Murdaugh Netflix show airs new bombshell claims in season 2 as convicted murderer strikes plea deal

Juror number 785 remains something of a mystery.

She has never gone public with her identity and has never broken her silence by speaking to the press.

But, the mystery juror has caused quite a stir in the so-called “trial of the century”.

Juror number 785 first hit headlines back in March when she was ousted from Alex Murdaugh’s high-profile double-murder trial just hours before deliberations began.

After sitting through six weeks of graphic testimony about the slayings of Murdaugh’s wife Maggie and son Paul, Judge Clifton Newman dismissed the juror for apparently speaking about the case to at least three people.

If her dismissal wasn’t enough to shock the nation glued to the notorious trial, the juror also gained infamy due to a comedic moment where she asked to retrieve a dozen eggs from the jury room.

After that, juror 785 earned a new alias as the “egg juror”.

Speaking exclusively to The Independent’s Rachel Sharp, prominent defence attorney Duncan Levin explains that the allegations against court clerk Rebecca Hill are ‘extremely serious’ and that – if true – Murdaugh could and should be granted a new trial.

When Alex Murdaugh was convicted of the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul back in March, his legal team insisted that the fight wasn’t over.

Six months on, his attorneys — Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin — approached the South Carolina Court of Appeals in Columbia and filed a motion calling for a new trial.

Motions for appeals or new trials are hardly uncommon in criminal cases.

But, the foundation for the request from Murdaugh’s attorneys is.

In the bombshell 65-page filing, Murdaugh has accused Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill of breaking her oath by allegedly tampering with the jury in the case, pressuring them into returning a guilty verdict against him.

Curtis “Cousin Eddie” Smith is Murdaugh’s alleged co-conspirator in a wild botched hitman plot that became central to the prosecution’s case in the murder trial.

The 62-year-old trucker – a former legal client, distant cousin and alleged drug dealer of Murdaugh – was allegedly paid by Murdaugh to shoot him dead so that Buster could get a $10m life insurance windfall.

The saga unfolded on 4 September 2021 – three months on from Maggie and Paul’s murders and one day after Murdaugh’s law firm PMPED accused him of stealing millions of dollars from clients.

Murdaugh called 911 to say he had been shot in a drive-by shooting while changing a tyre on his vehicle along a road in Hampton County.

He was treated at a hospital for what police called a “superficial gunshot wound to the head,” but his story quickly unravelled and he confessed to the assisted suicide plot with Mr Smith.

Mr Smith has been charged over the incident.

He was later hit with charges of helping Murdaugh with a drug and money laundering ring, with authorities alleging he receieved $2.4m in stolen checks from Murdaugh – some of it used to to buy Murdaugh opiates to feed his addiction.

Mr Smith insists that he did not shoot Murdaugh in the head but actually refused to be part of his hitman plot.

The saga surrounding Alex Murdaugh has taken yet another dramatic twist after a random Georgia man was thrust into the centre of the convicted killer’s bid for a new murder trial thanks to his now-deleted Facebook rant about his wife’s aunt.

Back on 15 February, Timothy Stone took to his Facebook page to fume that the family member had been “sticking her nose in my business”, according to court documents.

Mr Stone said he made the post in response to a private argument between the pair and then later felt “terrible” about it and deleted it the next day.

He then posted an apology on his account the next day, saying that he was driven by “Satan”.

Little did Mr Stone know that this brief family spat would become central to the so-called “trial of the century” going on in Colleton County Courthouse – and efforts by convicted killer Murdaugh to be granted a new trial for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

The new series of Netflix’s “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal” was released on Wednesday, revealing Curtis Eddie Smith – Murdaugh’s alleged co-conspirator in the bizarre hitman plot – making a bombshell claim.

Mr Smith is facing a string of charges over the 4 September 2021 incident where he allegedly shot Murdaugh along the side of a road in Hampton County in an assisted suicide scheme.

In the new series, he speaks out about the incident giving new details about his version of events that day.

He said that Murdaugh asked him to fatally shoot him in the head but he refused.

When he asked Murdaugh why he wanted him to fatally shoot him, Mr Smith claims the convicted killer made a startling confession.

“Because they’re going to be able to prove that I’m responsible for Maggie and Paul,” he said.

Murdaugh was convicted of Maggie and Paul’s murders in March but is fighting his conviction and continues to insist his innocence.

Convicted killer and disgraced legal dynasty heir Alex Murdaugh has reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors on a string of financial fraud charges – admitting that he stole millions of dollars from law firm clients for his own personal benefit.

In the agreement, signed and filed in South Carolina US District Court on Monday, the double murderer confirmed he will plead guilty to 22 federal charges including wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.

While Murdaugh admitted to stealing millions from clients during bombshell courtroom testimony at his murder trial, this marks the first time that he has ever pleaded guilty to committing a crime.

Now, he faces up to 30 years in federal prison on some of the charges.

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Follow updates as Murdaugh pleads guilty to a crime for the first time and Netflix releases next series of “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal”