Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh has dominated national headlines over the past few weeks after his trial captured national media attention after the suspicious death of his wife and son.

Murdaugh, who has a widespread influence on the local justice system, was charged Thursday afternoon with the murder of his wife and his son.  He maintained his innocence during the trial process, but after three short hours of deliberation amongst the jury, he was found guilty and he was sentenced to life without parole.

Murduagh confessed to every crime he had previously committed in attempt to sway the jury away from the murder case.  He confessed to numerous financial charges, as long with multiple counts on possession of drug paraphernalia in a last-ditch attempt to turn the focus of the case.  He blamed his intentional misleading of the police on his apparent opioid addiction, but his story was not convincing enough nor backed up by enough financial evidence to connect the two.

There was no direct evidence to correct Murdaugh to the murder, since there was no evidence at the crime scene, nor were there any witnesses to provide testimony. A victim testimony was unavailable since the two victims, Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, were dead.  There was technically no direct evidence to tie Murdaugh to the murder, but there was a strong motive that would benefit only Murdaugh.  Murdaugh killed his family for two reasons. 1) He needed a way to mask his growing number of financial crimes that he had committed and 2) he would have inherited the life insurance policy that his wife had, which would be used to chip away at his massive debt.

Murdaugh’s behavior and words on the stand were expertly delivered and he did not self-incriminate.  This can be credited to his knowledge of the legal system and he knew where to find loopholes and safe things to say while not simultaneously saying anything to convict himself.

Ultimately his conviction was easy due to his unexplained paranoia and awkward mannerisms following the death of his family.  Don’t do drugs and kill someone, two things that should never go together.