Alex Murdaugh took the stand on Thursday to deny killing his wife and son in 2021 and to provide details of the events leading up to their murders.
Alex repeatedly answered “No” when asked whether he “blew his son’s brains out” and repeatedly shot his wife. Despite being adamant about not killing his Paul and Maggie, he admitted that he lied to investigators about his voice being heard in a video that Paul filmed minutes before the slayings.
According to Alex, his opioid addiction caused paranoia which led him to distrust law enforcement.
“As my addiction evolved over time I would get into situations or circumstances where I will get paranoid thinking. It could be anything that triggered it – might be a look somebody gave me, it might be a reaction somebody had to something I did, it might be a policeman following me in a car,” he testified.
BREAKING: "I didn't shoot my wife or my son, anytime. Ever." Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh denies killing his son and wife while taking the stand in his own defense during double murder trial. https://t.co/8cC6O3h8m2 pic.twitter.com/IZPAIof0a4
— ABC News (@ABC) February 23, 2023
Watch Alex Murdaugh’s testimony happening now:
Prosecutors said cell phone data and forensic evidence tie Alex to Maggie and Paul’s 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 thereafter, 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 late housekeeper Gloria 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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