In his small South Carolina town, Alex Murdaugh’s family has long controlled the legal landscape. However, for the past six weeks, Murdaugh has been on the opposite side of the courtroom, on trial for the murders of his wife and son.
There have been more than 75 witnesses summoned, and there have been roughly 800 documents, reports, and photos given as proof. On Wednesday, the jury went to the crime scene, and the prosecution made its final statement.
These are some lessons learned as the trial comes to a close:
HOW DID THE KILLINGS TURN OUT?
In the evening of June 7, 2021, Alex Murdaugh made a 911 call and reported finding his kid and wife dead when he got home from an hour-long visit with his dementia-stricken mother.
According to the authorities, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, was injured by four or five rounds from a rifle, while Paul Murdaugh, 22, was shot twice with a shotgun, each round loaded with a different size shot. On the Murdaughs’ vast rural property, a crime scene report indicated that both victims were shot in the head after being originally hurt close to dog kennels.
It took more than a year for the disgraced attorney to be charged with murder, but they chose not to seek the death penalty. Murdaugh has vehemently denied any involvement in the killings. He is also accused of over 100 charges of financial and other crimes. He could spend up to life in jail if found guilty.
WHAT IS THE CASE OF THE PROSECUTION?
The prosecution has not offered any tangible proof against Alex Murdaugh despite their contention that he killed his wife and son to draw attention away from his financial misdeeds.
During the course of 17 days of testimony, they called 61 witnesses and presented more than 550 pieces of evidence, ranging from sobering information about bank records to descriptions of the executions’ ferocity.
The killing instruments have not been made available. Nevertheless, prosecutors did obtain a crucial piece of information that put Murdaugh at the kennels where his wife and kid were murdered just five minutes before it is believed they were slain because they stopped using their telephones and proved he had lied to authorities.
Paul Murdaugh recorded the footage, which remained locked on his phone for a year following the murders until it was broken into by federal officials. Alex Murdaugh informed each subsequent police officer that he had arrived at the scene that he had never been at the kennels. The video has his voice. This changed everything, said prosecutor Creighton Waters in his final remarks on Wednesday.
One of the first things Murdaugh claimed when he took the stand in his own defense was, “I did lie to them.” He then blamed his anxiety about law enforcement on the fact that he was addicted to opiates and had a bottle of pills in his pocket when he was questioned for the phobia.
Why would a victim who had just witnessed the murder of his wife and son or the state officials conducting the investigation be concerned about pills, Waters questioned the jury.
As he has done to everyone close to him, he was lying when he made that up for you. Waters said, “And he’s good at it.
THE STAR WITNESS
The trial’s 72nd witness was 54-year-old Murdaugh.
Quick action was taken by his defense unit. He vehemently denied their accusations after being asked if he killed his wife or son. When questioned by his attorney and put under cross-examination by the prosecution, he would repeatedly deny ever injuring them.
“Mr. Murdaugh, are you a family annihilator?” the prosecutor Creighton Waters pleaded one more time.
“You mean, did I shoot my my wife and son?” In a calm voice, Murdaugh said. “No. I would never hurt Maggie Murdaugh. I would never hurt Paul Murdaugh under any circumstances.”
Alex Murdaugh nodded as he stated so, exactly as he did in police cameras when state agents questioned him if he was at the kennels the night of the deaths and he said that he wasn’t, Waters noted in his closing argument.
Murdaugh repeatedly acknowledged lying to his clients and his legal company and stealing millions of dollars from them. Waters inquired if he had lied to their faces and described practically every victim.
“I took money that wasn’t mine. And I shouldn’t have done it. I hate the fact that I did it. I am embarrassed by it. I’m embarrassed for my son. I am embarrassed for my family,” Murdaugh said.
Murdaugh is awaiting prosecution for the several financial offenses he confessed to on the witness stand, insurance fraud charges stemming from his alleged request for his assassination in order for his survivor to get the $12 million in life insurance, as well as tax and money laundering offenses.
WHERE DOES THE DEFENSE FIT IN?
The defense has called witnesses who testified that the investigators failed to collect and test blood, dust for fingerprints, or photograph the evidence with the angles or clarity required for later analysis.
Twenty minutes after Murdaugh dialed 911, the first officer showed up at the remote Colleton County estate. The local sheriff handed the inquiry over to the state law enforcement division almost immediately.
Agents from all around the state had to travel hours to reach the South Carolina Lowcountry in its entirety. Almost a dozen family members and friends visited Murdaugh during that time, offering comfort.
Instead of a tarp, the bodies of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were wrapped in sheets that can hold liquid. The sheet was not then saved, which could have resulted in the loss of killer-related hair or DNA. Paul Murdaugh’s covered torso was hit with water from the kennel roof as it sprinkled intermittently.
When state agents showed up, they sent Murdaugh and his group to the house. According to witnesses, it hadn’t even been investigated to see if a suspect was hiding inside. Neither had it been looked through for weapons, bloodied clothing, or other evidence.
In addition, the defense called a specialist who testified that given the way Paul and Maggie Murdaugh behaved during the shootings, two shooters were probably needed. The shockwave, blood, and gore that followed Paul Murdaugh being shot in the head at close range by a shotgun probably would have startled the shooter for at least a few seconds, and Maggie Murdaugh would have reacted if their hands had been up in defense.
Because he is accused of both murders, Alex Murdaugh must be the only shooter, according to the prosecution.