WALTERBORO, SC (WSPA) — Former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh admitted he lied to law enforcement about his whereabouts the night his wife and son were murdered.
Murdaugh testified in his double-murder trial Thursday. From the witness stand, Murdaugh denied repeatedly that he shot and killed his wife Maggie and son Paul.
Thursday morning, Murdaugh informed Judge Clifton Newman he intended to testify in his defense. “I want to testify,” he said in court.
Attorney Jim Griffin questioned Murdaugh during direct examination. Griffin asked Murdaugh if he shot and killed his wife and son. “I would never intentionally do anything to hurt either one of them,” Murdaugh said.
Griffin then asked Murdaugh if he was at the dog kennels the night of the murders. Thursday he admitted he was there that evening.
Murdaugh had previously told law enforcement the last time he saw his family was at dinner time.
Murdaugh blamed paranoid feelings as a result of his opioid addiction and his distrust for state law enforcement as his reason to lying. “What a tangled web we weave. Once I told a lie I told my family I had to keep lying,” Murdaugh said.
The disbarred attorney was emotional on the witness stand many times Thursday.
During cross-examination from lead Prosecutor Creighton Waters, Murdaugh admitted to misleading and stealing settlement money from his clients.
Court recessed with Murdaugh on the stand Thursday.
