuesday.

She died at Leonard de Vinci hospital in Montigny-le-Tilleul, according to Belgian news site Sudinfo.

Under Belgian law people can choose to be euthanised if they are deemed to be suffering from "unbearable" psychological, and not just physical, suffering that cannot be healed.

Read more:
MPs to debate assisted dying after petition reaches 100,000 signatures
Briton to plead guilty to manslaughter over 'mercy killing' of terminally ill wife in Cyprus

The person must be conscious of their decision and be able to convey their wish in a reasoned and consistent manner.

Psychologist Emilie Maroit told the RTL-TVI channel that Lhermitte likely chose to die on 28 February in a "symbolic gesture in respect for her children".

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK

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2023-03-03 08:12:29Z
1815039655

Greece train crash: 57 people confirmed dead as public anger grows - BBC

Reuters

By Nick Beake in Larissa & Kathryn Armstrong in London

BBC News

The death toll from Tuesday's train crash in Greece has increased to 57, a coroner has told the BBC.

Eleni Zaggelidou, one of ten coroners working on the investigation, said DNA had been taken from 57 intact bodies.

Meanwhile, a government minister said austerity during Greece's economic crisis in the 2000s contributed to a lack of investment in the railways.

Rail workers held a one-day strike on Thursday following the disaster, blaming government neglect.

More than 2,000 people protested for a second day in Athens and Thessaloniki, shocked by Tuesday's disaster near the city of Larissa.

"We are angry at the company, at the government and past governments that did nothing to improve conditions in the Greek railway," said pensioner Stavros Nantis in Athens.

Rescue workers are still going through burned and buckled carriages, searching for victims.

This was the "most difficult moment", rescuer Konstantinos Imanimidis told Reuters news agency, because "instead of saving lives, we have to recover bodies".

The crash happened just before midnight on Tuesday. A passenger train carrying 350 people collided with a freight train after both ended up on the same track - causing the front carriages to burst into flames.

EPA

The railway workers' strike began at 0600 local time (0400 GMT), hitting national rail services and the subway in Athens.

Many in Greece see the crash as an accident waiting to happen, and the union blamed successive governments' "disrespect" towards Greek railways for leading to this "tragic result".

During a visit to a hospital where relatives of the missing had gathered, Zoe Rapti, Greece's Deputy Minister of Health, told the BBC that investing in the rail network had been made more difficult by the Greek debt crisis around 2010, which led to drastic austerity measures in exchange for a financial rescue by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

"Of course, things should have been done during these years but, as you remember, Greece faced a big economic crisis for more than 10 years, which means that many things went back," she said.

She said a "wide investigation" would take place, which she promised would provide answers.

AFP

Government spokesman Giannis Oikonomous also said "chronic delays" in implementing rail projects were rooted in "distortions" in the country's public sector going back decades.

• What we know so far about the Greek train crash
• Survivors describe 'nightmarish seconds' as trains crashed

A 59-year-old station master in Larissa has been charged with manslaughter by negligence and is due to appear in court on Thursday. He has admitted to having a share of responsibility in the accident, his lawyer Stefanos Pantzartzidis said outside the courthouse.

"He is literally devastated. Since the first moment, he has assumed responsibility proportionate to him," Mr Pantzartzidis said, hinting that the station master, who has not been publicly named, was not the only one to blame.

Greece's Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned over the crash, saying he would take responsibility for the authorities' "longstanding failures" to fix a railway system that was not fit for the 21st Century.

But Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's suggestion that "tragic human error" was to blame has caused anger.

Pictures of devastation as dozens killed

On Wednesday, rioters clashed with police outside the headquarters of Hellenic Train in Athens - the company responsible for maintaining Greece's railways.

Tear gas was used to disperse protesters, who threw stones and lit fires in the streets.

At a silent vigil in Larissa to commemorate the victims of the incident, one demonstrator said he felt the disaster had been long coming.

"The rail network looked problematic, with worn down, badly paid staff," Nikos Savva, a medical student from Cyprus, told AFP news agency.

The station master arrested should not pay the price "for a whole ailing system", he added.

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Many of the passengers on board were students in their 20s returning to Thessaloniki after a long weekend celebrating Greek Orthodox Lent.

Fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Varthakogiannis said temperatures inside the first carriage - which burst into flames - had reached 1,300C (2,370F), making it "hard to identify the people who were inside".

Local media have reported that more than 10 people are still missing, as Greece observes three days of national mourning.

Families have given DNA samples to help identification efforts, with the results expected on Thursday.

One of those, a woman called Katerina searching for her missing brother, a passenger on the train, shouted "Murderers!" outside the hospital in Larissa, directing her anger towards the government and the rail company, Reuters reports.

Kostas Malizos, a recently retired surgeon and Emeritus Professor at Greece's University of Thessaly, has returned to work to perform surgery on injured passengers.

"It's a disaster, it's catastrophic," he said. "Families are crying tonight. Unfortunately, the majority of the lost people are young students. They left home, happy after the long weekend, to go for their studies or to see their relatives and never reached them."

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Related Topics

• Greece
• Rail travel

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2023-03-02 20:15:06Z
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