Alex Murdaugh: Who is the disgraced attorney and why is he on trial?
Alex Murdaugh’s high-profile murder trial is now in full swing with prosecutors slated to call more witnesses to the stand in Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Monday.
The disgraced legal scion, 54, is accused of gunning down his wife Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22, at the family’s estate in Islandton on 7 June 2021. He denies the allegations.
Last week, jurors were shown dramatic bodycam footage from the scene of the grisly murders, where he “immediately” told officers the killings were connected to a fatal 2019 boat crash.
Mr Murdaugh’s first police interview was also revealed for the first time, showing how he described attempts to move the victims’ bloodied bodies – an account that was contradicted by law enforcement testimony and images of his “clean” hands and clothing. Crime scene photos of the dog kennels and the 911 call made by Mr Murdaugh were also shown in court.
On Monday, jurors heard the last text messages and phone calls received by Maggie and Paul as new crime scene photos were released.
The trial is only one of Mr Murdaugh’s troubles in a saga spanning a botched hitman plot, multi-million-dollar fraud schemes, and unexplained deaths.
Murdaugh. had ‘clean’ shirt after he claims he touched wife and son’s bloodied bodies
Newly-released stills from bodycam footage show Alex Murdaugh dressed in a “clean” white shirt after he claims he touched his wife and son’s bloodied bodies on finding them shot dead at the family estate in South Carolina.
Mr Murdaugh is dressed in a white T-shirt and dark shorts in the images. The stills are grainy but there are no obvious signs of blood on his shirt.
Oliver O’Connell31 January 2023 09:45
A timeline of murders, financial fraud, a botched hitman plot and unexplained deaths
Rachel Sharp pieced together a timeline of the key moments in the sprawling case against Alex Murdaugh.
Oliver O’Connell31 January 2023 08:45
Murdaugh tells 911 dispatcher his son Paul had been getting threats
Alex Murdaugh told a 911 dispatcher moments after he says he discovered the bodies of two murdered family members that his son Paul had been receiving threats “for months” over a fatal boat crash.
Mr Murdaugh, 54, can be heard telling the operator that his son Paul had been involved in a fatal boat crash and had been getting threats “for months and months and months.”
Oliver O’Connell31 January 2023 07:45
Watch: First officer on scene describes what he witnessed
Alex Murdaugh murder trial: First officer on scene describes what he witnessed
The first police officer to arrive at the scene has told the jury in Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial what he saw. Sgt Daniel Greene, the first witness to take the stand, told the court how he discovered the bodies of wife Maggie and son Paul. He also recalled how Murdaugh was armed when he arrived, and that he told him that he had left to get a shotgun because “he felt like he needed to have it.” Murdaugh, 54, is accused of fatally shooting his wife Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22, at the family’s estate. Sign up for our newsletters.
Oliver O’Connell31 January 2023 05:45
Who is Alex Murdaugh?
Rachel Sharp filed this profile of the high-profile lawyer.
Oliver O’Connell31 January 2023 03:45
Murdaugh cries as bodycam video shown at trial
Bodycam footage was played in Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Thursday morning as the high-profile double murder trial got underway.
Oliver O’Connell31 January 2023 02:45
Murdaugh breaks down as lawyer describes brutal ‘butchering’ of wife and son
Disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh broke down in tears as his lawyer described how his son and wife were “butchered” on the family’s South Carolina hunting estate.
Mr Murdaugh wiped tears from his eyes as his defence attorney described the scene he claims his client found near kennels on the estate and denied that he had anything to do with it.
Dick Harpootlian told the jury that the prosecution’s explanation for the murders was just “theories” and “conjecture” and that Mr Murdaugh was a “loving” husband and father.
Oliver O’Connell31 January 2023 01:45
Alex Murdaugh’s spectacular fall from grace
He was a high-powered attorney who ran both his own law firm and worked in the local prosecutor’s office.
He was the son of a powerful legal dynasty that dominated the local South Carolina community for almost a century.
And he was a family man who lived with his wife and two adult sons on their sprawling country estate.
Rachel Sharp has been following the case for The Independent.
Murders, fraud, and a hitman plot: Alex Murdaugh’s spectacular fall from grace
The ‘trial of the century’ is now under way in a courtroom in South Carolina where powerful legal scion Alex Murdaugh is charged with the brutal double murder of his wife and son. But this is far from the only twist in a bizarre and sprawling tale of unexplained deaths, hitman plots and multi-million-dollar fraud schemes, writes Rachel Sharp
Oliver O’Connell31 January 2023 00:45
ICYMI: Prosecutors paint grisly portrait of Alex Murdaugh killing wife and son
Prosecutors have described how disgraced South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh allegedly murdered his defenceless wife and son at the family’s hunting lodge in 2021.
Mr Murdaugh is accused of brutally killing his wife Margaret, known as Maggie, and his youngest son, 22-year-old son Paul, outside kennels on the estate on 7 June 2021.
Prosecutors told the opening of his trial on Wednesday that Mr Murdaugh had first shot his son with a shotgun, and then killed his wife with an AR-style rifle.
Oliver O’Connell30 January 2023 23:45
Watch: Police bodycam shows guns inside family’s hunting lodge
Alex Murdaugh: Police bodycam shows guns inside family’s hunting lodge
Oliver O’Connell30 January 2023 22:45