On Tuesday, one of Alex Murdaugh’s former law partners testified about what he saw at the Murdaughs’ family property a day after Maggie and Paul’s 2021 murders.
Ronnie Crosby said he went to the Colleton County property a day after the murders and saw biological matter and blood in the feed room. He also claimed to have seen bird or buck shot, even though SLED apparently already assessed the crime scene.
Crosby said he saw crime scene personnel working and that he and others were instructed to go inside the home as they photographed. He said that Mark Ball, Austin Crosby, Danny Henderson, Randy Murdaugh, John Marvin Murdaugh, and Alex went to the main house at the time.
“That area in that room … it was so bad. We thought we were going to at some point clean it up, but it overwhelmed both my partner Mark and I. We could see the (shotgun shell pellets) and all the other aftermath. We were getting biological material on our — I mean, we just couldn’t be there. It was bad, and it was overwhelming us. So no, I didn’t try to collect evidence,” Crosby testified.
Crosby said he was not certain if law enforcement had searched the main residence at the time, but it appeared they did not.
Prosecutors said cell phone data and forensic evidence tie Alex to the slayings. Meanwhile, Alex’s attorney, Dick Harpootlian, said the cell phone records were incomplete and asserted that Alex would be covered in blood if he killed his wife and son at close range. Harpootlian said no blood was found on Alex’s clothing.
In September 2021, months after Paul and Maggie’s slayings, Alex suffered superficial head wounds when he allegedly had former client Curtis Smith, 61, shoot him in the head so his surviving son, Buster, would receive a $10 million insurance payout.
A day before the shooting, Alex was forced out of his family law firm amid allegations he misappropriated funds.
Two days after the apparent botched suicide, Alex announced he was entering rehabilitation for drugs. Shortly after that, he was charged with insurance fraud in connection with the September 2021 suicide-for-hire plot and released on bail.
However, in October 2021, Alex was rearrested upon leaving a rehabilitation center in Florida for allegedly stealing $4.3 million from Satterfield’s estate. In that case, he was accused of stealing insurance payouts that were intended for Satterfield’s family. Authorities plan to exhume her body amid an ongoing investigation regarding her death.
In addition to the murder charges, Alex faces more than 100 criminal counts related to fraud.
In June 2022, Alex and Smith were indicted for allegedly purchasing and distributing oxycodone in multiple counties. In December 2022, Alex was indicted for tax evasion for allegedly failing to claim the $6 million he allegedly earned through illegal acts between 2011 and 2019.
Alex was charged with Maggie and Paul’s murders days after he was formally disbarred by the South Carolina Supreme Court.
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[Featured image: Ronnie Crosby/Twitter video screengrab]
