Alex Murdo questioned about lying in cross-examination in South Carolina double homicide trial

Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdo faced intense interrogation about his movements the night his wife and son were killed as a prosecutor disputed inconsistencies in his memory Friday at his double homicide trial.

The day after he first learned that he had been to the nursery where his wife and son had been shot shortly before his death, Murdo returned to the podium in his defense. During cross-examination, prosecutor Creighton Waters questioned Murdo about what he repeatedly called the once-famous lawyer’s “new story” about what happened at the nursery on the evening of June 7, 2021.

Waters asked Murdo if he meant what he told jurors on Thursday – that he was trying to help police find the killers.

“In addition to lying to them about the kennel visit, I assisted them with every aspect of this investigation,” Murdo said.

“Very cooperative, except for perhaps the most important fact that you were at the scene of the murder with the victims just minutes before they died,” Waters replied.

For 20 months, Murdo insisted that he had never been to the kennel. But more than a year later, state agents hacked into his son’s iPhone and found a video of Alex Murdo’s voice less than five minutes before the victims stopped using their cell phones and prosecutors believe they were shot dead.

Murdo, 54, is accused of killing his wife, Maggie, 52, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, but vehemently denies any involvement. He faces 30 years to life in prison if found guilty.

Waters ended his cross-examination by giving the names of about four dozen people, from Maggie and Paul Murdo to his family, friends, legal associates, clients, and the police. He asked Alex Murdo if he lied to them, and Murdo agreed with the majority.

“And you want the jury to believe a story fabricated to match the evidence you presented just yesterday after hearing court-worthy evidence?” Waters asked.

The prosecutor then showed the body camera video of the first officer who had reacted to the shooting. When the bodies of his wife and son were seen, Murdo said he did not see them for 45 minutes before leaving his home.

Waters also demanded more details from Murdo about what happened during the kennel visit, noting that it was all new to investigators as he only admitted it in court on Thursday.

Synchronization, including mobile phone data and vehicle tracking, is a key component. The video ended just before 8:46 pm, and after about three minutes, Paul and Maggie Murdo stopped using their cell phones.

Murdo couldn’t remember how long he’d been in the kennel, whether his hands were covered in blood as he pulled a dead chicken out of a dog’s mouth, or the last words he ever said to his son and his wife.

“There would be some exchange,” Murdo said.

Waters said that Murdo seemed to remember a lot of details when the details were important, but not when they could get him into trouble.

“Do you disagree with my characterization that you have a photographic memory for details that should match now that you know these facts, but are unclear about other things that complicate it?” Waters said.

For the first time, Murdo blamed the murders on social media anger directed at his son. Paul Murdo was involved in an accident that killed a teenager and was charged with driving a boat while intoxicated. He mentioned the boat crash when first investigators asked if he could remember any of the suspects.

Murdo said his son was the subject of a nefarious “half-truth, half-report, half-statement, partial information” online.

“I believe then and I believe today that the wrong person saw and read this, because I can tell you for sure that the person or people who did what I saw on June 7th hated Paul Murdo, and in their heart there was anger,” Alex Murdo said.

Waters told Murdo that the explanation defies logic, asking if Murdo told jurors that his wife and son were killed by random vigilantes who knew “they would be alone in the nursery on June 7, knew you wouldn’t be there, but only between them.” time 8:49 and 9:02.

“You have a lot of factors, Mr. Waters, all of which I disagree with, but I agree with some,” Murdo said.

Murdo said Friday that after a brief visit to the nursery, he returned to the family’s home about 1,150 feet (350 meters) away on a golf cart, lay down for a few minutes, and then got up to prepare to visit his sick mother around 9:14:00 p.m. , the time is checked against the step-by-step data on his mobile phone, which he did not take with him to the kennel.

Waters asked Murdo if the flurry of footsteps and the series of unanswered phone calls he began making to his wife and son at 9:02 p.m., after nearly an hour of missing his phone, were the way of a volunteer lawyer and prosecutor. could start making up a story to show that he couldn’t be the killer.

“I have never made up any kind of alibi in any form because I have not hurt or harmed my wife and my child.”

Prosecutors said Murdo killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and buy time because his financial crimes were about to be discovered. During his testimony, he confessed to stealing from clients.

Murdo is accused of about 100 other crimes, ranging from stealing from customers to tax evasion. On these charges, he is being held without bail, so even if he is found not guilty of the murders, he will not leave the court as a free man. If Murdo is found guilty of most or all of these financial crimes, he will likely spend decades in prison.

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