Top trial verdicts of 2023, from murder to medical abuse
From murder to financial fraud to medical abuse, many gripping criminal and civil cases came to a close in 2023.
Here are eight trial verdicts that captivated the nation this year.
1. Alex Murdaugh
Disgraced South Carolina scion Alex Murdaugh was convicted in March of two first-degree murder charges and one weapons possession charge after he shot his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, on his hunting estate in June 2021.
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Murdaugh, 54, was sentenced to life in prison for shooting his wife and son with a shotgun and a rifle, respectively, near dog kennels on his hunting property in Colleton County.
Prosecutors argued that Murdaugh, a personal injury lawyer, fired a shotgun at Paul’s head, which was “severed” from his body. He shot Maggie with a semiautomatic rifle five times — including in the back of the head — who died about 30 yards from her son, according to court papers.
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In October, an appeals court approved Murdaugh’s petition for a new trial, citing juror misconduct.
A month later, Murdaugh pleaded guilty to 22 out of more than 100 financial crimes stemming from various schemes to defraud his legal clients out of millions of dollars.
2. Maya Kowalski
Last month, a Florida jury awarded more than $260 million in damages and punitive damages to the family of Maya Kowalski, a 17-year-old girl who alleged in a 2018 civil suit that the actions of staff at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital (JAHC) in St. Petersburg ultimately drove Maya’s mother, Beata Kowalski, to suicide in 2017. The case attracted national attention after the release of Netflix’s “Take Care of Maya” documentary.
The jury found that JHAC had falsely imprisoned Maya, fraudulently billed her family and caused them severe emotional distress. The jury also determined that social worker Catherine Bedy had battered Maya and that Dr. Sally Smith had medically neglected Maya, who was 10 years old when she was admitted to JHAC for a rare medical condition.
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The children’s hospital is appealing the conviction, citing what it calls “clear and prejudicial errors throughout the trial and deliberate conduct by plaintiff’s counsel that misled the jury” as well as one juror’s alleged misconduct, according to a statement from Howard Hunter, an attorney from Hill Ward Henderson who represented JHAC in this case, and court documents.
“The evidence clearly showed that [JHAC] followed Florida’s mandatory reporting law in reporting suspected child abuse and, when those suspicions were confirmed by the district court, fully complied with Department of Children and Families (DCF) and court orders,” Hunter said when the verdict was handed down. “We are determined to defend the vitally important obligation of mandatory reporters to report suspected child abuse and protect the smallest and most vulnerable among us.”
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Maya’s attorney, Greg Anderson, previously told Fox News Digital that he believes the hospital is “grasping at straws.”
“They’ve been going through their various arguments … for a new trial and try[ing] to attack a juror,” he said. “It’s all tied together with their desire for a do-over, and … I don’t want this to turn into a hoary cliché, but they just don’t get it. And they still don’t get it. They just don’t understand that the jury, in fact, the country, has rejected their conduct.”
3. Gwyneth Paltrow
A Utah jury in March ruled in favor of Gwyneth Paltrow, 51, after retired optometrist Terry Sanderson sued her and the ski resort where she was taking private lessons for $3.1 million after a 2016 ski collision that he claimed left him with a “permanent traumatic brain injury.” He later reduced the damages total to $300,000 after a judge ruled that the resort and instructor were not at fault.
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“I am pleased with the outcome and I appreciate all of the hard work of Judge [Kent] Holmberg and the jury and thank them for their thoughtfulness in handling this case,” Paltrow said in a statement to Fox News Digital at the time.
“I felt that acquiescing to a false claim compromised my integrity.”
As Paltrow left court after the jury reached its verdict, she touched Sanderson’s shoulder and said, “I wish you well,” Sanderson told reporters outside the courthouse. He responded, “Thank you, dear,” according to the Associated Press.
4. Sam Bankman-Fried
Also in November, a Manhattan federal court found Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of a bankrupt and fraudulent cryptocurrency company, guilty of defrauding investors, customers and lenders who took part in his collapsed crypto empire in one of two criminal trials that he faced.
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Bankman-Fried was charged with two counts of wire fraud and five conspiracy counts. Prosecutors argued that the 31-year-old founder of FTX and its sister hedge fund, Alameda Research, misappropriated and embezzled billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits, scheming to mislead investors and instructing other executives at his businesses to do the same.
“Sam Bankman-Fried perpetrated one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.”
“The cryptocurrency industry might be new. The players, like Sam Bankman-Fried, might be new. But this kind of corruption is as old as time,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said after the verdict was announced.
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The FTX founder, who accumulated an estimated net worth of $26 billion before his company declared bankruptcy last year, also testified during his own trial, where he admitted to making mistakes but insisted that he never defrauded anyone.
5. Kaitlin Armstrong
A Texas jury in November found Kaitlin Armstrong, an Austin woman, guilty of murdering professional cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson in a jealous rage after Wilson went on a date with Armstrong’s boyfriend, professional cyclist Colin Strickland, in May 2022.
Prosecutors argued that Armstrong, 37, shot 25-year-old Wilson after Strickland, 36, dropped the cyclist off at a friend’s Austin apartment where Wilson was staying while visiting Texas for a race.
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“No one else in the world was angry that their boyfriend was out with Mo Wilson, just her,” Travis County prosecutor Rickey Jones said of Armstrong during his closing arguments last month. “No one else in the world had their Jeep circling 1708 Maple for an hour before you heard that 9:15 shot. No one else in the world matched that description.”
Prosecutors said Armstrong stalked Wilson’s location with the Strava app — a popular tool for cyclists and runners that shows their routes — and that she had access to Strickland’s Apple and Gmail accounts and would read his texts and emails.
When police initially arrested Armstrong on an unrelated warrant, she sold her Jeep tied to the crime scene, got plastic surgery and fled to Costa Rica while using her sister’s passport. U.S. Marshals eventually caught up with her on Santa Teresa Beach.
6. Lori Vallow
An Idaho jury in May found so-called “Doomsday Mom” Lori Vallow, 50, guilty of multiple counts, including two counts of first-degree murder, for the 2019 disappearances and deaths of two of her children, 7-year-old J.J. Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, allegedly with help from her husband, Chad Daybell.
Vallow also conspired to kill Tammy Daybell, Chad Daybell’s first wife, in October 2019.
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J.J. Vallow and Tylee Ryan’s mutilated remains were found on Chad Daybell’s rural Rexburg, Idaho, property in 2020, months after they initially disappeared in September 2019.
At the conclusion of her weeks-long murder trial, District Judge Steven Boyce of Fremont County said Vallow “removed” her “children from their home in Arizona, alienated them from friends and family” and brought them to her new home in Idaho “to murder them.”
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“I don’t think to this day you have any remorse for the effort and heartache you caused,” Boyce told the defendant in court.
“You had so many other options. … You chose the most evil and destructive path possible.”
Vallow’s attorneys appealed the conviction in September. Last month, she was moved from Idaho to Arizona where she now faces one first-degree murder charge and one premeditated first-degree murder charge in connection with the 2019 death of her ex-husband, Charles Vallow, and an alleged plot to kill her niece’s former husband, Brandon Boudreaux.
7. David DePape
David DePape, the California man accused of attacking former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, in his San Francisco home in October 2022, was found guilty of kidnapping and assault last month.
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A federal court convicted DePape of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official with intent to retaliate against the official for the performance of their duties.
The Pelosi family said in a statement at the time that they were “very grateful for the outpouring of prayers and warm wishes for Mr. Pelosi from so many across the country during this difficult time.”
“The Pelosi family is very proud of their Pop, who demonstrated extraordinary composure and courage on the night of the attack a year ago and in the courtroom last week,” read the family’s statement. “Thankfully, Mr. Pelosi continues to make progress in his recovery.”
8. Scot Peterson
In June, a Florida jury found former Parkland school resource officer Scot Peterson not guilty of seven counts of child neglect, three counts of culpable negligence and one count of perjury after he was alleged to have not taken appropriate action during the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland.
Peterson broke down in tears once the jury handed down its verdict.
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Shooter Nikolas Cruz fatally shot 14 students and three school staff members on Valentine’s Day in 2018.
Peterson’s attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, said the former school resource officer couldn’t determine where the shots were coming from, adding that it was unclear whether several shooters were present. He said Peterson responded by issuing a school-wide “code red.”
Ryan Petty, the father of deceased Parkland student Alaina Petty, told Fox News Digital at the time that nothing about the verdict “absolves Scot Peterson of his failures on Feb. 14, 2018.”
“Peterson was at the door of the building, heard shots and retreated to cover, remaining there for 48 minutes while the killer continued his rampage,” he said. “Peterson remained behind that cover even after other members of law enforcement had entered the building and were treating casualties. He will have to live with his failures for the rest of his life.”
Fox News’ Rebecca Rosenberg, Tracy Wright, Lauryn Overhultz, Breck Dumas and Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
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