Alex Murdaugh Gets New Trial | Josie Dikeman Convicted | MMA Fighter Testifies | Daily Crime and Justice

0:03 Kalaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Garrett Fisher. This is Daily Crime Injustice, Friday, May twenty second, twenty twenty six. Today, Alex Murdah has been granted a new murder trial by the South Carolina Supreme Court. Josie Dyckman has been convicted in the death of six year old Alexavier aj Pedron in Lacrosse, Wisconsin, and in Panama City, Florida. A former MMA fighter named Ross Johnson took the stand in his own defense yesterday. We're back two weeks with the Fighting Back series, which I hope you enjoyed. But the docket doesn't stop while we're away, so let me catch you up the big one. First. Nine days ago, May thirteen, the South Carolina Supreme Court did what almost no one in the Low Country expected. They reversed Alex Murdaw's murder convictions unanimous decision. They are giving him a new trial.

0:59 The reason the Clerk of Court, Becky Hill, was caught having private conversations with the jury four person sometimes in a single occupancy bathroom, and the Supreme Court said, in their words that Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice. That's not a metaphor I made up. That's the actual language from the unanimous opinion. Five days later, Murdoff filed a civil lawsuit against Becky Hill. And because everything in this case has to be a circus, South Carolina's Attorney General responded to the new trial news by floating the death penalty. We'll get to all of it. Second, Lacrosse, Wisconsin, Josie Dykman, we last sat with you on May fourth.

1:40 We were four days into her trial. The trial has now ended. She has been convicted, but not on the charge. The prosecution wanted reckless homicide instead of intentional There's a story in that. And Third, a new trial just wrapped its defense case in the Florida Panhandle. Ross Johnson years old, former mixed martial arts fighter with a five and two record. His nickname in the cage was the Juggernaut. He's on trial for the death of a US Air Force airman named Davon Larry after a bar fight in Panama City two and a half years ago. Yesterday, Johnson took the stand and said he just pushed the guy. We'll get to that one too. This is daily crime and justice.

2:29 Let me walk you through this because this story has so many layers that if I just gave you the headline Alex Murdad gets a new trial, you'd miss what's actually happening. If you've been with us since season one, you know the Murdac case. Eighty seven years of legal dynasty in South Carolina's Low Country, three generations of solicitors, power, money, influence, until June seventh, twenty twenty one, when Alex Murdau's wife Maggie and his twenty two year old son Paul were shot to death at the family hunting estate at Mosel. Alex Murdaw said he found the bodies. The prosecution said he killed them. In twenty twenty three, after a six week trial, a Colleton County jury took less than three hours to convict two consecutive life sentences no possibility of parole.

3:18 That trial was run by a county Clerk of Court named Rebecca Hill Becky Hill. She managed the courtroom, she managed the jury, she managed access to everyone, and while the trial was happening, she was quietly writing a book about it, Behind the Doors of Justice, The Murdaw Murders. She published it after the conviction. Then the defense started talking to the jurors, and the jurors started telling stories. One of them, identified in the court record only as JURORZ, said that Becky Hill had told them not to be fooled by evidence the defense presented, suggested they should quote watch him closely, look at his actions. That what's a court officer telling jurors how to interpret what they're seeing.

4:04 That's not how this is supposed to work. That's not even close. Another juror, the one famously known in the Murdaw case as the egg Lady, was kicked off the jury after Becky Hill personally interrogated her about her social media posts. Hill knew this juror had a fear of her ex husband. Hill told her that the ex husband had been questioned by law enforcement and offered to reinstate a restraining order. And then he'll speculated that and again this is in the court record, that the Murdaws probably got to him when he called her on the morning of the verdict. The Murdaws probably got to him. The Clerk of court telling a juror that, of course she did. The egg Lady was dismissed. The new four person appointed to replace her was Juror eight two six and Juror eight two six. According to the lawsuit Alex Murdaw's team filed on Monday, was repeatedly seen going off with Becky Hill for private conversations five minutes, ten minutes. Sometimes they went into the single occupancy jury room bathroom together. The juror has never said what they talked about. When the jury visited Mozelle, the murder site, the actual property where Maggie and Paul were killed, Juror eight two six and Hill walked off and had yet another private conversation while the jury was viewing the scene, the clerk of court, the four person off having a private conversation. And Hill's book, her actual book, the book she was writing while the trial was happening. There's a passage where she writes about

5:36 the Mozelle visit, and she says, and this is where you have to remember she was a court officer paid by the state of South Carolina to administer a trial fairly, she writes, and I'm quoting her here. While the jurors viewed the Mozelle property, we all could hear and see Alex's story was impossible. Some of us, either from the courthouse, law enforcement, or jury at Mozelle had a an epiphany and shared our thoughts with our eyes. At that moment, many of us standing there new I knew, and they knew that Alex was guilty. I knew and they knew. That is the clerk of court writing a book describing how she communicated her belief in the defendants guilt to jurors with her eyes while the jury was at the crime scene, and she wrote it down she published it.

6:26 Becky Hill has already pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and perjury for showing a reporter sealed court exhibits and then lying about it. She was never criminally charged for the jury tampering itself. She just got to keep all of it until last week May thirteenth, twenty twenty six South Carolina Supreme Court unanimous opinion. They wrote, both the state and Murdau's defense skillfully presented their cases. However, their efforts were in vain because coll Itton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaw his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury. There it is their efforts were in vain.

7:07 The whole six week trial, the hundreds of witnesses, the kennel video, the cell phone evidence, the financial motive testimony, all of it in vain because the Clerk of court could not keep her hands off the jury. The justices acknowledged what this means. They wrote, although we are aware of the time, money and effort expended for this lengthy trial, we have no choice but to reverse the denial of Murdaw's motion for a new trial and remand for a new trial. No choice, that's the language. The court did not want to do this, but Hill made the trial unfixable. Five days later, Monday May eighteenth, Alex Murdaw's attorneys held a press conference and they announced two things. Number One, Murdaw is suing Becky Hill civil lawsuit six and fourteenth Amendment violations, compensatory and punitive damages. Murdaw's attorney, Jim Griffin, made a point of saying, none of the money. If they win any we'll go to Alex personally. The point of the lawsuit, he said, is to hold Becky Hill accountable.

8:14 Number two, there will be no plea deal. Dick Carputlian, the lead attorney, said it as plainly as it can be said no plea deal, nor will he ever plead guilty off the table. We want a trial or they can dismiss it. Griffin added, he'll never enter to a plea, which requires some admission he did something he didn't do. That's not good enough. So that's where Murdaw's defense team is suing the clerk demanding a trial, no interest in a plea. But the other side of this is the Attorney General of South Carolina, Alan Wilson, who is, and this is important context, currently running for governor. Alan Wilson responded to the Supreme Court ruling by floating the death penalty, suggest yesting his office might seek death this time around.

9:03 Now Maggie and Paul were shot in twenty twenty one, five years ago. Wilson did not seek the death penalty the first time. The case has not gotten any new evidence, the fact pattern has not changed. The state just has to retry the case. And Harputlan, who is not exactly a man who lets things slide, went after Wilson directly. He said, and I quote, clearly, he's not talking to the lawyers in his office. He's probably talking to his political consultants who thought that it was a good SoundBite for his governor's campaign. There is a playbook for this. Sitting attorney general decides to run for higher office, major, high profile case becomes available for theatrics. Suddenly the death penalty is on the table, not because anything legally changed, but because death penalty plays well in a Republican primary.

9:53 Harputlien called it out by name. That's not a defense lawyer being clever. That's a defense lawyer pointing at the OBVI. Whether the death penalty is even legally available here is unclear. Harpoutlin pointed out the law may not allow it. The next step now is procedural. The case gets formally remanded back to a trial court. A judge gets appointed in the next couple of weeks, and then the question becomes, how do you retry a case this high profile? Where does the jury pool come from? How fast can it move? Here's what I want to leave you with on this story. Alex Murdaugh has not been declared innocent. He has not been exonerated. The South Carolina Supreme Court did not say he didn't do it. The court said the trial was unfair because the clerk of court interfered with the jury.

10:39 That's a very narrow ruling. The evidence against him hasn't moved. The kennel video, the cell phone data, the twenty two minute window, the financial motive, all of it still exists. All of it can be presented again, and the new jury, if there is a new jury, will hear most of it. A new trial does not equal acquit. A new trial means doing it all over again. But the court was unambiguous on one thing. What Becky Hill did was wrong. And no matter how guilty Alex Murdall might be, and the original jury thought he was guilty in under three hours, the system cannot let a court clerk pick the outcome, not even when the system agrees with her. Maggie Murdall was fifty two years old when she was shot. Paul Murdall was twenty two. They have been dead for almost five years. Their justice, whatever justice is going to look like, got handed back to the start of the line this week because of a clerk who could not stop herself from playing god in a courthouse. Someone has to say their names, Maggie, Paul. We'll be back when there's a judge assigned in a trial date set. Welcome back to Daily Crime and Justice. I'm Garrett Fisher. Three weeks ago May fourth, I sat down with you and walked you through the start of the Josie Dyckman trial Lacrosse County, Wisconsin.

12:10 The defendant is the now thirty three year old girlfriend of a man named Derek Pedron. The victim is Pedron's six year old son, Alexavia Pedron. They called him a J. He died in February twenty twenty three. If you missed that episode, the very short version is this AJ was in Josie Dyckman's care while his father was in jail on a domestic violence arrest. AJ had previously been hospitalized for a broken femur, the strongest bone in a six year old's body, and the hospital had flagged possible abuse. Five weeks later, AJ was dead. Deaconman called nine one one and said he'd gotten into a bag of medication.

12:52 The medical examiner found blunt force trauma, a torn liver, brain swelling, and xanax in his system. That was where we left it. On May fourth. Trial was four days in. While I was away, the trial finished, so let me catch you up. Day five, May fifth, the state Putdikaman's eleven year old son on the stand. Her own son, eleven years old, testified that he saw his mother hit, punch, kick, and choke Aj. Repeatedly said the abuse happened when his father was at work or away. Said the day before AJ died, he watched his mother choke Aj with both hands while AJ's legs and arms flailed trying to get away.

13:32 Said his mother wouldn't let Aj eat, would give him only pizza, cruss, would make him eat hot sauce, would make him eat on the floor. Said he saw his mother push Aj down the stairs the same fall that broke AJ's leg. An eleven year old, describing his mother from the witness stand under oath that happened day six. The younger child testified to the same things. Said Aj got in trouble for stealing cheetos the night before he died, and Dykeman kicked him for it. Said Dykeman beat him with a spatula. The chief Medical Examiner of Lacrosse County testified to the autopsy AJ died of blunt force trauma due to homicidal assault and the toxic effects of alprisolum.

14:15 Alpersolum is the chemical name for xanax. The death certificate had been amended in June twenty twenty three to call it a homicide. Day seven, the nurses and the pediatric hospitalist from the leg fracture in January twenty twenty three testified. The nurse practitioner said that Aj kept looking at Dykeman whenever he was asked how his leg got broken. A six year old child looks at the woman in the room before answering questions about his injuries. That tells you everything. Day eight, investigators bodycam search warrants. Day nine, the state put the defendant's pattern of behavior on display through phone records texts, the evidence that during the hours AJ was dying six pm to midnight on February tenth, Dykman exchanged about one hundred text messages with another man setting up a date for the next day. The next day, then Pedron's ex girlfriend, Misty Craig, testified, and so did a friend of Derek Pedron, who said Pedron had used xanax himself and had threatened to and I quote cut Misty Craig's head off and ship it to her mother if she talked about AJ or the trial. So the defense's witness pool also includes some of the worst sentences I have read out loud on this show. Pedron is not a defendant here, but he is, by everyone's testimony, a violent man. The state rested on day nine. Day ten, Josie Dyckman took the stand, denied everything, said she loved

15:46 Aj as much as her own children, said Pedron was the abuser, said she is one hundred percent disabled with traumatic brain injuries from being assaulted by Pedron, and a previous ex girlfriend said she never withheld food, said so sometimes AJ would eat things that made him sick. A forensic psychologist testified on her behalf diagnosed her with major neurocognitive disorder, said her memory deteriorates over time. Said she views the world as hostile and untrustworthy. The defense's theory Dyckman is too damaged to have done this, Pedron is the real killer, and AJ overdosed. Day eleven, the defense's forensic pathologist, doctor Eric Christensen, testified that he could not definitively determine cause of death. Said it could have been respiratory failure from xanax. Said the blunt force injuries could have been from rough play with siblings. That is and I want to say this carefully. That is one expert's opinion.

16:43 The state's medical examiner had already ruled the death a homicide, so the jury had two experts giving two different stories. The defense rested on day eleven. Day twelve closing arguments, State went hard. Pointed to the timing, pointed to the text messages, pointed out that Dykeman texted her date before calling her own mother before calling nine to one one, pointed out that Derek Pedron was in jail when the xanax got into ajsystem, meaning Dykeman was the only adult with access. Pointed out that Dykeman deleted surveillance video and got rid of SD cards. The prosecution's words were, quote Dykeman forever silenced Alexavier with a brutal assault and intentional drugging.

17:27 The defense came back medical science doesn't support murder. The death was tragic, but not intentional. The children were coached Day thirteen, May fifteenth. The jury asked to see several videos again. Then they came back with a verdict guilty. But and this is the part that matters, not on the top charge. The state had filed first degree intentional homicide. The jury rejected that they came back with the lesser charge, first degree reckless homicide plus chronic neglect of a child resulting in death plus repeated physical abuse of a child causing death. Let me walk you through what that distinction means, because it matters. First degree intentional homicide in Wisconsin means the jury agreed she meant to kill Aj, mandatory life sentence.

18:17 Reckless homicide means the jury agreed her conduct showed utter disregard for human life, but they did not unanimously agree she meant to kill him. Reckless homicide carries up to sixty years. Why does that matter Because the jury heard about an eleven year old testifying that he saw his mother choke Aj with both hands a day before his death. They heard about a torn liver, They heard about brain swelling, They heard about xanax in the bloodstream of a six year old. They heard about a hundred text messages to a date during the dying hours. And what they came back with was, we're not certain enough that she meant to kill him to call it intentional. I'm not going to pretend to know what was in that jury room.

19:00 They saw the videos, they listen to the children, They watched Josie Dykman testify and tell them she didn't do it. They split the difference. But Alexavier Pedron was six years old. He had a broken femur five weeks before his death, a leg bone that in a six year old does not break in a fall. He had a hospital that flagged abuse and sent him home anyway. He had a mother figure who, according to the testimony of her own children, kicked him while he was on the floor and choked him with both hands. He should be nine years old today. He should be a third grader. He should be playing with the cousins his grandmother called the Three Musketeers. He should be alive. Instead, he's dead, and the woman who was the only adult with him when he died is going to prison, but not for the rest of her life, just for most of it. Someone has to say his name, A J. Pedron. Alexavier will bring you the sentencing when it's scheduled. Last story, Panama City, Florida. Ross Johnson, twenty six years old, former mixed martial arts fighter, five wins, two losses, cage name the Juggernaut. He is on trial for manslaughter an aggravated battery in the death of a US Air Force airman named Devon Larry. The fight happened April ninth, twenty twenty three. Larry was thirty one years old.

20:29 Here's the setup. Ross Johnson and his friends were at the Coyote Ugly Saloon in Panama City. There was a scuffle with another group at the bar. The scuffle moved outside and in the parking lot, things escalated. Davon Larry, a member of the United States Air Force, was killed. Johnson took the stand in his own defense yesterday May twentieth, twenty twenty six, and his testimony was let me give it to you. In his words, he was protecting his friend. Johnson said his focus the whole time was on a man named John Chester. Chester is, by Johnson's testimony, a friend who he had previously seen get beaten up. Johnson said when he turned around in the parking lot, he saw Davon Larry with his arm outstretched towards Chester, pushing him, pointing at him. The defense played surveillance video from inside the bar walk the jury through it. Johnson narrating standing near two women, putting down a drink, putting his hands in his pockets, just quote making sure everything was under control.

21:33 Then he saw Larry empty a bottle of beer but keep holding the bottle. That concerned him, and then his attention went back to Chester, who by this point was outside in the parking lot in the fetal position. Johnson said, quote, I saw two people putting hands on John Chester and he was lying in the fetal position on the ground, defenseless. So Johnson said he ran to help, and he pushed Larry out of the way, and he told his attorney he believes he only pushed Larry, he did not hit him. Then prosecution got him on cross. The prosecutor pushed back, asked him repeatedly whether he remembered hitting Larry. Johnson conceded he had MMA training, conceded he had a five and two record in official fights. Conceded his nickname was the Juggernaut.

22:21 The prosecutor also got him on this in MMA, in the sport, it is a foul to hit your opponent in the back of the head. Johnson acknowledged that. The prosecutor asked why that rule exists. Johnson said, for protection. For protection, that is the answer. The rule against hitting people in the back of the head. In mixed martial arts exists because hitting someone in the back of the head can kill them. Ross Johnson knew that rule was trained in it had been competing in fights for years where that rule was enforced, specifically because the back of the skull is fra After the fight ended, Johnson did not stay at the scene. He went back to the hotel.

23:05 He saw police, but did not stop. He said, quote, I didn't know that they were there for me. Then he left the hotel with two women he had met at the bar to spend the night with them. He did not know Davon Larry was dead until officers told him. The defense rested after his testimony. Now here's what I'm gonna say about this. Carefully. The trial is not over. Closing arguments and jury deliberations are still to come. The standard for manslaughter in Florida is going to require the state to prove certain elements about Johnson's actions and intent. The defence's theory that Johnson was protecting a defenseless friend is a recognized defense. The presumption of innocence applies. But I want to lay out what the jury is going to weigh. A man with a five and two record in mma, a trained fighter walks into a bar fight situation.

24:00 He's a friend on the ground, engages with another participant. The other participant, Davon Larry, US Air Force, thirty one years old, ends up dead. Johnson says he didn't hit him, just pushed him, and then he left the bar, left the scene, went to the hotel, saw police didn't stop. Spent the night with women he had just met. That is the fact pattern. Davon Larry was thirty one years old United States Air Force airman, was on a night out in Panama City. He is not here to tell his side of the story. Closing arguments are expected next. We will bring you the verdict when it comes in. Make this make sense. That is Daily Crime and Justice for Friday, May twenty second, twenty twenty six. To recap.

24:49 Alex Murda has been granted a new murder trial by the South Carolina Supreme Court. Five days later, he filed a lawsuit against Becky Hill. South Carolina's Attorney General is floating the death penalty. The defense says no plea, no admission only trial. Josie Dyckman has been convicted in the death of six year old aj Pedron in Lacrosse Wisconsin reckless homicide not intentional sentencing scheduled at a later date. And in Panama City, Florida, the defense rested in the manslaughter trial of former MMA fighter Ross Johnson. Closing arguments expected next Monday. We'll have the ditty update, the latest on the Russell Brand trial, and whatever the docket gives us over the weekend. Quick question for you, Alex Murdaw's defense is demanding a trial. The Attorney General is talking about the death penalty. Where do you land, Should the States seek death or is that politics talking? Leave us a comment on Spotify. Follow Daily Crime and Justice wherever you listen and turn notifications on so you don't miss a verdict. You can find this show on any smart speaker.

25:54 Just ask for Daily Crime and Justice, same name everywhere. Tell people do better. I'm Garrett Fisher. This is Daily Crime and Justice. Disclaimer. This program is for informational and entertainment purposes. Trials and progress are reported with the presumption of innocence. Intact statements by defendants, prosecutors, and witnesses are claims and arguments, not findings. The Ross Johnson trial in Panama City, Florida is ongoing and no verdict has been reached. Coverage of the Alex Murdaugh case reflects the procedural status as of the date of recording, the South Carolina Supreme Courts May thirteenth, twenty twenty six ruling vacating the conviction and granting a new trial on narrow procedural grounds, and the May eighteenth, twenty twenty six civil lawsuit against Rebecca Becky Hill. Mister Murdaw has not been exonerated. The evidence against him remains. Editorial commentary throughout this program is opinion.

26:54 Today's episode covered Alex Murdall, Becky Hill, Josie Dykman, Alex Xavier Pedron, Drick Pedron, Ross Johnson, and Daveon Larry