The Liar

My usual practice is to avoid high-profile crime stories lest they ruin my day. They remind me too much of the Patty Hearst/SLA saga that both jump-started my journalism career and disrupted my work on what I considered a much more significant project, the Circle of Poison many years ago.

But against my better intentions, these last few days I found myself watching the Alec Murdaugh trial, as the defendant took the stand to deny that he murdered his wife and son.

Murdaugh admitted he is a serial liar, an opioid addict, a swindler who stole millions from family and friends and even that he lied about what he did at the murder scene. In the process he answered some questions with way too much information, when a simple “no” would have sufficed

An innocent person would have just said no.

My suspicion is he is guilty of the crimes, but I’m not sure he’s going to be convicted. After all, O.J. Simpson got off, and Murdaugh may as well. All he needs is to create a little bit of “reasonable doubt” in the mind of at least one juror. And he may have done that by testifying.

When an investigator of any type — a private eye, FBI agent, insurance adjuster, homicide detective, investigative reporter — watches someone like Murdaugh answer questions, what we notice is his body language, his facial expressions, his tendency to volunteer additional information beyond what is required.

We are looking to see whether he’s exhibiting the signs of a liar.

I have little doubt Murdaugh is lying about the murders. 

One of his explanations is he lied because he is an addict and that’s one of the things addicts do — weave a web of deception as part of covering up their habit. One question, therefore, is whether the jurors will acquit him on the basis of the lies of an addict or convict him on the basis of the lies of a murderer.

Or neither or both.

LINKS:

• Alex Murdaugh duels with prosecutor on second day of cross-examination in trial over 2021 killings of his wife and son (CNN)

• Alex Murdaugh Admits Lying and Stealing, but Denies Murders (NYT)

• Disgraced former lawyer Alex Murdaugh testified Thursday that he never fatally shot his wife and son but that he did lie to investigators about not being at the dog kennels where the two were killed, a decision that he blamed on drug addiction and paranoia. [HuffPost]

• Alex Murdaugh admits to lying, testifies he didn’t kill his wife and son (WP)

• Grief and defiance in Kyiv on first anniversary of war in Ukraine (Guardian)

• Zelenskyy responds to China's proposals for Russia's war in Ukraine (CBS)

• Protests in Russia denounce Ukraine invasion; antiwar rallies held worldwide (WP)

• Ukrainians paid tribute to their fallen loved ones and vowed to fight on to victory, while Russia said its forces were making gains in battles in the east as its invasion entered a second year with no end in sight. (Reuters)

• The real reason for China's charm offensive over Ukraine and Russia (BBC)

• The War in Ukraine Is the End of a World (Atlantic)

• ‘It’s Complicated’: How Biden and Zelensky Forged a Wartime Partnership (NYT)

• Economist Says AI Is a Doomed Bubble (Futurism)

• ChatGPT and ethical decision making: It’s not what can be done, but what should (Venture Beat)

• GPT-4 Is Coming – What We Know So Far (Forbes)

• Trump accused of ‘shell game with classified documents’ after box moved around (Independent)

• The historic attempt to undo a presidential election on Jan. 6, 2021, and former President Donald Trump's role in it isn't a topic of discussion for a 2024 GOP field fearful of antagonizing the conspiracy-fueled wing of the party. Likely entrants into the race, and candidate former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, are playing it safe with veiled digs about Trump’s age, while others are avoiding mentioning him at all. [HuffPost]

• ‘It’s a major blow’: Dominion has uncovered ‘smoking gun’ evidence in case against Fox News, legal experts say (CNN)

• A Google worker says some staffers found out which colleagues had been laid off when their emails bounced back (Business Insider)

• College students across Florida walked off campus in response to DeSantis’ recent policies targeting LGBTQ students and people of color. The Republican governor is "manipulating Florida’s education system," protesters said. [HuffPost]

• The Taliban ended college for women. Here's how Afghan women are defying the ban (NPR)

• Scientists Discovered How to Speed Up Time. Seriously. (Popular Mechanics)

• Europe is experiencing a winter drought: here's what you should know (EuroNews)

• Japanese Americans won redress, fight for Black reparations (AP)

• War-Weary Americans Not Sure How Much Longer They Can Occasionally Glance At Headlines About Ukraine (The Onion)