Alex Murdaugh Called ‘Family Annihilator’ by Prosecution in Murder Trial

Closing arguments in the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh ended on Wednesday. Prosecutors looked for to encourage the South Carolina jury that Murdaugh killed his better half Maggie, 52, and boy Paul, 22, which the disbarred attorney was a “household annihilator” who utilized the killings as a method to stop examinations into his supposed monetary criminal activities.

Lead district attorney Creighton Waters provided electronic information and video pulled from the victims’ mobile phones, which he stated positioned Murdaugh at the crime scene on June 7, 2021. Multiple witnesses stated Murdaugh’s voice can be heard in the background of a video taken by Paul simply minutes prior to district attorneys declare the murder happened. Murdaugh has considering that admitted that he lied to authorities about his location the night of the murders, however declares he was “no place near” his better half and boy “when they got shot.”

Waters provided information drawn out from Murdaugh’s cellphone, which presumably tracked his actions and declared that he moved at a much faster rate after the murders prior to leaving the estate for his mom’s house.

“He wouldn’t even confess up until he was required to that he was at the scene,” Waters informed the jury. “And then he’s as hectic as he’ll ever be.”

Waters likewise declared that Murdaugh had access to guns prior to he shot his better half and boy on the household’s Colleton County searching substance in June 2021.

“She heard that shot and was going to her child when she got slaughtered by the only individual that we have definitive evidence was at that scene simply minutes prior to,” stated Waters.

Shell cases discovered at the scene of the criminal offense were utilized to match the kind of weapons utilized to eliminate Margaret and Paul with guns understood to come from the household. The prosecution stated that detectives have actually not discovered the 2 murder weapons: a .12-gauge shotgun and .300 Blackout assault-style rifle.

Earlier Wednesday, jurors were provided more than an hour to go to the outside estate where Margaret and Paul’s bodies were discovered, per NBC. The concrete pad where Paul fell after being shot two times by a shotgun showed up, while bullet holes in a back window were still noticeable, per the report.

In his closing arguments later on that day, Waters explained a “event storm” surrounding Murdaugh as his supposed monetary problems and reported thefts from customers and his previous law office threatened to be exposed.

“Those pressures install,” stated Waters, “which individual ends up being a household annihilator.” Waters included, “They were all reaching a crescendo on the day his better half and boy were killed by him.” Prosecutors likewise stated that Murdaugh has actually declared Paul and his better half were killed in connection to examinations over Paul’s function in a 2019 drunken boating accident that had actually left a 19-year-old female dead, and indicated that he’s attempted to stop the examination due to that occurrence and monetary issues.

The murder trial of Murdaugh started in January and has actually included more than a lots witnesses for the defense and 61 for the prosecution. Murdaugh’s relative, including his younger brother, John Marvin Murdaugh; surviving son, Buster; and the defendant himself; have actually affirmed prior to the 12-person jury.

If condemned for the 2 counts of murder, Murdaugh deals with 30 years to life in jail without parole, in addition to another 5 years for 2 counts of ownership of a weapon throughout the commission of a violent criminal offense.