What to know about Alex Murdaugh's trial
- Murdaugh took the stand in South Carolina for a second day in his trial on charges of murdering his wife, Margaret, 52, and their younger son, Paul, 22. He testified yesterday: "I didn't shoot my wife or son."
- Murdaugh, 54, admitted he lied to law enforcement officers about his location before the murders due to his addiction to prescription pain pills and his general paranoia.
- Murdaugh broke down multiple times on the stand as his attorney asked him to describe the murder scene.
- In cross-examination Friday morning, the prosecution has grilled Murdaugh on his "new story," arguing that yesterday's testimony was fabricated to align with Snapchat video evidence that he saw his wife and son minutes before they were found dead.
- Murdaugh's testimony concluded at the end of the day. The defense said they expect to call four more witnesses. Court will resume Monday morning.
The prosecution went after Murdaugh's credibility in its cross-examination
The main goal of today’s cross-examination was to impeach Murdaugh’s credibility in front of the jury.
The prosecution made the most headway when attacking his fuzzy timeline of events just before and after the killings. But the jury heard the word “lie” so many times, there’s always a risk of it losing some impact at a certain point.
There’s a fine line in this case between persuading the jury he can’t be trusted and belaboring the point after weeks of trial.
Murdaugh testimony concludes, court adjourned for day
After defense hammered in the point in re-direct that Murdaugh's drug addiction controlled his fraudulent behavior and that their client was not attempting to mislead SLED investigators, re-cross examination began.
Waters argued once again that Murdaugh was manufacturing an alibi to cover his tracks, citing cellphone records. The prosecution has told the jury throughout the day that Murdaugh has lied for years, and that his testimony yesterday was one more lie to add to the list.
Murdaugh doubled down this afternoon that he did not murder his son or wife.
"I would never hurt Maggie. I would never hurt Paul," Murdaugh testified.
Court will resume Monday at 9:30 a.m. ET. The defense said they expect to call four witnesses.
Defense addresses Murdaugh lies as re-direct begins
Jurors are back in the courtroom as re-direct begins of Murdaugh.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin asked if Murdaugh repeatedly lied to those he loved to hide his addiction.
"I did," he testified.
Prosecution finishes questioning Murdaugh
The prosecution finished questioning Murdaugh just before 4 p.m. ET Friday following a day of cross-examination. After prosecutor Creighton Waters wrapped, the judge called for a 15-minute break.
Prosecution connecting web of Murdaugh's admitted lies
Waters has been walking the jury through all the times Murdaugh has lied to people from the financial crimes to the omission about the kennels, and now the story of him being attacked by an unknown assailant.
He argued that Murdaugh concocted the failed suicide attempt to convince the public that the 'bad guys,' those who supposedly orchestrated the June 7 fatal shootings, were back again.
"When accountability is at your door, Mr. Murdaugh, bad things happen," Waters said.
"June 7 happened. Sept. 4 happened," he added.
Murdaugh responded that while he was going through issues Sept. 4, he did not believe those problems related to the day of the murders.
"For the first time in your life of privilege and prominence and wealth, when you were facing accountability each time suddenly you became a victim," Waters continued.
Murdaugh disagreed with this characterization, bringing up again his drug addiction and not being in the right state of mind around the time of the suicide-for-hire scheme.
Waters' questions aim to score points with jury
Throughout today’s cross-examination, Waters has asked questions that he knows Murdaugh will quibble with. But even as Murdaugh questions the framing or denies the prosecutor's assertions outright, it allows Waters to make the point for the jury anyway.
You can start to see the beginnings of closing arguments shaping up today.
Trying to sow reasonable doubt, Murdaugh proposes another killer
Murdaugh is trying to raise the prospect of a different killer.
For the first time, we've heard Murdaugh state clearly that he believes someone —inspired by reading posts on social media about Paul’s boat wreck, which killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach — killed his wife and son.
By offering an alternative theory, he’s hoping to introduce reasonable doubt. Only one juror needs to find this persuasive for it to be a hung jury.
Murdaugh says boat crash is to blame for the slayings of his wife and son
Media coverage in the wake of the 2019 fatal boat crash caused the shooting deaths of Margaret and Paul, Murdaugh testified.
"It was random vigilantes?" Waters asked.
"I believe that when Paul was charged criminally there was so many leaks, half-truths, half reports, half statements, partial information, misrepresentations of Paul that ended up in the media all the time," Murdaugh replied.
"I believe the wrong person saw and read that."
Waters slammed Murdaugh for trying to cover his tracks, after admitting to being in the location of the murders shortly before they happened.
"You don't have any evidence of that," Waters said.
Murdaugh clarifies distrust of SLED
Waters has continued to question Murdaugh on when he decided to lie to investigators about being at the kennels.
Murdaugh has repeatedly attributed his lying to paranoia from drug use that was triggered in the SLED interview. He testified that he did not trust the agency because of the criminal investigation, at that time, into Paul's role in a 2019 fatal boating crash.
Court has resumed
Court resumed just before 2:30 p.m. with cross-examination. Prosecutors are playing a recording of the June 8, 2021, interview Murdaugh had with investigators about the day of the murders and what happened after he discovered the bodies of his dead wife and son