Juror in Alex Murdaugh's trial says slain son Paul 'helped solve his own murder' trends now
A juror in Alex Murdaugh's double homicide trial said he believed the legal scion's slain son Paul helped solve his own murder after police found cell phone video placing Murdaugh at the crime scene minutes before the killings.
James, who is 22 years old, the same age Paul was when he was gunned down, along with his mother Maggie, told Fox News Digital that the jury prayed together before delivering the guilty verdict in the rural South Carolina courtroom on Thursday.
'We prayed before we went in, we prayed before we came out to give the verdict,' James said. 'That was a huge factor in us being able to sit comfortably with our decision.'
After six weeks of dramatic testimony, the jury took just less than three hours to deliver a guilty verdict. James revealed that initially, nine out of the 12 jurors voted guilty and three voted not guilty.
They continued to deliberate, discussing the evidence including the dog kennel video which James called a 'crucial piece of evidence,' before voting again.
This time, the vote was unanimous. Murdaugh was found guilty and sentenced the following day to two life sentences, which he will serve consecutively.
James, who is 22, the same age Paul Murdaugh was when he was killed, served on the jury that convicted Alex Murdaugh in the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul
The jury deliberated for less than three hours Thursday before finding Alex Murdaugh guilty
Buster Murdaugh, Paul Murdaugh, Maggie Murdaugh and Alex Murdaugh are pictured a month before Maggie and Paul were gunned down at their Moselle estate in South Carolina in 2021
After a long six-week trial of hours-long testimony, many were shocked by the fast verdict. It was noted several reporters in the courtroom that the jurors were not taking notes.
But James revealed to Law & Crime that the jurors were not allowed to take notes but they wrote down questions they had on paper in the jury room during 15-minute breaks. While some questions were answered later in testimony, other questions were discussed during the vote.
He said that about 30 minutes before they took the second vote, they were asked about ordering dinner. But they were still sorting through their questions and by the second vote, they had an unanimous guilty verdict.
'We were all pretty sure we knew what had happened, and we knew who had pulled the trigger,' James added.
James, who did not want to give his name, is a graduate of Clemson University who works in construction, spoke to the news outlet following the sentencing, wearing a suit and a U.S. Constitution tie, that he often wore throughout the trial.
The juror went on to say that in a way, Paul solved his own murder
