Jeffrey Collins
The Associated Press
Columbia, SC, United States
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Past articles by Jeffrey:
Jurors will visit crime scene site in Alex Murdaugh trial
Jurors in Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial in the shooting deaths of his wife and son will get to visit the South Carolina home where the killings took place before they begin deliberating, the judge ruled Monday. Lawyers for the disgraced South Carolina attorney asked for the trip to the Colleton County property called Moselle so […] → Read More
Inadequate investigation? Takeaways at Murdaugh murder trial
Investigators like to say the crime scene at a killing tells the story even if no one else does. In the double murder trial of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, his defense lawyers want jurors to believe the crime scene can’t tell them much about the deaths of his wife and son because state […] → Read More
Alex Murdaugh partner talks crime scene problems and thefts
A law partner of Alex Murdaugh testified Wednesday at his double murder trial that more than a dozen people who weren’t first responders or law enforcement walked around the scene of the killings before South Carolina agents arrived to investigate. Then, when state agents arrived, Murdaugh, his law partners and friends were all sent back […] → Read More
Agent: Alex Murdaugh wanted to die after wife, son killed
Alex Murdaugh and a friend spent just minutes planning a failed attempt to fatally shoot the lawyer on a lonely South Carolina roadside so his son could collect a multimillion-dollar life insurance policy, months after his wife and other son were shot to death, according to testimony Thursday in his double murder trial. But the […] → Read More
Prosecution, defense get wins with Alex Murdaugh lead agent
The lead agent investigating the deaths of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh’s wife and son zeroed in on inconsistencies in his actions the night of the killings, according to a videotaped interview two months after the crime played Wednesday at Murdaugh’s double murder trial. The interview led to Murdaugh becoming the main suspect in […] → Read More
Alex Murdaugh murder jury to hear financial crimes evidence
A judge ruled Monday he will allow jurors to hear evidence that disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was stealing money from his law firm and clients and committing other financial crimes long before his wife and son were killed in 2021. Prosecutors have said those witnesses are key to their case in Murdaugh’s double […] → Read More
Stolen money evidence allowed in Alex Murdaugh murder trial
A judge has ruled that prosecutors can call witnesses to testify how Alex Murdaugh allegedly stole money as part of the double murder trial for the disbarred South Carolina attorney as long as they can show it is convincing evidence and linked to the killings. Judge Clifton Newman said Thursday he will briefly hear from […] → Read More
Both sides use trove of cell data at Alex Murdaugh trial
A state agent testifying Wednesday in Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial meticulously reconstructed activity from his iPhone and the cellphones of his son and wife the night they were killed to try to link the disgraced South Carolina attorney to the shooting deaths. The key evidence for prosecutors is a video from the son’s phone […] → Read More
Hours after killings, Alex Murdaugh said he didn’t see wife
Alex Murdaugh’s comments to police about his whereabouts around the time his wife and son were fatally shot may not have been accurate, according to video evidence presented by prosecutors Friday at the South Carolina attorney’s murder trial. In cross examining one of the detectives who interviewed Murdaugh, his lawyer underlined that despite the gory […] → Read More
How Alex Murdaugh came to face trial for murder of wife, son
Alex Murdaugh is standing trial for the killings of his wife and son at their hunting estate in June 2021 — charges that have led to the unraveling of a prominent South Carolina attorney known for multimillion-dollar judgments and whose family dominated the legal scene in a small county for decades. If found guilty of […] → Read More
1st officer: Alex Murdaugh didn’t cry over dead wife and son
The first officer to arrive after Alex Murdaugh called 911 to report his wife and son were seriously hurt noted at the attorney’s double murder trial Thursday that the suspect was upset but that he had no tears in his eyes. During the first day of testimony, jurors watched Colleton County Sgt. Daniel Greene’s body […] → Read More
Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial starts with cellphones, bullets
After 19 months of speculation, prosecutors finally laid out their evidence Wednesday that Alex Murdaugh killed his wife and son as they opened the double murder trial for the disgraced South Carolina attorney. There was gunshot residue on a seat belt, bullets pulled from bodies that matched ammunition boxes from around the home and cellphones […] → Read More
Alex Murdaugh goes on trial in 2021 killings of wife, son
As his life unraveled over the past two years, disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh didn’t fight giving up his law license and said he made plenty of mistakes tied to missing client money and a financial mess that led to 100 criminal charges. But he has adamantly insisted, from the moment he found the […] → Read More
Cheerleaders sexually abused by coaches in SC, lawsuit says
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Multiple cheerleading coaches in South Carolina — including a coach who recently killed himself — sexually abused at least six boys and girls and provided them with drugs and alcohol, a federal lawsuit alleges. A “coven of sexual predators” surrounded Rockstar Cheer of Greenville for more than a decade, according to […] → Read More
Alex Murdaugh charged with murder in deaths of wife, son
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — More than 13 months after disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh called 911 after finding his wife and son shot outside their home, a grand jury indicted him Thursday on murder charges in their killings. But the legal documents shed little light on the ongoing mystery over the deaths that captivated […] → Read More
Personal connections show lawyer Alex Murdaugh’s downfall
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The shooting deaths of South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh’s wife and son started a chain of investigations, strange happenings and legal maneuvers over the past 13 months that led to murder charges Thursday. But Murdaugh’s life was quietly unraveling behind the scenes long before that. Authorities said he was stealing money,addicted […] → Read More
Man freed in competency mix up arrested again in SC killings
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A man charged with killing two sisters in South Carolina 12 years ago but who disappeared out of the legal systemafter he was found incompetent to stand trial was arrested Thursday in Colorado after authorities reinstated his charges, a sheriff’s office and a family attorney said. Williamsburg County deputies began looking […] → Read More
Man committed after slayings shows up free in small SC town
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The last thing the family of two sisters slain in a tiny South Carolina town had heard about the man who confessed to killing them was that he was headed to a mental hospital in 2012 to be treated for schizophrenia so he could later be tried for murder. For 10 […] → Read More
JUST IN: Defense attorneys rest in trial over Arbery’s death
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) – Defense attorneys for the three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery rested Thursday after calling a total of seven witnesses. The people who testified in the men’s defense included the man who fatally shot Arbery, Travis McMichael. Six neighbors testified about their concerns regarding crime in the neighborhood. McMichael and his […] → Read More
White House pondered taking control of DC police
The Trump administration floated the idea of taking over the police force in the nation’s capital after days of violent demonstrations that led to fires and vandalism. → Read More