Alex Murdaugh’s defense rests in his double murder trial

Thirteen witnesses and two weeks later, disgraced legal scion Alex Murdaugh’s defense rested its case in the shocking South Carolina double murder trial being watched around the world.

Murdaugh is accused of murdering wife Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22, as the grueling trial has played out over the last six weeks, with the prosecution arguing he killed his family members as a way to distract from his mounting financial crimes and drug abuse problems.

Defense lawyer Dick Harpootlian worked to paint the once powerful legal titan as a flawed man who admitted he didn’t always tell the truth, but would never hurt his family.

Murdaugh found Maggie and Paul dead on the property of the family’s hunting lodge in June 2021 and admitted he was close to the scene at the time of the killing, but insists he isn’t responsible.

During his lengthy testimony and cross-examination at Colleton County Court he claimed a deranged social media user likely killed his kin.

At the time, Paul was embroiled in local scandal after he drunkely crashed a boat, killing passenger Mallory Beach in 2019.

“The social media response that came from that was vile,” Murdaugh said. “So over the top.”

“I believe today the wrong person saw and read that,” the disbarred lawyer said. “The person or people who [killed him], they hated Paul Murdaugh and they had anger in their heart.”

Forensics indicate Maggie, 52, was discovered face down after being shot five times with a rifle, and Paul was killed with a shotgun, likely shot at close range in the back of the head.

The defense called a witness who argued the scenario likely included two killers, not one, in their attempt to exculpate Murdaugh, who broke down in deep sobs multiple times throughout the trial.

After the defense rested, Judge Clifton Newman dismissed the jury for the day. Witnesses can now be called back for final questions and then the case will be in the jury’s hands.