“Good morning, your honor. I am innocent. I would never hurt my wife Maggie, and I would never hurt my son, Paw-Paw. Thank you.” That was Alex Murdaugh just before a judge sentenced the man who led a double life to a double life sentence for the murder of his wife and son. The obsessively-watched case that saw viewers poring over evidence was reportedly settled by a jury in about 45 minutes.

+ NPR spoke with a former long-running executive producer of Law and Order: SVU to try to understand why America is obsessed with the Alex Murdaugh murder trial.