Murdaugh offers more explanation about why he lied to police about where he was on night of murders (2024)

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 KayeandAlta Spells contributed reporting to this post.

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."

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.

During cross-examination Friday, Alex Murdaugh said he sometimes tookmore than2,000 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-milligrampills 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 “maybe1,000milligrams or1,200milligrams 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 than2,000milligrams 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.

“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.

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 golfcart 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 testifiedyesterday, '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 washot, and I was getting ready todo exactly what I didn't want todo," 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.

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 theJune 2021 killingsof his wife and son.

Court is taking a 15-minute break in the trial of former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh.

Murdaugh took the stand this morning for a second day of testimony in his own defense. Prosecutors have been cross-examining, asking questions about his financial trouble as well as about his activities on the day his wife and son were killed.

Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two weapons charges in theJune 2021 killingsof Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh and 22-year-old son Paul Murdaugh at the family’s estate in Islandton, South Carolina.

The cross-examination of Alex Murdaugh kicked off on Friday morning with the former lawyer facing more questions from prosecutor Creighton Waters about him repeatedly stealing money.

"I would agree that in2019, I stole more money thanany other year," Murdaugh said, not disputing Waters about stealing about $3.7 million just in that year.

Waters asked him about his reported income from 2015 to 2019.

"I havenever [disputed], since being confrontedthat day my brother and mypartner came to talk to me [on Labor Day weekend 2021], thatI have stolen money that did notbelong to me, that I misledpeople to do it — people that I cared about, stillcare about, a lot of themthat I love and still love, andI misled them to do it, and Iwas wrong. I have never disputed that fromday one," Murdaugh said.

He said he borrowed multiple times from his law firm partners.

Prosecutors began asking Murdaugh questions about financial trouble and his theft of clients' money on Thursday.

Court is back in session and disgraced former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is on trial for murder in the deaths of his wife and son, faces more cross-examination today.

Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two weapons charges in theJune 2021 killingsof Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh and 22-year-old son Paul Murdaugh at the family’s estate in Islandton, South Carolina

What happened yesterday: During testimony on Thursday, he denied the charges, insisting in response to his lawyer's questions, “I didn’t shoot my wife or my son, anytime, ever.”

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