- A mother and son found dead,
millions of dollars in missing money,
and the downfall of a family dynasty.
The saga of the Murdaugh Family
attracted national attention,
after disbarred South Carolina Lawyer, Alex Murdaugh,
was accused of killing his wife and son.
- Every day, almost, since the homicides
something new has happened,
and I think that's just captivating to people.
- [Elise] Murdaugh was charged
with two counts of murder in July 2022,
after his wife Maggie and son Paul,
were found fatally shot a year earlier
at the family's hunting estate.
He's pleaded not guilty to the charges
and will face trial in Colleton County, South Carolina.
Here's what you need to know
about the case against Alex Murdaugh.
The first stage of the trial is jury selection,
but because of the prominent family name
selecting 12 jurors
that aren't familiar with the Murdaugh Family or the case
will be a challenge.
- Jury selection is just gonna be incredibly tough,
everybody knows the Murdaugh's.
- [Elise] That's because the legacy
and legal influence of the Murdaugh Family
in Southeastern, South Carolina,
dates back to the early 1900s.
The family established
one of the state's dominant law firms in 1910,
and three generations of Murdaugh's
have presided as solicitors over the 14th Judicial Circuit,
which covers five counties in South Carolina
- From, you know, 1920,
when the first Murdaugh ran for office,
until, you know, 2006,
they knew every law enforcement officer in their region.
- [Elise] The local agencies
that first arrived at the crime scene
recused themselves from the case
because of the family's close ties to law enforcement.
- They have this pretty serious reputation,
even now, even with Alex Murdaugh in jail
for more than a year,
people are still intimidated by this family
because they've known him their whole life.
- Richard Alex Murdaugh, are you guilty or not guilty
of the felonies wherein you stand indicted?
- Not Guilty.
- [Elise] While investigating the double homicide,
law enforcement discovered evidence
of a string of alleged financial crimes.
- He was a personal injury lawyer.
His clients were some of the poorest of the poor
and the most badly injured,
and he's accused of siphoning money off of judgements
that he won on behalf of his clients.
- [Elise] Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty
to most of those charges.
But in a filing submitted to the court,
prosecutors state, "The alleged wrongdoing
that led to these charges gave him motive for murder."
- Alex was under a huge amount of pressure
to turn over to the court evidence of his finances
in a boat crash case involving his son.
And prosecutors say that if he had done that,
it would've led to the unraveling
of this alleged scheme of crime
that he'd been running for a decade,
and that was enough to set him off that night
and kill his wife and son.
- [Elise] Prosecutors state that,
After Maggie and Paul were found dead,
people immediately treated Defendant
as the victim of an unspeakable tragedy.
The day of reckoning vanished."
The defense has called this theory,
"Illogical and implausible."
- The prosecution has a tough climb here.
They have got to prove beyond a reasonable doubt
that Alex alone committed these murders,
in a circumstantial case, and in a case
where the evidence is in some question in some cases.
- [Elise] The shirt Murdaugh wore
on the night of the murders
is expected to be a key piece of evidence in the trial.
According to court documents,
'It had microscopic amounts of blood spatter."
Something prosecutors say,
"Indicates Murdaugh was close to one of his family members
when they were shot."
But in a separate filing, defense attorneys claimed that,
"The state used unreliable methods to test the shirt,
ultimately making it impossible to test further."
- It could help the prosecution if their expert
is able to say,
"Yes, there was this this high-velocity impact spatter
on the shirt."
But it opens up a chance for the defense
'cause they were never able
to have their own expert independently look at it.
- [Elise] Instead, the prosecution could lean
on digital evidence to help prove their case.
Court documents filed by the defense
describe a video recorded on Paul's phone saying,
"He can be heard having a lighthearted conversation
with his mom and dad in the background,
which places Murdaugh at the hunting estate
a little over an hour before he called 911,
which conflicts with the timing of his alibi."
- The defense has said,
"Yeah, maybe he was imprecise about,
you know, who we saw and when.
But what that video shows is them laughing
and talking with one another.
So this was a loving family,
and you're gonna tell me that
after this video was recorded,
Alex Murdaugh shot his wife and kid, that's unacceptable."
- [Elise] The trial is expected to last several weeks
and prosecutors are seeking life imprisonment for Murdaugh.
- It's incredible to think about,
the family built this name for a hundred years,
and the reason it will be remembered
is because of Alex and what he's alleged to have done.
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