All articles tagged with #murder convictions
South Carolina’s Supreme Court overturned Alex Murdaugh’s murder convictions and life sentence, ruling that a trial clerk improperly suggested he was guilty and attacked his credibility. Prosecutors say they will retry him on the murder charges, likely in 2026, while he remains in prison for unrelated financial crimes; the court also warned next time about limiting evidence related to the financial crimes.
The South Carolina Supreme Court overturned Alex Murdaugh’s 2023 murder convictions for the killings of his wife Maggie and son Paul, saying the trial was tainted by the county clerk Becky Hill’s improper external influences on jurors, and remanded for a new trial in a 5-0 decision. Murdaugh remains serving life sentences for the murders and has faced related financial crimes; Hill later pled guilty to related charges. The ruling sets the stage for a fresh trial in a case that has drawn widespread public and media attention.
Lori Vallow Daybell, who is serving a life sentence for murdering her two children, has appealed her convictions to the Idaho Supreme Court. Her attorney intends to raise the issue of her mental competency during the trial. Vallow Daybell has also requested a state public defender as she claims she cannot afford an attorney. She was convicted in May of murdering her children and conspiring to kill her husband's first wife. Vallow Daybell's husband, Chad Daybell, is set to be tried separately in April.
The Menendez brothers, who were convicted of murdering their parents in 1996, are appealing to have their convictions vacated based on newly surfaced evidence that corroborates their allegations of long-term sexual abuse by their father. The evidence includes a letter written by Erik Menendez to his cousin in 1989 and recent allegations by a former member of the boy band Menudo that he was also sexually abused by Jose Menendez. The brothers' attorneys argue that the new evidence warrants a reopening of the case and establishes "a prima facie case for relief."