Silke Jasso
During a recent interview on NBC’s “Today” show, three of the jurors who participated in the six-week trial of Alex Murdaugh, accused of murdering his wife and son, revealed how video evidence of a dog kennel and the testimony of the disgraced family patriarch ultimately led to his conviction.
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The jurors, Amie Williams, Gwen Generette, and James McDowell, explained that these pieces of evidence played a critical role in their decision-making process. Along with nine other jurors, they reached a unanimous guilty verdict on all counts after less than three hours of deliberation.
“It probably would have been a hung jury if it had not been for that video. It was like he spoke from the grave,” Generette said of the 22-year-old.
Alex Murdaugh’s Voice Allegedly Caught on Video with Wife, Son Before Murders
On June 7, 2021, Murdaugh allegedly fatally shot his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, 22, near the dog kennels at Moselle, the family’s large hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina. Despite being disbarred and hailing from a once-prominent legal family in the area, Murdaugh consistently maintained that he didn’t visit the kennels on the night of the murders. However, a cellphone video recorded by Paul captured the voices of Murdaugh and his wife in the background just minutes before they were shot and killed, according to prosecutors.
“The kennel video, it was something he had lied about it,” McDowell stated. “If he didn’t do it, how did he know what time to lie about not being there?”
McDowell reportedly had a unique connection to the case as his brother, a Colleton County deputy, was one of the first witnesses to respond to the murder scene. Despite this potential conflict of interest, McDowell was selected as a juror after disclosing his relationship to the court. Neither the defense nor the prosecution objected.
“I couldn’t believe that he was taking the stand,” she stated. “And the kennel video, that just kind of sealed the deal.”
