six weeks. we are standing by for the court to resume in the verdict to be read. dianne gallagher as you know has been covering this from the very beginning she s outfront live in water bro south carolina outside of the courthouse. diane i understand the verdict came in a few weeks ago, a few hours of deliberations what else you understand is happening right here. as you can imagine this is a fluid situation, we have seen movement of the cameras inside of the courtroom signaling there is something going on but were focused on the seal every time we are in break. according to the pool at 6:41 p.m. the jury let the clerk of court no that they reached a verdict. we do not know what the verdict is, alex murdaugh facing four felony charges in a series of the murder of his wife maggie and his son paul, as you mentioned three hours of deliberation after lengthy closing arguments in the prosecution, the defense in a rebuttal from the prosecution this afternoon before the judge char
announced that they had done so to the clerk. and now they are just waiting for court personnel to return to the courtroom, in which the jury will announce its verdict. they went in to deliberations at 3:50 eastern time this afternoon, so this seems like a relatively quick verdict for what was a very complicated and lengthy trial. prosecutors trying to prove that alec murdaugh killed his wife and son. they say to create a distraction as his admitted financial crimes were beginning to catch up with him. the murders took place on the same day that people from his law firm approached him and started questioning him about large sums of missing funds. alec murdaugh eventually admitted to stealing money from clients, from other attorneys, vulnerable individuals, some of his closest friends but throughout the trial he insisted and his attorneys insisted that he was not a murderer, that he would never bring any harm to his family. the defendant, mr. murdaugh, suggested that the killi
hitting severe turbulence. it comes as a pennsylvania man appears in court, accused of trying to bring an explosive on a plane. the alleged plot to kill jewish officials in michigan. the state s attorney general now saying she was among the targets. the house ethics committee officially launching an investigation into george santos. the surprise meeting of the g20. what secretary of state tony blinken told his russian counterpart face the face. and harry smith on the doctor inspiring america by carrying for the city s most vulnerable. announcer: this nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening and everything. there is breaking news where the alex murdaugh double murder case has reached an verdict. murdaugh on trial for the murders of his wife and 22-year-old son. let s go to catie beck right now outside the courthouse in walterboro, north carolina. catie, what can you tell us? lester, this is sort of an exceptional surprise to see a jury come back on a
we should be wondering why it was so fast. i mean, look, most times and charles can agree or disagree with me. as a former prosecutor, when you get a verdict this fast, it s usually a verdict of guilty. this jury has salt through multiple weeks of testimony. this trial started with jury selection january 23rd, i want to say. it s been going more than 61 witnesses presented by the prosecutor. we heard from experts witnesses, we had cell phone evidence, blood spatter evidence. at the end of the day, i think what really moved the needle for the jury was the rebuttal closing from the prosecution. when the prosecutor got up and said, alex murdaugh kicked the person he loved the most, and it wasn t his wife. it wasn t his son. it was himself. and in order to preserve his lifestyle, his addiction, his financial fraud, he picked himself. and if that s what the jury heard last before they went into the jury room, i would not be surprised to see if the verdict is guilty. ellison ba
yes. was this your verdict? yes. is it still your verdict? yes. juror 572, was this your verdict? yes. is it still your verdict? yes. juror 578, was this your verdict? yes. is it still your verdict? yes. juror 589, was this your verdict? yes. is it still your verdict? yes. juror 630. was this your verdict? yes. is it still your verdict? yes. juror 729. was this your verdict? yes. is the still your verdict? yes. jurjuror 826, was this your verdict? yes. is it still your verdict? yes. juror 864, was this your verdict? yes. is it still your verdict? yes. your honor, the jury has been polled. thank you, jury has been polled, and the verdict is a unanimous verdict.