'I would never intentionally hurt them': Alex Murdaugh sobs as he testifies in double murder trial of his wife Maggie and son Paul
WALTERBORO, SOUTH CAROLINA: Disgraced former attorney Alex Murdaugh testified on Thursday morning, February 23, denying the charges of double murder. He was fired with a flurry of questions by Colleton County juror in the court amid the brutal killing of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and youngest son, Paul Murdaugh. The mother-son duo was shot and killed at the family’s hunting lodge in June 2021.
“On June 7, 2021, did you take this gun or any gun like it and shoot your son, Paul, in the chest in the feed room at your property off Moselle Road?” asked the defense attorney Jim Griffin, displaying the weapon, reports Law&Crime. “No, I did not,” Alex Murdaugh replied. “Did you take this gun or any gun like it and blow your son’s brains out on June 7, or any day, or any time?” the attorney followed up. “No, I did not,” the defendant replied. Griffin then asked if he took a .300 Blackout rifle and shot his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, in the “leg, torso, or any part of part of her body?” “No, I did not,” Alex Murdaugh replied. “Did you shoot a 300 Blackout into her head, causing her death?” Griffin repeated.“I didn’t shoot my wife or my son, any time, ever,” Alex Murdaugh replied. Admitting that he lied previously about when he last saw his family, and also about being present at kennels.
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So #AlexMurdaugh attorneys are trying to argue that if he testifies that he can’t be questioned about the financial part of his crimes.
— Skyleigh Heinen (@Sky_Lee_1) February 22, 2023
Judge Newman: “For the court to issue a blanket order limiting the scope of cross-examination, that’s unheard of to me.”#MurdaughTrial pic.twitter.com/rFHaoPcZP0
'Alex, why did you lie?'
“Alex, why did you lie?” asked Griffin. “As my addiction evolved over time I would get in these situations or circumstances where I would get paranoid thinking,” he said in his testimony. “That night, June seventh, after finding Mags and Paul – ‘Paul-Paul’ – don’t talk to anybody without Danny with you. All my partners were repeatedly telling me that. I had a deputy sheriff taking gunshot tests from my hands. I’m sitting in a police car with David Owen asking me about my relationship with my wife and son. And all those things coupled together after finding them coupled with my distrust for SLED caused me to have paranoid thoughts.”
'I would never intentionally do anything to hurt either one of them'
Murdaugh continued, "But calm did not come on that night. On June the seventh I wasn’t thinking clearly,” he went on. “I don’t think I was capable of reason. And I lied about being down there. And, I’m so sorry that I did. I’m sorry to my son, Buster. I’m sorry to Grandma, Papa T. I’m sorry to both of our families. Most of all, I’m sorry to Mags and Paul-Paul.” “I would never intentionally do anything to hurt either one of them,” he said with tears running from his eyes. “Ever. Ever.”
