Alex Murdaugh testifies in murder trial, admits to lying to police

Prior to Murdaugh’s taking the stand shortly before 11 a.m., prosecutors asked his close friend Nolen Tuten if he could identify the voice heard on video shot by Paul before his death as that of the suspect. Tuten confirmed the voice was Murdaugh’s.

When his attorney asked if he killed his wife and son, Murdaugh insisted, “No, I did not.”

At the time of his death, Paul Murdaugh was facing legal trouble tied to a 2019 boat crash that left a teenage girl dead. Alex Murdaugh claimed the incident left his son with enemies who may have wished him harm.

Prosecutors dropped charges against Paul Murdaugh — who’d been accused of driving the boat while drinking — after he was fatally shot. He’d pleaded not guilty.

Alex Murdaugh wept when asked to recall the moment he discovered his wife and son’s bodies. He described the condition of his son — who prosecutors said was shot twice with a shotgun at close range — as “so bad.”

“Done the way he was done, head was the way his head was,” he testified. “I could see his brain lying on the sidewalk.”

Murdaugh, part of a renowned legal family in the Palmetto State, listened quietly as defense attorneys played a recording of the 911 call he made to emergency workers in which he seemed to be upset. Prosecutors disagree with Murdaugh’s team on how long the victims had been dead when the call was made.

The defendant told a 911 operator he had a gun and was instructed to put it away before cops arrived. Murdaugh testified he retrieved the weapon after realizing his family members had been shot.

His attorneys asked how blood might have gotten onto the gun and his car. According to Murdaugh, he touched his wife and son’s bodies after finding them and could have had their blood on his hands.

“I was nowhere near Paul and Maggie when they got shot,” he insisted.

He said there was no “high-velocity” blood splatter on him that could prove he shot the victims from close range. Photos indicate Murdaugh changed shirts at some point on June 7, 2021, when the killings occurred.

Murdaugh’s surviving son, Buster Murdaugh, testified in his father’s defense Tuesday.

After a long break Thursday, Murdaugh’s attorneys — anticipating prosecutors’ cross-examination — asked their client if he’d committed financial improprieties that could have complicated his family life.

Murdaugh, who faces multiple charges including insurance fraud, admitted to financial wrongdoing. “My addiction was extremely bad,” he said.

Murdaugh claimed Thursday he asked a man to shoot him once he learned his troubles were coming to a head. He survived that September 2021 gunshot.

On Thursday he told jurors he had life insurance his wife would have collected, but he had not taken out policies on her or his dead son. “I would never hurt Maggie,” he said. “Ever.”

The cross-examination following the break began with prosecutors portraying Murdaugh as a well-connected man with his own set of rules.

Chief attorney Creighton Waters asked Murdaugh, a former prosecutor, if he would agree he’s a “successful” lawyer from a “prominent” family whose law firm “doesn’t exist anymore because of your activities.”

The defendant took issue with both descriptors. Citing his current situation, he argued he’s no “bigshot.” He admitted stealing from the law firm his family started in 1910.

Waters got Murdaugh to admit he drove with a law enforcement badge prominently displayed so he would receive better treatment during traffic stops. He also kept a police siren in his car.

A photo of Murdaugh’s prominent grandfather, who served as a South Carolina 14th circuit solicitor for nearly 50 years, was removed from the courtroom before the trial began. A member of the Murdaugh family held that title, without interruption, from 1920 to 2005.

The defendant repeatedly claimed he had no recollection of specific events, but confirmed prosecutors’ claims he cheated his clients, including a teenage girl and a quadriplegic, by looking them in the eye and lying.

“It wouldn’t be unusual for me to look them in the eye,” Murdaugh admitted.

Waters pushed the defendant to give the court just one specific example of a time he looked someone in the eye while cheating them and felt remorse. Murdaugh repeatedly said there were several times that happened, but claimed he couldn’t recall the details prosecutors wanted.

Court adjourned with Waters saying he would need three or four more hours to continue his questioning Friday. The defense complained prosecutors were dwelling on Murdaugh’s thievery to denigrate his character.

The case is expected to go to a jury next week.

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