Her defense attorney failed to call the one expert who might have changed the verdict. The prosecution charged murder when the evidence arguably supported a lesser charge. The post-conviction system shut the door on new evidence over a single missed day. And then Mackenzie Shirilla herself made the decision to Read more…
different things.Alex Murdaugh’s attorneys told national television they have new information about other potential suspects. They’re building a retrial strategy that points the finger away from Alex. Meanwhile, the woman who spent twenty years inside that household has her own theory about other people being involved — and it points Read more…
The Netflix documentary was supposed to be Mackenzie Shirilla’s moment. The first time the public heard her voice since the conviction. A chance to tell her side. Instead, it may have been the worst decision she’s made since the crash itself. She sat in front of cameras, composed and remorseful, Read more…
The State of Utah convicted Ted Bundy of kidnapping in March 1976. One count. Colorado charged him with one murder. That is what the system believed it was holding: a kidnapper and a single-count defendant. The actual man had killed at minimum sixteen women across five states by the end Read more…
Most people, when arrested for murder, let their attorneys handle the case. Kouri Richins wrote a six-page letter hidden in an LSAT prep book with scripted testimony for her brother. She read other inmates’ letters to her mother over recorded phone lines. She held up documents on video calls for Read more…
The prosecution’s case against Mackenzie Shirilla sounds devastating in a headline — surveillance footage, black box data showing full throttle and no braking, threatening texts, a prior incident treated as a rehearsal. But a criminal defense attorney who has spent his career cross-examining prosecution evidence sees something different: a case Read more…
A medical condition that could explain loss of consciousness — raised at trial but never supported with expert testimony. A post-conviction petition containing a neurologist’s opinion — filed one day late. A key prosecution witness whose account was contradicted by text messages — never challenged by the defense. At what Read more…
On May 5, FBI Director Kash Patel went on a national podcast and said the Pima County Sheriff’s Department did not initially cooperate with the bureau in the Nancy Guthrie investigation in the way the FBI expected. Sheriff Chris Nanos has publicly disputed Patel’s characterization of the relationship between the Read more…
The distance between “Mackenzie Shirilla did something catastrophically reckless that killed two people” and “Mackenzie Shirilla executed a premeditated mission of death” is enormous. The verdict says it was murder. The evidence lives somewhere between those two conclusions — and this conversation is about figuring out where. Shirilla was convicted Read more…
Twelve and a half hours. That’s how long prosecutors spent putting on financial crimes testimony in Alex Murdaugh’s first trial. The Supreme Court said it was too much. Way too much. They told the state to cut it back in round two.Blanca Simpson testified for three hours. She covered the Read more…