Who is Alex Murdaugh, and what happened?

Alex Murdaugh, a DISBARRED lawyer, is on trial for the murders his son and wife in June 2021.

Court documents were made public, providing additional clues about the chronology of events and what actually happened on the night Murdaugh’s relatives were murdered.

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Who is Alex Murdaugh

Alex Murdaugh is Maggie Murdaugh’s husband, 52-year-old, and Paul Murdaugh’s 22-year old son. They were both found dead at their home on June 7, 2021.

Murdaugh was the eighth of a long list of prosecutors, dating back to the first politician over 100 years ago. However, everything changed when Murdaugh called 911 at 10.07pm to report that his son and wife had been shot to death.

Authorities discovered shell casings on the scene. They said that Maggie and Paul had been shot multiple times, and that they hadn’t initially found a weapon.

According to a chronology of events Murdaugh called the dispatcher of the police and said that he was returning home to find his son’s and wife’s bodies.

“I’ve been gone,”Murdaugh said this to a dispatcher: “I just came back.”

The coroner found that Maggie and Paul died around 9pm or 9.30pm. However, Murdaugh gave an explanation that he had spent the day at home with his mother (dead) and her caretaker.

But the mystery surrounding the murders started to unravel three months later when Murdaugh was driving and his car had a flat.

According to reports, he stopped to change his tire. A man driving by then turned around and shot Murdaugh.

He was shot in the head by a small gun. Information later revealed Murtaugh had hired an accomplice to kill him to ensure his oldest son, Butler would get the $10million of insurance money.

Curtis Edward Smith, aged 61, was arrested and charged with assisted suicide.

Investigators dug into Murdaugh’s history and discovered that he had engaged in fraudulent business dealings. Murdaugh was arrested November 19, 2021.

He was indicted for 27 charges, including breaching trust with fraudulent intent, obtaining property or signature by false pretenses.

According to the office of the state attorney general, “Altogether, Murdaugh is charged with respect to alleged schemes to defraud victims and thereafter launder”Close to $4.9 million

He was also charged with computer crimes and breach of trust, among other charges.

The total of 71 fraud and theft charges amount to $8.5million over the course of 11 years.

Alex Murdaugh was convicted of murder

After authorities found a cellphone recording that they believed linked Murdaugh to the crime, the investigation into Maggie’s and Paul’s murders picked up momentum in July 2022.

Murdaugh was charged with double murder in July for the deaths of his son and wife.

“Over the last 13 months, SLED agents and our partners have worked day in and day out to build a case against the person responsible for the murders of Maggie and Paul and to exclude those who were not,” Mark Keel, the chief of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, or SLED, told NBC News.

“Agents did not lose sight of this investigation at any point. Since the beginning, it was clear to me that justice was the priority. Today is one more step in a long process for justice for Maggie and Paul.”

Federal agents stated that Murdaugh was located at the scene of crime in the video.

Murdaugh’s lawyers stated in a statement that Murdaugh was guilty of the following: “Alex wants his family, friends, and everyone to know that he did not have anything to do with the murders of Maggie and Paul. He loved them more than anything in the world.”

“It was clear from day one, that law enforcement and Attorney General prematurely concluded Alex was responsible for the murders of his wife (and son),” the statement continued.

“But we know that Alex did not have any motive whatsoever to murder them.”

His lawyers filed an order to turn over any evidence he had within 30 days. He also requested a trial within 60 day of receiving the evidence.

Murdaugh has pleaded guilty to the double-murder charge, and a trial date for January 23rd 2023 has been set.

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What is the new information?

New court documents reveal that Murdaugh’s murder trial includes a crucial component regarding his death date and location.

Prosecutors reported that Maggie and Paul were both killed between 8.30 and 10.06pm. However, a coroner originally stated their deaths occurred between 9 and 9:30pm.

At an August hearing, Prosecutors disclosed that Paul’s phone recorded audio and video of his parents’ conversations shortly before their death at 8.44pm.

Prosecutors revealed that Murdaugh had driven to Alameda in his car just after 9:06pm. He then headed to his father’s house in Alameda. An hour later, the 911 call was received from the Moselle property, where the bodies were discovered.

Murdaugh’s lawyers were ordered to give their client’s alibi within ten working days, including specific places or places Murdaugh claimed to have been.

They have also ordered Murdaugh’s release of the addresses and names of witnesses to back up his alibi.

Murdaugh may plead guilty “insanity, mental illness, entrapment, or duress,”He must do so within the time limit of ten days.

Murdaugh’s lawyer Dick Harpootlian said in July his client wanted to expedite the trial “for a number of reasons – one, as you heard, he believes he’s innocent.

“And two, he believes the killer or killers are still at large and wants SLED to put this behind them and go look for the real killers.” 

Although Creighton Waters, the Prosecutor, didn’t give any details about what was on the video recording, he did tell the courtroom: “The evidence in this case is substantial. It all comes back to Alex Murdaugh.”