The Murdaughs of Manhattan
When Alex Murdaugh was convicted on two counts of murder it wasn’t surprising; audio from his son Paul’s video placed him at the scene and close to the time of the homicides. His voice was clear in the back ground - a father helping his son and wife, Maggie, wrestle a chicken from a dog’s mouth.
The trial was bizarre in part because it was so clear there was no other perpetrator and because the century’s worth of rot, corruption and death in the Murdaugh family tree finally pushed the moment to its crisis.
Of course Murdaugh - maybe a narcissist certainly a privileged white man of means - took the stand in his own defense. If the video didn’t convince a jury of his guilt his cringeworthy performance on the stand did.
The prosecution made sure every single financial crime was captured in the court record both as exhibits submitted and by asking him on the stand - did you do these? Yes, he said, to his great shame he did all the financial things. He admitted guilt like committing an act of selflessness benevolent almost.
Donald Trump surrendered himself for arrest and booking this afternoon in lower Manhattan. He plead not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. In the indictment it’s all the stuff we have already known - Stormy Daniels hush money, Cohen serving prison time, quashing bad publicity with more hush money to media outlets.