Alex Murdaugh Trial: Prosecution, Defense Give Closing Arguments In Six-Week Murder Trial

Alex Murdaugh, disgraced South Carolina attorney was convicted of murder on Thursday.

Creighton waters, the lead prosecution prosecutor, gave the closing arguments to the prosecution on Wednesday, after jurors returned from a visit to the spot where Murdaugh and Maggie Murdaugh were murdered on June 7, 2021. Murdaugh was charged with their murders.

Waters claimed that Murdaugh tried to kill his family to distract from the many alleged financial crimes which were about to be revealed. Murdaugh is also accused in stealing millions of dollars from clients as settlement funds.

“This defendant … has fooled everyone, everyone, everyone who thought they were close to him,” Waters spoke to jurors. CNN. “Everyone who thought they knew who he was, he’s fooled them all. He fooled Maggie and Paul, too, and they paid for it with their lives. Don’t let him fool you, too.”

Waters argued that Murdaugh used two different family weapons – a rifle and a shotgun – to murder his wife and son. Waters reminded jurors that Murdaugh had been at the crime scene just minutes prior to the murders. This was a fact he has denied for over two years. Prosecutors presented evidence by cell phones that Murdaugh was in the dog kennels just minutes before their deaths. Murdaugh took the stand for his defense. admitted That he was there and that investigators had been lied to about his whereabouts.

Although the prosecution claimed that Murdaugh was alone with the motive and means to murder his family, there is not enough direct evidence to link Murdaugh to these crimes. Eyewitnesses were not available and the murder weapon was not found. Investigators never found bloody clothing belonging Murdaugh.

Judge Clifton Newman dismissed one female juror Thursday morning for engaging in inappropriate conversations about this case with others outside the courtroom. They will be replaced by an alternate juror.

Jim Griffin, the defense attorney, made his closing arguments. He claimed that investigators made many errors while investigating Maggie and Paul’s murders.

“We believe that we’ve shown conclusively that [South Carolina Law Enforcement Division] failed miserably in investigating this case,” Griffin stated: CNN. “And had they done a competent job, Alex would have been excluded from that circle [of suspects] a year ago or two years ago.”

Griffin stated to jurors that investigators had failed to secure the crime scene, and they didn’t take foot or tire impressions. He stated that investigators failed to take DNA samples from Maggie’s and Paul’s clothes but did take samples from Murdaugh that night.

“They had decided, that ‘unless we find somebody else, it’s going to be Alex,'” Griffin argued.

Before the jury begins deliberations, the prosecution will have another opportunity to counter the defense arguments.