The defense attorneys for Alex Murdaugh, the disbarred South Carolina lawyer accused of killing his wife and son in a case that has gained worldwide attention, are delivering closing arguments Thursday that focus on how the state had not proved that Murdaugh committed the murders “beyond reasonable doubt” and had allegedly fabricated evidence against him.
Jim Griffin, a Murdaugh attorney, told the court in Walterboro, S.C., that he expected to give roughly two hours’ worth of closing arguments. After a long day in court Wednesday that included a field trip and prosecutors’ closing arguments. The jury, which has heard testimony from more than 70 witnesses over the past six weeks, will then head into deliberations.
Alex Murdaugh listens as prosecutor Creighton Waters makes closing arguments during his double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse on Wednesday, in Walterboro, S.C. The 54-year-old attorney is standing trial on two counts of murder in the shootings of his wife and son at their Colleton County home and hunting lodge on June 7, 2021. (Joshua Boucher/The State via AP
Griffin said that deliberations could begin as soon as Thursday afternoon in the case of Murdaugh, who is accused of killing his wife, Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22, on June 7, 2021. Murdaugh’s defense attorneys have argued during the murder trial that no physical evidence connects Murdaugh to the scene of the crime, and prosecutors have staked their case on what they say are his years of financial shadiness, opioid addiction, lies to authorities and struggles to recall key events.
Murdaugh, 54, who has pleaded not guilty but admitted to lying to authorities after he found the bodies, could face up to life in prison if he is convicted. The case has enthralled the public and become a point of cultural fascination, including docuseries on Netflix and HBO Max, and the trial being carried live on cable news since it began on Jan. 25. He also faces 99 charges related to alleged financial crimes that will be tried separately at a later date.
At the start of his closing arguments Thursday, Griffin told the jury that a guilty verdict should only come “beyond reasonable doubt,” which the attorney argued had not been accomplished throughout the trial.
“If there is any reasonable cause for you to hesitate to write guilty, then the law requires you to write not guilty,” Griffin said.
The defense attorney also criticized investigators and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for the handling of the investigation and what he described as a rush to judgment in making Murdaugh a suspect so soon after the killings.
“They decided, ‘Unless we find somebody else, it’s going to be Alex,'” Griffin said.
Before a midmorning break, Griffin accused authorities of fabricating evidence to show that Murdaugh committed the killings because he was an “easy, easy, easy target.”
“I hate to say this, but the evidence is crystal clear,” Griffin said of his claim. “I don’t make that claim lightly.”
Griffin’s closing arguments follow the roughly three hours’ worth of closing arguments Wednesday, from lead prosecutor Creighton Waters, who argued that Murdaugh’s motive was to delay and distract from the investigations into his financial problems. Waters told jurors that “there was a gathering storm” and that “the hounds were at the gate” for Murdaugh when he allegedly killed his wife and son.
“After an exhaustive investigation, there is only one person who had the motive, who had the means, who had the opportunity to commit these crimes, and also whose guilty conduct after these crimes betrays him,” Waters said. “This defendant is the one person who is living a lie. The defendant is the person on which a storm was descending, and the defendant is Richard Alexander Murdaugh.”
The hanger and dog kennels are seen where the bodies of Paul Murdaugh and Maggie were found at the Moselle property on Wednesday, in Islandton, S.C. Jurors have visited the South Carolina estate where prosecutors say disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh shot and killed his wife and son. Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP
He added to the jury, “People lie because they know they did something wrong. That’s why he lied, ladies and gentlemen.”
Waters argued that Murdaugh and his family’s legal dynasty were in danger of unraveling because of a February 2019 boat collision that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach. When Paul Murdaugh was indicted by a grand jury in Beach’s death, Waters claimed, the pressures faced by Alex Murdaugh stemming from the criminal and civil charges pushed him to become a “family annihilator.”
“That legacy was in danger, and it was threatening to expose who he truly was, which would destroy that part of the legacy,” Waters said.
Hours before closing arguments began Wednesday, the jury traveled more than 20 miles to Moselle, the sprawling hunting estate in Islandton, S.C., where Murdaugh found his wife and son dead. Jurors and law enforcement arrived at the 1,772-acre property after Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman ruled in favor of Murdaugh’s defense team, granting its request to have the jury visit so they could better visualize the testimony.
When the jury returned to the court afterward, Waters reminded jurors how testimonies have highlighted that “no one knew who [Murdaugh] was.” Waters also pointed to Murdaugh’s years of experience as a prosecutor and the set of skills with which that experience would equip him as a defendant.
“He understands the law. He’s given closing arguments to juries before,” Waters said. “When you have a defendant like that, think about whether you have an individual who is constructing defenses and constructing alibis.”
Waters added: “He knows what to do to try to prevent evidence from being gathered.”
Also in his closing argument, Waters emphasized Murdaugh’s lying about being at the crime scene shortly before Maggie and Paul were killed.
“Why in the world would an innocent, reasonable father and husband lie about that?” the prosecutor asked the jury.
At the resumption of the trial Thursday, Newman told the court that a juror was dismissed after she “engaged in improper conversations with parties not associated with the case.”
“In order to preserve the integrity of the process and the state and the defense in a fair trial, that juror will be removed and be replaced by another juror,” Newman said.
The dismissed juror said she had left a dozen eggs in the jury room and needed to retrieve them, an announcement that produced a rare moment of levity in the trial.
“We’ve got a lot of interesting things, but now a dozen eggs?” Newman said amid courtroom laughter before the start of the day’s closing arguments.
During his closing arguments, Griffin acknowledged that Murdaugh had lied but stressed how no physical evidence has connected his client to the killings of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.
“Frankly, I probably wouldn’t be sitting over there right now if he didn’t lie,” Griffin said. “But he did lie … he lied because that’s what addicts do; addicts lie. He lied because he had a closet full of skeletons and he didn’t want any more scrutiny.”
Griffin added that while Murdaugh’s addiction to painkillers caused paranoia to come over him, it does not mean that Murdaugh lied because he was trying to cover up the killings.
“There’s no evidence he would kill the people he loved,” the defense attorney argued.
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