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‘I did him so bad’: Alex Murdaugh's chilling words on seeing pictures of son and wife's bloody bodies

Alex Murdaugh is accused of shooting his son Paul at close range with a shotgun, and his wife Maggie with a rifle at their Colleton County home

WALTERBORO, SOUTH CAROLINA: A law enforcement agent recalled in court on Monday, January 30, what a distraught Alex Murdaugh apparently said upon seeing gruesome pictures of his slain wife and son's bodies at their family home. According to SLED agent Jeff Croft, Alex cried, "It was so bad. I did him so bad,” after he was shown the disturbing images. The suspect was reportedly seen in court mouthing that was not what he said.

Alex, 64, is accused of shooting his son Paul Murdaugh, 22, at close range with a shotgun, and his wife Maggie, 52, with a rifle. Alex is believed to have acted alone in the 2021 murders that took place on their Colleton County family property. The perp was reportedly filmed driving away from the lodge an hour before he called 911 to report the slayings and is believed to have carried out the double homicide after visiting his mother.

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'I did him so bad'

Reporter Cathy Russon posted footage from the trial to Twitter on Monday, noting how Alex allegedly told police "I did him so bad" after being presented with Paul and Maggie's crime scene photos. However, the suspect appeared to mouth to his lawyers, "That's not what I said."

Colleton County detective Laura Rutland testified last week that there were no footprints located in the blood near Paul Murdaugh’s body, despite his father claiming he turned him over twice and checked his pulse. The detective also testified there was no blood on Alex, including on his shoes and hands. However, Rutland wouldn't say during cross-examination that Alex appeared to be the person who had just killed his wife and son on their family property. Meanwhile, SLED agent Melinda Worley revealed that she swabbed 10 different areas in Alex’s car and all of them returned presumptive positive results. She also said she photographed a 16-gauge shotgun shell on the rear floorboard of his vehicle.

The prosecution has argued that cell phone data and forensic evidence tie Murdaugh to the brutal killings, but Murdaugh’s attorney, Dick Harpootlian, claimed the cell phone records were incomplete and insisted that his client would be covered in blood if he had killed his wife and son at close range. Harpootlian noted there was no blood on Alex's clothing.

Botched suicide

In September 2021, just months after the deaths of Paul and Maggie, Alex reportedly sustained superficial head wounds when he allegedly had former client Curtis Smith, 61, shoot him in the head so his surviving son, Buster, would be entitled to a $10 million insurance payout. This happened just a day after Alex was forced out of his family law firm amid allegations he misappropriated funds. Two days after the apparent botched suicide, Alex said he was going to rehab for drugs. Nonetheless, he was charged with insurance fraud shortly thereafter in connection with the suicide-for-hire plot and released on bail.

Career criminal

In October 2021, Alex was taken into custody upon leaving a rehabilitation center in Florida for allegedly stealing $4.3 million from the estate of his former housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, who died from a mysterious fall on his property in February 2018. Alex allegedly stole insurance payouts that were intended for Satterfield’s family, and now investigators are planning to exhume her body as part of a new probe into her death. 

That said, aside from the murder charges, Alex is facing more than 100 criminal counts related to fraud. Alex and Smith were indicted in June 2022 for allegedly purchasing and distributing oxycodone in multiple counties. In December, he was indicted for tax evasion for allegedly failing to claim $6 million that he apparently made from illegal activities between 2011 and 2019. As mentioned, Alex was charged with the murders of his wife and son just days after being formally disbarred by the South Carolina Supreme Court.