A South Carolina law enforcement agent testified that accused murderer Alex Murdo showed graphic photos of his slain son as a possible confession, saying “I hurt him so bad”.
Murdaugh’s defense attorneys denied on Tuesday that the legal heir actually said “they did so bad to him” as he died three days after he allegedly shot and killed his wife and son in June 2021. The latter had slowed down audio recordings of interviews conducted with state agents. ,
State Law Enforcement Division Senior Special Agent Jeff Croft testified that he was “100% sure” Murdaugh said “I” during the interview โ suggesting the 54-year-old had killed his son Paul, 22, and wife, Maggie. , 52, confessed to fatally shooting him at least four times with two different guns near a dog house on his Colleton County hunting estate.
Prosecutors have not yet explained why they insisted on the remark.
“What was going through your mind when you heard, or misheard, ‘I hurt her so bad?’ defense attorney Jim Griffin asked Croft during cross-examination at the Colleton County Courthouse. “I wasn’t a good father? Did I spoil her? Or, did I kill her?
Croft replied, “Of course we needed to comply.”
Croft told the court that he did not immediately seek an explanation of what Murdaugh meant because he did not want to lose his cooperation with the investigation. Griffin asked Croft why he did not mention this when he interviewed him again three months later, to which the agent replied that he did not get around it, but asked him bluntly whether he had seen his wife and son. killed.
,[The jury gets] To listen to the tapes and make up your mind on what he said, yes sir,” Croft said
Murdaugh, the disgraced heir to a powerful multi-generational legal dynasty, is accused of shooting his troubled son Paul twice with a shotgun, before shooting Maggie multiple times with an AR-style assault rifle, the execution- before getting a shot of Shelly in the back of her head while she lay face down on the ground beside Paul.
During the four days of the trial, the prosecution again provided intriguing tidbits of information surrounding the murder and investigationโsuch as the $1,021.10 receipt from the Gucci store that had been circled or Magee’s cellphoneโwithout offering any additional explanation. Found on the side of the highway.
Murdo’s defense team cross-examined Croft โ the prosecution’s 10th witness since the trial began โ to try to plug holes in the investigation.
Croft was asked if he knew why state agents did not search Murdaugh’s home for soiled clothing, possible blood in drains, or other evidence in the hours following the murders. Croft said he did not know what the other agents did.
Griffin also asked Croft why agents did not search the home of Murdaugh’s ailing mother until September โ three months after the murders โ even though that was the only place Murdaugh said he had been within hours of allegedly killing her. more than a year later before the bodies were discovered.
“I know I didn’t go and I’m not sure what any of the other agents in the investigative circle did,” Croft said.
Another witness testified Tuesday about phone records that prosecutors claim are “vital evidence” in the case.
Alex Murdoff told the police Croft reiterated in interviews hours after the murders and three days later that he had not been at the kennel that night.
Although cellphone evidence indicates he was in fact at the kennels with Maggie and Paul when the murders occurred around 8:50 p.m., prosecutors say he followed his tracks by visiting his mother while calling family and friends. tried to cover. After returning home at 10:01 pm, he called the police at 10:06 pm
Murdaugh’s attorneys have suggested that “it is highly likely” there were two shootersโneither of whom was Murdowโwhich would explain the use of two different guns. Nor has the murder weapon been found.
Murdaugh, who has pleaded not guilty to the murders, is facing 99 separate charges of financial fraud and manslaughter. shoot him dead So his surviving son, Buster, can collect a $10 million life insurance policy. That matter would be handled in a later trial.
While Murdaugh has proclaimed his innocence since his indictment last summer, prosecutors allege he shot his family to cover up his wide-ranging financial crimes.
If convicted of murder, he faces a minimum sentence of 30 years. Prosecutors are not pursuing the death penalty.
post with wires
