Jurors are in the process of deliberating whether Alex Murdaugh is guilty of killing his wife and son in 2021.
Twelve jurors will decide whether Alex killed Paul and Maggie at the family’s property in Colleton County. He faces 30 years to life on each count if convicted.
Jurors heard 28 days of testimony from character witnesses, experts, and even Alex himself. On Thursday, a sitting juror was dismissed for possibly talking about the high-profile case with at least three non-jurors.
Reports indicated that jurors will continue to deliberate on Friday but will not deliberate on the weekend. If necessary, they will return to court on Monday.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin emotionally pleaded with the jury to find #AlexMurdaugh "not guilty." "I respectfully request that you do not compound a family tragedy with another," Griffin said. pic.twitter.com/5T68EB9lva
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) March 2, 2023
On Thursday, defense attorney Jim Griffin highlighted apparent missteps by law enforcement in securing and documenting the crime scene, including their failure to secure tire tracks on the property. Griffin also stated that SLED did not check the feed room for fingerprints nor did they take footprint impressions.
Griffin also revisited testimony from early on in the trial which revealed that Maggie was found dead with hair in her hand. He said that hair remains untested, in addition to the fact that DNA was only taken from Alex.
He asked the jury, “Why did they never take DNA samples off of Maggie’s clothes or dress? Why did they never take DNA samples from Paul’s clothes?”
Prosecutor Creighton Waters stated that Alex’s mounting financial issues and fraud motivated him to kill Paul and Maggie at the family’s Colleton County property in 2021. On the day of the slayings, Alex’s law firm reportedly confronted him about missing money that he later admitted to stealing to fuel his opioid addiction.
“Shame is an extraordinary provocation [for Alex]. His ego couldn’t stand that and he became a family annihilator,” Waters told the jury.
The two weapons used to kill Paul and Maggie were never recovered. Waters alleged that the two weapons were family guns that Alex used to carry out the slayings.
In turn, the prosecution provided a rebuttal that hinged less on the evidence linking Alex to the crime but on circumstantial evidence which suggested he killed his wife and son to distract from his mounting financial woes.
During his rebuttal, prosecutor John Meadors told the jury accused family murderer #AlexMurdaugh loved himself more than his dead wife and son. pic.twitter.com/XCwJpoIr9j
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) March 2, 2023
In their closing arguments on Wednesday, prosecutor Creighton Waters stated that Alex’s mounting financial issues and fraud motivated him to kill Paul and Maggie at the family’s Colleton County property in 2021. On the day of the slayings, Alex’s law firm reportedly confronted him about missing money that he later admitted to stealing to fuel his opioid addiction.
“Shame is an extraordinary provocation [for Alex]. His ego couldn’t stand that and he became a family annihilator,” Waters told the jury.
The two weapons used to kill Paul and Maggie were never recovered. Waters alleged that the two weapons were family guns that Alex used to carry out the slayings.
Prosecutors also zeroed in on Alex’s admission that he lied about being at the dog kennels with Maggie and Paul on the night of their murders. While on the stand, Alex testified that a 20-year addiction to opioids led him to distrust law enforcement. Waters went on to say that Alex has a “photographic memory” but could not recall his whereabouts that night.
Alex has claimed he was napping on the family property when his wife and son went to the dog kennels and were fatally shot. Alex said he woke up and went to his mother’s home before returning and finding their bodies.
What brought Alex’s alibi under scrutiny, according to prosecutors, was a video Paul took minutes before he was killed which apparently captures Alex’s voice. Several witnesses attested to the fact that it was Alex’s voice before Alex testified and confessed it was him.
“We know that the defendant was there just minutes earlier, at the scene of the crime, with the victims,” he said.
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: Grace Beahm Alford/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool]
