February 24, 2023 Alex Murdaugh testifies in murder trial

By Adrienne Vogt and Elise Hammond, CNN

Updated 8:32 PM ET, Fri February 24, 2023
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4:07 p.m. ET, February 24, 2023

Prosecutor questions Murdaugh on idea of "random vigilante" involvement in murders

From CNN's Alta Spells

Prosecutor Creighton Waters cross examines Alex Murdaugh during Murdaugh's trial on Friday at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters cross examines Alex Murdaugh during Murdaugh's trial on Friday at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina. (Joshua Boucher/The State/AP)

Prosecutor Creighton Waters questioned Alex Murdaugh about the idea a "random vigilante" could be involved in the murder of his wife and son.

Murdaugh testified that he believed a fatal boat wreck that Paul Murdaugh was involved in was the reason for the killings. He then clarified that he did not believe anyone involved in the 2019 boat wreck had anything to do with the murders — but suspected it was someone who had heard about what happened.

 "What you're telling this jury is that this is a random vigilante," Waters said.

"That's your term," Murdaugh answered.

"So what you're telling this jury is that it's a random vigilante, the 12-year-old, 5'2" people, that just happened to know Paul and Maggie were both at Moselle on June 7, knew they would be at the kennels alone on June 7, knew you would not be there, but only between the times of 8:49 and 9:02. That they show up without a weapon, assuming they'll find weapons and ammunition there, that they commit this crime during that short window and then they travel the exact same route that you do around the same time to Almeda. That is what you're trying to tell this jury," Waters said.

"You got a lot of factors in there, Mr. Waters. All of which I do not agree with, but some of which I do," Murdaugh said.

Some background: Murdaugh’s son Paul was allegedly the driver of the boat that wrecked in February 2019, killing 19-year-old Mallory Beach.

At the time of his death, Paul Murdaugh was facing charges of boating under the influence, causing great bodily harm and causing death. He pleaded not guilty, and court records show the charges were dropped after his death.

Murdaugh previously testified that Paul received "the most vile threats" on social media after the crash.

2:31 p.m. ET, February 24, 2023

Court is back in session

Defendant Alex Murdaugh is back on the stand after a lunch break on Friday.

Murdaugh, who is accused of killing his wife and son, is facing questions from the prosecution.

1:06 p.m. ET, February 24, 2023

Court is in recess for a lunch break

From CNN's Alta Spells

The Murdaugh trial is now in recess for lunch. Court will resume at 2:15 p.m. ET.

Prosecutors have been questioning disgraced former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is on trial for murder in the deaths of his wife and son, this morning. It's the second day Murdaugh has testified in his own defense.

1:56 p.m. ET, February 24, 2023

Murdaugh offers more explanation about why he lied to police about where he was on night of murders

The prosecution played parts of a video of Alex Murdaugh being interviewed by police in a car on the night of the murders.
The prosecution played parts of a video of Alex Murdaugh being interviewed by police in a car on the night of the murders. (Pool)

Alex Murdaugh pointed to several different things he believed contributed to his decision to lie to law enforcement about where he was the night his wife, Maggie, and son Paul were murdered.

He first admitted to lying to investigators during his first day of testimony Thursday when he said he was not at the scene of the killings.

Being questioned by the prosecution Friday, Murdaugh said his partners at his law firm advised him not to talk to anyone without a lawyer.

"That was just one of the many things that I believe led to that situation, sitting in there, where those paranoid thoughts came to me," Murdaugh said.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters played parts of a video of Murdaugh being interviewed by police in a car on the night of the murders. Murdaugh also said his “distrust of SLED," or the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, was another factor that contributed to his paranoia, in addition to "the fact that I have a pocket full of pills in my pocket," he said.

He also said questions about his relationship with Maggie and Paul made him uneasy.

"All of those factors combined and made me decide to lie," Murdaugh testified.

Some background: Within moments of taking the stand Thursday, Murdaugh acknowledged his voice is heard in a video that appeared to be filmed at the dog kennels where the bodies of his wife and child were found, saying he lied about being at the kennels earlier that evening because of “paranoid thinking” stemming from his drug addiction.

CNN's Dakin Andone, Dianne Gallagher, Randi Kaye and Alta Spells contributed reporting to this post.

12:46 p.m. ET, February 24, 2023

Murdaugh: "I never manufactured any alibi"

Alex Murdaugh tells the court Friday that he is "not manufacturing an alibi."
Alex Murdaugh tells the court Friday that he is "not manufacturing an alibi." (Pool)

Pressed about various phone calls he made after his wife and son were killed, Alex Murdaugh said "it's an absolute fact" that he was not trying to manufacture an alibi.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters asked Murdaugh, who is testifying in his own defense, about what he was doing during a period of about four minutes before he left to go to his mom's house.

“It's an absolute fact that I'm not manufacturing an alibi, as you say," Murdaugh said, and categorized the calls as "very normal." Several of the calls were to his wife, Maggie, who had been killed near the dog kennels.

Asked why he didn't go down to the kennels to check why Maggie wasn't answering, Murdaugh said, "There was no reason to."

“It wasn’t important to do that,” he said, because the calls were to let them know he was leaving but he would be back.

"I never manufactured any alibi in any way shape or form because I did not, and would not, hurt my wife and my child," he said. "So I know for a fact that I never, ever, ever created an alibi."

12:13 p.m. ET, February 24, 2023

Murdaugh testifies on the 4th anniversary of boat crash involving his son

From CNN’s Dianne Gallagher

Alex Murdaugh took the stand in his own defense for the second day on Friday — the fourth anniversary of the boat crash involving his son Paul that killed Mallory Beach.

Mallory Beach, 19, was thrown from the boat in the February 24, 2019, crash. Her body was found about a week later, on March 3, 2019. 

At the time of his 2021 murder, Paul was awaiting trial on felony charges that he was drunk while driving the boat during the deadly crash. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges. The charges were dropped after Paul was killed. 

In court, state prosecutors have said they believe Murdaugh murdered his wife and son to distract from decades of alleged financial crimes being discovered, the scope of which could have been revealed at a hearing schedule for the boat crash civil lawsuit the same week Maggie and Paul were killed. 

 

12:09 p.m. ET, February 24, 2023

Murdaugh: I sometimes took more than 2,000 milligrams of oxycodone a day

From CNN’s Alta Spells

Alex Murdaugh testifies on Friday.
Alex Murdaugh testifies on Friday. (Pool)

During cross-examination Friday, Alex Murdaugh said he sometimes took more than 2,000 milligrams of oxycodone per day in the months leading up to the deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul. 

Murdaugh testified that most of what he was purchasing was “30-milligram pills instant-release oxycodone, probably mixed in with some OxyContin, which is made of oxycodone — it’s just time release.”

According to Murdaugh, he would take “maybe 1,000 milligrams or 1,200 milligrams on a day I didn't take as much or didn't have as much, up to, I mean — there were days, many days, a lot of days, most days were more than that, and many days would be … more than 2,000 milligrams a day.” 

“You’re taking 60 (pills) a day or something like that?” state prosecutor Creighton Waters asked Murdaugh about the time between January and June 2021. 

“There were days where I took more than that … there were days that I took less than that,” Murdaugh said, as he began to explain how he built up a tolerance to pain pills over the years. He said opioids gave him energy and, “whatever I was doing, it made it more interesting.”

“It got to the point where I was taking so much just to not backslide or go into withdrawals or have all those symptoms … It evolved over time,” he added.

It is virtually unheard of for a doctor to prescribe a patient more than 100 milligrams of oxycodone a day for even the most severe acute or chronic pain.

12:54 p.m. ET, February 24, 2023

Murdaugh says dogs did not act unusually at kennel before wife and son were killed

The prosecution questioned Alex Murdaugh about the time he spent at the family's dog kennels on the evening his wife Maggie and son Paul were killed.

On Thursday, Murdaugh first publicly confirmed he was at the kennels that night, despite him lying about it to investigators previously.

Murdaugh said his wife was "very concerned" about Paul.

But then he said, "I believe that at that time, we may have talked about Paul Paul, but I'm not certain."

He told prosecutor Creighton Waters that the family's dogs weren't acting like someone different was around or hiding in the woods.

"There was nobody else around for them to sense," Murdaugh said.

Waters then asked him about taking a chicken out of family dog Bubba's mouth and how long it took him to leave the area to go back home.

"Did I get on the golf cart and leave that second? Probably not. But did I get on the golf cart and leave very quickly after that? I did," Murdaugh said, adding he likely said something to Maggie, but did not recall exactly what it concerned.

"I think that you testified yesterday, 'I got out of there,'" Waters said, which Murdaugh affirmed. 

Waters asked him why he left quickly, and Murdaugh said, "because it was chaotic, it was hot, and I was getting ready to do exactly what I didn't want to do," which was to work more in the kennels.

Murdaugh said he didn't hear anything out of the ordinary on his way back to his house.

He then laid down on the couch at home and possibly dozed off, Murdaugh said.

11:42 a.m. ET, February 24, 2023

Court resumes and the cross-examination of Alex Murdaugh continues

Court has resumed following a short break in the trial of former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh.

Prosecutors are continuing to question Murdaugh, who is charged in the June 2021 killings of his wife and son.