Day 3: Dueling opening arguments conclude in Murdaugh murder trial, lawyers recount killings
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Alex Murdaugh Coverage
The Murdaugh family saga has dominated the news after another shooting, a resignation and criminal accusations — with Alex Murdaugh at the center of it all. Here are the latest updates on Alex Murdaugh.
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Alex Murdaugh, a once prominent Hampton-based attorney from a well-known politically-connected family, is on trial in the deaths of his wife and son.
Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty. He faces life in prison without parole if found guilty. The trial started Monday with jury selection, and is expected, for now, to run through Feb. 10 in Walterboro.
4:35 p.m. — Opening arguments conclude
After a compelling round of opening arguments from Waters and Harpootlian, Judge Clifton Newman calls for a recess until 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
4:09 p.m. — Harpootlian paints Murdaugh as loving father, husband
Dick Harpootlian, Alex Murdaugh’s defense attorney, describes his client as a loving father and husband. He says a Snapchat video sent from Paul Murdaugh’s phone shows Paul and Alex laughing and “having a good time” roughly an hour before the murders.
“To find Alex Murdaugh guilty of murdering his son, you’re gonna have to accept that within an hour of having an extraordinary bonding — you’ll see it in the Snapchat — that he executes him in a brutal fashion,” he says.
4 p.m. — Video shows Murdaugh at scene minutes before murders, prosecutor says
Waters says a video sent from Paul Murdaugh’s phone shows Alex Murdaugh at the scene of the crime. Three minutes after that video, Paul and Maggie Murdaugh’s phones lock forever. He says they never place another call or send another text.
“Three minutes after that video has the defendant at the murder scene with the two victims, Paul’s phone goes silent forever,” he says.
3:50 p.m. — Prosecutor says Murdaugh hid raincoat with gunshot residue at mother’s house
Waters, the prosecutor, says that roughly a week after the murders Alex Murdaugh showed up early in the morning at his parents home where his mother has late-stage Alzheimer’s.
Waters describes how Murdaugh was seen carrying something blue upstairs. The prosecutor says police investigators discovered a rain coat wadded up inside of a blue tarp inside Murdaugh’s mother’s house. He says Police discovered gunshot residue inside the rain coat.
3:31 p.m. — Prosecutor describes how Murdaugh allegedly killed wife and son
Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters, in his opening statement, says Alex Murdaugh shot his son, Paul, with a shotgun at 8:50 p.m. on June 7, 2021. Waters says Murdaugh then picked up a .300 Blackout rifle and opened fire on his wife, Maggie, killing her.
Waters tells the jury that neither Paul nor Maggie had defensive wounds, a sign that they weren’t caught off guard by their attacker.
The prosecutor then tells the jury that Alex Murdaugh previously “told anyone who would listen that he was never at those kennels” near where his wife and son were killed. Waters says evidence from Murdaugh’s cell phone shows that he was there just minutes before his wife and son’s cell phones would “go silent forever and ever.”
3 p.m. — Buster and John Marvin Murdaugh arrive at courthouse
Just before opening arguments were set to start, Alex Murdaugh’s sole remaining son Buster and Murdaugh’s younger brother John Marvin Murdaugh walked into the Colleton County Courthouse. Both Murdaugh family members are listed as potential witnesses for Murdaugh’s defense.
2:56 p.m. — Alex Murdaugh wipes away tears in court
Alex Murdaugh, accused of killing his wife and son, was seen tearing up shortly before the court recessed for lunch. Judge Clifton Newman had just ruled that graphic crime scene photos from the murders would be sealed.
1:15 p.m. — We have a jury
Attorneys and Newman have selected the twelve people who will decide whether Alex Murdaugh is guilty of murdering his wife and son. The court will choose six people to serve as alternates.
The court is in recess for lunch until 3 p.m., when opening statements are expected to begin.
12:35 p.m. — And then there were 80
Judge Clifton Newman has whittled down the list of potential jurors to about 80. That’s down from the hundreds of people who were initially called to serve. One woman with a cough was dismissed.
The final jury — 12 people and six alternates — will be selected from that list of 80 people. The prosecution and defense are reviewing the list to decide which jurors to strike.
11:05 a.m. — Watch the Murdaugh murder trial live
Columbia-based TV station WLTX is streaming the trial live on YouTube. Click this link to watch the courtroom action.
10:29 a.m. — Alex Murdaugh arrives
Alex Murdaugh arrived at the Colleton County Courthouse Wednesday morning for the third day of his double murder trial. The once-prominent attorney draped a blazer over his hands — likely concealing handcuffs.
10:25 a.m. — Alex Murdaugh’s sister in court
Alex Murdaugh’s sister Lynn Murdaugh Goettee was in court Tuesday to support her younger brother.
Murdaugh’s defense team has called Murdaugh Goettee as a potential witness. She has largely remained out of the limelight amid the ongoing scandals surrounding her family. However, she is heard on several recordings speaking with her brother while he’s been locked up in jail.
Other people in the courtroom included state Rep. Justin Bamberg, a lawyer who represents several victims of Murdaugh’s financial crimes, and well-known attorney Joe McCulloch, who represents Connor Cook, one of the passengers inside the boat that crashed and killed Mallory Beach in 2019.
Greg Harris, an attorney representing Palmetto State Bank, and Jim May, an attorney and former prosecutor, were seen grabbing lunch outside the courthouse on Wednesday.
10:20 a.m. — Jury selection expected to wrap up
This story was originally published January 25, 2023 at 10:59 AM.
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