Alex Murdaugh faces cross-examination in South Carolina double murder trial

Alex Murdaugh is taking the stand for a second day Friday, as the prosecution continues its cross-examination of the disgraced former attorney.

Murdaugh, 54, is charged with murder in the fatal shootings of his wife, Maggie, 52, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, who were killed near kennels on their South Carolina property on June 7, 2021. He faces 30 years to life if convicted.

In his first day of testimony — on the fourth day the defense called witnesses in the lengthy trial — Murdaugh continued to staunchly deny any role in the killings.

“I would never intentionally do anything to hurt either one of them,” Murdaugh said Thursday, tears running down his cheeks.

Cross-examination started late in the day. The defense team had been denied Wednesday in its request for the judge to limit the scope of cross-examination if Murdaugh were to testify, and told the judge that Murdaugh might not have testified at all if prosecutors hadn’t been allowed to introduce evidence of financial crimes.

Murdaugh admitted in court that he stole money from clients and blamed an addiction to painkillers from the lingering effects of a college football injury that got worse nearly two decades ago. Murdaugh is charged with about 100 other crimes, ranging from stealing from clients to tax evasion.

“I’m not quite sure how I let myself get where I got. I battled that addiction for so many years. I was spending so much money on pills,” Murdaugh said.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters didn’t question Murdaugh about the murders at the start of his cross-examination, focusing instead on clients Murdaugh stole money from.

“We heard about it in a very academic, paperwork manner. But in every one of these, you had to sit down and look somebody in the eye and convince them you were on their side when you were not,” Waters said.

Murdaugh said he couldn’t remember all the details of the thefts that took place over at least 13 years and offered a blanket statement that he was wrong, which Waters rejected before hammering on the personal nature of the thefts.

“There were plenty of conversations where I looked people in the eye and lied to them,” Murdaugh eventually conceded.

The prosecution rested last week after calling 61 witnesses and introducing more than 550 pieces of evidence over 17 days of testimony — from descriptions of the brutality of the killings to numbing details about bank records. 

Other defense witnesses so far have included Murdaugh’s surviving son, Buster, and his former law partner Mark Ball.