In the days following Alex Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie, and son, Paul’s, murders, prosecutors have introduced a number of pieces of evidence that they claim compromise his alibi. Among them is a video of what they say is a voice that belongs to Murdaugh.
That voice comes from a recording of an interview Murdaugh gave investigators hours after the killings took place. It was played to the jury Monday.
A Mystery At The Murdaugh Trial: Why Didn? He Has Blood On Him?
As the trial of disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh got underway in Colleton County, there was a lot of mystery. After all, the murders of Murdaugh’s wife Maggie, and son Paul were only one part of an extensive web of events involving mysterious deaths and alleged fraud.
As jurors were sworn in on Monday, they heard about Murdaugh’s alleged schemes to steal insurance payouts from a client whose wife died in a car wreck and scams that defrauded the Satterfield family out of $4m in settlement money.
Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters said a blue raincoat that Murdaugh took to his mother’s house the week after the killings were found to be coated on the inside with gunshot residue, or GSR.
Prosecutors also told the jury that Murdaugh had a history of causing suicides and attempted suicides. He had even been disbarred from practicing law in South Carolina.
The Forensic Experts’ Testimony
For much of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial, witnesses have talked about a generous and loving man – but prosecutors want jurors to know that same man stole over $4 million from his housekeeper’s relatives after she died at work, and killed his wife and son to cover up his crimes.
The State wants to present numerous witnesses testifying about Alex Murdaugh’s financial situation – his embezzlement of funds from his law partners and clients, and the impending civil case against him in the Mallory Beach boat case – and how that may have led him to murder Paul and Maggie. But Judge Clifton Newman hasn’t decided how much of that testimony will come before the jury.
On Friday, without the jury present, several key witnesses offered what could be damning evidence. Among them: Tony Satterfield, the son of Gloria Satterfield, Murdaugh’s longtime housekeeper who died in 2018.
The Defense’s Opening Statement
The defense’s opening statement Wednesday centered on the lack of forensic evidence that links Murdaugh to the murders. They also said investigators didn’t search for other suspects when they arrived on the scene.
Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters described the killings as brutal, execution-style murders. He cited a video sent by Alex Murdaugh just before the shootings that put him at the home.
He also cited a rifle cartridge found near Maggie’s body that had marks indicating it was fired from a family weapon.
He also argued that prosecutors spent 13 months trying to prove Murdaugh’s guilt instead of conducting an objective investigation. Harpootlian also questioned the accuracy of cell phone data gathered by police, saying it was not complete and that no blood, fingerprints or eyewitnesses tie Murdaugh to the crime.
The Trial Begins
The trial of Alex Murdaugh, the scion of a powerful family, began Monday in Walterboro, South Carolina. Throngs of journalists and true crime enthusiasts have descended on the town to see the tumultuous case unfold.
This is no ordinary murder trial: For three generations, the Murdaughs were back-to-back solicitors for the 14th Circuit, overseeing prosecution in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Their prominence in the legal system has made this a case of Southern Gothic proportions.
Prosecutors have alleged that Murdaugh carried out the murders of his wife and son to distract attention from a long list of financial crimes. They say the thievery was about to come to light through a Mallory Beach lawsuit or Maggie’s divorce suit.
The murders happened on June 7, 2021, at the Murdaugh’s home in Colleton County. It was a day after Murdaugh had resigned from PMPED and traveled to a Florida rehab facility for opioid addiction.