Homicide

An Emmy-winning actor whose career triumphs were later overshadowed by a trial in which he was acquitted of killing his wife, Robert Blake has died at age 89. A statement released on behalf of his niece says he died Thursday in Los Angeles. Blake was the star of the 1970s TV show “Baretta” and landed movie roles, including “In Cold Blood.” Once hailed as among the finest actors of his generation, Blake became better known as the defendant in a real-life murder trial story more bizarre than any in which he acted.

Active-service members and veterans have provided first-hand testimony in the House of Representatives about the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, describing in harrowing detail the carnage and death they witnessed on the ground. The initial hearing Wednesday of a long-promised investigation by House Republicans displayed the open wounds from the end of America’s longest war in August 2021, with witnesses recalling how they saw mothers carrying dead babies and the Taliban shooting and brutally beating people. Testimony focused not on the decision to withdraw, but on what witnesses depicted as a desperate attempt to rescue American citizens and Afghan allies with little planning and inadequate support. They implored Congress to help allies left behind.

Alex Murdaugh's family long dominated the legal scene in his small South Carolina county. But for the past six weeks, Murdaugh has been on the other side of the courtroom, standing trial on murder charges in the 2021 shootings of his wife and son. He was found guilty Thursday and sentenced to life in prison on Friday morning. More than 75 witnesses were called and about 800 photographs, reports and exhibits were presented as evidence. Prosecutors say Murdaugh killed his family to gain sympathy and buy time to hide his financial crimes. But prosecutors didn't have direct evidence like the weapons used in the killings, a confession, video surveillance or bloody clothes.

Leading up to Alex Murdaugh’s guilty conviction of two counts of murder, the public attention on the case had intensified. Authorities say investigations stemming from the June 2021 shooting deaths of Murdaugh’s wife and son revealed that the prominent South Carolina lawyer stole millions of dollars from largely poor clients’ settlements and staged an attempt on his life to secure his surviving son a $12 million life insurance payout. In the process, true crime enthusiasts, concerned onlookers and many others have found the latest subject of their fascination in the yearslong unraveling of a mystery that jurors decided in less than three hours Thursday following closing arguments in the six-week trial.

South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh has been convicted of murder in the shooting deaths of his wife and son. The jury deliberated for less than three hours before finding Murdaugh guilty of two counts of murder Thursday. The tangled case chronicled the unraveling of a powerful Southern family with tales of privilege, greed and addiction. Murdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison without parole when he is sentenced. The once-prominent lawyer also faces about 100 other charges ranging from theft to insurance fraud. Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were killed near dog kennels on their sprawling rural property on June 7, 2021.

Detectives in a Northern California community are investigating what prompted a Wednesday fight between three high school students that ended with one fatally stabbing another. A 15-year-old freshman has been booked on suspicion of homicide and other charges in connection with the stabbings at a high school in Santa Rosa, California. A 16-year-old student was killed and other injured. The school remained closed on Thursday and the principal called it the altercation the “darkest day” in the school's history. A Santa Rosa police official says investigators are interviewing the 27 students who were inside the classroom at the time.

President Joe Biden says he's willing to sign a Republican-sponsored resolution blocking new District of Columbia laws that would overhaul how the nation’s capital prosecutes and punishes crime. In doing so, the president would be allowing Congress to nullify the city’s laws for the first time in more than three decades. Biden’s willingness to do so, despite earlier opposition from his White House, is linked to growing concern over rising crime both in the nation’s capital and across the U.S. City officials have spent nearly two decades trying to redo Washington’s criminal laws. The overhaul passed the D.C. Council late last year.

A prosecutor says Alex Murdaugh’s theft of millions of dollars was about to be revealed so he killed his wife and son to buy time to figure a way out. Prosecutor Creighton Waters gave his closing argument Wednesday in the disgraced South Carolina attorney's murder trial. He says Murdaugh was facing unbearable pressure in June 2021 and decided that killing his family was the only way to keep his theft of money from his law firm and clients from being revealed and to save his lofty standing in the community. The defense will get to wrap up its case on Thursday. Earlier Wednesday, jurors visited the crime scene.

Prosecutors have called their final witnesses in Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial. The jury will now head Wednesday about 40 minutes from the courthouse to see the family home where authorities say Murdaugh killed his wife and son in June 2021. Only the jury, attorneys from both sides, security and police and a court reporter can join the judge for the visit. Then they will come back to the courtroom to hear closing arguments. On Tuesday, prosecutors called witnesses to respond to the defense case. The testimony rebutted defense experts who say the evidence shows them there were two shooters at the Murdaugh property that night.

A defense expert in Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial says he thinks two different shooters killed the disgraced attorney’s wife and son. The idea of two killers has hovered over the trial because two different weapons were used and there's no evidence either victim tried to defend themselves. Crime scene expert Tim Palmbach was the first witness to suggest the theory in testimony. Palmbach says the idea is mostly common sense. Also on Monday, the judge agreed with a defense request to let jurors travel to see the Murdaugh home. The date for that visit has not been set.

Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh has denied killing his wife and son but admitted lying about when he last saw them alive while testifying in his own defense. Murdaugh is charged with murder in the fatal shootings of his wife and son, who were killed near kennels on their property on June 7, 2021. Murdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted. In his testimony Thursday, the 54-year-old continued to staunchly deny any role in the killings. Prosecutors spent four weeks of testimony painting Murdaugh as a liar who decided to kill his wife and son because he wanted sympathy to buy time to cover up his financial crimes that were about to be discovered.

A Los Angeles judge has sentenced the man convicted of gunning down rapper Nipsey Hussle to 60 years to life in prison. The sentence was handed down Wednesday to 33-year-old Eric R. Holder Jr. A jury in July found Holder guilty of first-degree murder of the 33-year-old Hussle. He was also convicted of two counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter. Judge H. Clay Jacke has a range of sentencing possibilities at Wednesday's hearing, but most of them amounted to life in prison sentences. Holder shot the Grammy-nominated hip-hop star in 2019 outside Hussle's clothing store in the South Los Angeles neighborhood where the two men grew up.

Alex Murdaugh’s defense called his surviving son to the witness stand Tuesday to poke holes in evidence that prosecutors have presented in the double murder trial of the disgraced South Carolina attorney. Buster Murdaugh answered questions in a matter-of-fact tone. He explained points that prosecutors emphasized as potentially sinister, including Alex Murdaugh parking behind his mother’s home or not using his cellphone for an hour the night of the killings. The defense also called a forensic engineer who says his analysis of shooting angles in Maggie Murdaugh's death and the locations of shell casings show the shooter was about 5-foot-2. Alex Murdaugh is 6-foot-4.