Alex Murdaugh

It's going to be a fairly long trial because it's complicated. It's a journey,” the lead prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.

“It was a family weapon that killed Maggie Murdaugh,” Waters said. When one went missing, he subsequently purchased a third in 2018 — although Alex can only now account for one of the guns, according to Waters. “The evidence will show that [Alex] was there. Buster was not present at the family home the night his mother and brother were killed. It’s a journey,” Waters told the jury. The trial could last months.

Opening statements began Wednesday afternoon in Walterboro, South Carolina, in the trial of Alex Murdaugh, who has been charged with the 2021 murders of his ...

Ultimately, Harpootlian said, investigators concluded the night of the killings that Murdaugh was guilty, pointing to what he described as “aggressive” questioning. “I can’t tell you whether he was shot with his own weapon or not, or his mom was shot with his weapon or not,” Harpootlian said. By then, Murdaugh had [“fallen from grace,”](https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/16/us/murdaugh-shooting-arrest-thursday/index.html) in the words of his own attorney, buried under a mountain of allegations of white-collar theft and fraud. Harpootlian also offered a counter to the prosecution’s description of the missing rifle, saying Paul was “very irresponsible with guns, cars. Just last month, the AG’s office announced Murdaugh had been indicted for [tax evasion](https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/16/us/alex-murdaugh-tax-evasion-charges/index.html) for failing to report almost $7 million of income earned through illegal acts, for which he allegedly owes the state almost $500,000. [Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty](https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/20/us/alex-murdaugh-pleads-not-guilty/index.html) to two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in the killings of his wife Margaret (known as Maggie) and 22-year-old son Paul on June 7, 2021. Paul’s head, Harpootlian said, “exploded” – an injury he suggested would cover the perpetrator in blood head-to-toe, particularly if the killer shot the 22-year-old at close range. “He goes over, tries to get a pulse out of Maggie, calls 911.” Evidence will show, the state claims, that Murdaugh’s alleged financial crimes were “about to come to light” when his wife and son were killed. [ the trial of Alex Murdaugh](https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/15/us/murdaugh-family-deaths-timeline/index.html), who has been charged with the 2021 murders of his wife and youngest son – the most serious and the grisliest of allegations faced by the once prominent, but now disbarred, attorney. Not a single witness will tell the jury that Murdaugh and Maggie’s relationship was anything but loving, attorney Dick Harpootlian said. But Murdaugh’s defense attorney, Dick Harpootlian, said the state’s opening was filled only with “theories” and “conjecture.

The prosecution opened the trial with three minutes of graphic description of the scene where the bodies of Alex Murdaugh's wife and son were found.

The cartridges were used in a type of automatic rifle that Alex Murdaugh bought but can't be accounted for, Waters said. He doesn't know why," Harpootlian said, gesturing toward the prosecutor. Less than five minutes later, Paul Murdaugh's phone was never used again. "You're not going to hear a single witness say that their relationship was anything other than loving." Waters said a video on Paul Murdaugh's cellphone has the voices of him, Maggie and Alex Murdaugh in it. Alex Murdaugh started crying when his lawyer discussed the detail. Both sides finished picking a 12-person jury with six alternates Wednesday. Prosecutors released little information about their case before Wednesday. There's no fingerprints. It's a journey. There's no eyewitnesses. "It's complicated.

Opening arguments began late Wednesday afternoon in the double murder trial of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh.

A few minutes after 4:30 p.m., the state and defense agreed to postpone the first witness due to technical issues with body-worn camera footage and the length of those exhibits. Among the six alternates: four are men; two are women; split equally between Black and white; and in their twenties through their forties. Ten of the jurors are white; two are Black; all in their thirties through their sixties. [white T-shirt](https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/live-trials-current/alex-murdaugh/inside-the-alex-murdaugh-defense-visual-evidence-experts-and-an-essential-stained-t-shirt/) the night of the murders has become an issue of marked dispute among the prosecution and the defense. Murdaugh’s defense attorney Dick Harpootlian did not take issue with the timeline provided by Waters showing when Alex Murdaugh left Moselle to visit his ailing mother and when he returned home a little less than an hour later. “They were shot at close range and they did not have defensive wounds,” Waters said of the defendant’s dead wife and son. Based on the state’s own understanding of the evidence, Maggie Murdaugh’s cellphone was last used around 8:54 p.m. “His son Paul Murdaugh was standing in a small feed room with some kennels they had on the property,” Waters said. “He told anyone who would listen that he was never at those kennels,” Waters said. “The cell phones are going to show otherwise.” The media and the public were then ushered in and the state began its case-in-chief by recounting their timeline of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh’s demise. The storm was coming for them.”

WALTERBORO, S.C. — Opening statements began in the double murder trial of former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is accused of killing his wife ...

[The Associated Press ](https://apnews.com/article/alex-murdaugh-trial-begins-dda1feeaf0a1af302da87d8ba0bb5520)and [The Post and Courier](https://www.postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updates/alex-murdaugh-goes-to-trial-on-murder-charges-what-to-watch-for/article_89bf08b2-983d-11ed-967c-f7b60994f284.html) reported. His grandfather’s portrait hung in the courtroom where Wednesday’s trial began but was ordered to be taken down when proceedings began, the [Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/25/us/alex-murdaugh-murder-trial.html) reported. [People](https://people.com/crime/alex-murdaugh-trial-prosecutors-discuss-son-cell-phone-video/) reported. His wife was shot twice in the leg, and then two more times in the head from an AR-15-style rifle. “Pow! He called 911 on the night his wife and son were killed, at about 10 p.m. Murdaugh has denied the allegations. He is innocent. I will do something that irritates you or angers you. Murdaugh then called his wife twice and received no answer, the “I will do something that irritates you. The remarks by prosecutor Creighton Waters and defense attorney Dick Harpootlian on Wednesday foreshadowed what promises to be an emotional trial at the Colleton County Courthouse.

The murder trial of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh is underway at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, a small town about 40 miles ...

[bloodstain pattern analysis](https://www.bevelgardner.com/experts) who analyzed the shirt worn by Alex Murdaugh on the night his wife and son were killed. [former client](https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/11/us/alex-murdaugh-curtis-eddie-smith-revoked-bond/index.html) of Alex Murdaugh. He was in court for opening statements – the first time he has appeared at legal proceedings for his father – and is listed as a witness at trial. His father’s scheme for Smith to kill Murdaugh was “an attempt on his part to do something to protect his child (Buster),” Harpootlian, the attorney, said. Murdaugh is accused of misappropriating funds meant for Satterfield’s family as part of a wrongful death settlement. Murdaugh told authorities he [conspired with Smith](https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/25/us/alex-murdaugh-murder-trial-begins/index.html) to kill Murdaugh as part of an insurance fraud scheme, per court documents, purportedly so Murdaugh’s surviving son, Buster, could collect a $10 million life insurance payout. Newman has presided over various proceedings in the Murdaugh case since 2021. Alex Murdaugh’s 22-year-old son, who was found fatally shot with his mother at the family’s Moselle estate on June 7, 2021. The murder trial of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh is underway at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, a small town about 40 miles east of Charleston. He has been involved with the case since 2021. He has been on the bench since 2000. A portrait of his late grandfather, one of the solicitors, had hung on the wall of the courtroom; it was removed before trial.

After 19 months of speculation, prosecutors finally laid out their evidence Wednesday that Alex Murdaugh killed his wife and son as they opened the double ...

Israel's tech industry has long been the driving force behind the country's economy. Violent, feuding gangs have taken over the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince since last summer. A Western decision to send battle tanks to Ukraine was hailed enthusiastically. restaurant on Tuesday a 'handful of angry people.' The cartridges were used in a type of automatic rifle that Alex Murdaugh bought but can't be accounted for, Waters said. He doesn't know why," Harpootlian said, gesturing toward the prosecutor. Prosecutors released little information about their case before Wednesday. "You're not going to hear a single witness say that their relationship was anything other than loving." Both sides finished picking a 12-person jury with six alternates Wednesday. Alex Murdaugh started crying when his lawyer discussed the detail. It's a journey. "It's complicated.

After 19 months of speculation, prosecutors finally laid out their evidence Wednesday that Alex Murdaugh killed his wife and son as they opened the double ...

News accounts and the family of the teen killed suggested he was trying to Murdaugh rocked back and forth with his head down and wiped his eyes as the condition of the bodies was discussed. Paul Murdaugh was charged with felony boating under the influence after investigators said he was driving a boat that crashed and killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach who was on board. Chapman said he didn’t want to drag the sheet across the body and possibly dislodge evidence. My son was in a boat wreck a while back. It took Greene about 20 minutes after the 911 call to get to the Murdaugh home in the rural county of 38,000 people. Prosecutors suggested in their questioning that he might be making sure his alibi was sticking. Much of the defense’s cross examination centered on protecting evidence at the crime scene. Investigators said his 22-year-old son Paul was shot twice with a shotgun near kennels outside the family’s Colleton County hunting lodge. Greene said it wasn’t his job. His 52-year-old wife Maggie was shot four or five times with a rifle close by. Daniel Greene’s body camera footage and other video from Murdaugh’s South Carolina hunting lodge on June 7, 2021.

In the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh, a South Carolina lawyer who is accused of killing his wife and youngest son, prosecutors and defense attorneys ...

Murdaugh's surviving son, Buster Murdaugh, was in the courtroom for the opening statements. "You would be covered in blood from head to foot," Harpootlian said. He didn’t butcher his son and wife," Harpootlian told jurors. "He didn’t do it. He added the two did not have any defensive wounds, "as if they didn’t see a threat coming from their attacker." He has

The 54-year-old disgraced legal scion is accused of shooting and killing his wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and their youngest son Paul Murdaugh, 22,

Chapman said the defendant asked him how he was doing once he arrived – which he later described as a “quip” from Alex Murdaugh. During that call, Alex Murdaugh explains that he’s going to grab a gun “just in case,” as well as the dispatcher urging him not to do so. In response, the defendant said that he had already touched them both to check for signs of life. “That he mentioned the boat wreck?” “Not my job to figure that out, but I’m just curious.” Stallings is the 911 dispatcher who told Alex Murdaugh not to touch the bodies of the deceased. The corporal said he admittedly was walking around and looking for shell casings on his own initiative in order to preserve evidence from the crowded crime scene. He then offers to check his phone to provide the deputy with exact times. A similar back-and-forth then occurred with Greene admitting that he did not personally make any effort to preserve foot prints found at the crime scene. “That’s correct,” Greene said. Greene said he wasn’t sure how much it had been raining that night but that “it did not appear that rain had caused that water.” “Large pool of blood around her head.”

The latest release from the Colleton County Sheriff's Office is at least the fourth mugshot of disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh.

[Murdaugh confessed](https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/suspended-south-carolina-lawyer-alex-murdaugh-hired-local-man-to-kill-him-to-trigger-10m-payment-to-son-authorities/) to hiring ex-client Curtis Smith, 61, to shoot and kill him in an effort to secure a $10 million life insurance payout for his eldest son, Buster Murdaugh. In July 2022, Murdaugh appeared in another mugshot, this time severely dressed down and with a short-cropped haircut. [In October 2021](https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/alex-murdaugh-arrested-again-this-time-for-falsely-obtaining-property-connected-to-death-of-former-housekeeper/), Alex Murdaugh was arrested again, in Florida, on charges of falsely obtaining property from the family of his former, long-serving housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield. [January 25, 2023] [Testimony continues](https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/live-trials-current/alex-murdaugh/live-alex-murdaugh-double-murder-trial-bodycam-takes-centerstage/) in the Alex Murdaugh trial live on Law&Crime and the Law&Crime Network. The wound was deemed “ [found shot in the head](https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/alex-murdaugh-of-prominent-south-carolina-legal-family-rocked-by-murder-has-been-shot-in-the-head/) on the side of the 15000 block of Salkehatchie Road in Hampton County.

Watch Murdaugh trial live. Check out live updates and coverage of the Murdaugh murder trial in Colleton County, South Carolina.

We are able to provide the video feed of the Alex Murdaugh murder trial through the support of our digital subscribers. [Walterboro, Colleton County, SC braces for 'unprecedented' Murdaugh murder trial](https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/south-carolina/2023/01/09/walterboro-colleton-race-for-unprecedented-alex-murdaugh-murder-trial-sc-lowcountry-hampton/69782728007/) 23, with the selection of the jury that would decide his fate in the deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, in June 2021. [Inside the rise and fall of the Murdaugh dynasty in South Carolina](https://www.greenvilleonline.com/in-depth/news/2022/01/26/alex-murdaugh-family-murders-sc-south-carolina-case-news-updates/9187069002/) The double homicide trial of Murdaugh started Monday, Jan. [here.](https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/crime/2023/01/20/alex-murdaugh-murder-trial-coverage-from-day-1/69815281007/)

Murdaugh has adamantly denied killing his wife and son, saying he'd been gone for an hour to visit his ailing mother on the night of the murders. His lawyers ...

Alex Murdaugh worked for the family law firm that had been in business in tiny neighboring The Beach family said he was trying to use his influence to stymy the investigation and deflect blame from his son. Instead, Waters held up his cellphone in front of the jury and said such devices would be key to linking Murdaugh to the killings. Investigators said his blood-alcohol level was 0.24 % after he crashed a boat, leading to the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach, who was onboard. Prosecutors [did not choose to seek the death penalty](https://apnews.com/article/crime-south-carolina-columbia-9d315cf243fd9f3a41b85628cde7e768). "This is a long story. A crime scene report suggested both victims were shot in the head after initially being wounded. My son was in a boat wreck a while back. His lawyers said during the trial's opening statements that investigators have wrongly [for the killings](https://apnews.com/article/shootings-south-carolina-b15bb89e5b3a2198c8f086ffd8902459) of his wife and son at their hunting estate in June 2021 — charges that have led to the unraveling of a prominent South Carolina attorney known for multimillion-dollar judgments and whose family dominated the legal scene in a small county for decades. They described him as a loving husband and father. [If found guilty](https://apnews.com/article/alex-murdaugh-trial-begins-dda1feeaf0a1af302da87d8ba0bb5520) of murdering his wife, Maggie, 52, and their son, Paul, 22, Murdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison without parole.

The first testimony and evidence was offered in the Murdaugh murders trial. Stream the trial live. Here's what to know about Thursday's proceedings.

We are able to provide live coverage of the Alex Murdaugh murder trial through the support of our digital subscribers. For the second day in a row, his son, Buster, and several siblings were in the courtroom. In cross examination, Murdaugh's defense attorneys primarily focused on questioning the integrity of the crime scene and the police investigation. Greene was the first person on the scene after the 911 was made by Murdaugh, and found Murdaugh and the bodies when he arrived. The video feed at the top of the story provides a live and replay stream of the trial. Greene testified that Murdaugh, within moments of officers arrived, began telling police that the killings were related to a fatal 2019 boat crash and wrongful lawsuit involving his son, Paul, who had been receiving threats.

The first officer to arrive after Alex Murdaugh called 911 to report his wife and son were seriously hurt noted at the attorney's double murder trial ...

News accounts and the family of the teen killed suggested he was trying to Paul Murdaugh was charged with felony boating under the influence after investigators said he was driving a boat that crashed and killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach who was on board. Murdaugh rocked back and forth with his head down and wiped his eyes as the condition of the bodies was discussed. My son was in a boat wreck a while back. Later testimony from other deputies said the officer only went into the room to help lift the sheet on Paul Murdaugh’s body straight up to check if there was a weapon near or under his body. It took Greene about 20 minutes after the 911 call to get to the Murdaugh home in the rural county of 38,000 people. Jason Chapman said he didn’t want to drag the sheet across the body and possibly dislodge evidence. Investigators said his 22-year-old son Paul was shot twice with a shotgun near kennels outside the family’s Colleton County hunting lodge. “This is a long story. [use his influence](https://apnews.com/article/shootings-south-carolina-cedbc57136a08aa2651c7fe36b77d3c8) to stymy the investigation and [deflect blame](https://apnews.com/article/crime-south-carolina-f9a0403c35756f03c9f262f8f083c5fa) from his son. His 52-year-old wife Maggie was shot four or five times with a rifle close by. Daniel Greene’s body camera footage and other video from Murdaugh’s South Carolina hunting lodge on June 7, 2021.

During the first day of testimony, jurors watched Colleton County Sgt. Daniel Greene's body camera footage from the crime scene at Murdaugh's South Carolina ...

News accounts and the family of the teen killed suggested he was trying to use his influence to stymy the investigation and deflect blame from his son. Paul Murdaugh was charged with felony boating under the influence after investigators said he was driving a boat that crashed and killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach, who was on board. But Murdaugh still rocked back and forth with his head down and wiped his eyes as the condition of the bodies was discussed. It took Greene about 20 minutes after the 911 call to get to the Murdaugh home in the rural county of 38,000 people. The footage shows Greene questioning Murdaugh and protecting the crime scene, since Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were obviously dead. Investigators said his 22-year-old son Paul was shot twice with a shotgun near kennels outside the family's Colleton County hunting lodge.

The first officer to arrive after Alex Murdaugh called 911 to report his wife and son were hurt noted that the suspect did not cry.

News accounts and the family of the teen killed suggested he was trying to use his influence to stymy the investigation and deflect blame from his son. Paul Murdaugh was charged with felony boating under the influence after investigators said he was driving a boat that crashed and killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach who was on board. Murdaugh rocked back and forth with his head down and wiped his eyes as the condition of the bodies was discussed. Later testimony from other deputies said the officer only went into the room to help lift the sheet on Paul Murdaugh’s body straight up to check if there was a weapon near or under his body. It took Greene about 20 minutes after the 911 call to get to the Murdaugh home in the rural county of 38,000 people. Investigators said his 22-year-old son Paul was shot twice with a shotgun near kennels outside the family’s Colleton County hunting lodge.