Jurors in Alex Murdaugh’s trial would not have sentenced him to death if given the choice, one revealed today, saying they would rather be forced to live with his crimes for the rest of his life.
Amie Williams, Gwen Generette and James McDowell have waived their right to anonymity to appear on NBC’s TODAY show Monday to discuss the case that has gripped the nation for six weeks.
Murdaugh is now in the custody of the South Carolina Department of Corrections. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms for the murders of his wife and child, despite his continued claims that he is innocent.
While prosecutors were able to convince the jury of Murdaugh’s guilt, they were unable to pin down a specific motive for the double murders.
They never sought the death penalty, which the case qualified for, but even if they had, jurors say they would not have.
‘It would have been difficult for me. Death is hard. The family has suffered a lot… this way he gets to think or focus on what he did.
“It’s more of a punishment having to live with it.”
James McDowell, Gwen Generette and Amie Williams have waived their right to anonymity to appear on NBC’s TODAY show Monday to discuss the case that has gripped the nation for six weeks.
Alex Murdaugh, shown in a recent booking photo from the South Carolina Department of Corrections, will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Williams admitted Monday that “we may never know” why he chose to kill the couple.
I don’t know if we will ever know. It may have been a combination of things, not just financial.
“But it all weighed heavily on him,” Williams said, referring to Murdaugh’s financial crimes and his addiction to opioid drugs.
Generette believes Murdaugh wanted “to be in control of everything” and was driven by “greed”.
His wife owned most of the things they owned. I’m thinking it was more like greed,” she said.
McDowell said a perfect ‘storm’ of factors led him to kill.
It’s a storm. It may not have been one thing, but there are so many things in there that contributed to that overall storm. He played a part,’ he said.
The jurors were quick to make their decision, he added, because they had been writing questions throughout the trial every time they retired to the jury room for a break.
It allowed them to play on his doubts after closing arguments and persuade three undecided jurors that Murdaugh was guilty.
None of the jurors knew what a sensation the trial would turn into. So far, four of the 12 have come forward to explain their decision.
Amie Williams (L) said she is still unsure of Murdaugh’s motive, but believes “it was all weighing heavily on him.” Gwen Generette (R) said she believes he was driven by “greed” and a desire to be “in control of everything”.
“If I were him, I wouldn’t have taken the stand,” said juror James McDowell, who said the jury was aware of Murdaugh’s past as a lawyer and his skill in the courtroom.
‘We read everything’: None of the four jurors who have appeared so far have believed Murdaugh’s tears. Everybody says he messed up his defense on the stand
Alex Murdaugh with his wife Maggie and their sons Buster (left) and Paul (right)
Generette said it was only when she saw the sea of news cameras outside the courthouse on the first day of the trial that she realized the magnitude of the case.
“That’s when I realized, this is a great test.”
All four jurors who have spoken have said Murdaugh damaged his defense by taking the stand.
“I couldn’t believe he was going on the stand,” Generette said.
None of them believed his tears as he sobbed over the death of his wife and son.
‘I didn’t think she was crying. She turned it on and off. He was not genuine,” Generette added.
McDowell said everyone was also suspicious of Murdaugh’s background as a lawyer.
We already know that he is a lawyer. He is capable of being emotional with cases, with himself.
“We were able to read all of that,” he said.
The evidence that ‘sealed the deal’ for them was a video recorded by Paul moments before the murder, in which his father’s voice can be clearly heard in the background.
Juror Craig Moyer appeared on Good Morning America last week, ahead of Murdaugh’s sentencing, to explain why he and his fellow jurors felt Murdaugh was guilty.
Murdaugh will now be processed and evaluated before being assigned to a correctional facility to begin his sentence.
It is not the end of your time inside a courtroom.
He is still facing trial for 99 financial crimes, many of which he admitted to during his murder trial, and is also under investigation in the death of his housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield.
Prosecutors also continue to investigate his role in a botched suicide-by-hitman shooting involving his cousin, Curtis Eddie Smith.
His lawyers say they plan to appeal his murder conviction and will take it all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.
They say he never got a chance for a fair trial and the jury “could have watched it all on Netflix.”
The jury said they had no idea what an ‘ordeal’ the trial would be until they reached a sea of media and members of the public on the first day.