Under pressure, Alex Murdaugh testifies to own theory in South Carolina
murder trial
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[February 25, 2023]
By Nathan Layne
(Reuters) -Richard "Alex" Murdaugh, the disbarred South Carolina lawyer
on trial for the murder of his wife and son, said on Friday that he
believed someone angry about a deadly boating accident had committed the
crimes, floating an alternative theory for the jury as two days of
dramatic testimony came to a close.
Murdaugh offered the theory, for which he acknowledged he had no
evidence, after hours of cross examination during which a prosecutor
laid out a string of lies told by the defendant, including about his
alibi on the night of the killings.
Murdaugh, 54, has denied any involvement in the murders of his wife
Maggie, 52, and 22-year-old son Paul, who were gunned down at close
range at dog kennels on the family's estate on the evening of June 7,
2021. But he has admitted to deceiving law partners and clients out of
huge sums of money to feed a drug habit, potentially undercutting his
credibility with the jury.
From the stand, Murdaugh said he believed that someone upset over the
death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach in a 2019 boating accident sought
revenge on his son, who was charged with boating under the influence and
other crimes in the incident.
Murdaugh said he was convinced someone was spurred to violence by a
barrage of social media posts that made Paul, who he alternately
referred to as Paw Paw, out to be a villain.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Feb/25/images/ads/current/heartland_lda_020123.png)
"The person or people who did what I saw on June the 7th - they hated
Paul and they had anger in their heart," he said. "I believe that boat
wreck is the reason Paw Paw and Maggie were killed."
In pre-trial court papers, prosecutors said that within seconds of
officers arriving at the scene, Murdaugh suggested the boat accident was
the likely motive. And at the beginning of the trial, the jury was shown
body camera footage in which Murdaugh was recorded making remarks to
that effect.
With Murdaugh's testimony complete, the jury was excused for the
weekend. Murdaugh's lawyers plan to call four more witnesses on Monday,
followed by one or two from the prosecution, setting the stage for
closing arguments in the middle of next week.
FINANCIAL TROUBLES
During roughly seven hours of cross examination starting on Thursday
afternoon, state prosecutor Creighton Waters sought to portray Murdaugh
as caught up in a pattern of duplicity, while detailing his mounting
financial troubles and drug use in the run-up to the murders.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Feb/25/images/ads/current/charrons_bch_2022.png)
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![](../images/022523PIX/news_n87.jpg)
Alex Murdaugh gives testimony in his
murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South
Carolina, U.S., February 23, 2023. Grace Beahm Alford/Pool via USA
TODAY NETWORK via REUTERS
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Feb/25/images/ads/current/llm_lda_ANIMAL_2023.png)
In questioning from his lawyer, Murdaugh had admitted to lying by
telling investigators that he was not at the kennels minutes before
his wife and son were killed. He changed his account after the jury
saw cellphone video, which contained audio of Murdaugh's voice
placing him at the scene.
Murdaugh said he lied to investigators due to his distrust of the
police and paranoia tied to his addiction to opioids.
"The second you’re confronted with facts you can’t deny, you
immediately come up with a new lie," Waters said.
INFLUENTIAL FAMILY
Murdaugh, the scion of an influential South Carolina legal family,
was indicted by a grand jury in July on two counts of murder and two
counts of possession of a weapon. From the start, the case has been
subject to intense media coverage given the political influence of
the Murdaugh family in South Carolina.
Prosecutors have said Murdaugh killed his wife and child to generate
sympathy and distract from an array of financial crimes for which he
is also facing criminal charges. Murdaugh's lawyers have argued that
motive does not make sense.
Murdaugh has acknowledged stealing from his law partners and
clients, partly to fund an addiction to painkillers. On Friday,
Murdaugh said he was taking more than 2,000 milligrams of oxycodone
on some days, or more than 60 pills of 30 mg each.
"Opiates gave me energy. Whatever I was doing it made it more
interesting. It made me want to do it longer," he said.
Murdaugh testified that he has sought to cooperate with the
investigation, with the exception of lying about being at the
kennels on the night of the shootings.
"Very cooperative except for maybe the most important fact of all:
that you were at the murder scene with the victims just minutes
before they died," prosecutor Waters said.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Feb/25/images/ads/current/LPL_small%201.gif)
Waters compressed the timeline, getting Murdaugh to acknowledge that
he was at the kennels some three minutes beforeinvestigators say
Maggie and Paul were killed, and that their dogs had shown no sign
of sensing anyone else around.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Grant
McCool)
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