The murder trial of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh has produced moments of high drama and surprise — but Friday could surpass all that came before, as the prosecution continues their cross-examination of Murdaugh on the witness stand.
Court will resume at 9:30 a.m. ET. Murdaugh is expected to spend at least the first half of the day on the witness stand.
Murdaugh has already admitted under oath that he repeatedly lied to police investigating the killings of his wife and son and that he stole settlement money from clients.
And all that happened before the prosecution had yet asked Murdaugh about the events of June 7, 2021, the day his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, were killed at the family’s hunting estate in the state’s rural Lowcountry.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters will turn to the events of the murders the day after peppering Murdaugh with questions about his years spent deceiving clients. With the jury looking on, Waters repeatedly asked Murdaugh, the scion of a family with influence and wealth, about how he enriched himself with millions of dollars meant to help regular people cope with life-changing accidents.
On the stand, Murdaugh repeatedly said he could not remember details or precise conversations — but he declined to dispute the prosecutor’s accounts of the misdeeds.
Waters also questioned Murdaugh about a solicitor’s badge he carried for years — a credential he received from his father when he volunteered at the circuit solicitor’s office that elder generations of the Murdaugh family led for some 86 years.
Waters displayed a photo of Murdaugh wearing the badge as he spoke to people on the night of his son Paul’s boating accident in 2019, which left one woman dead. That event thrust the family into an unwelcome spotlight, and Murdaugh has said he believes it is linked to the execution-style slayings.
Murdaugh also acknowledged keeping the badge handy in his car, in case he was pulled over, for instance.
“A badge has a warming effect with other law enforcement,” Murdaugh said.