Law&Crime Sidebar - Top 5 Critical Moments from Alex Murdaugh’s Family Murder Trial — Week One

Episode Date: January 31, 2023

Disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh's family murder trial kicked off with opening statements Wednesday. The disbarred South Carolina attorney stands accused of murdering his wife and youngest son in June 2021. The Law&Crime Network's Jesse Weber breaks down the top 5 key moments from opening statements.LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergVideo Editing - Logan HarrisGuest Booking - Alyssa FisherSocial Media Management - 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. The trial of Alec Murdoch is already bringing some memorable moments. Five key points from week one. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Long Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. The male victim laying on the ground to my left, as well as the female victim on the ground to my right. The male victim was close to a small shed in the dog kennel on the left. There was a large deal of blood that had pulled around his body. Same thing for the female victim on the right.

Also a large amount of blood around her body. As you approached and at first saw the male victim and the female victim, what was your assessment? Was there any possible signs of life from your... My initial assessment was that there was not. There appeared to be a large amount of blood around each of them, as well as brain matter. Did you ultimately have a conversation with Mr. Murdoch when you were out there? I did.

And do you see him here in the courtroom today, the person that you talked to? I do. And can you point him out to the jury, please? Yes, sir. He's right there wearing a dark blue or black jacket. Your Honor, can the record reflect that he's identified Mr. Murdoch? It does. The trial of Alec Murdoch is underway.

The renowned South Carolina attorney is accused of murdering his wife, Maggie, and his son Paul. Now, prosecutors say that he shot them to death on June 7, 2021 on their family property. And after week one, there is a lot to talk about. So let's recap five key moments from week one in the Alec Murdoch trial. And we'll start off with opening statements. Opening statements from the prosecution and the defense, both sides, setting the stage for the jury on what to expect from the case. and we'll start off with Prosecutor Creighton Waters, who highlighted really especially important evidence for the jury to consider, but really we have to talk about this

curious cell phone video. At 8, 44, and 55 seconds, Paul recorded a video. He was down to the kennels because he had been talking to a friend of his, and you're going to hear from this friend because his friend's dog was in the kennels and they thought there was something wrong with the tail. And Paul was recording a video of it to send to his friend.

8.44 and 55 seconds. And on that video and you'll see that video and you'll hear from witnesses that identify Paul's voice, Maggie's voice, and

Alex's voice told anyone who would listen he was never there at 844 in 55 seconds there's a video the evidence will show

that he was there he was at the murder scene with the two victims and more than that just over three minutes later 849 in one second Paul's

phone locks forever. And he also talked about the significance of a piece of clothing. You're also going to hear evidence that about a week after the murders, Mr. Al Murdoch's father had died, Mr. Randolph. And about a week after the murders, he shows up early in the morning at his parents' home, where his mother still is in late stage Alzheimer's. on Alameda and Hampton, it's uncharacteristic for him to show up early, uncharacteristic for him to show up and all like that, and he comes in,

and he's carrying something in a blue tarp, and he takes it upstairs, and eventually law enforcement finds out about that, and they go upstairs, and they find upstairs, they find a wide-up, very, very large raincoat in a blue color, could look like a tarp, and you're going to hear evidence that it was coated with gunshot residue on the inside. On the inside. Now, defense attorney Dick Harputlian said it makes absolutely no sense for Alec to murder his family, who he loved. You're not going to hear a single witness say that their relationship, Maggie and Alex's relationship,

or anything other than loving, you're going to hear about how they went to. a baseball game the weekend before. You're going to hear about their relationship. You're going to see texts and emails, indicating a loving relationship. Paul, the apple of his eye, you're going to see a video somewhere between 7.30 and 8 o'clock the night of the murders,

with Paul and Alec writing around looking at some trees they planted. It's a Snapchat that Paul sent to other people because the trees were not planted very well. They were cantilevering over. They're laughing. They're having a good time. That would be about an hour before, the Attorney General says, he spotted them. The gases from that shot literally exploded his head like a watermelon hit with a sledgehammer.

All that was left was the front of his face, everything else was gone. His brain exploded out of his head, hit the ceiling in the shed, and dropped to his feet. Horrendous, horrible, butchering. So to find out Murdof guilty of murdering his son, you're going to have to accept. accept that within an hour of having a extraordinarily bonding, you can see it in the Snapchat, that he executes him in a brutal fashion. And also said, prosecution can't prove their case. There's a lack of forensic evidence.

You're going to hear their witnesses explain the catastrophic injuries to Paul that his head literally exploded. And whoever shot him with that shotgun was probably no more than three feet. away, maybe closer, maybe a little further way. His head exploded. You would be covered in blood

from head to foot. Head to foot. In blood. They seized his clothes that night. Slead did. And they test, well, first of all, you're going to see in the videos from the officers that arrived that night. There's no blood on him.

They didn't find any blood on him. Sledged testing indicated 12 different places on his shirt and pants. No human blood detected. Period. So now opening statements, they're not evidence. The jury's really not supposed to consider them as evidence, but they are persuasive statements for the jury to think about. It's, again, previews of what to expect. And as I said, after opening statements, sometimes I can tell which side has a stronger case, who might even win.

can't tell it here. We need to let the evidence decide for ourselves. And let's talk about the evidence. We're going to start right now with the 911 phone call. So 911 phone calls usually start off a case and an investigation. And here it was the call from Alec Murdoch. It was the 911 call from the defendant himself. You see, Murdoch was the one who alerted police to the fact that his wife and his son were dead. His alibi is that he went to visit his mother, who had late stage al-timers, and when he came back to his property, he found his family by the dog kennels deceased. Now, let's listen to this 911 phone call because the defense and the prosecution are framing it in their own ways, right? The prosecution's suggesting that he's faking his

sadness and he's trying to cover up what he did, defense saying this is a genuine expression of grief and shock. I'll leave it to you. 47 Moselle Road. I think the police just passes immediately my wife and Tom to stop the average. Okay, you said 4147 Moselle Road in Allison. You said 4147 Moselle Road in Arlington? Yes, sir, 4147 Moselle Road.

Stay on the line with me, okay? Yes, sir, stay on the line with me, okay? Call on the County Communications. Collison, I have an Alex Murdoch on the line, call her from 1440. line caller from 4147 Moselle Road. He's advising that his wife and child was shot. Okay, and sir, give me the address again? It's 41-47, Moselle Road. I've been up to it now. It's bad. Okay. Okay, and are they breathing? No, ma'am. Okay, and you said it's your wife and your son?

My wife and my son. Are they in a vehicle? No, ma'am, they're on the ground out at my kennels. Okay. And did you see anyone? Okay. Is he breathing at all? No. Is she?

Okay. Do you see anything? Do you see anyone in the area? No, ma'am. No, ma'am. What colors your house on the outside? What color is your house on the outside? outside?

It's what? You can't see it from the road. Okay. Is it a house or a mobile home? It's a house. Okay. And what is your name? My name is Alex.

Murdoch. I am not sure that that 911 phone call, as important as it is, is going to make or break the case. I think it is more just a piece of the overall puzzle, but significant nonetheless. Something else to note, though, about that 911 phone call is that Murdoch was instructed not to touch the bodies, but he said that he said that he did. did so already because he was checking on them for a pulse. Now, there was been a back and forth on whether he did that and also perhaps would explain any biological or DNA material on him or his

clothes. I should tell you that pre-trial, we heard a back and forth about this from the defense and the prosecution. The prosecution saying that blood on Murdoch would be from blood spatter, the close range gunshots, the blowback from the blood of the bodies. Defense said no, that any blood on him was from touching the bodies, not being the shooter. I think the judge in this case has yet to rule on the divisibility of that, Evan, so we're going to see which way it ultimately shakes up. Now, we would actually hear a lot more from Alec Murdoch in this week one, and that brings me to another notable moment, the testimony of Sergeant Daniel Green,

one of the first responders to the scene. Listen to him testifying about his initial observations. As I approached toward him, I could see the, male victim laying on the ground to my left as well as the female victim on the ground to my right the male victim was close to a small shed in the dog kennel on the left there was a large deal of blood that had pulled around his body same thing for the female victim on the right also a large amount of blood around her body his immediate reaction was to start telling me about an incident that had happened with his son with a boating accident with the boating accident yes sir had you asked him anything

I did not. And then Sergeant Green's body cam was played as well. It was earlier tonight. I don't know the exact time, but I left. I was probably gone an hour and a half from my mom's, and I saw them about 45 minutes before that. Okay. I rode around with Paul for two hours this afternoon and the pickup truck.

That's your son, Paul? Okay. Somebody going to check them? Yes, sir. They've already checked them. They did check them? That's official that they're dead? Yes, sir, that's what it looks like.

When you observe these victims, was it obvious that they had injuries and compatible with life? Yes, any reasonable person that came upon those bodies would have come to a conclusion that they were deceased. This is the firearm you brought from inside the house. Yes, sir. I went again. This is a long story. My son was in a boat wreck. He was been getting threats. Most of us have been benign stuff. We didn't. take serious. You know, he's been getting, like, punched. I know that's somebody. I know that's what it is. Okay. What Murdoch is referring to is how in 2019, a teenager named Mallory Beach died in an accident on the Murdoch family boat. Paul was allegedly driving. He was allegedly engaging in

underage drinking. A lawsuit was filed by Beach's family. And it ultimately, I should tell you, recently. Case has been settled. So did Alec Murdoch grab a gun from the house because he was scared? Does he legitimately believe his son and wife were murdered over this incident? Or is he creating an elaborate story, an elaborate cover-up, immediately drawing suspicion away from himself. Look, I mean, it's an odd killing, two victims, two different weapons, these alternative scenarios that makes it something to think about. And just focusing a little bit more on the people who responded to the scene, Jason Chapman, a major with the Colleton County Sheriff's Office, said that while Murdoch didn't, you know, shed any tears on the scene, he did look upset. He did say it was interesting

that the emotion kind of changed when investigators started doing their work, when they started looking at the tire tracks, the impressions at the scene, he was quoted as saying, quote, the breathing slowed and he began to watch us work more closely, sometimes out of the corner of his eye. So these initial impressions from investigators are always important. Now, another key moment that we have to focus on is the defense. Because the defense had an opportunity to cross-examine prosecution witnesses, and we want to highlight right now how Dick Arputtlian cross-examined Sergeant Green. Who's that standing inside the feedroom? Just inside that doorway was Deputy McDowell. Okay. Were you the president? Is that your body cams? You're watching him do it,

right? That's correct. Should he have done that? Stand where he's standing. Standing inside the feed room? It's part of the. crime scene we're all standing inside the crime scene inside what? The crime scene we are all standing in the same crime scene. I understand the same crime scene but clearly you believe based on discussion and everyone in your

unit believe that the fatal shot was made where he basically standing correct in that area where we are all standing yes yes sir is that procedure to walk around on top of an area where

shots have been fired and I think Even in this, they're talking about tissue or brain matter laying there. I mean, aren't you supposed to? You don't put anything on your feet. This shows you where the defense is going, that there were problems in the investigation and how the crime scene was processed, issues with evidence preservation. It is a common strategy, a common tactic in cases like this.

And I'll tell you what, it can definitely hurt a prosecution's case for sure. So we know why they're highlighting it and focusing on it. All right. Now let's move on to another big moment. And that is when jurors actually saw Alec Murdoch in an interview on the night of the killings. It happened inside of a state agent's car. I think it lasted about 30 minutes. It took place hours after the shootings.

In fact, Murdoch's lawyer, Danny Henderson, was also in the car. I believe he was in the back seat. And you're going to see at one point that Alec Murdoch becomes uncontrollable. Just start the top, take your time. Um, like when I came back here, I mean, I pulled up and I could see them and, you know, I knew something was bad. I ran out. I knew it was really bad. My boy over there, I could see it was.

I'm so sorry. And I could see his brain on. And I ran over to him. Actually, I think I tried to turn Paul over first. Um, uh, you know, I try to turn him over and, uh, I don't know, I figured it out. Um, uh, his cell phone popped out of his pocket. I started to try to do something with it, thinking maybe, but then I put it back down really quickly. Um, then I went to my wife and I, I mean, I could see.

Uh-huh. Did you touch Maggie at all? I did. I touched them both. I try to take, I mean, I try to do it as limited as possible, but I try to take their pulse on both of them. And, you know, I called 911 pretty much right away, and she was very good. Now, it's interesting because the prosecution's theory is that Alec Murdoch killed his family to gain sympathy, to gain sympathy as a way to distract attention away from his alleged

financial crimes that were about to be exposed, all in separate cases. Give you an idea. He's facing over 90 separate charges related to alleged money laundering, stealing from clients, hiring a hitman to kill him so that his son could receive insurance payouts. There's a lot. So you could say that him acting this way and crying or being upset is all part of that scheme. The alternative theory is that maybe he really did discover his family murdered and he's emotional and he legitimately believes someone was upset with Paul over Mallory Beach and did this.

And I'll tell you, he's also quite vocal, right? I mean, he's constantly speaking with authorities, cooperative. He was the one who called 911, apparently consented to the police. investigation and these searches. So the question is, if someone committed this crime, would they do that? Would they be this cooperative? This open? That'll be up for a jury to decide. And that's all we have for you, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us here on Sidebar. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.

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