Authorities sentenced a man from South Carolina to life in prison last week with the help of doorbell camera footage.
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A Judge declared Charles William Murphy Jr., 56, guilty on Wednesday night for a crime committed back in May 2022. According to WYFF News, a jury found Murphy guilty after a doorbell camera revealed he had killed his girlfriend, Teresa Lischer, 58.
During the trial, which began on Monday, the jury found Murphy guilty of murder and 'possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.' The judge gave Murphy a life sentence without parole. There is also no chance of a supervised release.
The Fifteenth Judicial Circuit's Solicitors Office posted a summary of the incident on
their Facebook page. According to the Solicitors Office, police responded to a call from Leste Road in Socastee on May 9, 2022. Murphy notified the police that he had just found his girlfriend dead at her residence. He also told authorities that she had kicked him out of the house on the Friday prior, and he had been away for the whole weekend.The Doorbell Camera Proved Murphy Stayed In The Area
The Solicitors Office explains that a RING camera mounted on a property across the street shows a different course of events. The footage allegedly shows Murphy entering and leaving the residence 'that entire time.' Police eventually marked Murphy as a suspect. When forensics tested his clothing, the results came back positive for gun residue.
The investigation concludes that Murphy killed Lischer at her own home with a shotgun on Saturday night. The case also alleges that he spent the rest of the weekend trying to cover his tracks.
The summary also explains, "Members of Ms. Lischer's family and a good friend attended the sentencing and delivered powerful impact statements to the court."
This isn't the first time doorbell cameras have proven valuable assets in solving crimes. We recently reported on an incident in North Carolina where a camera mounted to a house caught the last known whereabouts of a woman who was found dead in the woods. The footage revealed her getting into an unknown car by her residence.
