South Carolina prosecutors pressed murder suspect Alex Murdaugh on a list of lies he told his clients before swindling them out of millions of dollars during testimony that at times turned combative on Thursday afternoon.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters painstakingly went through cases in which Murdaugh, an attorney, allegedly stole money from his clients, asking: “Every single one of these, you had to sit down and look somebody in the eye and convince them that you were on their side when you were not, correct?”
ALEX MURDAUGH TRIAL: MURDAUGH TESTIFIES HE DID NOT SHOOT WIFE, SON, BLAME DRUG ADDICTION
Murdaugh, who is on trial for the June 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and his son Paul, admitted lying to the authorities multiple times and stealing money but maintained: “I did not shoot my wife or my son any time — ever.”
Prosecutors have tried to paint Murdaugh as a deeply dishonest man who believed he was above the law. They attempted to tie claims of financial fraud to the double murders but made little progress, growing frustrated by Murdaugh, who repeatedly said he couldn’t recall specifics but also said he didn’t dispute the claims.
Earlier in the day, Murdaugh testified he had no part in the gruesome double murder and blamed his yearslong addiction to oxycodone for his erratic behavior in front of friends and law enforcement officials the night of the deadly shootings. He also testified to asking a distant relative to shoot him in the head as part of a bizarre plot that would enable his eldest son, Buster, to collect life insurance.
Murdaugh often sobbed on the stand and said his addiction to prescription painkillers had gotten so severe that he drained his bank account to keep up with the cravings. For the past two years, he had denied being in the vicinity of the shootings but finally admitted he was near the crime scene.
Maggie Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh were found lying in a pool of their own blood on the family’s sprawling estate. Alex Murdaugh had previously told authorities he was not there but admitted on the stand that he was and lied because of “paranoia” brought on by the oxycodone abuse.
He also got graphic about seeing his son’s lifeless body.
“I don’t know why I tried to turn him over,” he testified. “I mean, my boy’s laying face down. And he’s done the way he’s done. His head was the way his head was. I could see his — I could see his brain laying on the sidewalk. I didn’t know what to do.”
Alex Murdaugh said he used Paul Murdaugh’s belt loop to try and turn him over.
“And when I did, his phone popped out of his — I mean, his phone popped out, and I just picked it up, and I put it right back there,” he said.
Cross-examination is scheduled to continue Friday at 9:30 a.m.
If Alex Murdaugh is found guilty of murder, state law mandates he is sentenced to at least 30 years in prison. Prosecutors have passed on seeking the death penalty and are instead pushing for a life sentence.
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The investigation into the Murdaugh murders has shed light on three previous deaths linked to the family, though no one has been charged in those cases.
