Celebrity

Murdaugh’s Fall From Grace Ends In Life Sentence For Murder

Published

1 year ago

2023-03-03

SC, WALTERBORO — Alex Murdaugh was a well-known lawyer in a rural area of South Carolina. On Friday, he was given a life sentence for killing his wife and son at their large estate. This was the end of a legal family that had served the community for decades.

Even though Murdaugh played college football, was a high-powered attorney, and had a good name, the judge reminded him that he had to take the portrait of the defendant’s grandfather down from its place of honor in the courtroom to make sure the trial was fair. This was in the peaceful Lowcountry, which Murdaugh’s family had dominated since the days of Jim Crow.

Murdaugh maintained his innocence throughout the sentencing process and his six-week trial. But Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman was curious whether he had nightmares about the mutilated bodies of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh or how he had shamed his family’s three-generation reputation for justice by cheating, stealing, and ultimately killing.

You have my utmost respect, as I have said before. However, I have done everything correctly. “I would never harm my wife Maggie or my son Paul-Paul,” Murdaugh said.

It could have been someone else and not you. There’s always the possibility that it was the monster you’ve become,” Newman suggested.

Murdaugh stood before the judge in the same Colleton County courtroom.

Murdaugh stood before the judge in the same Colleton County courtroom where his family has been elected prosecutors for over 80 years. A century ago, Murdaugh’s ancestors established the most influential law firm in adjacent Hampton County. For decades, virtually everyone who went before a judge had a Murdaugh either at their back or staring them down, regardless of where they stood about the law.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters noted a daily stare.

I met his gaze directly. He always gave me the cold, hard eye whenever he passed me by during this ordeal. And when Alex Murdaugh looked at me, I saw the genuine article,” Waters said.

Even though prosecutors chose not to pursue capital punishment, Newman still imposed the maximum sentence of two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.

“Over the past century, your family — including you — have been prosecuting people here in this courtroom, and many have received the death penalty, probably for lesser conduct,” the judge said.

Waters stated that none of Murdaugh’s family members or his wife’s parents and relatives wished to speak on behalf of the prosecution before sentencing. Murdaugh was always supported in court by his family, including his brother and remaining son.

They became more convinced he did not do it after six weeks of trial. “They are completely on his side,” said defense attorney Jim Griffin after the hearing.

Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his son, 22, and his wife, 52,

Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his son, 22, with two shots from a shotgun, and his wife, 52, with four or five shots from a rifle after the jury deliberated for less than three hours on Thursday.

Craig Moyer, a juror, told ABC News that the jury polled itself right after deliberations began and that the result was nine guilty verdicts. The other three were quickly persuaded.

The juror believed the prosecution’s contention that the most important evidence was a video that had been stored on his son’s phone for an entire year and which had been shot just minutes before the murders at the same kennels near where the bodies would be found.

All three Murdaughs are audible on the video, but Alex Murdaugh insisted for 20 months that he hadn’t been at the kennels that night. On the stand, he admitted to investigators that he had lied to them about his whereabouts at the kennels, claiming that he was paranoid about law enforcement because of his opioid addiction and had pills in his pocket the night of the killings.

“A skillful liar. But,” Moyer said, “it’s not good enough.

And what about all the weeping Murdaugh did, allegedly even while testifying? As far as we know, Moyer did not purchase them.

It was “all he did was blow snot,” Moyer said. There will be no tears shed. His eyes met mine. I was practically touching him.

The courtroom was once again jammed for the hearing on Friday. The intertwining of high-stakes politics, finance, and high-class privilege in the Murdaugh case has made it a global phenomenon among true crime fans.

The prosecution had no hard evidence, such as confessions or blood spatter

After spending the night crafting a sign reading “Murderer,” Tracy Kinsinger showed up at the courthouse carrying it.

Truthfully, “he disgraced himself, his family, the community, and his profession,” Kinsinger said. That’s a fancy way of saying, “it’s shameful.”

Murdaugh was escorted into the courthouse with his head lowered so he didn’t see the sign.

The prosecution had no hard evidence, such as confessions or blood spatter, that could link the defendant to the Murdaugh killings. Despite this, they had a mountain of circumstantial evidence, including the video that placed Murdaugh at the scene of the killings just five minutes before his wife and son stopped using their cell phones permanently.

More than 75 witnesses and nearly 800 pieces of evidence were presented to the jury, including accounts of Murdaugh’s betrayal of friends and clients as well as his failed attempt to stage his death in an insurance fraud scheme, as well as details about a fatal boat crash in which his son was implicated, the housekeeper who died after falling in the Murdaugh home, and the scene of the murders.

The disbarred lawyer admitted to stealing millions from the family business and clients, claiming he needed the money to support his drug habit. Murdaugh had already been awaiting trial on roughly a hundred other charges, including insurance fraud and tax evasion, when he was arrested for murder.

Lawyers for Murdaugh’s defense have already announced their intention to appeal because the judge decided to admit evidence of crimes for which their client has not been convicted.

They portrayed Alex as a horrible person. “And that’s why they offered it,” Griffin explained.

After sentencing, Murdaugh was returned to the Colleton County jail to gather his belongings before being transferred to an evaluation center in Columbia. Like all new inmates receiving life sentences, he will be transferred to a maximum security state prison within the next month or so.

SOURCE – (AP)

Celebrity

Photographer Alleges He Was Forced To Watch Megan Thee Stallion Have Sex And Was Unfairly Fired

Published

21 hours ago

2024-04-24

Kiara Grace

AP - VOR News Image

Los Angeles – In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, a photographer who Megan Thee Stallion employed alleges that he was compelled to witness her engaging in sexual activity, was unjustly terminated shortly after that, and experienced mistreatment as her employee.

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Photographer Alleges He Was Forced To Watch Megan Thee Stallion Have Sex And Was Unfairly Fired

Emilio Garcia, in his lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that on a night out in 2022 in Ibiza, Spain, he was present in an SUV with the hip-hop singer when she engaged in sexual activity with another lady near him. He was incapacitated from exiting the moving vehicle, and even if he could do so, he would have found himself stranded in an unfamiliar land. According to the lawsuit, Garcia experienced feelings of embarrassment, mortification, and offense during the entire incident.

Alex Spiro, Megan’s attorney, stated that she intends to contest the complaint through legal proceedings.

“This is a monetary employment claim, without any filed allegations of sexual harassment, but with scandalous accusations aimed at embarrassing her,” Spiro stated.

According to the lawsuit, Megan admonished Garcia the following day, instructing him not to disclose what he witnessed while also criticizing and body-shaming him. The complaint alleges that Garcia, who was experiencing excessive workload, low pay, and a hostile work environment due to Megan’s possessive and abusive behavior, was wrongly categorized as an independent contractor while being treated as an exclusive employee.

According to the lawsuit, Garcia discussed those concerns with Megan during their conversation and was terminated the next day after working for her for four years. Subsequently, he lodged a job discrimination lawsuit with the California Civil Rights Department.

Rolling Stone – VOR News Image

Photographer Alleges He Was Forced To Watch Megan Thee Stallion Have Sex And Was Unfairly Fired

The lawsuit, initially disclosed by NBC News, names Megan, legally known as Megan Pete, her enterprises Megan Thee Stallion Entertainment and Hot Girl Touring and her record label, Roc Nation, as the defendants. No defense answer has been submitted yet. A representative of Roc Nation should have responded more promptly to an email requesting comment.

Garcia is pursuing monetary compensation, which will be assessed during the trial. He claims to have had significant emotional and bodily harm as a result of his treatment at work, his termination, and seeing the incident in the SUV.

Megan, a 29-year-old woman, was previously embroiled in a significant legal controversy. She endured a deluge of online harassment after being shot by rapper Tory Lanez. A jury determined that Lanez had fired at her feet while they were on a street in the Hollywood Hills in 2020. She provided testimony throughout the trial, which led to the conviction of Lanez on three felony charges. Subsequently, a court imposed a 10-year prison sentence on him.

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Photographer Alleges He Was Forced To Watch Megan Thee Stallion Have Sex And Was Unfairly Fired

Megan was already a prominent emerging artist at the time of the shooting and has achieved immense success as one of the most prominent figures in hip-hop. In 2021, she won a Grammy for the best new artist category. Additionally, she attained the top position on the music charts with her tracks “Savage,” featuring Beyoncé, and as a featured artist on Cardi B’s “WAP.”

SOURCE – (AP)

Celebrity

Yoko Ono To Receive Edward MacDowell Medal For Lifetime Achievement

Published

3 days ago

2024-04-22

Kiara Grace

Billboard - VOR News Image

NEW YORK — MacDowell, one of the country’s finest artist residence programs, has honored Yoko Ono with a lifetime achievement award. The trailblazing artist, filmmaker, and musician will receive the Edward MacDowell Medal this year, following in the footsteps of Stephen Sondheim and Toni Morrison, among others.

“There has never been anyone like her; there has never been work like hers,” MacDowell board chairman Nell Painter said in a statement Sunday.

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Yoko Ono To Receive Edward MacDowell Medal For Lifetime Achievement

“Over seven decades, she has pleased eyes, aroused mind, encouraged feminism, and supported refugees with imaginative works. Enduringly new and contemporary, her unusually powerful output resonates to our current times, which are in desperate need of her leitmotif: peace.”

In a statement, Ono’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, described the award as “an incredible honor.”

“The history and list of prior awardees are extremely impressive. It makes me very glad to see her work valued and celebrated in this manner,” he remarked.

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Yoko Ono To Receive Edward MacDowell Medal For Lifetime Achievement

Ono, 91, has made few public appearances in recent years and is unlikely to attend the July honors event at the MacDowell campus in Peterborough, New Hampshire. David Newgarden, Ono’s music manager, will receive the award on her behalf.

Ono first rose to prominence as a member of the avant-garde Fluxus movement of the 1960s, before becoming internationally famous after meeting John Lennon, with whom she married from 1969 until his death in 1980. Their many collaborations included the songs “Give Peace a Chance,” “Imagine,” and “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” which served as the foundation for “War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko,” this year’s Oscar-winning animated short film.

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Yoko Ono To Receive Edward MacDowell Medal For Lifetime Achievement

Over the last 40 years, Ono has had a busy career as a visual and recording artist, with albums like “Season of Glass,” “Starpeace,” and “Take Me to the Land of Hell.” She was recently featured in a career retrospective at London’s Tate Modern.

SOURCE – (AP)

Celebrity

Dick Van Dyke Earns Historic Daytime Emmy Nomination At Age 98

Published

4 days ago

2024-04-21

Kiara Grace

AP - VOR News Image

Los Angeles — Dick Van Dyke, 98, is contending for a historic Daytime Emmy.

The actor was nominated Friday as a guest star in a daytime drama series for his role as amnesiac Timothy Robicheaux on Peacock’s “Days of Our Lives.”

Van Dyke is the oldest daytime Emmy nominee. When producer Norman Lear won his final Primetime Emmy nomination in 2022, he was 100 years old. He died the following year.

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Dick Van Dyke Earns Historic Daytime Emmy Nomination At Age 98

Van Dyke is up against Guy Pearce, an Australian actor from Amazon Prime Video’s “Neighbours.”

Van Dyke earned four Primetime Emmys, including three in the 1960s, for his legendary comedy series “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”

Selena Gomez, an actor and singer, is nominated in the culinary series category for her Food Network special “Selena + Chef: Home for the Holidays.” The Food Network’s “Valerie’s Home Cooking,” hosted by actor Valerie Bertinelli and which concluded last year, is also nominated in that category.

People – VOR News Image

Dick Van Dyke Earns Historic Daytime Emmy Nomination At Age 98

CBS will cancel “The Talk” after its 15th season later this year. Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Natalie Morales, Jerry O’Connell, and Sheryl Underwood were nominated for daytime talk show hosting.

The main actress nominations are Tamara Braun of “Days of Our Lives,” Finola Hughes and Cynthia Watros of “General Hospital,” Katherine Kelly Lang and Annika Noelle of “The Bold and the Beautiful,” and Michelle Stafford of “The Young and the Restless.”

The lead actor nominees include Eric Braeden of “The Young and the Restless,” Scott Clifton, Thorsten Kaye, and John McCook of “The Bold and the Beautiful,” and Eric Martsolf of “Days of Our Lives.”

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Dick Van Dyke Earns Historic Daytime Emmy Nomination At Age 98

The Daytime Emmys will be broadcast live on CBS on June 7 in Los Angeles. The show is back to its regular schedule after being postponed until December due to strikes by Hollywood performers and writers. The hosts and Lifetime Achievement award recipients will be announced later.

SOURCE – AP