10 Smoking Guns That Ended Trials

Top 10 Smoking Guns of Evidence That Sealed People’s Fate at Trial

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most significant pieces of evidence that turned the tides either in favor of or against infamous defendants.

#10: Audio Recordings

Depp v. Heard

The defamation case between Hollywood actors and former partners Johnny Depp and Amber Heard centered around a 2018 opinion piece published in The Washington Post. In the article, Heard asserted that she had been a victim of domestic violence during their marriage. However, Depp sued her, insisting that he was the one subjected to violence at her hands. A crucial moment during the trial was the playing of an audio recording where the couple argued about a past physical altercation that left Depp’s finger injured. On the tape, Heard appears to acknowledge hitting Depp and berates him for complaining about it. This incriminating tape likely influenced the jury’s decision to hold Heard liable for defaming Depp “with actual malice.”

#9: Terry Sanderson’s Post-incident Travel

Gwyneth Paltrow Ski Crash Trial

In 2023, actress and lifestyle entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow faced a civil lawsuit from retired Utah doctor Terry Sanderson. Sanderson alleged that in 2016, Paltrow collided with him on a ski slope, resulting in permanent traumatic brain injury and severe emotional distress, among other things. Paltrow’s legal team challenged Sanderson’s claims by presenting evidence of the numerous vacations he took after the supposed incident, as well as social media posts depicting him in good spirits. Although Sanderson maintained that these trips were part of his recovery, the jury disagreed with him. They ultimately found him responsible for the accident and awarded Paltrow the requested $1 in damages.

#8: Handwriting Analysis

Lindbergh Kidnapping Trial

The 1935 trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann for the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby was one of the first cases hailed as the “trial of the century.” Hauptmann had been arrested after a significant portion of the ransom money was traced to him. However, he claimed that the money belonged to a former business partner who owed him a debt. Perhaps the most damning evidence against Hauptmann was handwriting analysis that seemed to suggest Hauptmann had written the ransom note. During the trial, eight handwriting experts took to the stand to testify to that. Despite the evidence against him being largely circumstantial, Hauptmann was convicted and sentenced to death. Since then, some have raised doubts about his guilt.

#7: A Pajama Top

United States v. Jeffrey R. MacDonald

In February 1970, U.S. Army Captain Jeffrey R. MacDonald reported the murders of his pregnant wife and two daughters by four intruders. Despite evidence implicating MacDonald, the Army dismissed the case, but it was later reopened in civilian court. The prosecution focused on MacDonald’s pajama top, which he claimed to have used as a defense, bearing 48 holes allegedly from an ice pick. However, investigators found the holes too neat to have occurred during motion, suggesting that the cloth was stationary, likely covering his wife’s body when the punctures occurred. They demonstrated that if the pajama was folded correctly, the 48 holes could have been made by 21 thrusts, the exact number of wounds on MacDonald’s wife. Consequently, MacDonald was convicted of the murders.

#6: Video of Gaige Grosskreutz Holding Gun

The Trial of Kyle Rittenhouse

The Kyle Rittenhouse case was a highly controversial one that ignited intense political debates. In August 2020, Rittenhouse shot three men during a protest against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Two of the men died while the third, Gaige Grosskreutz, sustained severe injuries. Rittenhouse argued that he was safeguarding local businesses from violence and only fired in self-defense after the men drew their guns on him. When Grosskreutz took the stand at trial, he was confronted with footage showing him pointing his gun at Rittenhouse. Although Grosskreutz admitted to being armed, he insisted that he had no intention to shoot Rittenhouse. Nevertheless, the jury sided with the defendant’s self-defense plea and acquitted him of all charges.

#5: Incriminating Text Messages

The Alex Jones Defamation Trial

For years, Alex Jones spread falsehoods about the tragic Sandy Hook shooting, suggesting that it was staged, and accusing victims and their families of being actors. As a result, many affected families sued Jones for defamation and won. During his deposition, Jones had claimed that he couldn’t find any text messages on his phone about the incident. However, at trial, it was revealed that Jones’ own lawyers had accidentally sent two years’ worth of text messages related to Sandy Hook to the lawyer representing one of the victims’ parents. Needless to say, this came as a rude shock to him. In the end, Jones was ordered to pay the family nearly $50 million in compensatory and punitive damages.

#4: Falsified Documents

United States v. Holmes

Through her company Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes promised to revolutionize blood testing by using just a few drops of blood to detect several ailments. However, these claims were inaccurate, and Holmes attempted to validate them by forging documents to sway investors. Two particular sets of these documents played pivotal roles in her trial. The first, a counterfeit endorsement from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, falsely suggested that they had endorsed Theranos’ technology. The second set of documents presented inflated revenue projections of $40 million through purported contracts with drug companies, which were later proven to be bogus. These documents were all the jury needed to convict Holmes of fraud and sentence her to over 11 years in prison.

#3: Kennel Video

The Murder Trial of Alex Murdaugh

A member of South Carolina’s prominent Murdaugh family, Alex Murdaugh became the prime suspect after his wife, Maggie, and their son, Paul, were killed in June 2021. For several months, Murdaugh claimed that he was not present when the murders took place. But an unexpected source, his own son, Paul, unknowingly helped secure a guilty verdict from beyond the grave. Moments before his tragic death, Paul made a video in the family’s dog kennel, which captured Murdaugh’s voice, thus shattering his supposed alibi. Prosecutors presented this incriminating footage in court, following which Murdaugh changed his story but still maintained his innocence. However, the jury was already convinced. They deliberated for less than three hours before returning a guilty verdict.

#2: Bite Marks

Ted Bundy’s First Murder Trial

Throughout the 1970s, Ted Bundy reigned terror on women in the U.S., claiming the lives of at least 30 individuals. Although he had killed several victims prior, Bundy’s first murder trial was for the 1978 deaths of Margaret Elizabeth Bowman and Lisa Janet Levy, two Florida State University students. Before taking her life, Bundy had bitten deeply into Levy’s flesh, leaving a very visible bite mark. This would become key physical evidence during his trial. Two forensic odontologists seemingly matched the bite impressions to castings of Bundy’s teeth, which they presented to the jury. While this evidence was crucial in securing Bundy’s conviction, bite mark analysis has since been proven as unreliable and shown to have resulted in several wrongful convictions.

#1: Bloodied Gloves

The People v. O. J. Simpson

“If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” Those were the famous words uttered by Johnnie Cochran, one of O. J. Simpson’s defense lawyers during his 1995 murder trial. Simpson stood accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. At the crime scene, detectives found a pair of bloodied gloves, which they believed Simpson had worn during the murders. Lead prosecutor Marcia Clark rejected the idea of Simpson trying on the gloves in court, but her assistant prosecutor, Christopher Darden, proceeded with it, anticipating a “big moment.” His expectations were dashed however when the gloves didn’t seem to fit Simpson’s hands. The jury later adhered to Cochran’s words and infamously acquitted Simpson of the murders.


Do you think any of these cases would’ve had a different outcome without these smoking guns of evidence? Share your thoughts in the comments below.