As Alex Murdaugh’s bombshell trial for the killings of his wife Maggie and son Paul draws near a close, one crucial question looms: Will he testify?
Over nearly five weeks of trial, jurors have heard from nearly 70 witnesses including law enforcement officials who responded to the fatal shootings in the Murdaugh’s Islandton hunting estate on 7 June 2021, and relatives, longtime friends and house staff of the family.
Now, with the defence prepared to wrap its case on Friday, all eyes are on Mr Murdaugh more than ever.
On late Wednesday afternoon, local news outlet WCBD reported that the disgraced legal scion will make the risky move of taking the stand for his own defence.
If the legal strategy comes to fruition, it would give the defence a chance for the jury to hear his side directly, after a consistent effort to paint him as a loving family man. But it would also give the prosecution a major opportunity to cross-examine Mr Murdaugh on the plethora of scandals that surround the murders of his son and wife. At the heart of the state’s case is the claim that Mr Murdaugh allegedly committed the murders to distract from his growing financial and legal troubles.
Mr Murdaugh, once a scion of a legal dynasty in his home state, is now facing at least 100 other criminal charges over a string of financial fraud allegations from his former law firm. Mr Murdaugh has also allegedly conspired to pay a hitman to shoot him dead so that his surviving son Buster would inherit a $10m life insurance.
If the disbarred attorney takes the stand, it will be the first time that he addresses the court since he pleaded not guilty last June.
Mr Murdaugh could be the last witness to testify in his defence. His attorneys started arguments on his case last Friday and are expected to rest it this week.
Before the day’s proceedings got underway on Tuesday, defence attorneys asked Judge Clifton Newman to bring an order preventing the prosecution from cross-examining Mr Murdaugh about his string of alleged financial crimes should he take the stand in his own defence.
Attorney Jim Griffin said that the legal team had not yet decided whether or not Mr Murdaugh will testify in his murder trial but that they wanted the financial crimes to be off-limits if he does.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters argued that the cross-examination is “wide open” to all the alleged crimes – including the financial crimes – if Mr Murdaugh takes the stand. Judge Newman sided with the state, refusing to issue an order ahead of the testimony.
“For the court to issue a blanket order limiting the scope of cross-examination, that’s unheard of to me,” he said.
Chris Slobogin, the director of the criminal justice program at Vanderbilt University, told The Independent last week that calling a defendant to testify is often “a tactic of last resort” by the defence, but could also work in Mr Murdaugh’s favour.
“If Murdaugh can’t explain away all the prosecution’s evidence, lets slip any incriminating or contradictory statement, or gets defensive or angry, the jury is likely to be very tough on him,” he said. “Plus, the prosecution can challenge him with prior crimes or inconsistent statements he’s made in the past. But a defendant who appears highly credible can also turn the tide.”
Mr Slobogin added that the emotion shown by Mr Murdaugh during the trial so far - which would likely crop up if he testified himself - could potentially help his case.
“It might make the jury sympathetic if they think his grief stems solely [from] his loss and not from his role in causing it,” Mr Slobogin said.
Mr Murdaugh is also accused of stealing nearly $8.5m from clients at his law firm in fraud schemes going back a decade.
The attorney allegedly represented the clients in wrongful death settlements before pocketing the money for himself.
Alleged victims include family members of Gloria Satterfield family, the Murdaugh’s longtime housekeeper who died in a mysterious trip and fall accident at the family home in 2018. At the time, her death was regarded as an accidental fall – though the investigation was reopened after Maggie and Paul’s murders.
The housekeeper is one of a series of other mystery deaths also surrounding the Murdaughs.
At the time of Paul’s death, he was also awaiting trial over the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach who died in a 2019 boat crash where Paul was allegedly drunk driving behind the wheel. He was charged with boating under the influence and faced up to 25 years in prison but was killed before his trial.
The Murdaugh family reached a wrongful death settlement with the Beach family earlier in January.
Mr Murdaugh is also facing several other civil suits.
