Six months ago, Judge Clifton Newman slammed Alex Murdaugh with the maximum penalty of two consecutive life sentences for murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. “I sentence you to prison for murdering them, for the rest of your natural life,” Newman said.
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JUST SAYING
BY RAUL HERNANDEZ
I spent thirty years working in four newsrooms in Texas and California: The El Paso Herald-Post, The El Paso Times, the Press Enterprise in Riverside, California, and The Ventura County Star.
I wrote on more than 120 murder cases throughout the 18 years I was assigned to cover the federal, state, and municipal courts.
Some stories, especially those involving kids, were challenging to write about, and a couple of them have taken up permanent residence in my mind.
Some of the judges’ remarks, like Judge Newman’s, were impactful and poignant during the guilty defendants’ sentencing. Before the words vanished, they lingered for a very long time. They remained because they were wise and sorrowful, and upon gazing around the courtroom, it was clear that no one was spared tears.