- This double homicide, committed in South Carolina in 2021, has intrigued true crime enthusiasts for almost two years.
- The lawyer accused of killing his wife and son admitted to the Bar Association that he lied and was present at the scene minutes before the tragedy.
- The downfall of this local dynasty and the mystery surrounding several other suspicious deaths are the focus of numerous podcasts and a Netflix documentary.
From our correspondent in the United States,
A double murder, with no witnesses or found murder weapon. An influential family in the American South descended from three generations of chief prosecutors in the area. An opiate addict lawyer on the brink of bankruptcy accused of killing his wife and son to gain pity when he was suspected of embezzling millions of dollars. A sensational documentary on Netflix that looks back at three more suspicious deaths in orbit of this almighty clan…
After six weeks of a twist-and-turn hearing, Alex Murdaugh’s trial in South Carolina is coming to a close as deliberations begin Thursday. Their outcome is uncertain.
Accused of “destroying” his family
On June 7, 2021, just after 10 p.m., Alex Murdaugh (pronounced [Alec Murdoc]) calls for help. Through tears, he explains that he found the lifeless bodies of his wife Maggie and youngest son Paul near the kennel of their Moselle estate, which spans hundreds of acres in the Lowcountry, South Carolina’s swampy coast.
After a year of investigations that yielded almost nothing, the imposing lawyer is arrested and charged with this double murder. Prosecutor Creighton Waters said in his closing argument on Wednesday: “His reputation was about to be ruined. His ego couldn’t live with that shame. He had a motive, the means, and the opportunity. He became the destroyer of his family. »
Murdaugh hid that he was there
Alex Murdaugh has been assuring investigators for nearly two years that he would take a nap at the main residence, 400 yards from the kennel, and then visit his dying father and mother, who has dementia, for about 40 minutes in a nearby town that is about twenty Meters away is kilometers away. But an attendant claims he only stayed about 20 minutes and he urged her to change her story and offered to pay for her wedding party.
A video presented by the prosecutor’s office also breaks the chronology presented by the suspect. At 8:44 p.m., his son Paul shoots a video of an injured puppy in the kennel. We hear his mother’s voice and that of a man. At the bar, all the witnesses are categorical: it’s Alex Murdaugh’s.
Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were killed on June 7, 2021 near the kennel of their Moselle estate in Islandton, South Carolina. —Andrew J Whitaker/AP/SIPA
Familiar with the legal system
At 8:49 p.m., the young man’s smartphone, 22 years old, is unlocked for the last time. His text chat with a friend drops out. Thirty seconds later, his mother’s phone goes to sleep. Investigators believe they will probably be shot at this point. Paul with two shotgun salvos, first in the chest, then in the head; Maggie with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
According to prosecutors, Alex Murdaugh was at the scene a few minutes before the tragedy. The lawyer, who knows the legal system inside out, says he “made up an alibi” by calling his wife’s cell phone three times at 9 p.m. and then texting her to warn her that he was going to His car left the Moselle residence at 9:07 p.m., according to data extracted from the on-board computer.
In murder trials, lawyers almost always advise their client not to testify. But faced with this video, Alex Murdaugh had no choice. At the bar he admits to lying and hiding his presence in the kennel. He argues that he was in a “paranoid” state of mind because of his opiate addiction and “didn’t trust” investigators. And, looking the jury straight in the eye, he swears he didn’t kill “Maggie and Paul-Paul,” whom he “could never have hurt.” He offers the 12 jurors an alternative version: the trail of “revenge” against his family.
At the helm, Alex assured Murdaugh that he did not kill his wife and son. – Pictures Sipa
A crook’s fall
That revenge, the defense attorney says, is linked to a fatal accident in 2019. Young Paul Murdaugh was piloting a drunk family boat on the local river when it struck a bridge and killed one of his friends, Mallory Beach, 19 . It’s the drama at the heart of the Netflix documentary series Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal. At the top, Alex Murdaugh assures that his family has received regular threats.
Prosecutors put forward a completely different version: Alex Murdaugh was under pressure as the trial of his son neared, charged with dangerous drunk driving that caused the death of Mallory Beach. Above all, a civil lawsuit risked exposing the state of his finances, which were in the red. The lawyer living the high life spent $60,000 a week on opiate pills he bought from a drug dealer. At the top, he admits to having embezzled millions of payments from an insurance company to the relatives of his housekeeper Gloria Satterfield, who died in 2018 after a fall on her Moselle property (see box). The noose tightened. His law firm partners began asking questions. The finance manager had even asked him for an explanation a few hours before the double murder.
No direct physical evidence
When the motive put forward by prosecutors is complex and its logic questionable, they assert that the defendant’s plan worked. At least initially. After the double homicide, his partners don’t insist when he has just lost his wife and son and authorities have been looking for a suspect for months.
Defense attorneys can rely on witnesses to instill “reasonable doubts” in the jury. In particular, the eldest son, Murdaugh, who asserted that his father was always loving and never violent. Attorney Richard Harpootlian reiterated that there was no “material evidence”: the weapons used in the double murder were never found.
Problem: The family owned about twenty firearms, including shotguns. And one ballistics expert was formal: The ammunition analyzed bears identical marks to old shells found on the property. The Murdaughs had bought two AR-15 assault rifles with this type of ammunition for their sons. One was lost by Paul Murdaugh in 2016; the spare gun, which cannot be found, could be the murder weapon, according to prosecutors. The defense presented the thesis of two killers, including one of small size, supported by a ballistics expert. However, the latter acknowledged that many other factors could explain the different angles of the shots, such as a crouched shooter.
An uncertain judgement
If convicted, Alex Murdaugh faces between 30 years in prison and life in prison because prosecutors have given up asking for the death penalty. But in the United States, a guilty verdict or an acquittal must be decided unanimously. It is enough for even one of the 12 jurors to have a “reasonable doubt” for the trial to deadlock. In that case, prosecutors would have to decide whether to request a new trial or drop the charges.
What’s certain is that Alex Murdaugh is far from off the hook: He faces dozens of other charges, mostly for financial crime and insurance fraud. Enough to keep the American public in suspense, with a second documentary series in development, this time on Hulu.
The most important facts of the case
July 8, 2015. Stephen Smith, 19, is found dead on a country road, killed with a blow to the head. He was a classmate of Buster, Alex Murdaugh’s eldest son. Relatives conjure up rumors of a possible secret homosexual affair in the Netflix documentary that have not yet been confirmed.
February 26, 2018. The Murdaughs’ housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, died two weeks after falling down the steps of their Moselle estate. His death was never reported to a coroner, and no autopsy was performed. Younger brother Paul Murdaugh’s ex-girlfriend claims the clerk found a bag of Alex Murdaugh’s pills just before his fall.
February 24, 2019. Mallory Beach, 19, dies in accident involving boat driven by Paul Murdaugh while in a state of intoxication.
June 7, 2021. Maggie and Paul Murdaugh are shot.
June 22, 2021. Authorities are reopening their investigation into the death of Stephen Smith based on new information obtained during the investigation into the double murder of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh.
September 4, 2021. Alex Murdaugh calls the police after being shot in the head. He has since admitted asking an acquaintance to kill him so his eldest son Buster could get a $10 million life insurance policy. But his accomplice apparently overlooked that.