Murdaugh Murder Trial: Your questions answered
COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — Alex Murdaugh is set to stand trial this week for the murders of his wife and son, Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.
The jailed and disbarred former attorney is accused of murdering his own wife and son in a desperate attempt to conceal millions of dollars he stole, embezzled, laundered and otherwise misappropriated.
Murdaugh was indicted on double murder and weapons charges on July 14, 2022, just over a year after their June 2021 shooting deaths.
Read More: TIMELINE: Alex Murdaugh and 5 years of death investigations, fraud & murder
Motive will be crucial to the state's prosecution.
In a December filing, the S.C. Attorney General's office said Murdaugh's motive for allegedly killing his loved ones was to cause a distraction so he could avoid imminent discovery of his multi-million dollar financial fraud schemes.
The trial is set to start on Monday, Jan. 23. It is scheduled to continue through March 10, but could go longer.
ABC News 4 will livestream the trial everyday on abcnews4.com/watch. It will also be available on the station's Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages.
Read the latest:
- LIVE BLOG: Listen along to jury selection on the first day of the Murdaugh murder trial
- Murdaugh wants chief deputy barred from testifying about blood spatter in murder trial
- Jury selection begins Monday for trial of the century: the Murdaugh murders
Q: What possible motives could the state introduce?
1. Boat Crash
The state will likely focus on a boat crash which left 19-year-old Mallory Beach dead several years prior.
The teen died in a February 2019 boat crash involving Murdaugh’s boat, which by all accounts was driven by Murdaugh’s grossly intoxicated son, Paul, at the time of the crash.
Paul Murdaugh was charged with one count of boating while under the influence and two counts of boating while under the influence causing great bodily injury. He pleaded not guilty at an arraignment in May of 2019, but the charges were dropped after his death.
Testimony given in Russell Laffitte’s bank fraud trial in November showed Alex Murdaugh spent years frantically trying to hide his wealth and assets from the Beach family and their attorneys in response to a lawsuit they filed after Mallory’s death.
Recently, it was revealed a grand jury investigation in 2021 was probing possible obstruction by Murdaugh family members as well as local law enforcement.
Law enforcement officers involved in that probe could potentially testify in this trial.
We'll be keeping an eye out for people in Murdaugh's life at the time of the crash to take the stand during the trial. They could give insight into Murdaugh's thinking and response in real time.
Read More:
- Police report gives insight into boat crash that led to Hampton teen's death
- Mother of Mallory Beach files wrongful death lawsuit
2. Financial Crimes:
The financial crimes Murdaugh is accused of span at least 11 years and have impacted more than a dozen reported victims from whom state investigators believe Murdaugh has purportedly stolen millions of dollars.
Prosecutors allege Murdaugh's years of deceit and thievery had begun to cave in around him in June 2021, exacerbated by a deadly boat crash involving his son.
Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters argues Murdaugh felt desperate after being confronted hours before the murders by a staff member at his law firm looking to recover missing money the firm didn't yet know Murdaugh had stolen.
To delay discovery of his monetary misdeeds, deflect attention away from himself and preserve his wealthy lifestyle, prosecutors say Murdaugh killed his wife Maggie and son Paul.
Read More:
- Murdaugh attorneys ask state to show how murders of wife, son are tied to financial crimes
- First hint of Murdaugh's financial crimes came months before murders of wife, son
3. Drug Trafficking:
The South Carolina State Grand Jury indicted Alex Murdaugh and Eddie Smith for criminal conspiracy and narcotics last June.
Murdaugh and Smith were indicted on two counts of conspiracy, including a narcotics count related to Oxycodone. In addition to those charges, Smith was indicted for four counts of money laundering, three counts of forgery, trafficking methamphetamine 10-28 grams, one count of unlawful possession of a schedule II controlled substance and possession of marijuana.
Smith was a co-conspirator in botched assisted suicide attempt in 2021.
Over Labor Day weekend, Smith allegedly shot at Murdaugh so funds from a large life insurance policy would go to his son Buster Murdaugh.
Read More:
Q: Who will be the key players in the trial?
Judge Clifton Newman will be presiding over the trial.
Alex Murdaugh's legal team is led by Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin.
- Russell Laffitte: Found guilty on all charges in his federal bank fraud conspiracy trial, which allegedly involved Murdaugh
- Chris Wilson: Murdaugh friend and former law school roommate
- Cory Fleming: Murdaugh friend and former law school roommate; Grand Jury charged him with criminal conspiracy and other crimes related to a fraud and money laundering scheme involving Murdaugh
- Anyone from the Beach family
- Any of the other boat crash victims: Morgan Doughty, Miley Altman, Connor and Anthony Cook
- Murdaugh family members: Alex’s brothers Randy & John Marvin; Alex’s sister Lynn Murdaugh Goettee; Alex's surviving son Richard Alexander "Buster" Murdaugh Jr.
- Jeanne Seckinger: Laffitte's sister-in-law and CFO of PMPED
- Curtis Edward "Eddie" Smith: charged in a suicide insurance fraud scheme & drug trafficking
- Victims of his financial crimes: Natarsha Thomas; Alania Spohn & Hannah Plyler; Arthur Badger
- Attorneys, including former coworkers from the law office known at the time as Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, PA (PMPED)
- Law enforcement officers
As of Jan. 22, the public does not know who could take the stand. There has been no indication yet as to whether or not Alex Murdaugh himself will speak.
Q: Is Murdaugh eligible for the death penalty?
State prosecutors said they will not pursue the death penalty.
“After carefully reviewing this case and all the surrounding facts, we have decided to seek life without parole for Alex Murdaugh," said Robert Kittle, spokesperson for the South Carolina Attorney General's Office, the agency prosecuting the case against Murdaugh.
South Carolina in 2021 passed a new death penalty law allowing for the use of firing squads and the electric chair to execute death row inmates in the ongoing absence of lethal injection drugs. The South Carolina Supreme Court quickly halted executions under the new law amid challenges in lower courts and in federal court.
The news of the state not pursuing the death penalty follows lead prosecutor Creighton Waters confirming in a filing December 8 the state would pursue a life imprisonment sentence against Murdaugh on the 99 State Grand Jury charges he's currently facing related to various financial crimes.
Read More:
Q: Jury Selection
Jury selection will kick off the trial proceedings on Monday, Jan. 23.
The selection is likely to take two to three days. It's possible the jury could be sequestered, but we won't know until the selection process is underway.
Judge Clifton Newman has ordered names of jurors in the Murdaugh trial must not be disclosed to the public.
Read More:
- LIVE BLOG: Listen along to jury selection on the first day of the Murdaugh murder trial
- Jury selection begins Monday for trial of the century: the Murdaugh murders
Q: What else is Murdaugh charged with?
While this trial will only decide Murdaugh's innocence regarding the double homicide, he is facing nearly 100 other charges.
As of mid-December 2022, The South Carolina State Grand Jury has brought 19 total indictments and 99 total charges against Murdaugh.
He is accused of defrauding his victims of nearly $8.8 million.
This does not include additional money owed in state taxes.
Read More:
- New indictments allege Murdaugh evaded taxes on $7M earned illegally over nearly a decade
- TIMELINE: Alex Murdaugh and 5 years of death investigations, fraud & murder
In addition to ABC News 4 updates, our team will have the following core crew sharing all things trial coverage: