Alex Murdaugh’s defense will today fight claims he is a ‘master liar and a family annihilator’ in a last-ditch effort to convince jurors he did not kill his wife and son.
Jurors will then be sent to reach their verdict in the double murder trial that has gripped the nation during more than five weeks of testimony at the Colleton County courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina.
Murdaugh, a disgraced legal scion whose family have wielded immense judicial power over the region for three generations, is accused of shooting his wife Maggie and son Paul at their sprawling 1,800-acre hunting estate in Moselle on June 7, 2021.
The State yesterday closed its case by arguing the father-of-two faced a ‘gathering storm’ of financial ruin which drove him to kill Maggie, 52, and younger son Paul, 22.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin will this morning mount a three-hour argument to try and persuade jurors that Murdaugh was a family man who, though deceitful, was incapable of the brutal killings. The defense will also tear into the State’s reliance on circumstantial evidence which they say proves Murdaugh’s guilt.
Murdaugh arrives at the courthouse Thursday with his jacket draped over his cuffs. His defense are laying out their closing argument
Maggie, Paul, Alex and Buster Murdaugh with their dog Bubba in a new family photo obtained by DailyMail.com
Murdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison if found guilty.
Drawing his closing argument to a dramatic end, Waters said Murdaugh was facing legal action that ‘could not only potentially ruin him but expose the reality of what he had been doing for years.’
‘Nobody knew who this man was,’ he told the court, after laying out the lies Murdaugh had told while embezzling millions from his prestigious family law firm and the lies he told to cops after the killings.
Waters concluded his speech with a fervent plea to the jury: ‘This defendant has fooled everyone, everyone. Everyone who thought they were close to him he’s fooled them all and he fooled Maggie and Paul too and they paid for it with their lives. Don’t let him fool you too.’
The case has drawn intense media coverage given the family’s immense political power in and around Colleton County, where the trial is taking place.
For decades until 2006, family members served as the leading prosecutor in the area, and Murdaugh was a prominent personal injury attorney in the state.
Throughout the trial, Murdaugh’s lawyers have sought to portray their client as a loving family man who, while facing financial troubles and suffering from a powerful addiction to opioids that led him to lie and steal, would never harm his wife and child.
They have also tried to float alternative theories about the murders, with Murdaugh testifying that he believed someone angry over a deadly boating accident in 2019 involving Paul likely sought revenge on his son.
Prosecutors have argued that Murdaugh committed the murders to generate sympathy and distract from a litany of financial crimes, including the theft of millions of dollars from his law partners and clients – money used to feed a years-long addiction to opioids and support an expensive lifestyle.
Buster Murdaugh, his girlfriend Brooklynn White and Alex’s sister Lynn arrive at the court Thursday
Buster Murdaugh, his girlfriend Brooklynn White and Alex’s sister Lynn arrive at the court Thursday
A line of people outside the Colleton County courthouse in Walterboro. Trial enthusiasts have been lining up since the early hours of the morning
Murdaugh arrives as a protestor holds a placard saying: ‘FORGIVE MY SINS JESUS SAVE MY SOUL’
Murdaugh is flanked by sheriffs and photographers as he arrives at court Thursday
Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian arrives at the court Thursday
Prosecutor Creighton Waters gives his closing statement during the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro on Wednesday
In his closing argument, Waters repeatedly highlighted Murdaugh’s admission from the stand last week that he had lied about his whereabouts on the night of the killings, telling investigators he was not at the dog kennels prior to the murders.
Murdaugh changed his account after the jury listened to audio evidence placing him at the scene of the crime minutes before it occurred.
Murdaugh said he initially lied to investigators because of paranoia tied to his drug habit and mistrust of the police.
Waters on Wednesday told jurors: ‘Nobody knew who this man was. He avoided accountability his whole life, he had relied on his family name, he had a powerful family, he carried a badge and used that in authority, he lived a wealthy life – but now finally he was was facing complete ruin.
‘His father who he idolized – who I worked with on occasion – was dying, his son was facing charges for the boat case, he was facing a civil action that could not only potentially ruin him but expose the reality of what he had been doing for years, he had an opiate addiction, his life was about to be altered, he couldn’t live for that – he’s the kind of person for whom shame is an extraordinary provocation.
‘His ego couldn’t stand that and he became a family annihilator.’
The prosecutor concluded by asking jurors: ‘On behalf of the State of South Carolina I ask you to return a verdict of guilty against the defendant Richard Alexander Murdaugh for the murder of his wife Maggie and son Paul.’