News

Murdaugh Trial Upstages Bride’s Dream Wedding Next Door

For over a year, Ashlyn DeLong and her fiancé, Josh, have been dreaming of their January wedding at the Walterboro Wildlife Center.

DeLong said she booked a multi-purpose event room in South Carolina—including an outdoor theater—in January of last year. It’s one of the couple’s “top spots,” and they wanted to make sure their 205-person wedding wasn’t without major hiccups. But last week, the couple – who are getting married next weekend – learned that across from their romantic location, the notorious South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh being tried for brutal murder of his wife and son.

To make matters more surreal, the Walterboro Wildlife Center is currently being used as a temporary media hub for the dozens of journalists from around the country who have come to the small town to cover the animals. What is considered the “trial of the century” in Palmetto. state.

“I couldn’t believe it,” DeLong, 28, told The Daily Beast this week, as Murdaugh’s trial began in Colleton County Court. “I knew about the courthouse across the street but we had never had a trial like this before. It’s a mess trying to figure out what to do.”

DeLong’s wedding is one of three events scheduled at the Walterboro Wildlife Center throughout double murder trial.

Scott Grooms, Walterboro City Tourism Manager, told The Daily Beast that for all three events—including a wedding held on Thursday—the establishment has taken steps to ensure that they will not affected by the test across the street. He added that reporters will be moved from the event space downstairs to the aquarium space at the front of the facility, which has its own entrance.

“No one attending any of these events should see the reporters, because they are in a completely different part of the building,” Grooms said. “There are other locations, but we can’t move the media six miles away from the trial.”

But the idea that at least two love celebrations would be held so close to a notorious trial is strange to DeLong, given the fact that Murdaugh is being charged with the brutal murder of his 52-year-old wife. himself, Maggie, as well as his 22-year-old wife. Son Paul-year-old in a dog kennel outside their property on June 7, 2021.

“With such a small community, I know about the Murdaughs and the murders. I know the trial is coming, but I don’t know the date. So to know that was happening across from my wedding, it was wild and upsetting,” DeLong said.

Prosecutors allege that Murdaugh, 54, murdered his family in an indiscriminate attempt to divert attention from his financial crime allegations and draw sympathy from the community. In opening statements this week, prosecutor Creighton Waters told jurors that Murdaugh allegedly shot his son first, before turning the gun on his wife and leaving the property—nearly two hours later. back and call 911.

“It’s up to you to decide whether he’s trying to fabricate an alibi,” Waters said Wednesday.

The couple who got married at the Walterboro Wildlife Center yesterday were generous in giving journalists food and cake left over from their wedding!

Murdaugh pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon in the course of a violent crime related to the murders. His legal team argued with the jury that their client was innocent because he had no reason to kill his family and prosecutors had no concrete evidence to charge him with murder. People.

If convicted, Murdaugh faces up to 30 years in prison.

The trial marked the start of a family that ruled the Lowcountry legally for nearly a century. Along with the murder trial, Murdaugh has been named in several lawsuits, facing more than 80 financial crimes after being charged steal millions from his former clients and law firm, and will be tried on a separate set of charges after a long time. failed suicide plan so that his only surviving son could receive a $10 million insurance payout.

DeLong notes that Murdaugh’s alleged crimes have been the talk of the town for months – but no one is sure exactly when the trial will be held. So she doesn’t think there will be any problem booking the Walterboro Wildlife Center for three days, starting February 3. Especially when she knows other couples who got married there and loved it.

“It was one of my top picks. It’s more convenient due to the weather and location in town,” she said, adding that she and her 33-year-old fiance are both from the area.

However, last month, she said she was “sitting on the porch drinking coffee and surfing Facebook” when she saw a post from the city asking food trucks to come to Colleton County Courthouse to await a hearing. court.

“I was immediately worried, because those food trucks will be set up in the public parking lot next to the Walterboro Wildlife Center. We will need that space for our guests,” DeLong said.

However, after speaking with the center, she said she knew that not only would food trucks vie for seats at her Friday afternoon rehearsal dinner — but there would also be a court hearing. across the street and the reporters upstairs sat next to the besieged reptiles. Now, she says, it’s “a circus” scrambling to figure out how her vendors and guests can smoothly get in and out of the venue and her parking lot in the middle of a party situation. across the street.

Courtesy of Ashlyn DeLong

“I basically had to figure it out myself,” she said. “I was very excited and now I am quite stressed. Everything was going surprisingly smoothly until this happened. This is my moment of effort in the whole process.”

The grooms, however, noted that the center had taken steps to ensure that DeLong’s wedding went smoothly.

We’ve never had an experiment like this before. It was a mess trying to figure out what to do.

He also emphasized that he notified DeLong “as soon as we knew the date of the trial,” and worked with the city to make sure that all events were not impeded by the other party’s case. Street. (DeLong said Friday that the Groom has never reached out to let her know about the neighboring trial.)

Grooms said the city parks department will clean the area before DeLong’s 4:30 p.m. rehearsal on February 3 — and there will be no court hearing the day after Saturday’s ceremony. she starts at 5pm

“We are trying to do this as best we can for her given the dire circumstances we are in,” he added, noting that there will be no complications when providers are working. try to clean up the event space on Sunday.

Courtesy of Ashlyn DeLong

The tourism director also emphasized that Thursday wedding went smoothly—note that the only complication came when a local news agency tried to film the event without permission. The couple on Thursday did not respond to a request for comment, but reporters took to social media to praise the couple for sending in leftovers after their celebration.

“The couple who got married at the Walterboro Wildlife Center yesterday were so generous in giving journalists food and cake left over from their wedding!” one local reporter wrote. “And fortunately they shared the location with journalists from around the country covering the Murdaugh trial.”

But despite the precautions that have been taken to ensure that both the temporary media center—and the events downstairs—do not interfere with each other, at least one group has moved their festival to a different location. another location in Walterboro.

He added: “There was a quilt show going on at the center for a period of three weeks but they moved it to the administrative center. “It’s a matter of trying to make people happy.”




Source by [author_name]

news7h

News7h: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button