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Hey, everyone, welcome back to Exposed. I'm Jim Chapman and
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we are jumping right into it today. I'm gonna start
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with this twenty seven episodes over thirty five hours of content,
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and I had hoped that I was done ever saying
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the name Elick Murdoch again. But if you listen to
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episode twenty seven of the Massive Murdoch series I did
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way back in April twenty twenty five, I told you
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what just happened likely would happen, and that is on
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May thirteenth, the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned Elick Murdoch's
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convictions in the killing of both his wife Maggie and
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his son Paul. So what happened, What does it mean
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for the future of these two killings? And does this
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mean that Elic Murdoch is getting out of prison? Well,
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we're going to discuss all of that today and I'm
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going to catch you up, so a little refresher for
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you on where I left off. Way back in April
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of twenty twenty five, Becky Hill had pleaded guilty to
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four charges, all related to tampering in the Murdoch trial.
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She was the clerk of court in Collington County where
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this high profile trial took place, and I knew then
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that that was going to be an issue, and it
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was at that point that Murdoch's lawyers, of course, they
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challenged this all the way to the Supreme Court. So
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when these cases are decided, the Supreme Court does issue
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a brief, and that brief breaks down essentially why they
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rendered the verdict they did. Now I have that brief
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in front of me. I'm going to cover that today
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and I'm going to give you the details you can't
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get from a five minute blurb on Fox News, right,
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So let's get into it, and it starts off. For
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six weeks in early twenty twenty three, the eyes of
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the nation focused on Collington County, where the state prosecuted
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notorious former attorney Richard Alexander Murdoch from the murders of
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his wife Maggie and his son Paul. Both the state
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and Murdoch's defense skillfully presented their cases to the jury
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as the trial court presided over this complicated and high
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profile matter. However, their efforts were in vain because Collington
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County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill placed her fingers on
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the scales of justice thereby denying Murdoch his right to
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affair trial by an impartial jury. Our system provides, indeed demands,
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that every person is entitled to a fair trial, which
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includes an impartial jury, untainted by external forces bent on
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influencing the jury toward a bias verdict. Although we are
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aware of the time, money and effort expended in this
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lengthy trial, we have no choice but to reverse the
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denial of Murdoch's motion for a new trial, Duniahil's improper
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external influences on the jury, and remain for a new trial.
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Because we order a new trial on these basis, it
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is not necessary that we review every evidentiary issue Murdoch
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raises on his appeal. However, we address the admissibility of
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Murdoch's financial crimes to offer guidance on this thorny issue
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to the trial court on remand then it goes into
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the facts and procedural background. Murdoch was convicted on March
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second of twenty twenty three of the murders of his wife,
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Margaret Murdoch and his son Paul Murdoch, as well as
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two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission
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of a crime. The trial court Judge Newman sends him
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to life in prison. His direct appeal on these convictions
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was pending at the Court of Appeals. Murdock filed a
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motion to hold an appeal in abeyance to allow him
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to file in motion for a new trial. The Court
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of Appeals granted this motion on October twenty seventh, twenty
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twenty three. Murdock moved for a new trial, asserting he'ld
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tampered with the jurney by advising it not to believe
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Murdoch's testimony and other defense evidence. She also pressured it
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to reach a quick guilty verdict, and she also misrepresented
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information to the trial court in an attempt to have
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the court remove a jur she believed to favor the defense,
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and that was the egg jur that I told you about.
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He attached affidavits from several jurors to to support that motion,
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and Chief Justice Betty appointed former Chief Justice Toll to
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preside over this motion, as the trial court judge have
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accused himself. The post trial court conducted a hearing of
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this motion on January twenty sixth, twenty ninth of twenty
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twenty four. During the hearing, the post trial court asked
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each juror if the guilty verdict was an accurate statement
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about their verdict at the time, and also asked whether
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their verdict was based entirely on testimony evidence in the
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law presented in the case. Also, it was asked whether
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they heard He'll make any comment about the case before
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the verdict, and lastly, whether their verdict was influenced in
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any way by communications with Hill. Jur X, who testified
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on the first day of the hearing, and knowledge, He'll
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say before Murdoch's testimony, quote looks like the defendant is
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going to testify. This is an epic day in that
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it was rare for a defendant to testify. Jur X
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said that these statements did not impact the verdict. Jersey,
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who submitted one of the affidavits Murdoch attached to his
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motion for a new trial, was the first jur to
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testify on the second hearing day. When asked whether she
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heard He'll make any comments about the case, Jersey responded
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to that He'll said quote, watch his actions and watch him closely.
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Jersey added that He'll said it more, but she couldn't
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remember anything else. Jersey explained He'll's statements influenced her finding
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Mardock guilty because quote, to me, it felt like she
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made it seem like he was already guilty at the
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state's requests. The post trial court questioned Jersey about her affidavit,
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addressing each paragraph in turn. Jersey's affidavit gave a more
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detailed recitation of Hill's comments, and it goes on to
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say after reviewing the affidavit, the post trial court questioned Jersey, quote,
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I asked you previously, was your verdict on March second,
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twenty twenty three, influenced in any way by communications for
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Becky Hill, Clerk of court. You answered the question yes,
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in light of what you said in the affidavit, which
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is quote, I had questions about his guilt, but vote
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voted guilty because I felt pressure by other Jersey. Is
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that answer that I just read you more accurate than
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the statement you felt in Jersey? He answered affirmatively. The
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post trial court then asked if she stood by the affidavit,
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and she said yes. Jersey subsequently submitted an affidavit to
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clarify her testimony, in which she explained she felt influenced
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to find Murdock guilty by Heel's remarks before she entered
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the court room, and once deliberations began, she felt additional
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pressure from other jurors to reach a guilty verdict. Although
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the post trial court did not admit this affidavit, it
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accepted it as a proffer. Thus the affidavit is part
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of the record before this court. Jurorp testified that on
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the day Murdoch was supposed to take the stand, Hill
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made a comment to quote watch his body language. He
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denied Hill's comments influenced him in any way. The remaining
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jurors testified they did not hear He'll make any comments
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about the case and they were not influenced by any
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comments He'll made. Following the jarar's testimony, the state called
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Hill as a witness, although He'll denied making most of
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the comments the jurors related. She did admit that on
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the day Murdoch testified, and within the earshot of some jurors,
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she spoke to the bailiff about Murdoch's decision to testify.
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She also stated that she gave the jurors quote a
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little talk instructing them to pay attention and that it
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was a big day. She denied attempting to influence the
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jury in discussing her book Behind the Doors of Justice,
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He'll claimed literary license to explain some of the more
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dramatic passages. She denied wanting a guilty verdict because it
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would sell more books, claiming the outcome of the trial
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did not matter to her, but she acknowledged that she
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felt like Murdoch was guilty. The post trial court also
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questioned Hill about the favor she granted the media. He'll
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denied allowing the press to view the exhibits, including the
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sealed exhibits. However, she did plead guilty to perjury stemming
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from this denial. Although the post trial court limited discussion
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on jurors seven eighty five, whom the trial court dismissed
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the day deliberations began, that's the egg juror are allegedly
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discussing the case with the third party. It allowed Murdoch
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to question Hill about bringing to the trial court's attention
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social media posts that He'll mistakenly believe were from the
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egg juror's ex husband. He'll claim the juror was very
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talkative while He'll walked her through the trial courts chambers
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and volunteer that there were restraining orders on her ex
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husband when they divorced. In response to the post trial
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courts questioning, He'll continue to deny initiating or engaging that
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jur in discussion. And it goes through y'all several I
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would say, probably fifteen pages of other examples. I'm not
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going to go through all that. And the reason that
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I'm not going to do that is, Look, this lady's
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already been found guilty. There's no doubt in anybody's mind
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that she influenced this jury. But I'm also going to
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get into the part that isn't being covered very heavily
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anywhere else, and that is the financial crimes and how
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they played a part in Murdoch's guilty sentencing in this
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case being overturned, and we'll get into that. It says,
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because we order a new trial based on hills and
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proper influence on the jury. On appeal from the order
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denying Murdoch's motion for a new trial, it is not
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necessary we address the evidentiary issues Murdov raised on appeal
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from his convictions and sentences. We elect, however, to offer
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the trial court on remand the following guidance regarding amissibility
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of evidence of Murdoch's financial crimes and if you'll remember,
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he was stealing from every client he had, and we
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went over all that. I want rehash it, but I'll
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tell you what they said about it. At the time
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of the trial, Murdoch had been accused of and indicted
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for numerous financial crimes. During his testimony before the jury,
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mrdoc admitted he had committed the financial crimes, although he
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had not at the time been convicted of anything. After trial,
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he plugged guilty to the financial crimes in both state
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and federal court. He was sentenced to concurrent twenty seven
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years in state prison in forty years in federal prison,
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So that means those sentences are going to be served
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at the same time. So he essentially got forty years
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because the federal charge is a longer amount of time
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than the state charge. And it's interesting when your charge
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federal in a federal court with a crime, you don't
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get any option for parole. You got to serve eighty
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five percent of that sentence. And the reason it's not
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one hundred percent is you get some good time mixed
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in there, assuming he was good and he didn't get
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in any fights anything like that. He's going to serve
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at least eighty five percent, but more on that in
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a little while. The state sought to admit evidence of
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these financial crimes during Murdall's murder trial for the purpose
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of showing his motive for committing the murders. The state
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filed a pre trial motion in which it argued that
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evidence demonstrated quote murderaw accrued substantial debt over the period
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of years, and to cover these debts, began engaging in
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illicit financial crimes involving the theft and misappropriation of money
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from his clients and his own firm. The state emphasized
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that several series of events unfolding in the weeks and
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days leading up to the murders threatened to expose Murdall's
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financial crimes. The state wrote in his motion, quote all
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of these factors start to converge on June seventh, twenty
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twenty one, the date of the murders. The state explained
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its motive theory, quote, the murders served as Murdall's mean
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to shift the focus away from himself and by himself
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some more time to try and prevent his financial crime
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from being uncovered. The state also stressed Murdoch's attempts to
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cover his financial misdeeds after the murders. To support its
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theory of motive, Murdall filed a memo arguing that financial
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crime evidence should be excluded and it listed some rules
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there of why and it said the trial court conducted
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a lengthy pre trial hearing but declined to rule on
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the admissibility of the financial crime evidence at the time.
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During various breaks in the course of the trial, the
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state presented testimony of eight witnesses regarding Murdoch's financial crimes
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outside the presence of the jury. After hearing this testimony
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and the arguments on both sides, the trial court found
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quote all evidence of financial crime that may likely have
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led to a motive or lent itself to a motive
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for the crime committed was admissible. The trial court stated
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the jury was entitled to consider whether the apparent desperation
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of mister Murdoch because of his dire financial situation, threats
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of being exposed for committing the crimes for which he
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was later charged, that resulted in the commission of the
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alleged crimes. The trial court also found this evidence of
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other crime is admissible as it does not suggest to
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the jury that the defendant has a tendency to commit murder.
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I specifically find that these crimes will not lure the
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jury into declaring guilt on a different ground than specific charges.
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The trial court found the evidence had sufficient pervative value
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and was not substantially outweighed by any danger of unfair prejudice.
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The trial court issued a written order setting forth its ruling.
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The state presented testimony to the jury from eight witnesses
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who testified earlier, along with two additional witnesses. Through these witnesses,
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the State proved Murdoch committed wide ranging financial crimes over
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numerous years in several general categories, including the following. One
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Murdoch stole money from his clients by building personal expenses
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to them under the guise of these expenses being costs
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associated with their cases. Two Murdoch stole money from his
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law firm by instructing law firm employees to make checks
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payable to quote palametto State Bank, whose then CEO, Russell Lafitte,
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enabled Murdoch to convert the fund's first personal use. Three
241
00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:57.840
Murdoch stole money from his clients and his law firm
242
00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:01.679
by instructing law firm employees to make checks payable to
243
00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:05.919
forge a fake account Murdock created to imitate the legitimate