Alex Murdaugh Faces Cross-Examination In Murder Trial—Here’s What To Know - Forbes

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Topline

Alex Murdaugh, a former South Carolina attorney who faces two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife and son, will be cross-examined by the prosecution Friday, as they claim Murdaugh killed his family members to distract from alleged financial crimes.

Key Facts

Assistant Attorney General Creighton Waters said Friday in an exchange with Murdaugh, who faces two counts of first-degree murder, that he believes Murdaugh intentionally lied during his initial testimony Thursday about his whereabouts on the night his wife Margaret and son Paul were killed.

Waters claimed Murdaugh did not disclose before the trial that an OxyContin addiction caused him to not be “capable of reason” at the time he told officials he was not home at the time of the murders—though Murdaugh said he made “multiple requests” to speak with prosecutors.

After attending to dogs at a kennel outside the family’s home, Murdaugh testified to having visited his mother, and that Margaret “wasn’t planning” to join him in the visit because she “didn’t really like to visit my mom.”

While returning home, Murdaugh said, he called his wife twice and sent a text message without a response, though he did not find the non-response unusual.

Murdaugh also admitted to stealing money from his law firm and his clients, and to paying a man to kill him so that his surviving son, Buster, could receive an insurance payout.

What To Watch For

Though Murdaugh admitted to financial crimes and to a plot for his surviving son to receive an insurance payout in his own death, prosecutors have yet to connect those crimes to the murders. Prosecutors are expected to continue to question Murdaugh about his financial crimes, his opioid addiction and for being at the location of the murders shortly before Margaret and Paul were shot.

Crucial Quote

Murdaugh was asked Thursday about whether he had any high-velocity blood spatter—a result of being in the area when Margaret and Paul were shot—on his shirt, to which he responded he had “seen reports that said that,” though he “was nowhere near Paul and Maggie when they got shot.” He later emphasized that he “didn’t shoot my wife or my son, anytime, ever.”

Key Background

Alex Murdaugh, whose family members served as district attorney of South Carolina’s 14 circuit district between 1920 and 2006, is facing 99 charges across 19 indictments following the deaths of his wife and son, Margaret and Paul, respectively. Murdaugh, who previously served as a member of the personal injury law firm Peters Murdaugh Parker Elzroth & Detrick, has been accused of defrauding victims of nearly $9 million and South Carolina of almost $500,000, according to Attorney General Alan Wilson. Prosecutors have claimed Murdaugh shot and killed his wife and son with a shotgun outside the family’s home in June 2021, claims Murdaugh and his lawyers Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin have denied. If convicted, Murdaugh faces a minimum of 20 years in prison.