Natalia Chi
“I did a terrible thing to him.”
Three days after Murdau’s wife and son were murdered, a South Carolina investigator testified Monday that Alex Murdoh uttered the words between sobs during a taped interview.
But to people inside and outside the court, it sounded like Murdow said, “They did him a terrible thing.” Dishonored Lawyer’s Double Murder Trial After he was asked about a photo of his son’s body.
The court ended Monday before the defense cross-examined agents.
Earlier in the day, defense attorneys continued to question how state officials collected and analyzed evidence in the shooting deaths of Murdo’s wife and son.
Murdoh, 54, standing trial About the two murders that shot his wife and son at his Colton County home and hunting lodge on June 7, 2021. Her wife Maggie, 52, was shot several times with a rifle. Their son Paul, 22, was shot twice with a shotgun near the kennel on the property. If convicted, Murdow faces 30 years in prison.
State
In an interview conducted on Monday, Murdoh spoke with state agents for about an hour at his brother’s home three days after the killing. Murdo’s lawyer was nearby.
Prosecutors paused the video several times to give State Law Enforcement Division Senior Special Agent Jeff Croft the chance to highlight some of Murdoh’s comments. returned from riding on the property, his wife said he was at home hours before the murder. Murdoh was heard saying, “That’s just so bad,” before making an unclear comment.
In court, Murdoh appeared to shake his head when Croft said what he had heard.
Murdoh also sobbed in the 2021 recording after mentioning a minor disagreement with his wife about visiting her family.
“She was a great girl, a great wife, and she was a great mother,” Murdoh said.
State
Monday began with the cross-examination of another state agent who testified in detail about the evidence collected from Murdow’s home and property.
As with the day before the testimony, officers and crime scene technicians will present evidence to jurors, and investigators will provide more detail later. I explained it like a puzzle.
However, while cross-examining the witness, the defense attorney asked questions that suggested that the figurative puzzle pieces were not clear or that the prosecutor had not considered them all.
State Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent Melinda Walley testified Friday about photographs of the bodies, shotgun pellets from the scene, DNA swabs, and clothing and fingernail clippings from the autopsy.
During Monday’s cross-examination, defense attorney Dick Harputrian focused on several items, including identifying footprints, one of Wally’s areas of expertise. She told him that one of the bloody footprints near where Murdo’s son was shot was from her agent.
“Is that scene preservation required by your standards?” asked the Harputorian.
“Not exactly,” Wally replied.
Harpootlian also had Worley come down from the stands and make a rough sketch of the angles of the shots fired at Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, noting that there was a big difference in the direction of the shots fired at each victim. bottom.
Wally said it can happen when the shooter is in motion.
“One explanation would be movement. One explanation would be two shooters,” Harputrian said.
Alex Murdow asked Wally if the Harputrian showed him a photo of his wife’s body and there may have been a shoe print on his wife’s calf that was not formally documented when the scene was examined. During more graphic testimonies, such as when I asked the
Wally said he wasn’t sure.
Croft, one of the lead investigators investigating the double homicide, testified about the guns, ammunition and shells fired from the Murdow family after the murders and presented the jury with at least four different shotguns and rifles. I showed it and testified that the Murdoh family had kept the weapons. loaded into the turret.
In an interview, Murdoh told Croft that his son had trouble concentrating, was with family and friends across the state, and left his belongings behind instead of taking them home.
“He did it with his clothes, he did it with his gun, he did it with my boat,” Murdoh said.
Prosecutors said in their opening statement that while the gun that killed Paul and Maggie Murdoh had not been found, markings on casings found around the house may have been used for target practice, suggesting that casings found at the scene and agreed.
Alex Murdau also faces nearly 100 charges related to money laundering accusations. steal millions Attempting to take tax evasion and men from clients and family law firms shoot him deadly His surviving son was able to collect a $10 million life insurance policy. He was in prison without bail before being charged with murder.
Since the murder, Murdoh’s life has fallen apart with alarming rapidity. His family has dominated the legal system of small neighboring Hampton counties for generations, being both prosecutors and private attorneys known for obtaining life-changing settlements of accident and negligence cases.
