Law&Crime Sidebar - 6 Lies Alex Murdaugh Confessed to While Testifying in Family Murders Trial

Episode Date: February 28, 2023

Throughout his trial, Alex Murdaugh has been called out for numerous lies by witnesses and the prosecution. From swindling millions of dollars from clients to being at the crime scene around the time his family was murdered, the Law & Crime Network's Jesse Weber tallies up and analyzes some of the major lies of disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh. PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:Save 10% on your entire POM Pepper Spray order by using code LAWCRIME10 at bit.ly/3IGNFxv.LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergWriting & Video Editing - Michael DeiningerGuest Booking - Alyssa FisherSocial Media Management - Vanessa Bein & Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaCoptales and CocktailsThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that

will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. We're tallying up and analyzing some of the major lies of disgraced attorney and accused killer, Alec Murdoch. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime. I'm Jesse Weber. here at law and crime we report on so many scary dangerous situations that people end up in so it's always important to be aware of your surroundings and safety is key and that is where palm pepper spray can really help this is a discreet but very powerful personal defense tool it shoots up to 12

feet using the strongest legal formula of pepper spray super safe easy to use ready to fire you just point and spray and the best part we have a promo code for you so you can always stay safe save 10% code law crime 10 at palm pepper spray.com. And always remember to call 911 if you see someone in trouble. If you continue lying after that night, did you not? But once I lied, I continued to lie. Yes, sir. Why? You know, oh, what a tangled web we weave. But once I told the lie, I mean, I told my family, I had to keep learning. We're still picking up the pieces of the testimony of Alec Murdoch,

the disgraced former South Carolina attorney on trial for murder. Pretty shocking to see a defendant get on the stand and admit that he lied. You don't see that every day. Usually defendants are saying they're telling the truth. But it might be very strategic what is happening here. Now remember, Alec Murdoch is accused of shooting to death his wife, Maggie, and son Paul on their family property back on June 7, 2021. During the course of this trial, which is actually coming to an end shortly or it appears,

to be coming to an end shortly. The prosecution has presented the theory that Murdoch killed his family to distract attention away from alleged financial crimes that were about to be exposed, and we're going to get to that in a minute. But Alec Murdoch has been very adamant that he did not kill his wife and son, and his defense attorneys have said that the prosecution has failed to prove their case beyond the reasonable doubt and that the circumstantial evidence is weak. But now, Alec Murdoch took the stand.

And one of the main themes of his testimony was that he lied. And he lied about a lot. Now, we're going to discuss some of the major lies that he claims he told and their significance. But an overall take here, it seems to be that maybe the reason he was doing this. And by the way, it's possible and seems very likely that he said these things on the stand against the advice of his counsel. Remember, it's a defendant's decision to take the stand. And that is the defendant's decision alone. But it seems to me that one strategy be here, one theory could be that, hey, jury, I'm admitting to what I lied about.

And the fact that I can come clean about these lies means that you should trust me when I say I didn't kill my wife and son. So let's start with the big one, being at the crime scene. Paul and Maggie's dead bodies, they were found by Alec Murdoch at the kennels on their family property. He says he came home from visiting his sick mom. He found them there, called 911 at around 10.06 p.m. And since this case is started, Murdoch was adamant that he wasn't at the kennels. In fact, listen to what he told law enforcement multiple times. Well, Maggie went to go to the kennels.

And Paul left. And I'm assuming, you know, I'm assuming Paul left because of, you know, what happened. I mean, I'm assuming Paul went to the kennels. Okay. And what did you do when, once? Once Magny and Poe left? I stayed in the house. Okay.

And I was watching TV, looking at my phone, and I actually fell asleep on the couch. Okay. I stayed on the couch, and I dozed off. And then I got up. Did you watch TV that night? I know the TV was I believe the TV was on

but I didn't I wasn't watching it I've got information that Paul was I was not had you confronted him with what you're about asking prior to this no I had not

the question you had just asked him did that deal with whether he went down to the kennels or not after supper? Correct. And he said he had not. He had not. Okay, forward, please. And Maggie was hurt in the background, and you were hurt in the background.

And that was prior to none. I, Rogan Gibson asked me if I was up there. He said he thought it was me. Was it you? At, at 9 o'clock? Yes, sir. No, sir. Not if my time's right.

Do you think it could have been? I have no idea. And Rogan's been around your family. for pretty much all his life. Absolutely. And he recognizes your voice and you have a distinct voice. Do you think of anybody else that has the voice somewhere of yours that he may have misinterpreted? No, sir.

But then during this trial, the prosecution played a video that was taken off of Paul's phone. The infamous kennel video. And it was recorded at 8.44 p.m. lasted until 8.45 p.m. This is minutes before prosecutors say the two were killed. And again, this is by the kennels. This is at the crime scene. Get back. Get back. Come here.

Come here. Come here, Kish. Come here. Come, close to it. Calf. Hey, he's got a bird in his mouth. Baba. Hey, Bubba.

That's a guinea. This is a chicken. Come here, Baba. Come here, Baba. Come here, Baba. Catch. Quit. Come here, Baba.

Come here, Bob. And multiple people have testified that on that video, they heard the voices of Maggie, Paul, and Alec Murdoch. Do you recognize any voices on that video? I recognize three. Can you tell the jury what voices you recognize? I recognize Paul Murdoch. I recognize Maggie Murdoch. And I recognize Alec Murdoch.

And when you say Alec Murdoch, do you see him in the courtroom here today? I do. Can you point him out for the jury, please? Yes, sir. He's wearing a blue blazer and has his glasses on his head. And how sure are you? 100%. So Alec Murdoch gets on the stand.

And in the first five minutes, not even the first five minutes, he addresses that video and his whereabouts. Mr. Murdoch, is that you? On the kennel video at 8.44 p.m. on June 7th, the night Maddie and Paul were murdered? It is. Were you, in fact, at the kennels at 8.44 p.m. on the night Maggie and Paul were murdered? I was. Did you lie to Slet Agent Owen and Deputy Laura Rutland on the night of June 7th and told them that you stayed at the house after dinner?

I did lie to them. Did you lie to Agent Owen and Agent Cross? Crawf, on the follow-up interview on June 10th, that the last time you saw Maggie and Paul was at dinner? I did lie to them. And in the interview of August 11th, did you tell Agent Owen and Agent Crawl, did you lie to them by telling them that you were not down at the kennels on that night? Yes. Alex, why did you lie to Agent Owen, Agent Crawford, and Deputy Rutland, about the last time you saw Maggie and Paul? As my addiction evolved over time, I would get in these situations or circumstances where I would get paranoid thinking.

And it could be anything that triggered it. It might be a look somebody gave me. It might be a reaction somebody had to something I did. It might be a policeman. following me in a car. That night, June 7th, after finding Mags and Paul, Paul, don't talk to anybody without Danny with you. All my partners were just repeatedly telling me that. I had a deputy sheriff taking gunshot test from my hands. I'm sitting in a police car with David Owen asking me about my relationship with my wife and my son. And all those things coupled together after

finding them, coupled with my distrust for sled, caused me to have paranoid thoughts. So, I can't emphasize how important that is. He is admitting that that is his voice and he was there. That places him at the crime scene. Likely scenario that's coming in the minds of the juries, it seems to me to suggest to the jury that if they believe the prosecution's timeline, that if he isn't the killer, then the jury could be thinking, okay, so if he isn't the killer, then whoever did this,

waited for him to leave, grab the family guns. Remember, the prosecution says it was the Murdoch family weapons that were used. even though the actual murder weapons were ever recovered. So this person or persons grab the guns. They kill Maggie and Paul. They get out of there and they left Alec Murdoch alive. They kill them right when Alec Murdoch leaves the kennels. Again, if they believe the prosecution's timeline.

Does that seem a little too convenient? Does that seem reasonable? Could it have happened that way? Now, prosecutor Creighton Waters really press Murdoch on this admission. That the first time that law enforcement officers that you've talked to and the prosecution and here in open court ever heard you say that you lied about being in the kennels was today in this court. Yes, I'm aware of that. You would agree with that?

Yes, sir. All this time later, this is the first time you've ever said that. Yes, sir. Yeah, I think there's an interesting question to think about here. Would Alec Murdoch ever have admitted to being down at the kennels? Again, the crime scene if this kennel video never came out. Do you think he would have ever admitted it? Or was it because the video came out?

And it was because multiple people said that that's his voice. He really had nowhere else to go. Maybe, maybe not. And that is not the only thing that Alec Murdoch lied about being at the kennels. You see, he also lied about what he was doing instead. Remember, he said he stayed inside after dinner, watch TV, dozed off, took a nap, and then went to visit his sick mom. But now he says, well, actually, I didn't want to go down to the kennels, but I did,

doing some stuff with the dogs, doesn't remember what he said to Paul and Maggie before he left. He might have left at 8.47 p.m., which again is just three or four minutes before when prosecutors believed the murders took place based on cell phone data. He didn't want to get all hot and sweaty since he just showered and changed, and he went back to the house. So he wasn't just at the house the whole time like he was. originally said. And again, Craton Waters hit him on that. And you testified you went inside and the TV's on, right? I did go inside and the TV was on. Okay. And you laid down. Is that right? I did.

Before you said you'd been napping for an hour or so we're napping that entire time. And now you you lay down on the couch? That's correct. All right. And maybe dose for a second? Maybe. According to your new story, how long did you doze? If I dozed extremely short time. Extremely short time? Because you would agree with me that at 902, you're up and moving, according to the data. I agree that according to that data, my phone's recording steps at whatever time it is, 902 something.

I don't know if I got up, went to the bathroom. I don't know. I can't tell you exactly what. I was doing. That's far more steps in a shorter time period than any time prior, as you've seen from the testimony in this case. So what were you so busy doing? Going to the bathroom? No, I don't. I don't think that I went to the bathroom. No, I didn't get on a treadmill. Jogging place? No, I didn't jogging place. No, sir. I did not do Jumba jacks. What were you doing, Mr. Murdoch for those four months? Preparing to leave for my mom's house. What? What does that mean? I mean, you're in the front room on the that couch where you say you laid down. The suburban is just right outside. What all are you doing?

I don't know if I got up and went to my room, went to the gun room, went back in that. Doing what? You've been so clear in your new story about everything. What were you doing during these four minutes? I disagree with your assertion about every detail. I don't recall. I know that I was getting up and I was leaving. I was going to check on my mom. So was he, just getting ready to leave, or cleaning up and covering up the murders of Paul and Maggie. Now, a little caveat here. There are other things that Alec Murdoch initially said that seemed to be contradicted by the evidence and his testimony and the testimony of others.

I don't want to say that those are lies per se. It seems that that's going to be up to the jury. For now, there are just certain things that he did admit to lying to. And maybe he doesn't recall things or gets times and details wrong because of his drug use. Alec Murdoch testified that he was feeling paranoid because of the drugs. He wasn't thinking clearly on the day this happened. He testified he was taking dozens of pills a day, sometimes 2,000 milligrams of oxycodone daily. And that brings me to the fact that Alec Murdoch admitted he lied about his drug problem. I lied to my family about my addiction. And you hid from them

you were stealing client money? Did you not? they didn't know anything about that. And you've lied to your law partners about financial dealings and perhaps your addiction? Yes. And we'll talk more about the pills in the bit, but you say you're already struggling with pills in 2006, correct? That's correct.

But over that next 15 years, you still were able to maintain a lucrative law practice. Would you agree with that? Yes, sir. And you've already testified that all your law partners had no idea of this pill problem that you had all that time, correct? I'm testifying that I believe, in fact, I'm certain that none of my partners knew I had an addiction. And look, that could really suggest he really did have a problem,

and maybe that's why he was acting so strange and providing false information to police, or it could also lend into what the prosecution says that Alec Murdoch was afraid of his drug addiction and alleged financial crimes from being exposed, so he killed Maggie and Paul to distract attention away from that. The only problem with that is that while it's still not clear how much the law firm knew about the drug problems, it does seem pretty clear that Maggie and Paul knew about his addiction problems for a while. So there wouldn't really be a reason on that date, June 7th, to suddenly kill them. Something to think about for the jury, but a big lie. nonetheless. All right, so we're going to continue with Alec Murdoch's lies, many that he admitted

on the stand, still pretty incredible to think about what he admitted to. And that leads me to discuss another big lie or series of lies, lying to his clients and law firm and friends and family about stealing money. I mean, he said this on the stand. Well, the jury's heard about testimony of you stealing client funds. Did you do that? I did. Did you steal, would divert that ferris fee away from the law firm? I did.

How did you get in such a lot? financial predicament that led you to steal money that wasn't yours no I'm not quite sure how I let myself get where I got but it came from you know I've battled at addiction for so many years I was spending so much money on pills I got in a spot I couldn't Now, what type of addiction are you referring to? My addiction is to opiate painkillers. And when did you?

Specifically, oxycodone, oxycontin. Did you lie to your clients? Did you lie to Pamela Pinkney? I did. Natasha Thomas. I don't know that I dealt with Natasha, but I certainly lied about that. Kikin Pinkney. Again, I don't know that I talked to Khakene, but I certainly.

I certainly lied about that. Arthur Badger. I did. The pliler girl. I'm not sure that I talked specifically to them, but I lied about that. Dion Martin. I lied to Dionne. Johnny Bush.

Yes. Manuel Cristiani. I didn't have any conversations with him, but I certainly lied about it. Jamie and Richer. Yes. Randy Droughty. Randy Draughty. Yes.

Jordan Jenks. Yes. Mary Duncan. Yes. Adriana Hay. Yes. Angel Gary. Yes.

Christopher Anderson. Yes. Elise Mallory. Yes. Now why this is show shocking is because Alec Murdoch faces over 90 separate charges related to these financials. crimes. We're talking money laundering, tax evasion, theft, insurance fraud, all outside of this murder case. The fact that he just admitted all of this is devastating. I mean, is he not going to

plead guilty now to all this? It's not clear. It's kind of hard for me to imagine that this is something his attorneys advised him to do. In fact, I think it might have been some disagreement between Alec Murdoch and his attorneys about his decision to testify. I said before it is his decision to testify. The strategy here could be, again, jury, I'm admitting. to some really devastating stuff. But I'm doing this to show you I may be a liar, I may be a cheat, but I am not a killer. If I admit this to you, then you could believe me when I say I didn't kill my wife and son. Then again, of course, the question is if he can lie to his family, friends, law enforcement, clients, police,

why should the jury really believe he's not lying to them now? What stops him from lying to them? give a separate specific call out for the lies that he told Tony Satterfield. Tony Satterfield is the son of the late Gloria Satterfield, who was the housekeeper for the Murdox who died from a slip and fall at the Murdoch family home. Now, Tony Satterfield testified that Alec Murdoch told him and told him and his brother that he would make sure they were financially taken care of and advised them to file a wrongful death claim after his mother's death.

The only problem is, according to Tony, Alec Murdoch never told him about the multiple sediments in this case, and the brothers would never paid anything. Just to clear this up, how often would you talk to the defendant? Three to four times a year, something I believe I can't recall, every few months. Would you talk by phone or would you talk by text or both? Both. And when you would talk to him, would you ask about the status of your case? Yes.

And each time you talk to him, what did he say? It was making progress. Making progress. Do you say it was a hard case or not? Yes. Did he ever tell you about how much money he might be able to get for you? The goal was to get $100,000 apiece for me and my brother. At any time over the years, did he ever tell you that there had already been a recovery in the case?

No. At any time over the years, did he mention anything about having a $5 million umbrella policy? No. At any time, did he ever pay you one penny? No. And once again, Alec Murdoch admitted on the stand to what he did. Do you remember looking Tony Satterfield in the eye and lying to him? I remember lying to Tony Satterfield, and I remember looking him in the eye on many occasions.

And lying to him? Yeah. Lying to his family? I lied to his family. I don't know if I did it in person. But I know I had phone conversations with him where I lied to him. So again, if he could lie to this innocent family, could he be lying to the jurors as well? How do they know if he's telling the truth?

All right. Let's finish this out. And we're going to finish this out with another major lie. And this is the infamous roadside shooting. So we know that Alec Murdoch in September 2021 was shot. Half the guy in Mount Monroe, there's your emergency. Oh, no, I'm a sock a hatchy, road. Okay, what's going on?

I've stopped, I got a flat tire, and I stopped, and somebody stopped to help me. And when I turned my back, they tried to shoot me. Oh, okay, will you shot? Yes. Now, at the time, he said it was some unknown shooter. However, Alec Murdoch would eventually reveal that that two was a lot. that he got a man named Curtis Eddie Smith to shoot him as part of a scheme, a scheme where with him dead, his surviving son, Buster, could potentially receive the proceeds of a multi-million

dollar life insurance payout, and he would eventually admit this lie to law enforcement. You tell him, somebody shocked? Yes, sir. Some answer, that's your right? at my request so your intent was to have him kill you so he could collect your wife insurance

right so my son could I mean I knew I was about to lose everything and I figured he's better off that way then even with me and Alec Murdoch admitted this even further when he took the stand

you saw the video from the ambulance where you said you'd been attacked by an unknown assailant and described them? I did. And you heard the testimony from Ryan Kelly, where you again went into detail and described this attack from an unknown assailant? I did. And you heard the testimony about your interview on September 6th with law enforcement

in which you went into great detail and again described this unknown assailant? I did. And you heard the testimony, and in fact, the image was put in about how you sat down with a sled sketch artist and spent a period of time with her going forward and creating an image of the supposed assailant. I did sit down with it. I was in the hospital, and they came in, sat down with me, asked me a bunch of questions. I answered their questions. Yes, you did.

It came to a, it came up with a composite. Yes, sir. Sat there and answered their questions just as effortlessly and convincingly as you've been trying to do for the past two days, isn't that correct? No, sir. That's not true. In that hospital, I was, I mean, I couldn't sit still. I was standing up.

I was walking around. I was using the bathroom with the lady sitting right there. I was, you know, I was two days. days into not taking three days into not taking pills like I had been so no it wasn't effortlessly but I mean I told them what I told them I don't dispute that I lied it was all lies though is the point correct it was you were asked about the roadside shooting and and your intent was to end your life that day was it was no question and

and you were shot but not killed, and then you made up a lie to law enforcement about what happened, right? That's correct. So a few things to take away from here. First of all, like we talked about, if he's willing to lie to police about a violent crime, is he lying now about another violent crime? If he can think to come up with this plot, did he not also plot to kill his family? Again, the theory put forward by the prosecution is that when trouble is at Murdoch's door, step, he creates bad things. He was about to be exposed for financial crimes. He kills his family. He's fired by his law firm, and then shortly after he does this. So now Alec Murdoch

responds to this by saying, wait a second, my intent here was for me to die. This was not any way connected to what happened to Paul and Maggie. And the lie that you told of an unknown assailant was to try to make people think that the quote real bad guys were back again to finish the job. Isn't that true? No, sir. That's not true. That's not the effect that you intended that story to have? Did it have that effect on people that you knew? Isn't that the exact effect that it had? I don't I don't think there's many people that believe that. No, sir. I know the people that were, I mean, the people that were closest to me didn't believe that. So, no, sir. When accountability is at your door, Mr. Murdoch, bad things

happened. Don't, isn't that true? When accountability is that my door, go ahead. Bad things happen? What do you mean by bad things? June 7th happened. September 4th happened. I don't believe that June the 7th happened because accountability issues were at my doorstep. Now, I do believe in September that I tried to get a man to help me kill myself because issues were at my doorstep. every time or I'm sorry for the first time in your life

of privilege and prominence and wealth when you're facing accountability each time suddenly you became a victim and everyone ran to your aid isn't that true?

I mean I disagree with that but And what you're Shame for you is an extraordinary provocation. Isn't that true, Mr. Murdo? Let me just finish this. You seem to be implying two days, June the 7th and September and talking about accountability issues.

And I mean, to me, those two things are totally different. There were no accountability issues on my doorstep on June the 7th. That's what you say. And in September, I was trying to, well, no, I mean, been a lot of people. Well, in September, that wasn't designed to gain me sympathy. That was designed for me not to be here because I didn't want my son. to have to deal with the wake of the things that I had done. But that's not the story you told.

The story that came out of your mouth right away was the story of you getting attacked by some unknown assailant while you were trying to change a tire and run flats. That's the story that you told. That is the story I told, but that's because the man who shot me did not shoot me that day as I intended. And I had to have a story as to how I got shot.

So I lied. Again, not every day you have a defendant admitting to so much. It comes a question. What will the jury do with all this information? And that's all we have for you here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. Please subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber.

I'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this law and crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.