randi kaye has more. >> is if your expert opinion thatdenies. randi kaye has more. >> is if your expert opinion that a 6'4" shooter cannot be good colluded from the murder of mack maggie and paul in. >> i see nothing that could exclude a 6'4" shooter. >> reporter: the expert in crime scene investigation called back to the stand by the state to dos put key testimony. forensic scientist told the jury whoever killed maggie and paul murdaugh was likely much shorter than alex murdaugh who is about 6'4". but the prosecution expert disagreed. >> can a person be on their knee and get the same angle and be standing and get the same angle? >> yes, sir. >> can a 6'4" and 5'4" person still shoot the same angle just at different distances? >> absolutely. >> can you exclude a 6'4" defendant like alex murdaugh or anyone for that matter at that height from shooting that shotgun at that angle? >> absolutely not. >> reporter: in one of the most dramatic moments of the trial, south carolina attorney general alan wilson pointed a shot gun to illustrate another defe

cnn's randy kaye has been tracking the case from the very, very beginning.ir closing arguments around murdaugh's lies with the defense aiming to cast reasonable doubt. tell us what happened inside the courtroom today. >> reporter: wolf, defense attorney jim griffon he delivered the closing arguments and had key moments. certainly he raised some doubt with the jury about time of death. we know the prosecutor said maggie and paul's phone stopped working around 8:49. so that's when they believed they were both deceased. there was no phone activity beyond that time, and so the defense attorney said today you know what that doesn't mean they were dead. maybe they put their phones down. just because your phone is showing no activity doesn't mean your dead. that's what he told the jury. he tried to at least explain away alex murdaugh's lies about not being at the kennel that night around the time of the murders. the defense attorney said it was because of his drug addiction and his addiction to opioids that's why he lied. and finally he also once again breathed new

murdaugh, i would never hurt paul murdaugh. >> back now with our legal panel, -- criminal defense -- randi kayethouse, randy, in the closing statement, prosecutor really hammered the lies. >> absolutely. creighton waters, that was the theme throughout the whole case. he's a liar. but during that closing argument, he used the word lie, lying, or lie or at least 100 times. and that was a message to the jury. that this guy lied to investigators, he lied to us, he lied to prosecutors, he lied to clients, he lied to his family. he lied to his law partners. and he is lying to you, you cannot trust what he's telling you from the stand. that was his message. >> it's always fascinating, and i'll just give you, we talked about this a lot of times, one of the things that obsessed me, paul murdaugh saying, you know, to the jury, i promise you, and i would never hurt his wife and son. he hurt his wife and son for -- he was spending $60,000 a week in some cases, allegedly, on oxycodone and all sorts of drugs, he hurt them in numerous ways maybe he hadn't shot them earlier, but he had been lying to them for t

randi kaye has details. >> i was an asset in helping take down a grade of criminals. >> reporter: newantos denying allegations from a man from brazil painting him as the mastermind of a credit card scheme. >> i'm innocent, never did anything of criminal activity, and i am no mastermind. >> reporter: santos' claims of innocence are in response to this sworn statement by the man gustavo ribeiro trelha. in his declaration first published by "politico," trelha alleges that santos taught him how to clone atms and credit cards and that the two had agreed to a 50/50 split of proceeds. trelha wrote in the declaration santos gave me at his warehouse some of the parts to illegally skim credit card information. right after he gave me the card skimming and cloning machines, he taught me how to use them. trelha has reportedly submitted his declaration to the fbi and other federal law enforcement officials. santos, meanwhile, told reporters today he wasn't the organizer but the guy who helped crack the case. >> and then i cooperated with secret service, fbi, everybody that asked for my help, got in

before we talk about details of the testimony and the verdict and what comes next, our randi kaye has a quick look at how we got here. >> i need the police. my wife and child have been shot badly. >> reporter: june 7th, 2021, alex murdaugh says he called 911 after finding his wife and youngest son dead at their hunting property known as moselle. >> did you touch maggie at all? >> i did, i touched them both. i tried to take -- i mean, i tried to do it as limited as possible, but i tried to take their pulse on both of them. >> reporter: 52-year-old maggie purchase murdaugh had been shot four or 5 times. paul murdaugh, 22, had been shot twice with a shotgun. >> she fell to the ground, and that's when the first fatal wound was delivered. his brain exploded out of his head, hit the ceiling in the shed, and dropped to his feet. horrendous. horrible. butchering. >> reporter: both were murdered near the dog pennels on the family's property not far from the main house where alex murdaugh said he'd been napping at the time. that was a lie. >> was that you? on the kennel video at 8:44 p.m. on ju

randi kaye, cnn, walterboro, south carolina. >>> still ahead, we're live at cpac.ce anywhere near as relevant as it once was? we'll talk about that coming up. >>> first, here is this weekend's off the beaten path. >>> welcome to midway, utah, 30 minutes from salt lake city. we are here for a snowshoeing adventure, the destination of which unlike any other in the world. we're going to end up in bathing suits down there at the homestead known as the utah crater for a yoga session. from the outside it just looks like a big hill covered in snow. there's an entrance inside of this hill, so you walk in. there's a hallway. the steam hits you in the face and you're like what is this in the middle of the winter, this warm space inside of a hill. >> good balance. >> reporter: this paddle board yoga experience, where else can you do it but hot springs in a cave. there's a big hole letting in natural light. the water is caribbean blue. it is idyllic. >> here at utah crater, you're welcome to enjoy the 95-degree geo thermally heated mineral-rich water. we also have snorkeling e

randi kaye is has more on the story. >> i sentence you for the rest of your natural life. alex murdaugh given two life sentences for the murder of his wife and son. >> i know you have to see paul and maggie during the nighttime when you're attempting to go to sleep. i'm sure they come to visit you. >> all day and every night. >> reporter: after more than a month in the courtroom, jurors took about three hours to convict murdaugh of murder for his wife maggie and 22-year-old son paul, who were found shot on the family's property in june 2021. juror told abc -- >> i didn't see any true remorse. >> i was this close to him. >> it took 45 minutes to come to a decision? >> probably about 45, maybe an hour. >> reporter: murdaugh, once a prominent lawyer took the stand in his own emotional defense. han tainting he found the bodys after returning from a brief visit to his mother that night, despite cell phone video placing him at the scene. >> remind me of the expression you gave on the witness stand. was it oh what a tangled web you weave? what did you mean by that? >> it meant wh

randi kaye explains what happened in court. >> is if it your expert opinion that 6'4" shooter cannotexcluded from the murder of maggie and paul? >> i see nothing that could exclude a 6'4" shooter. >> reporter: the expert in crime scene investigation and recreation called back to the stand by the state to dispute key testimony. a forensic scientist testified for the defense and told the jury whoever killed maggie and paul murdaugh was likely much shorter than alex murdaugh who is about 6'4". but the prosecution's expert disagreed. >> can a person be on their knee and get the same angle and be standing and get the same angle? >> yes, sir. >> can a 6'4" person and a 5'4" person still shoot the same angle just at different instances? >> absolutely. >> can you exclude a 6'4" defendant like alex murdaugh or anyone for that matter at that height from shooting that shotgun at that angle? >> absolutely not. >> reporter: in one of the most dramatic moments of the trial, south carolina attorney general alan wilson pointed a shotgun to illustrate another defense theory the state also believes is

randi kaye has a look at all the dramatic developments inside the courtroom. >> i sentenced you for ahe rest of your natural life. >> reporter: alex murdaugh given two life sentences for the murder of his wife and son. >> i know you have to see paul and maggie during the knight times when you're attempt to go go to sleep. i'm sure they come and visit you. >> all day and every night. >> reporter: after more than a month in the courtroom, jurors took about three hours to convict murdaugh of murder for his wife massy and 22-year-old son paul who were found fatally shot on the family's property in june 2021. a jury told abc -- >> i didn't see any true remorse. >> how did you know he wasn't crying. >> i saw his as. >> reporter: it basically tonight 45 minutes. >> probably 45, maybe an hour. >> reporter: murdaugh, once a prominent lawyer in the area, took a stand last week in his own emotional defense, maintaining he found the bodies after returning from a brief visit to his mother that night, despite cell phone video placing him at the scene. >> remind me of the impress -- on what tangled

cnn's randi kaye reports. >> i sentence you for a term of the rest of your natural life. >> reporter:gh today given two life sentences for the murder of his wife and son. >> i know you have to see paul and maggie during the nighttime when you're attempting to go to sleep. i'm sure they come and visit you. >> all day and every night. >> reporter: after more than a month in the courtroom, jurors took about three hours thursday to convict murdaugh of murder for his wife maggie and 22-year-old son paul, who were found fatally shot on the family's property in june 2021. a juror told abc -- >> i didn't see any true remorse. >> how did you know he wasn't crying? >> because i saw his eyes. i was this close to him. >> so it took basically 45 minutes for you guys to come to a decision? >> probably about 45, maybe an hour. >> reporter: murdaugh, once a prominent lawyer in the area, took the stand last week in his own emotional defense, maintaining he found the bodies after returning from a brief visit to his mother that night, despite cell phone video placing him at the scene. >> remind me of th

randi kaye has the details. >> heartbreaking. he was a human. deserves justice. >> reporter: sandy smith now one step closer to what she hopes will be justice for her son. >> it will be hard to open an investigation after eight years, but it has to start with an examination of his body. >> it is important to me because i love my son and sense i couldn't protect him, i'm going to fight for him. >> reporter: stephen smith, a 19-year-old with dreams of becoming a doctor, was found dead about 4:00 a.m. july 8, 2015 on sandy run road in hampton county. at the time, a pathologist said it appeared that stephen was the victim of a hit and run, but the south carolina highway patrol incident report noted they didn't find any vehicle debris or injuries consistent with someone being struck by a vehicle. according to the case notes, stephen died from blunt force trauma to the head. he had no broken bones and his loosely tied shoes remained on his feet. >> if you are hit by a vehicle going fast enough that will project you, your shoes will fall off under the

as randi kaye reports, the prosecution made its case wednesday after the jury toured the crime scene. >> on june 7, 2021, at the property, maggie and paul were brutally and maliciously murdered at the kennels by alex murdaugh. >> reporter: just before closing arguments, the jury visited the kennels, the crime scene up close for the first time. video of the scene, not the jurors, was allowed to be recorded by the media. the jury saw this small room where paul was killed. >> he took the shot to the chest and it didn't kill him. alex thought it did. he picked up the blackout and was startled by paul, and that is why the angle is like that and it catches paul like that. and goes up into the ceiling as you've heard the testimony from kinsey. and blows his brains out. >> reporter: paul fell to the concrete after the second fatal shot. his brain hitting the pavement. as the jury could see at the scene, all of that was within sight of where maggie murdaugh's body was found on the grass near the shed. the two shootings were just about 12 steps apart. listen as the prosecutor recreates the alle

cnn's randi kaye is joining us live from outside of the courthouse in walterboro, south carolina. attic moments today. >> reporter: hi there, wolf. the jury was able to go out to the crime scene this morning. they went with some security and the judge went with them. and this is the property of mozzel, it is about 1800 acres where the murders took place on the dog kennels and they were able to see the feed room and where maggie murdaugh's body was found and there was some media allowed to go and they reported back there were only 12 steps between the two scenes so that is how close the two of them were to each other when they were both killed. they also saw the quail pen which still had bullet holes in it. they talked about that during this testimony. then the jury returned here to the courthouse and the prosecution, lead prosecutor delivered his closing arguments. and the general theme was, alex murdaugh is a liar. he's lied for decades to family, friends and co-workers and he's lying to you the jury. at one point this prosecutor laid out what the state believes happened had a ni

we heard in randi kaye's piece calling him a monster. at least the drugs turned him into a monster. is it to see such a personal connection? >> yeah. amara, good morning to you. it's a rare occasion where you have a judge that not only presides over the trial but really has a personal dynamic and interconnection with the defendant in the case, right, in addition to saying that, amara, what you noted, the judge saying, you were a nice guy. i saw you. we were together at parties. we interacted together. you smiled. i smiled. to see this, to see just this degeneration into what has occurred is just overwhelming, the judge giving very thoughtful reflect irv remarks many meeting out the just two life sentences, but it's highly unusual that you have a judge who unfortunately has to have his duty -- you can say fortunately in this instance based upon ultimately what he was convicted of, that has that relationship, that connection to the defendant who stands before him ready for justice and sentencing. >> it also underscores just how prominent his family was and his father and grandfather.

. >> cnn's randi kaye was inside the courtroom and in walterboro, south carolina, today and has been llowing this case closely really for years now. randi, before the defense gave their closing arguments there was a juror dismissed. what happened? >> well, john, this juror was dismissed for speaking with other people about the case, not fellow jurors but just other people and every day in the court the judge reiterates to the jury to not discuss the case. he spoke with the lawyers about it and law enforcement interviewed the people this juror spoke with, and after reviewing recordings of those interviews with those people, the judge decided to dismiss that juror, so he called that juror into the courtroom today. made her aware she was being dismissed and replaced her with an alternate. >> what was the final point that the defense made to the jury? >> reporter: the defense really in their closing argument was trying to explain away the state's most powerful piece of evidence, that's that video recording pulled from paul murdaugh's cell phone. it's the kennel video as it's come to be kn

and they deserve a voice. >> reporter: randi kaye, cnn, walterboro, south carolina. >>> all right. now to the war in ukraine. russian troops laying siege to the donetsk region pounding the eastern town of bakhmut. but ukrainian soldiers vow to stand their ground. with both sides suffering severe losses, even the chief of the wagner group admits that ukraine has ferociously defended its land. >> tran >> translator: tens of thousands are fiercely repelling attacks. blood shed increases every day. >> clare sebastian is joining me. president zelenskyy said that ukraine's biggest challenge is defending bakhmut. why? >> well, christine, it seems certainly this morning if you judge by the account from the ukrainian general staff that the momentum is on the russian side. they say the russians are continuing to advance assaulting the city, that backed up by the study of war which is a think tank that tracks these movements on the front line. but that we know according to the ukrainian military that wagner is still deploying they say some of their best trained units. untold resources there i

the mildew that private autopsy. >> randi kaye, thank you so much.ssible indictment in new york at the former president looming. georgia prosecutors say that they're weighing charges against the investigation -- into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. one of his attorneys joins us, up next. - double check that. eh, pretty good! (whistles) yeek. not cryin', are ya? let's tighten that. (fabric ripping) ooh. - wait, wh- wh- what was that? - huh? what, that? no, don't worry about that. here we go. - asking the right question can greatly impact your future. - are, are you qualified to do this? - what? - especially when it comes to your finances. - yeehaw! - do you have a question? - are you a certified financial planner™? - yes. i'm a cfp® professional. - cfp® professionals are committed to acting in your best interest. that's why it's gotta be a cfp®. find your cfp® professional at letsmakeaplan.org. i am here because they revolutionized immunotherapy. i am here because they saw how cancer adapts to different oxygen levels and starved it. i am he

cnn's randi kaye is in walter borough, south carolina, where the judge delivered an emotional speechnding down the sentence. >> i sentence you for a term of the rest of your natural life. >> reporter: alex murdaugh, convicted and given two life sentences for the murder of his wife and son. >> i know you have to see paul and maggie during the nighttime when you're attempting to go to sleep. i'm sure they come and visit you. >> all day and every night. >> reporter: after more than a month in the courtroom, jurors took about three hours thursday to convict murdaugh of murder for his wife maggie and 22-year-old son paul, who were found fatally shot on the family's property in june 2021. >> i didn't see any true remorse. >> reporter: how did you know he wasn't crying? >> i saw his eyes. i was that close to him. >> reporter: murdaugh, once a prominent lawyer in the area, took the stand last week in his own emotional defense. maintaining he found the bodies after returning from a brief visit to his mother that night, despite cell phone video placing him at the scene. >> remind me of the exp

let's go live to right randi kaye has been following every twist and turn, randy? >> laura, his all started nearly two years ago. with a double murder not far from this courthouse on a property known as moselle. ever since then, it has turned into a twisted tale of greed, lies, and more lies and the state says that there is one man orchestrating all of it and that was alex murdaugh. >> [inaudible] my wife and child [inaudible]. >> june 7th, 2021, alec murdaugh says that he called 9-1-1 after finding his wife and youngest son debt other hunting property known as moselle. >> did you touch maggie at all? >> i did. i touched them both. i mean, i try to do it as limited as possible. but i tried to take their pulse on both of them. >> 52-year-old maggie murdoch has been shot four or five times with a black out rifle. paul murdoch has been shot twice with a shotgun. >>.,. horrendous. horrible. but during. >> both were murdered near the dog kennels on the family's property, not far from the main house where alex murdaugh said he was not being at the time. that was a lie. >

randi kaye, has details. >> i'm really sorry. >> tennessee's lieutenant governor randi mcnally, a republicanapologizing for his repeated interactions with a young gay man who posts provocative photos on instagram. the progressive website that tennessee hauler, first on earth mcnally's interactions with 20-year-old franklin mclure. who goes by franklin superstar on social media. and many of mclaurin's posts, he scantily clad. often pulling his short slightly down. among the posts, the 79 year old lieutenant governor reacted to, this close-up of love in the course backside. mcnally responded with three red hearts and three fire emoji's. then commented, you can turn a rainy day into rainbows and sunshine. mick natalie declined our interview request, but spoke with our affiliate, wtvd f. >> i tried to encourage people with posts, and tried to help them if i can. >> how exactly, his heart and fire emojis were helping franklin mcclure, it's still unclear. wtf also asked the lieutenant governor specifically about liking this post, where mick lower used language such as prosecute and referred to a s

randi kaye shows us how we got to this point next. (dog barking) we love our pets. and lint guard with three times the pet hair fighting ingredients. just one sheet helps remove pet hair from your clothes! looking good starts in the dryer with bounce pet. ♪ experience the capability of the complete line of suvs at the invitation to lexus sales event. ♪ i like to move it, move it ♪ ♪ you like to... move it ♪ we're reinventing our network. ♪ ♪ ♪ fast. reliable. perfectly orchestrated. the united states postal service. >> it has been a stunning day of criminal justice in america at

the latest now from randi kaye. >> on june 7th, 2021, at moselle property in colleton county, maggieurdoch were brutally and maliciously murdered at the kennels by alex murdaugh. just before closing arguments, the jury visited those kennels, the crime scene, up close for the first time. video of the scene, not the jurors, was allowed to be recorded by the media. the jury small saw this small feed room where -- >> this model -- which just -- >> as out put down a shotgun to pick up the blackout, and startled by paul, and that's why the angle is like that. he catches paul like that. he goes up into the ceiling, as you've heard the testimony from kimze. and he blows his brains out. >> paul fell to the concrete after the second fatal shot. his brain, hitting the pavement. as the jury could see at the scene, all of that was within sight of where maggie murdoch's body was found on the grass, near the shed. the pool reporter measured the two shootings, just about 12 steps apart. besides the prosecutor recreates the alleged events. including the use of the second gun, the blackout rifle. >> b

will get an answer whether or not they can exhume his body and do the private autopsy as well. >> randi kaye >>> still ahead, with a possible indictment ahead, georgia prosecutors say they're weighing charges against him and the investigation there into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. one of his attorneys jiens us up next. let's tighten that. (fabric ripping) ooh. - wait, wh- whwh- what was tha? - huh? what, that? no, don't worrrry about that. here we go. - askiking the right question can greatly impactct your futur. - are, are y you qualified to do this? - what? - especially when it comes to your finances. - yeehaw! - do you have a question? - are you a certified financial planner™? - yes. i'm a cfp® professional. - cfp® professionals are committed to acting in your best interest. that's why it's gotta be a cfp®. find your cfp® professional at letsmakeaplan.org. choosing a treatment for your chronic migraine - 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting 4 hours or more - can be overwhelming. so, ask your doctor about botox®. botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic mig

our randi kaye is on the scene at the courthouse. she has been covering the trial all along. also joining us tonight a team of legal experts, mark o'mara, cnn chief law enforcement intelligence analyst, jessica roth who currently teaches at new york's cardoza school of law, joey jackson, jury consultant jill huntley taylor. jessica, let me start off with everybody here. did you have any idea it would be this quick, the deliberations and that result? >> i'm not surprised by the result. i am surprised by the speed. in fact, i'm shocked by the speed. i never anticipated that we would have a guilty verdict within three hours. thinking was a complex trial with a lot of witnesses, a lot of evidence. >> well what the speed suggests to me is the jury didn't see i as being that complicated at all, actually. and at the end of the day, it was pretty straight forward. it really amounted to video of the defendant at the kennels that was on paul's phone that he didn't know existed until fairly recently. the lie that he told to the police officers about not being at the kennels, even though

randi kaye, cnn. coming up on two.santis is no longer just taking punches from the former president. he's now trying to throw some as well. the question is to what effect will talk to david axelrod next. friday on cnn, primetime jason sudeikis joins jake tapper emmy award winning show is back for a new season as he talks one on one about the show's focus on mental health and the recent visit to the white house, cnn, primetime friday and nine fauna, the company who invented car vending machines and buying a car 100% online. now we've created a brand new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a year old or a few years old. we want to buy your car to car vonna, your license plate. answer a few questions and our techno wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds. when you're ready. we'll come to you pay you on the spot and pick up your car. that's it. so ditch the old way of selling your car and say hello to the new way. car vonna change changes. happened so fast . for the life you're mak

randi kaye explains. and you had sex with him. you were 27. he was 60.were you physically attracted to him? porn star stormy daniels, opening up to anderson cooper about her alleged affair with donald trump. she says she first met trump at a celebrity golf tournament in lake tahoe in july. 2006 a year later, she says they met at his bungalow at the beverly hills hotel. he came and sat next to me and you know touched my hair and put his hand on my leg nearly a decade later , during the 2016 campaign, stormy daniels was shopping her story about the alleged affair and says she got a phone call from her lawyer saying, i think i have the best deal for you. that deal was essentially a nondisclosure agreement or nd a promise to keep silent. it came about after daniels had approached the national enquirer with her story at the time. long time trump ally david pecker was running american media inc or am i, which published the national enquirer? the enquirer forged an alliance with donald trump. they would go out and seek unflattering and usually tawdry stories ab

randi kaye, cnn. coming up on two. santis is no longer just taking punches from the former president. he's now trying to throw some as well. the question is to what effect will talk to david axelrod next. i i remember when i firstst started flying ad we would experience turbulencnc. i would watch the flight attendants. if they're not nervous, then i'm not going to be nervous. financially the flight attendant in that situation. the relief that comes over people once they know they've got a guy to help them through. i definitely feel privileged to be in that position. how do u know the family trip? know sorry, son. prices arerazy. hmm aw, used priceline. they have package deals. no one else has. talking to your happy prize. priceline you want a loan to build a factory in america? you can't do that. this is what we were up against. nobody builds factories in the us anymore. you can't do that. experts claim you couldn't do what we did you want to hire workers here in the states? you can't do that has been proving them wron

i'm randy kaye. tonight for the first time alex murdaugh's victims and alleged victims, their lawyers, and local reporters who for years have been covering every detail of this case come together to talk about the man who changed their lives forever and the mystery that has shaken this community. >> you're all brought together by really one man, but some of you, you do know each other, right, from -- >> yes, yes. our families work together or went to school together. >> there's always a connection. yes. >> my father owned a grocery store for 54 years, which everyone came through that grocery store. that's what put me to be able to know everyone. >> we call him jj. >> jordan james, ginger heriot, and sandy smith grew up in the rural county of hampton south carolina. >> one thing about hampton also, i mean genuine people live there. >> all your friend's children come to your home and they call you mom. >> what was alex murdaugh like as a young boy? >> kind of rough but typical friend. i mean we were bo

. >> randi kaye takes a look at how we got here. >> reporter: june 7, 2021, alex murdaugh says he called 911 after finding his wife and youngest son dead at their hunting property. >> did you touch maggie at all? >> i touched them both. i tried to take -- i mean, i tried to do it as limited as possible. but i tried to take their pulse on both of them. >> reporter: 52-year-old maggie murdaugh had been shot four or five times with a 300 blackout rifle. paul murdaugh just 22 had been shot twice with a shotgun. >> she fell to the ground and that is when the first fatal wound was delivered. his brain exploded out of his head, hit the ceiling in the shed and dropped to his feet. horrendous, horrible, butchering. >> reporter: both were murdered near the dog kennels on the family's property not far from the main house where alex murdaugh says he'd been napping at the time. that was a lie. >> is that you on the kennel video at 8:44 p.m. on june 7th the night maggie and paul were murdered? >> it is. >> reporter: murdaugh was backed into a corner. investigation date tors had found this video on pau

randi kaye has details. >> really, really sorry if -- >> reporter: tennessee's lieutenant governor randyand supporter of antilgbtq legislation apologizing for his repeated interactions with a young gay man who posts provocative photos on instagram. the progressive website the tennessee holler first unearthed mcnally's interactions with 20-year-old franklin mcclure who goes by franklin superstar on social media. in many of mcclure's posts he is scantily clad, often pulling his shorts slightly down. among the posts the 79-year-old lieutenant governor reacted to, this close up of mcclure's back side. mcnally responded with three red hearts and three fire emogies then commented, you can turn a rainy day into rainbows and sunshine. mcnally declined our interview request but spoke with our affiliate wtbf. >> trying to encourage people with posts and try to, you know, help them if i can. >> reporter: how exactly is heart and fire emogies were helping franklin mcclure is still unclear. wtbf also asked specifically about liking this post where mcclure used language such as prostitute and referred

cnn's randi kaye has more. >> reporter: alex murdaugh given two life sentences for the murder of his have to see them during the nighttime when you're attempting to go to sleep. i'm sure they come to visit you. >> reporter: jurors took about three hours to convict murdaugh of murder for his wife maggie and 22-year-old son paul, who were found shot on the family's property in june 2021. a juror told abc -- >> i didn't see any true remorse. he had soulless eyes. >> murdaugh once a lawyer in the area, took the stand last week in his own emotional defense . >> remind me of the expression. oh, what a tangled web you weave. >> when i lied, i continued to lie. >> reporter: the defense relied on his opioid addiction to account for his deception, his lies about his whereabouts, something the judge and jury didn't buy. >> they concluded that you continued to lie and lie throughout your testimony. it's not credible. it's not believable. >> reporter: despite all the circumstantial evidence against him, murdaugh maintained he was not guilty. >> i'm innocent. i would never under any circumstances

randy kaye, cnn walterboro, south carolina. >> earlier i spoke with civil rights attorney rehave a martinbout the defense's decision to put murdaugh himself on the stand, here's what she had to say. >> i think the defense didn't have a choice. when the prosecution put on almost ten or so witnesses that testified that they could identify alex murdaugh's voice in that video, that was taken or you know, produced just moments before the cell phone of his son paul's went dead, that was a big problem for alex, he told the police for months that he was not at that kennel before his wife and son were killed. now you had ten witnesses coming forward for the prosecution saying yes, that's his voice, he was there just moments before the murders occurs, so he had to, i believe, he felt had he to get on the witness stand and try to explain why he had lied to police. >> you think that i mean, the video you're talking about from his son on his cell phone, you know, proving that he was there within five minutes of the murder and lied about it. essentially, i mean, the son helped solve his own murder. >>

. >>> two of murdaugh's defense attorneys sat down with randi kaye to explain why they decided to havethinking of it at that point in time what is there to lose? they've heard about all of his financial crimes. they really hadn't heard why he committed the financial crimes, and they needed to hear about his drug addiction. by putting him on the stand i think the jury also got to see his emotions about maggie and paul, which are very raw and real. >> joining me to discuss is state lawmaker and attorney who represents about ten victims of murdaugh's alleged financial crimes. good to see you. thank you for joining us. it took the jury just three hours to find him guilty of both murders. the judge sentencing him to life in prison. your reaction? >> honestly, i was surprised the jury came back that fast. i'm not surprised by the verdict. i was thinking we would still be here about this time today waiting on the jury to give us their decision. judge newman did what i thought he was going to do and he basically fried alex murdaugh like a catfish. two consecutive life sentences sends a very st

let's go live to randi kaye who's been following every twist and turn. ndi. >> reporter: laura, this all started nearly two years ago with that double murder not far from this courthouse at a property known as moselle, and ever since then it has turned into a twisted tale of greed, lies and more lies, and the state says there is only one man orchestrating all of it, and that is alex murdaugh. >> i need the police, my wife and child -- >> reporter: june 7th, 2021, alex murdaugh says he called 911 after finding his wife and youngest son dead at their hunting property known as moselle. >> did you touch maggie at all? >> i did, i touched them both. i tried to take -- i mean, i tried to do it as limited as possible, but i tried to take their pulse on both of them. >> reporter: 52-year-old maggie murdaugh had been shot four or five times with a 300 blackout rifle. paul murdaugh just 22 has been shot twice with a shotgun. >> she fell to the ground and that's when the first fatal wound was drielivered. his brain exploded out of his head, hit the ceiling in the sh

. >> and randi kaye is there in walterboro and has this report for you. >> reporter: almost six weeks of trial, and 61 witnesses for the state in their main case, and 14 witnesses for the defense, it was certainly quite a trial here in walterboro, so much testimony, but certainly a couple things stood out, both coming from paul murdaugh's cellphone, one was the kennel video which put alex at the time of the murders at dog ken untils on the property. for many months alex murdaugh said that he was not there earlier in the night with his family and only found them there dead at the kennels and that is when he called 911. but at least 10 witnesses say they heard his voice on the video and finally he admitted being there. there is also the snapchat video that paul murdaugh sent to friends at 7:56 p.m. and that showed alex murdaugh wearing long pants and a blue shirt. later when he saw investigate tots, he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. so investigators said he had washed up and changed clothes since killing the attempt. and now the jury found him guilty. wit . >> earlier cnn spoke with

randi kaye joins us now from south carolina with the latest. what happened in the court today?t was an incredible day in court. south carolina's attorney general took over to question the state's last witness, and it was dramatic. together they recreated how paul murdaugh may have died, at least court according to the defense. they used a courtroom door to act as a feed to the dog kennels where he died. all the while the attorney general was wielding a shotgun. here is how it played out in court. >> is it your expert opinion that a 6'4" shooter cannot be excluded from the murder of maggie and paul? >> i see nothing that could exclude a 6'4" shooter. >> reporter: dr. kenneth kinsey, an expert in crime scene investigation and recreation called back to the stand by the state to dispute key system. a forensic scientist testified for the defense and told the jury whoever killed maggie and paul murdaugh was likely much shorter than alex murdaugh, who is about 6'4". but the prosecution's expert disagreed. >> can a person be on their knee and get the same angle and be standing and get

three 60's randi kaye joins us from south carolina with the latest. what happened in court today?uth carolina's attorney general took over the question of the states last witness, and it was dramatic. together, they recreated how paul murdoch might have died, at least according to the defense. they used a courtroom door in order to act as the door to the feed room at the doghouse where he died. together, they did this recreation, and all the while the attorney general was wielding a shotgun. here's how it played out in court. >> is it your expert opinion that a six foot four shooter cannot be excluded from the murder of maggie and paul? >> i see nothing that could exclude a six foot four shooter. >> dr. kenneth mackenzie, again expert and crime scene recreation, called back to the stand free key testimony. testifying for the defense, telling the jury that whoever killed maggie and paul murdoch was likely much shorter than alex murdaugh, who is about six foot four. the prosecutions expert disagreed. >> can a person be on their knees and get the same angle, be standing, and get the

the defense just sat down with cnn's randi kaye just in the last hour and she asked him about this pivotal decision to put murdaugh on the stand in this trial. listen to what he had to say. >> the thinking of it at that point in time is what is there to lose? they've heard about all of his financial crimes, they really hadn't heard why he committed the financial crimes and they needed to hear about his drug addi addiction. by putting him on the stand i think the jury also got to see his emotions about maggie and paul, which are very raw and real, and they were moving. some of the jurors were moved by his testimony. but then, you know, the next day on cross-examination i've got to give credit where credit is due. i mean, they clearly painted alex as, you know, a liar who could just look you in the face and lie to you. >> i mean, look, jim griffin i'm sure is a very good defense attorney, but it seems like what he's describing is wishful thinking especially in light of what that juror said. the tears and the emotion may have backfired. sara, you can -- >> oh, i'm sorry. yeah, look, abby, the

cnn's randi kaye has the new developments. for the first time sled the south carolina law enforcement division is saying they don't consider this hit and run anymore. they are considering this a homicide and investigating this as a homicide . now back when this first happened, the lead investigator despite it being ruled a hit and run accident, the lead investigator was heard during some tapes from the case files from audio interviews, saying that he didn't think that this was a hit and run. listen to that. typically you don't see the highway patrol working a murder. and that's what this is. there's no doubt we're not classifying. this is anything other than a murder. it's important to note that there were no visible injuries to him. he had a very significant wound to his head. but other than that, you know if you're hit by a vehicle at a fast speed, his loosely tied shoes were still on him. he didn't have any broken bones. all of this certainly leading his mother and others to believe that there's no way this could have been

randi kaye. thank you very much perspective .now from cnn political commentator and democratic strategist paul begala and a bit to his right from cnn political commentator jonah goldberg, co founder and editor in chief of the dispatch, you know generates interesting because randy also told us that she talked to a lot of people who just didn't want to talk about trump. they were just sick of them. so you have, you know for a guy who craves attention. people who don't even want to think about him right now, combined with those republicans who seemed a little sick of them. how much do you think that hurts? donald trump. yeah, it's sort of impossible to tell. i do think over the long haul. there is this building thing of it's always something with this guy like you heard some of these people saying that they're sympathetic. they think he's being railroaded. but look, i mean, like, you can think somebody in the nfl was badly treated or like in the nba was fouled and they got injured. if they're injured. you don't want them, you know,

cnn's randi kaye has been following this story for years and has the latest radio on the phone with theem just happened. so what are you learning tonight? well a source john familiar with this investigation is telling me that sled has no longer considers this a hit and run accident. as you know. stephen smith was killed back in july of 2015. he was his body was found in the middle of a roadway inn, hampton county, south carolina, and they had said that this was a hit and run well now for the first time sled the south carolina law enforcement division is saying they don't consider and run anymore. they are considering this a homicide and investigating this as a homicide now back when this first happened, the lead investigator despite it being ruled a hit and run accident, the lead investigator was heard during some tapes from the case file some audio interviews, saying that he didn't think that this was a hit and run. listen to that. typically you don't see the highway patrol working a murder. and that's what this is. there's no doubt we're not classifying this as anything other than a m