Category: US

CNN
 — 

Five former Memphis police officers who were fired for their actions during the arrest of Tyre Nichols earlier this month were indicted on charges including murder and kidnapping, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced Thursday.

The former officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr., have each been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression, Mulroy said.

Second-degree murder is defined in Tennessee as a “knowing killing of another” and is considered a Class A felony punishable by between 15 to 60 years in prison.

The criminal charges come about three weeks after Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was hospitalized after a traffic stop and “confrontation” with Memphis police that family attorneys have called a savage beating. Nichols died from his injuries on January 10, three days after the arrest, authorities said.

Police nationwide have been under scrutiny for how they treat Black people, particularly since the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and the mass protest movement known as Black Lives Matter.

President Joe Biden said Thursday the killing is a “painful reminder that we must do more to ensure that our criminal justice system lives up to the promise of fair and impartial justice, equal treatment, and dignity for all.”

Officials in Memphis have braced for potential civil unrest and have called for peaceful protests ahead of video of the fatal police encounter that’s expected to be publicly released Friday. The local school district also canceled all after-school activities Friday in the “interest of public safety.”

Police departments across the country – including in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Nashville and New York – told CNN they were either monitoring events or already had plans in place in case of protests.

Nichols’ family and attorneys, who were shown the video Monday, said it shows officers severely beating Nichols and compared it to the Los Angeles police beating of Rodney King in 1991. Family attorney Antonio Romanucci told CNN the public should be “prepared” for a disturbing scene, saying it was like an “MMA fight” while Nichols was “helpless, he was defenseless, he was restrained.”

Nichols’ mother Ravaughn Wells, who said she hasn’t been able to watch it, said the video release will be “horrific” but urged protesters to remain peaceful.

“I don’t want us burning up our cities, tearing up the streets, because that’s not what my son stood for,” said Wells.

Three of the officers remained in custody at the Shelby County Jail Thursday night. Bond was set at $350,000 for Haley, 30, and Martin, 30, and $250,000 for Bean, 24, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Mills, 32, and Smith, 28, posted $250,000 bond Thursday evening and were released, according to jail records.

In a joint news conference Thursday afternoon, Blake Ballin, an attorney for Mills, and William Massey, Martin’s attorney, said they have not yet watched the video of the police encounter, which is expected to be released to the public Friday.

Ballin described Mills as a “respectful father,” who was “devastated” to be accused in the killing. Mills, previously a jailer in Mississippi and Tennessee. Ballin said he had not spoken to Mills specifically about Nichols.

Martin also intended to post bond and will also plead not guilty, his attorney said. “No one out there that night intended for Tyre Nichols to die,” Massey said.

Other officers’ attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Live updates on the Tyre Nichols case

Video of the fatal police encounter, a mix of body-camera and pole-cam video, is expected to be released publicly after 6 p.m. Friday, Mulroy said.

Speaking to CNN’s Erin Burnett on Thursday night, Mulroy said that while he can’t definitively say what caused the encounter to escalate, the video shows that the officers were “already highly charged up” from the start of the video and “it just escalated further from there.”

The video doesn’t capture the beginning of the altercation between the officers and Nichols but rather “cuts in as the first encounter is in progress,” Mulroy said.

“What struck me (about the video) is how many different incidents of unwarranted force occurred sporadically by different individuals over a long period of time,” the district attorney added.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said the fatal encounter was not proper policing.

“I’m sickened by what I saw and what we’ve learned from our extensive and thorough investigation,” he said. “I’ve seen the video, and as DA Mulroy stated, you will too. In a word, it’s absolutely appalling.”

On Thursday, family attorneys Ben Crump and Romanucci said, “The news today from Memphis officials that these five officers are being held criminally accountable for their deadly and brutal actions gives us hope as we continue to push for justice for Tyre.”

The five Memphis police officers, who are also Black, were fired last week for violating policies on excessive use of force, duty to intervene and duty to render aid, the department said.

In a YouTube video released late Wednesday, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis condemned the officers’ actions and called for peaceful protests when the arrest video is released.

“This is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual,” Davis said in the video, her first on-camera comments about the arrest. “This incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane.”

The five terminated officers all joined the department in the last six years, according to police. Other Memphis police officers are still under investigation for department policy violations related to the incident, the chief said.

In a statement posted Thursday, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said the city had initiated an “outside, independent review” of the training, policies and operations of the police department’s specialized units. At least two of the officers belonged to one of those special units, according to their attorneys.

Two members of the city’s fire department who were part of Nichols’ “initial patient care” also were relieved of duty, a fire spokesperson said. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced an investigation into Nichols’ death and the US Department of Justice and FBI have opened a civil rights investigation.

Mulroy said the investigation is ongoing and there could be further charges going forward.

Nichols, the father of a 4-year-old, had worked with his stepfather at FedEx for about nine months, his family said. He was fond of skateboarding in Shelby Farms Park, hanging out with friends at Starbucks and photographing sunsets, the family said.

His mother said he had her name tattooed on his arm. He also had the digestive issue known as Crohn’s disease and so was a slim 140 to 145 pounds despite his 6-foot-3-inch height, she said.

On January 7, he was pulled over by Memphis officers on suspicion of reckless driving, police said in their initial statement on the incident. As officers approached the vehicle, a “confrontation” occurred and Nichols fled on foot, police said. The officers pursued him and they had another “confrontation” before he was taken into custody, police said.

Nichols then complained of shortness of breath, was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and died three days later, police said.

In Memphis police scanner audio, a person says there was “one male Black running” and called to “set up a perimeter.” Another message says “he’s fighting at this time.”

On Thursday, Mulroy offered a few further details, saying the serious injuries occurred at the second confrontation. He also said Nichols was taken away in an ambulance after “some period of time of waiting around.”

Attorneys for Nichols’ family who watched video of the arrest on Monday described it as a heinous police beating that lasted three long minutes. Crump said Nichols was tased, pepper-sprayed and restrained, and Romanucci said he was kicked.

“He was defenseless the entire time. He was a human piñata for those police officers. It was an unadulterated, unabashed, nonstop beating of this young boy for three minutes. That is what we saw in that video,” Romanucci said. “Not only was it violent, it was savage.”

Nichols had “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating,” according to the attorneys, citing preliminary results of an autopsy they commissioned.

Among the charges, the officers were indicted on two counts of aggravated kidnapping: one for possession of a weapon and one for bodily injury.

“At a certain point in the sequence of events, it is our view that this, if it was a legal detention to begin with, it certainly became illegal at a certain point, and it was an unlawful detention,” Mulroy said.

Less than a month after the murder of Floyd, the Memphis Police Department amended its duty to intervene policy, according to a copy of the policy sent to CNN by the MPD.

“Any member who directly observes another member engaged in dangerous or criminal conduct or abuse of a subject shall take reasonable action to intervene,” the policy, sent out on June 9, 2020, said.

“A member shall immediately report to the Department any violation of policies and regulations or any other improper conduct which is contrary to the policy, order, or directives of the Department.”

The policy went on to say “this reporting requirement also applies to allegations of uses of force not yet reported.”

Correction: A previous version of this story gave the wrong spelling for the name of one of the arrested officers. According to the indictment, it is Tadarrius Bean.

Previous versions of this story spelled Emmitt Martin’s name incorrectly.

CNN
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President Joe Biden called 26-year-old Brandon Tsay to thank the California man for disarming the Monterey Park shooting suspect over the weekend.

Tsay can be seen in surveillance video wresting a firearm from the shooting suspect Huu Can Tran at a dance studio in Alhambra. Authorities say Tran had just opened fire at a Lunar New Year celebration at another dance studio in nearby Monterey Park, killing 11 people and injuring 10 others.

Tsay has been hailed as a “hero” for preventing further loss of life in the shooting spree, an act of bravery that Biden told Tsay was representative of America’s spirit.

“I wanted to call to see how you’re doing and thank you for taking such incredible action in the face of danger,” Biden told Tsay. “I don’t think you understand just how much you’ve done for so many people who are never going to even know you. But I want them to know more about you. … You have my respect. You are America, pal. You are who we are – no, no, you are who we are. America’s never backed down, we’ve always stepped up, because of people like you.”

Tsay’s actions likely led authorities to the suspect directly. A law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told CNN that the gun wrested away from the shooter in Alhambra – a Cobray M11 9mm semi-automatic weapon designed to take 30-round magazines – was traced to the suspect, giving authorities his name and description.

The suspect, identified by authorities as Tran, was discovered by police late Sunday morning in the city of Torrance, where he fatally shot himself as police approached his vehicle, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna .

In the wake of the shooting, Biden urged congressional passage of a pair of bills aimed at reducing gun violence and banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

“When I signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act – the first significant piece of gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years – I said that there was still work to be done to keep our communities safe and keep dangerous firearms out of dangerous hands,” Biden said in a statement Monday. “In the short time since, communities across America have been struck by tragedy after tragedy, including mass shootings from Colorado Springs to Monterey Park and daily acts of gun violence that do not make national headlines.”

The president ordered the flags lowered to half-staff on federal grounds Monday as well – a proclamation that would be extended when, just a day later, another gunman killed seven in Half Moon Bay, California.

Pointing to new legislation introduced Monday by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, Biden said, “I urge both chambers of Congress to act quickly and deliver this Assault Weapons Ban to my desk.”

And Vice President Kamala Harris, a California native and the nation’s first vice president of Black and Asian descent, made her own visit Wednesday to Monterey Park, where she laid a wreath and paid her respects to the families of victims killed in the shooting spree.

CNN
 — 

The 72-year-old man suspected of killing 11 people and wounding nine others in a shooting at a dance studio in Monterey Park, California, Saturday had previously frequented the establishment, sources told CNN.

The suspect, identified as Huu Can Tran, was pronounced dead following a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday as police swarmed a white van in Torrance, about 30 miles from Monterey Park, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.

The shooting at Star Ballroom Dance Studio happened around 10:22 p.m. as the city’s large Asian American community was celebrating Lunar New Year weekend.

Authorities said 42 shell casings and a large capacity magazine were found at the scene, Luna said at a Monday news conference. Luna added that one victim was shot outside the dance studio in a vehicle, probably before Tran went inside.

About 17 to 20 minutes after the shooting, an armed man showed up at a second dance studio in nearby Alhambra where authorities say people wrestled a gun away from him – a firearm authorities ultimately used to ID the suspect, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case. The semi-automatic weapon was traced to the suspect, which gave authorities his name and description, the official said.

The mass shooting prompted a manhunt across the region, with a description of a white van seen leaving the Alhambra incident broadcast to area law enforcement agencies. On Sunday morning, officers in Torrance spotted a white van that matched the description.

“When officers exited their patrol vehicle to contact the occupant, they heard one gunshot coming from within the van,” Luna said. “Officers retreated and requested several tactical teams to respond.” Then – as armored vehicles blocked the van – a SWAT team approached and found Tran dead inside, Luna said.

Man who wrested gun away from shooting suspect speaks out

As it remains unclear what motivated the shooting and a search warrant has been issued for Tran’s home, the sheriff said it’s too early to say whether the shooting could have been a hate crime and investigators are still working to determine whether any of the victims were known to the gunman.

Here’s what we know about the suspect.

Tran had once been a regular patron at Star Ballroom Dance Studio, his ex-wife and a longtime acquaintance both told CNN.

Tran’s former wife, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the case, said she met Tran about two decades ago at Star Ballroom, a popular community gathering place where he gave informal lessons. Tran saw her at a dance, introduced himself and offered her free lessons, she said. The two married soon after, she said.

While Tran was never violent to her, she said he could be quick to anger. For example, she said, if she missed a step dancing, he would become upset because he felt it made him look bad. Tran filed for divorce in late 2005, and a judge approved the divorce the following year, Los Angeles court records show.

Tran was an immigrant from China, according to a copy of his marriage license his ex-wife showed to CNN.

It was unclear how frequently Tran visited the dance hall, if at all, in recent years.

Another longtime acquaintance of Tran’s also remembered him as a frequent presence at the dance studio. The friend, who also asked not to be named, was close to Tran in the late 2000s and early 2010s, when he said Tran would make the roughly five-minute drive from his home in San Gabriel to Star Ballroom Dance Studio “almost every night.”

Monterey Park shooting suspect found dead. Sheriff explains what happened

Tran often complained at the time that the instructors at the dance hall didn’t like him and said “evil things about him,” the friend remembered, adding Tran was “hostile to a lot of people there.”

The friend said he hadn’t seen Tran in several years and was “totally shocked” when he heard about the shooting.

“I know lots of people, and if they go to Star studio, they frequent there,” he said, adding he was “worried maybe I know some of” the shooting victims.

Luna told reporters Sunday that investigators are still looking into Tran’s criminal and mental health history and serving search warrants.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department obtained a search warrant for Tran’s home in a senior community in Hemet, California, according to Hemet police public information officer Alan Reyes.

Records show Tran bought a mobile home in the community, which is in the outlying suburb about 85 miles east of Los Angeles in neighboring Riverside County.

Seven years before buying the Hemet home, Tran in 2013 sold a San Gabriel home, which he had owned for more than two decades, property records show.

Business records also show Tran registered a business called Tran’s Trucking Inc. in California in 2002. But he dissolved the business about two years later, writing in a corporate filing that the company had never acquired any known assets or incurred any known debts or liabilities.

Tran at times had worked as a truck driver, according to his ex-wife.

Tran had a “limited criminal history” and was arrested in 1990 for unlawful possession of a firearm, Luna said.

Investigators recovered a Norinco 7.62 x 25 handgun from inside Tran’s cargo van, Luna said, adding that firearm was registered to the suspect.

The firearm wrestled away from the suspect at a second dance studio in nearby Alhambra was a “9 mm caliber semiautomatic MAC-10 assault weapon,” Luna said.

The gun is designed to take 30-round magazines that allow for rapid fire without having to frequently change magazines, the law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told CNN.

In response to a reporter’s question, Luna said, “I believe the weapon that was recovered at the Alhambra location is not legal to have here in the state of California.”

Following the execution of a search warrant at Tran’s residence, officials announced they found a 308 caliber rifle and numerous electronic devices such as cell phones and computers – “items that lead us to believe the suspect was manufacturing homemade firearm suppressors,” he said.

Also found was an unknown amount of 308 caliber and 9 mm caliber ammunition. The sheriff said there were “hundreds of rounds – we don’t know exactly how many there were – a lot of loose ammunition so eventually we’ll get to exactly how many those were.”

Investigators are still working to confirm “the origins of where the suspect got” all firearms recovered in this case, including the gun used in the shooting, Luna added.

The suspect may have sought medical treatment shortly before the traffic stop in Torrance, law enforcement sources told CNN they believe. Police got a tip from an area hospital where a man fitting the description of the suspect came into the emergency room, seeking treatment for injuries consistent with having been in a fight.

The person waited for a period and then left the hospital without receiving treatment, the sources said. The hospital notified authorities when staff saw the similarity to the wanted person. A short time later, police in Torrance stopped the van.

Sheriff describes second event after mass shooting that’s being investigated

Earlier this month, Tran visited a police station in Hemet, where he made various allegations before leaving, according to a statement from the Hemet Police Department.

“Tran visited the Hemet Police Department lobby on January 7 and 9, 2023, alleging past fraud, theft, and poisoning allegations involving his family in the Los Angeles area 10 to 20 years ago,” Hemet police said in a statement. “Tran stated he would return to the station with documentation regarding his allegations but never returned.”

Tran had a residence in Hemet, the statement said. Investigators from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department have executed a search warrant there.

The local police department said this is a “highly sensitive, ongoing investigation” and deferred to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for further inquiries.

CNN
 — 

President Joe Biden spoke at a union hall in northern Virginia Thursday afternoon, attempting to cast himself as a defender of the middle class by leaning into his economic accomplishments and contrasting them with the Republican proposals he says would be catastrophic for Americans’ pocketbooks.

“We’re moving in the right direction. Now we’ve got to protect those gains … that our policies have generated, protect them from the MAGA Republicans in the House of Representatives who are threatening to destroy this progress,” Biden said.

As Washington has been gearing up for a standoff over the debt ceiling and the potential for a global economic fallout later this year, the speech gave Biden a chance to turn the focus away from news of the discovery of classified documents in unsecured areas in his home and office. The unfolding story has been a magnet of Republican scrutiny and press attention. But in his speech to union workers in Springfield – a Virginia suburb just outside Washington, D.C. – Biden offered a preview of his potential reelection messaging strategy, turning focus back to what the White House really wants to be talking about.

In his remarks, Biden contrasted his administration’s work with Republicans’ plans to cut entitlement programs and impose a 30% national sales tax. He also discussed progress on wage growth and unemployment, as well as key legislation, such as the CHIPS Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law.

“Here’s the deal: they want to cut your Social Security and Medicare … beyond that they’re actually threatening to have us default on the American debt,” the president said.

“I have a rhetorical question: (Why) in God’s name would Americans give up the progress we’ve made for the chaos they’re suggesting? I don’t get it. That’s why the MAGA Republicans are literally choosing to inflict this pain on the American people. Why?” Biden asked. “I will not let it happen. Not on my watch. I will veto everything they send.”

The president said he’s willing to work with Republicans “on real solutions and continue to grow manufacturing jobs and build the strongest economy in the world and make sure Americans are paid a fair wage.” But he added that he “will not let anyone use the full faith and credit of the United States as a bargaining chip.”

Biden also announced an “Invest in America” Cabinet, which will be charged “with ensuring that his economic plan is generating private sector investment and continues to drive our economic progress for years ahead,” according to an administration official.

The group will include Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, EPA Administrator Michael Regan, Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu and senior adviser John Podesta.

Biden also celebrated newly released data showing the US economy grew more than expected in the final quarter of last year, registering solid growth to end 2022 even as consumers and businesses battled inflation and historically high interest rates.

Gross domestic product – the broadest measure of economic activity – increased at an annualized rate of 2.9% from October to December last year, according to Commerce Department data released Thursday. For 2022, GDP expanded 2.1%, the report showed.

GOP legislative proposals to cut Social Security and Medicare have yet to formally materialize, but House Republicans have reportedly been considering leveraging cuts to the programs in the debt ceiling fight, according to the Washington Post.

Although a plan hasn’t been formalized, the White House has already blasted congressional Republicans this week for suggesting the cuts to offset the deficit as part of negotiations over raising the nation’s debt limit.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates argued in a statement earlier this week that “under the guise of ‘fiscal responsibility,’ (Republicans) want to cut the benefits that middle class Americans pay for throughout their working lives, but they also want to enlarge the deficit with new tax giveaways for the wealthiest Americans. This is nothing more than an extreme plot to sell out middle class families to rich special interests at any cost.”

Within the first week of the new Congress, a dozen House Republicans introduced a bill that would abolish the IRS altogether and replace the entire federal tax code with a national sales tax.

While that legislation is unlikely to become law given that the Democrats maintain a majority in the Senate, Biden and Democrats see an opening to criticize the GOP for fringe proposals they say would harm the American economy.

The national sales tax could leave low- and middle-income people worse off and would likely lower tax revenue. One estimate found that a tax rate of about 30% would more likely be able to generate the same amount of revenue – or 44%, if measured the way state sales taxes are typically presented.

The White House and Biden have, of course, sharply criticized the proposal.

The president on Thursday suggested the proposal was an effort to give the wealthy another tax break.

“Who do you think is going to get ripped off?” Biden asked. “They want to raise taxes on working and middle class people in America by passing a national sales tax, taxing every items from groceries, gasoline, clothing, supplies, medicine.”

The president also acknowledged reports that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy may not be in favor of the tax.

In a statement following the president’s meeting this week with Democratic congressional leadership, the White House highlighted that they discussed the “continued stepped-up implementation of groundbreaking laws like the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.” The statement also emphasized “the importance of building on the historic economic progress,” such as low unemployment, expanding health care coverage and making gains to stabilize inflation.

In the statement, the White House said the group “agreed on continuing to work across the aisle … while also being honest about disagreements – like our opposition to an unprecedented middle class tax hike, inflation-worsening tax cuts for the rich, abortion bans, or cutting Social Security and Medicare.”

The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics’ quarterly Employment Cost Index showed that although employers continued hiking wages to attract workers and retain existing staff during the third quarter, their raises did not keep up with inflation.

Wages and salaries for civilian workers increased by 1.3% in the third quarter and 5.1% over the year ending in September, according to the data, which was released last October.

The next release of the Employment Cost Index is scheduled to be released on Tuesday.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN
 — 

The murder trial of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh is underway at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, a small town about 40 miles east of Charleston. The case goes back to June 2021, when Murdaugh’s wife and son were found shot to death at the family’s Islandton property, known as Moselle.

Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime related to his wife and son’s deaths. Separate from the murder charges, he is also facing 99 charges stemming from alleged financial crimes.

Here are the key players in the murder trial:

Now disbarred, Murdaugh is a member of a prominent legal family in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Three generations of his family over 87 years have served as solicitor for the 14th Circuit, which oversaw prosecutions throughout the area. A portrait of his late grandfather, one of the solicitors, had hung on the wall of the courtroom; it was removed before trial. Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Alex Murdaugh’s wife, who was 52 when she was found fatally shot with the couple’s younger son at the family’s Moselle estate on June 7, 2021.

Alex Murdaugh’s 22-year-old son, who was found fatally shot with his mother at the family’s Moselle estate on June 7, 2021. At the time, he was facing charges of boating under the influence, causing great bodily harm and causing death in connection to a 2019 boat crash that claimed the life of 19-year-old Mallory Beach, court records show. He had pleaded not guilty, and the charges were dropped after his death.

South Carolina senior assistant deputy attorney general and lead prosecutor. He has been involved with the case since 2021. The state attorney general’s office is prosecuting the case because of the Murdaugh family’s close ties to the local solicitor’s office.

One of Alex Murdaugh’s defense attorneys, along with Jim Griffin. Harpootlian is a South Carolina state senator and attorney whose Columbia-based practice specializes in criminal defense.

One of Alex Murdaugh’s defense attorneys, along with Dick Harpootlian. A former federal prosecutor, he now works as a state and federal criminal defense attorney based in Columbia, South Carolina.

The South Carolina Circuit Court judge hearing the case. He has been on the bench since 2000. Newman has presided over various proceedings in the Murdaugh case since 2021.

A former client of Alex Murdaugh. Murdaugh told authorities he conspired with Smith to kill Murdaugh as part of an insurance fraud scheme, per court documents, purportedly so Murdaugh’s surviving son, Buster, could collect a $10 million life insurance payout. Smith admitted in 2021 to being present at the shooting and disposing of the firearm afterward, according to an affidavit.

Alex Murdaugh’s surviving son. He was in court for opening statements – the first time he has appeared at legal proceedings for his father – and is listed as a witness at trial. His father’s scheme for Smith to kill Murdaugh was “an attempt on his part to do something to protect his child (Buster),” Harpootlian, the attorney, said.

Alex Murdaugh’s younger brother. He is listed as a witness at trial and accompanied Buster Murdaugh to court this week.

The Murdaugh family’s longtime housekeeper who died in 2018 in what was described as a “trip and fall accident” at their home. Murdaugh is accused of misappropriating funds meant for Satterfield’s family as part of a wrongful death settlement.

An expert in bloodstain pattern analysis who analyzed the shirt worn by Alex Murdaugh on the night his wife and son were killed. In a motion filed just before the trial, the defense asked the court to prohibit Bevel from testifying.