Alex Murdaugh convicted of murdering wife and son

“Why why why would Alex Murdaugh execute his son Paul and his wife Maggie on June 7th, whom he adored and loved?” Mr. Griffin asked, noting the number of people who knew the Murdaugh family and their loving relationship testified.

Creighton Waters, the lead prosecutor, noted that Mr Murdaugh admitted on the witness stand that he had told many lies over the years to cover up his financial abuses and addiction to painkillers. Mr. Waters urged the jury not to be the next to believe his lies. “Don’t let him fool you, too,” he said.

Mr Waters told jurors that a “perfect storm” approached Mr Murdaugh – and by extension his wife and son – on the day of the murders. Earlier that day, Mr Murdaugh was confronted by his law firm’s chief financial officer, who accused him of pocketing a six-figure check to be passed on to the law firm.

That confrontation, Mr Waters said, was one of two investigations into Mr Murdaugh’s finances that made him fear the walls were closing. The other was an effort by another attorney, Mark B. Tinsley, who had sued Mr Murdaugh for his son’s involvement in a 2019 drunken boating accident that killed a 19-year-old woman. Authorities said the boat was driven by Paul Murdaugh and Mr Tinsley asked a lawyer to compel Mr Murdaugh to disclose detailed financial records so he could look after Mr Murdaugh’s personal assets.

At first, prosecutors say, Mr. Murdaugh’s plan worked: after the murders, investigations into his finances were dropped for several months. But then, in September 2021, an associate at his law firm found a missing check in Mr. Murdaugh’s office, leading to the firm’s discovery that he had siphoned off millions of dollars. They forced him to resign.

The next day, in a bizarre series of events, Mr Murdaugh reported being shot in the head on the side of a country road. As Mr. Murdaugh admitted days later in rehab, it turns out he had in fact asked a distant cousin, Curtis Eddie Smith, to kill him. Mr Murdaugh said he wanted to present his death as homicide so his surviving son Buster could collect his insurance policy.