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The gunman who killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 is eligible for the death penalty, a jury ruled on Thursday. White supremacist Robert Bowers stormed the Tree of Life synagogue armed with an AR-15 and three handguns on 27 October 2018, killing worshippers as they began Sabbath worship in what was the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history. The 50-year-old truck driver from Baldwin, Pennsylvania, was convicted last month on 63 counts including obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death and use of a firearm to commit murder. A jury took less than two hours to decide that Bowers was eligible for the death penalty, according to the Associated Press. To reach the verdict, the jury had to answer three questions: whether the gunman was over 18, if he had intent, and whether there were one or more aggravating factors. The trial now moves onto a final sentence selection phase where jurors must decide whether he is sentenced to life in prison or death. Prosecutors had argued that Bowers meticulously planned the attack for six months and deliberately chose vulnerable victims, including 97-year-old Rose Ballinger who was shot dead next to her daughter. Experts called by Bowers’ defence attorneys said he had a long history of mental illness, been committed to psychiatric hospitals by the age of 13, and had acted out delusions without any intent to commit murder, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Jurors heard conflicting testimony from doctors about whether medical scans showed Bowers had suffered significant brain damage. Experts for the defence told the court that Bowers had significant brain damage that could show he was suffering from schizophrenia, and washable to manage emotions, stress and conflict. A prosecution witness argued that the scans showed largely normal brain activity. Read More The Pittsburgh synagogue gunman should be eligible for the death penalty, prosecutor argues Tree of Life synagogue shooter is too delusional to get death penalty, defence argues Synagogue massacre survivor cried 'Mommy' as her 97-year-old mother was shot and killed by her side

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Curtis “Cousin Eddie” Smith has claimed that Alex Murdaugh made a bombshell confession about his wife and son’s murders before orchestrating the now-infamous botched hitman plot. Mr Smith – a former law firm client, distant cousin and alleged drug dealer of Murdaugh – is facing a string of charges over the 4 September 2021 incident where he allegedly shot the double murderer in the head along the side of a road in Hampton County. Now, in the new series of Netflix’s “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal”, released on Wednesday, the 62-year-old revealed never-before-heard details about the bizarre encounter. Mr Smith claimed that Murdaugh begged him to shoot him in an assisted suicide scheme – a shocking request that he said he refused. When he asked Murdaugh why he wanted him to kill him, Mr Smith revealed that Murdaugh had given a chilling response where he all but confessed to murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul three months earlier. “Because they’re going to be able to prove that I’m responsible for Maggie and Paul,” Murdaugh allegedly said. Murdaugh was convicted of Maggie and Paul’s murders this March and sentenced to life in prison but continues to insist his innocence. He is currently in the midst of a legal fight to be granted a new trial. Mr Smith’s account comes as both he and Murdaugh are facing charges over the bizarre botched hitman plot which unfolded on 4 September 2021 – three months on from the 7 June 2021 double murders and one day after Murdaugh was ousted from his law firm for stealing millions of dollars in funds from clients. Mr Smith said in the show that he had known Murdaugh since the late 80s or early 90s as he knew the legal dynasty heir’s father Randolph. “I’m half Murdaugh – dont tell them that,” he said, laughing. Mr Smith said that he was friends with Murdaugh and he had also done “a bit of work” for him over the years such as running errands or “general land clearing work”. That morning on 4 September 2021, Mr Smith said Murdaugh had called him about 10am or 10.30am and asked what he was doing. “He said can you run over this way in a minute. He told me to meet him at the funeral home in Varnville,” he said. Mr Smith said that he drove to meet Murdaugh and looked up and saw the now-convicted killer driving down the road towards him. He had his sun visor pulled round his windshield and windows rolled up so as to keep his face hidden, Mr Smith said. When Mr Smith asked him what he was doing, he said Murdaugh replied that “I don’t need to be seen in town”. Murdaugh told him that he believed he was being watched by SLED. “And I said ‘why they watching you?’” said Mr Smith. Murdaugh allegedly replied: “Well he said, ‘well you know about what happened.’” “I said ‘what out in Moselle?’” said Mr Smith, about the family home where Maggie and Paul had been gunned down. When Murdaugh confirmed that was what he was referring to, Mr Smith said he asked him “what did happen” that fateful night. Murdaugh is said to have given the damning response: “Things just got all f***ed up.” After that, Mr Smith said Murdaugh asked him if he loved him. “Yeah, I love you like a brother you know that, do ’most anything for you,” said Mr Smith. It was at that moment that Mr Smith said Murdaugh asked him to shoot and kill him. Mr Smith said he refused, insisting that he told him that “ain’t happening, not today, not tomorrow”. When he refused, Murdaugh allegedly told him that he would have to “do it myself” and “took off”. Mr Smith said he went after him in his vehicle out of “pure concern” – not just for Murdaugh but for the family who had just lost Maggie and Paul and Murdaugh’s father (who died just three days after the murders). After catching up with him, Mr Smith said Murdaugh confronted him with a gun – prompting him to try to “scare some sense into him”. “When I pulled up there and I rolled the window down he’s coming up to my window with a gun. I figured I’d scare some sense into him,” he said. Mr Smith claimed he fired his own gun up into the air and Murdaugh threw himself onto the ground. The alleged co-conspirator insisted that he didn’t shoot Murdaugh and that there was “no blood on him” so he just “went home”. But Murdaugh called 911, claiming he was ambushed in a drive-by shooting while changing a tire on his vehicle. He was taken to hospital where he was treated for what police called a “superficial gunshot wound to the head”. Mr Smith said in the Netflix show that the scratches on Murdaugh’s head came “not from a bullet” but from rocks at the side of the road from when Murdaugh leaped onto the ground when he fired his gun. For several days on from the incident, Murdaugh kept up the lie about being ambushed, and even spent hours constructing an imaginary assailant with a police sketch artist. But, Murdaugh’s story quickly unravelled. One week later on 13 September, he confessed to law enforcement that he had orchestrated the whole saga, claiming that he asked Mr Smith to shoot and kill him in an assisted suicide plot so that his surviving son Buster could get a $12m life insurance windfall. Both he and Mr Smith were arrested and charged over the incident. Mr Smith said that he was surprised and “didn’t take it seriously” when police began asking him questions about what happened. “I didn’t ask for an attorney – I had nothing to hide from them,” he said in the Netflix show. “I really didn’t take it seriously to be honest with you. I knew I hadn’t shot his ass but he damn sure tried to tell everybody I did or he told everybody I did.” Read More Murdaugh Netflix show airs new bombshell claims as Alex strikes plea deal for financial crimes – live Alex Murdaugh pleads guilty to committing crime for first time Alex Murdaugh’s request for a new trial complicated by angry husband’s Facebook rant

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