Murdaugh: Death In The Family (2025) s01e08 Episode Script
The Man in the Glass
1
There are five recent deaths
connected to the Murdaughs.
I was with you and Mama that night.
It was about 45 minutes.
You think it was that long?
[Agent Owen] So you didn't go
to the kennels before then?
No, sir.
[Randy Murdaugh] My jackass
little brother has spent the better part
of a decade stealing from his clients.
Your father slashed his own tire
and attempted to have Mr. Smith
You got to shoot me.
I got a problem with pills.
I will help you get the help you need.
You go get yourself cleaned up,
little brother.
Do you have any idea the damage
you've done to this firm?
To our family, to Buster's future?
[golf club smacks ball]
Oh, straight down the middle, bo.
Look at it go.
Where the fuck is that brother of yours
with those beers?
It's hotter than the devil's ass crack
out here.
[Buster Murdaugh] He's probably
taking shots with the cart guy.
[smacks golf ball]
So how's law school going?
It's good. I'm slogging through
this essay on the ethics of truth
and the professional law for my
- [yawns] Oh, bo.
- Fuck off.
It's my first big assignment.
It's like 30 pages.
[laughs] I'm just havin' a lend of you.
You know, your great-granddaddy Buster
had a saying about the truth.
What's that?
There's what's true, what's not,
and a whole bunch of in between.
But the only real truth in this world
is what you can get others to believe.
I don't think I can put that in my essay.
No, you can't.
But I'll be damned if it hasn't
served me well over the years.
[smacks golf ball]
[Alex whistles]
[somber music playing]
[bell rings]
[Dorothy Glavin] So, Mr. Harpootlian,
your client, Alec Murdaugh,
claims he paid somebody
to shoot him with a gun
so his son could collect
on a $10 million insurance policy,
but the shooter missed?
Well, let's back up a minute.
Alec's wife and son
were murdered 90 days ago,
and that takes a
monumental toll on a man.
Now, consider Alec's father
also died of cancer
the very same week.
[retching]
Now I don't know anyone who would be able
to get through all of that.
And Alec was able
to merely survive by using opioids.
[groans]
Just last week, it was discovered
that Alec had maybe
Well, not really maybe.
Alec had taken some money
from his clients and from his law firm,
and spent the vast majority of that
on more opioids.
He knew things were going
really badly for him
and, well, he made the decision
to take his own life.
He thought his insurance policy
was gonna pay him $10 million.
So he made arrangements
to have someone shoot him.
Alec Murdaugh
was just trying to leave money
to his surviving son, Buster.
[Dorothy] There are reports
that Alec stole millions
and millions of dollars
from his clients and the firm.
Are you claiming
he used it all to buy drugs,
or was some of it spent elsewhere?
[Dick Harpootlian ]
Now, from what we understand,
most of it was used to buy opioids.
[exhales]
[sighs]
Say, where did you stay ♪
Last night? ♪
Did you stay ♪
Jesus fuckin' Christ.
where the sun never shines ♪
- Shit.
- [Owen] Alec Murdaugh.
You're under arrest for obtaining
property under false pretenses
as it relates to the death
of Gloria Satterfield.
Watch your head.
[Dorothy] It's not far-fetched
to connect the dots
from the roadside shooting,
which he himself staged,
to his wife and son being murdered.
[Dick] The only connection with Alec
was that he was in a terrible,
terrible head space
with what he was coping with.
And he was desperately
trying to come up with a plan
to help Buster, his surviving son.
And, in such a terrible state,
that was the plan that he came up with.
But he did not murder his wife and son.
[door lock bolts]
[upbeat rock music playing]
[inaudible]
- Hey, can you change it?
- [bartender] What's up?
Can you change the channel?
Oh. Yeah, of course.
Let me just go find the remote.
Oh, shit.
They say he killed that gay kid.
Look.
What's wrong?
Nothing. Let's, uh
Let's just go.
[patron] And the dad
stole a bunch of money,
and then killed the mom and brother.
- [Buster] He didn't kill 'em.
- What?
You fuckin' heard me. I said he didn't.
- Buster, come on.
- [patron] Okay, man.
If you say so.
Let's go. It's not important.
Let it go. You know,
we were just trying to have a drink.
Why do you have to be an asshole?
So, as y'all know, we have been
trying to unlock Paul's phone
since the murders.
And we were finally able to.
And as you can imagine,
it's yielded some new evidence
in the murder investigation.
- It took y'all long enough.
- What kind of evidence?
We think it's better you see
and hear it for yourselves.
This video was recorded approximately
10 minutes before the murders.
- [dogs barking]
- [Paul Murdaugh] Get back, get back.
Come on.
- It's okay, come here.
- [Alex Murdaugh] Bubba!
[Maggie Murdaugh]
He's got a bird in his mouth!
- [Alex] Come on, Bubba.
- Who's that?
- Shh!
- [Maggie] It's a guinea.
[Paul] It's a chicken.
[Alex] Ah, ah, ah, I got it.
[Maggie] Now what'd you do that for?
[dogs continue barking on recording]
Alec always maintained with us
he was never
down at the kennels that night.
So he lied about being down there.
[Detective Rutland]
It appears that he did, ma'am.
Did y'all hear another voice?
I-I think I heard another voice.
Play it again.
[dogs barking]
[Paul] Get back, get back.
It's okay, come here.
[newscaster] [on TV]
Breaking news in at this hour.
Sources telling us Alec Murdaugh
is set to be formally charged
with the murders of his wife Maggie
and son Paul.
[guard] Murdaugh, you got a visitor.
[Buster] Why didn't you tell me?
I mean, why'd you have to lie
to everybody about it?
'Cause I knew how bad it would look.
I mean, my head was
all messed up, bo, from the pills.
You know, from what I saw that night.
And I panicked.
I don't know what else to say, Bus.
What happened when you were
down there with him?
I just found out
Granddaddy was at death's door.
I didn't want to be alone,
so I went down there to be with him.
To distract myself.
Bubba likes to chase them chickens.
I tried to get it from him
before he killed the damn thing,
but by the time I wrangled it,
it was too late, and
What happened after that? I mean
They're saying it was
a few minutes after that.
Oh, then I left.
I mean
it was muggy as hell.
I was starting to sweat like a hog
from chasin' the damn dog.
I went back to the
house, I took a shower.
Had a lie-down.
I got up and left pretty
much straightaway
to see Grandma Em.
I mean, Bus,
you saw the video, you tell me.
Does that sound like anybody's
about to kill anybody?
No.
I mean, it sounded
like y'all were just
hanging out like we always did.
Because we were, okay?
We were.
Now, do you honestly think
that I could shoot up
that beautiful mom of yours
and my baby boy like that?
No.
But it don't look good lying about it.
[sighs] I should have told you, Bus.
I know that, okay?
I'm sorry.
It's been gnawing
at my insides that I didn't.
It's okay.
Are you sure?
Yeah, I get it.
I can't lose you, Bus.
You're the only family I got now.
[gentle music playing]
You worried about the trial?
Oh, hell no.
No, Dick and Jim are the best
lawyers in the state.
I mean, at least until you
finish law school, right?
- Yeah, if I ever get back in.
- You will.
[guard] Time's up.
Hey, make sure you get Uncle Randy
to put some more money
in my canteen fund.
All right, I'll let him know.
All right.
I love you, son.
I love you too, Dad.
[hangs up receiver]
[dramatic music playing]
- [reporter 1] There he is!
- [reporter 2] Get the camera, quick!
[reporter 3] Camera!
[camera shutters clicking]
[door closes]
[Creighton Waters]
On the evening of June 7, 2021,
Paul Murdaugh was standing
in a small feed room
in some kennels the Murdaughs
have on their property.
About 8:50 p.m.,
Paul's father, the defendant,
Alec Murdaugh,
took a 12-gauge shotgun
and shot Paul in the chest
and shoulder with buckshot.
Another shot went up under his head,
doing catastrophic damage
to his brain, killing him.
Moments later,
Alec picked up a 300 Blackout
That's a kind of ammunition
With an AR-style rifle,
one of many such
weapons the family owned,
and opened fire on his wife,
Maggie Murdaugh.
Pow, pow.
[slams tabletop]
Two shots to the abdomen
and the leg took her down.
Then another two shots to the head.
Execution style.
Execution style. That's
what the Mob does.
Killing her instantly.
Now, Alec Murdaugh declared
to anyone who would listen
that he was never
at the kennels that night,
a claim we now know was a lie
thanks to a simple
cell phone video taken by Paul.
We're gonna ask you to consider
the tremendous financial pressure
Mr. Murdaugh was under
in the months and days
leading up to June 7, 2021.
How a costly civil suit
was nipping at his heels
for his son Paul's role
in a deadly boat crash.
How his rampant fraud
and stealing of his client's money
was about to be discovered.
And how his father, Randolph,
long his powerful protector,
was nearing the end of his life,
taking that protection
that Alec always enjoyed with him.
How the murder of Maggie and Paul
served to deflect the scrutiny
comin' Alec's way.
That's an important fact.
[thunder rumbling faintly]
Ladies and gentlemen
Hell, there was a storm comin'
toward Maggie and Paul,
just like the storm
heading here right now.
And that storm arrived on June 7, 2021.
That storm
was Alec Murdaugh.
[indistinct murmuring]
[thunder rumbles]
Alec, stand up here.
Alec here is the loving,
devoted father to Paul,
the loving husband of Maggie.
And what you're gonna hear
is many a witness tell you
just how loving Alec and Maggie were.
And Paul was the apple
of his father's eye.
[clears throat]
Now when it comes to the guilt
or innocence of Alec,
well, y'all get to decide
what the evidence says.
Evidence, by the way,
that is circumstantial at best.
No eyewitnesses,
no camera, no fingerprints,
no forensics tying him
to this crime whatsoever.
Cell phone data that's incomplete.
Well, heck, they haven't even
been able to access
his car's GPS data.
They can't find the murder weapons.
Now, they gonna seriously ask y'all
to believe that a father could
slaughter his wife and son
with two different guns
at close range and somehow,
somehow have no blood
on his clothes whatsoever?
Well [scoffs]
The whole thing is
preposterous, ain't it?
It's simple.
It's because Alec Murdaugh
did not kill his wife and son.
He didn't do it.
[Creighton] Can you tell us
what the Murdaughs meant
to your mother, Gloria?
[Tony Satterfield] Well, um, my mother
used to be their housekeeper
for the last 20 years.
So that's two decades.
I mean, it meant a lot to her.
Paul and Buster
were like second sons to her.
So when the defendant said
he would take care of you
and your brother, why did you agree?
We trusted him.
[Creighton] Uh-huh.
Check the receipt up here on screen.
You recognize it?
[Jeanne Seckinger] I do.
Can you tell the jury what makes
this particular check memorable?
Gabriel Alvarez was Alec's client,
but the settlement check
was never recorded.
Alec told me he didn't know
what happened to it.
Eventually, our paralegal
found this receipt
in Alec's office.
[crickets chirping]
[knock on door]
You got everything you need?
Yeah, yeah. Aunt
Christy set me up nicely.
Granddaddy sure made
that poet a lot of money, huh?
[laughs] Are you kidding me?
I remember three straight Christmases
he gave these to all of us.
[laughs] Yeah.
Can't have too many reminders
of wise words to live by.
He would say.
- It's a lot to live up to.
- [Randy] Mm-hmm.
I know you gotta be pissed off at him.
Stealing all that money.
All the blowback the firm's getting.
Yeah, I am.
But he's also my brother.
So
best to classify it as complicated.
Dick and Jim want me
to testify as a character witness.
That's a lot of pressure.
You feel comfortable doing that?
Somebody's gotta talk
about what it was like
for our family on the inside.
Well, it's a sound strategy.
What do you think his chances are?
I'm a personal injury lawyer.
You know, your dad was the one
who dabbled in criminal cases.
You're Randolph Murdaugh III's son.
Just be honest with me.
Well, the prosecution's
really driving home
that your dad stealing a lot of money
from a lot of people
and about to be found out
as a form of motive.
Yeah.
And his behavior on the night of
and following
was particularly incriminating.
You're talking about the behavior
of a husband and a father
who just found his wife
and his son brutally killed.
And trauma responses are
I mean, they're unique,
especially when someone
has a substance abuse problem.
Yeah, that's good.
They don't have a murder weapon.
There's no DNA evidence.
Yeah, I wish he hadn't lied
about the video at the kennels.
- Yeah, that was a bad look.
- Yeah, well, a liar isn't a murderer.
Well, that's absolutely true.
Look, like I said, I'm a
I'm a personal injury lawyer.
I have no idea
how the jury will land on this.
But like I tell all my clients
you should prepare yourself for
all the different ways
this thing could play out.
Now your testimony
is gonna help his cause.
You are a good son, Buster.
And he's lucky to have you.
[Creighton] The state calls Mark Tinsley.
[menacing music playing]
I didn't have a clue
about this fake Forge account
or what he was doing
with the Satterfield settlement.
But I would've found out
soon as those records were handed over.
So would the court.
[Creighton] Which would've meant
a reckoning with all his fraud.
[Mark Tinsley] Both criminally
and with the law firm, correct.
Did you offer the defendant
any other sort of settlement?
I did.
Offered him a payment plan.
You claim money's tight right now? Fine.
Pay in installments over time.
What was their response to that?
Well, Alec rejected it.
And, Mark, tell the jury when the judge
was supposed to rule
on making Alec turn over
those financial documents.
June 10, 2021.
Three days after Maggie and Paul
were murdered.
Did that put pressure on him?
Was Alec aware of this date?
[Mark] Oh, more than aware.
And that's exactly what it was.
Pressure.
Alec didn't want
to turn those records over.
So that's a pressure point for me.
And it's my job to make him
as the defendant feel maximum pressure.
So what happened
to the boat crash civil suit
after the murders of Maggie and Paul?
Well, it ended the case
against Alec altogether.
Look, I knew Maggie personally.
I knew Paul from
when he was a little boy.
So I felt for Alec and Buster.
And in a civil case like this,
if Alec is now the victim
of a crime this horrible,
well, a jury's gonna
have sympathy for him.
They're not likely to reach
a verdict against him.
So the murders of Maggie and Paul
actually benefited Alec,
at least as far
as the pressure of the civil suit?
Objection, Your Honor.
Improper characterization
Sustained.
Mr. Waters, please stick to the facts.
[Creighton] Of course.
As a lawyer, it's your job
to gauge sympathies and emotion
in a case.
Something Alec Murdaugh did well
when he was a lawyer?
Correct?
When it comes to knowing
what makes people tick
getting 'em to believe you
there's nobody better than Alec.
[somber music playing]
[door opens]
You all right in here?
Yeah, yeah.
Brooklynn just went to grab us some food.
What's up?
Uh
[clears throat]
I was approached
by the prosecutor's office.
They want me to testify.
Against Dad?
Well, you know, I spent some time
with your mom before it all
and I did talk to her
on the phone that day.
I think they're just trying
to paint a picture
leading up to what happened.
So you're gonna do it?
Well, honey, I feel like I have to.
But I wanted you to know first.
They want you to trash-talk him?
Just like every other friend
that they've called up there.
You are family.
You are a kind and loving person,
and that is gonna make it
10 times worse for him.
After everything we've learned
what do you think happened?
I think that someone
had a grudge against Paul,
or Dad 'cause of all the money he stole,
took him out as some kind of revenge.
What do you think happened?
I don't know what to think anymore.
I just wish they had
something else to go on.
Yeah, well, maybe they would
if they'd have looked for it
instead of zeroing in
on Dad from the jump.
You do what you have to do.
Everybody else is already
against us anyways.
[sighs]
None of us should be here right now.
But please know that I would never,
ever be against you.
[Marian Proctor]
Maggie loved her family,
loved her boys.
Buster and Paul, they were her world.
She was just a
a really, really good person.
Um, she hadn't grown up
hunting or fishing,
but she always tried
to join in as best she could.
We used to laugh
that she'd be in the deer stand
with her Southern Living magazine,
and the boys would say
she was making too much noise
turning the pages.
So as we move closer to June 7, 2021,
the family received a bad prognosis
about Mr. Randolph, correct?
Yes.
She was busy redecorating the house,
and Mr. Randolph
wasn't doing well at all.
And Alec really wanted her
to come home that night.
She hadn't planned on it,
but he needed her to come home,
and Paul was gonna be there, too.
Maggie didn't really know what to do.
She, she really wanted to stay
and finish getting the beach house ready.
But I said, "Well
"Well, Maggie,
"Alec and his dad
are super close, so that
So that's probably what you should do."
[cries]
[somber music playing]
Sorry. [sniffles]
[Creighton] Was that the last time
you ever talked to your sister?
It was, yes.
[Creighton]
And in the aftermath of it all,
did you talk to Alec
about what had happened?
[Marian] I did, yes.
Um, I asked him, did he
have any idea who'd done this?
And he said he didn't know who'd done it,
but that he felt like whoever it was
had thought about it
for a really long time.
[Creighton] Did that strike you as odd?
I just didn't know what it meant.
That was some of the most
emotionally compelling testimony so far.
I mean, but to what end?
I mean, come on.
Maggie is a wonderful woman.
Paul's a great kid.
I mean, hell, you put me up
on the stand under oath,
I'll say the same goddamn thing.
Creighton made it seem like
you lured 'em back, Red.
I wanted my wife and my son there
while my daddy died,
which y'all need to do a better job
of reminding them, by the way.
Okay, well, I must be a damn fool
for taking an attorney as a client.
Well, I'm willing to trade places
with you any time, bo.
Mm.
Jimmy G, why the long face?
Rest of the cell phone records
and GPS data from your Suburban.
[Dick] Anything else
we need to know, Alec?
[newscaster 1] A bombshell turn of events
in the Murdaugh trial
as the prosecution has obtained
previously inaccessible
cell phone and GPS data.
[newscaster 2] SLED agent David Owen
is taking the stand today
to share what data reveals
about that fateful night.
[Owen]
So, what all this data allows us to do
is create a timeline and map
of everything everyone was doing
the night of the murders.
How fast the defendant was driving,
when and where he started his car,
and when certain calls were made
from the victims' and defendant's phones.
What time was the kennel video
taken on Paul's phone, Agent Owen?
[Owen] 8:46 p.m.
[Creighton] Uh-huh, and originally,
the coroner estimated time of death
sometime around 8:56,
about 10 minutes after.
But what time did Paul and Maggie's phone
go silent forever?
Both phones were locked at 8:49 p.m.
[Creighton] Three minutes
from where Alec has confirmed
to have been there, they were killed.
Agent Owen, talk us through
the map on slide 18 here.
Yes, sir.
Uh, this is a map of Moselle Road,
just outside the property.
- [Creighton] Uh-huh.
- The orange dot
is where Maggie Murdaugh's phone
was located, just in the tree line.
Obviously removed from the crime scene.
Along the same route the defendant took
to his parents, passing here at 9:08,
traveling at approximately
42 miles per hour.
After passing the location
where her phone was found,
did the defendant's vehicle accelerate?
It reaches a max speed
of 74.4 miles per hour,
faster than any other speed that day
coming and going from work.
So the defendant slowed down
at the same spot
where her phone
happened to have been found
and then accelerated away.
Correct.
The state rests, Your Honor.
[indistinct murmuring]
[dramatic music playing]
[somber music playing]
[Alex] Ask it.
[eerie music playing]
Go on.
Go on and ask it.
Ask what?
The question you want the answer to.
Ask it with your whole entire chest.
Come on, son.
Go on, son.
[eerie music swelling]
Go on, son.
You know that I worked a case
with your great-granddaddy Buster
in this very courtroom
when I was a baby lawyer?
- Really?
- [laughs] Oh.
That man was the cock of the walk,
I'll tell you what.
And he knew it, too.
Yeah.
Alec wanted you to know
he's real proud of you
for getting up there for him today.
[Jim Griffin]
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
this is a photo taken
of the Murdaugh family
at a baseball game just a few weeks
before the murders.
Buster, what do you remember
about that day?
Uh, my brother Paul was, um,
making everyone laugh like he would.
And I remember, uh
my mom was real proud of the work that
she'd gotten done on the beach house.
Y'all were real happy
when y'all were together, weren't you?
[Buster] We were.
I mean, we had our moments, you know?
Like all families, I think. Yeah.
But, yes, sir. I'd say, uh
I'd say that we were.
Tell us a little bit
about your brother Paul.
Uh
Ahem, uh, well, he, uh
he loved to fish and hunt.
Lots of outdoor stuff.
Me and him and Dad would, um
we'd do that stuff together a lot, so
[Jim] Did y'all ever fight?
Well, I-I-I don't know a pair
of brothers that doesn't,
so, yes, sir.
Yes, sir, we did.
Uh, but we
You know, we also
had a lot of fun together.
[Jim] I bet you did.
- Thank you. Bus.
- [knocks on tabletop]
You didn't know about your dad's
financial difficulties, did you?
No, sir. I did not.
Your mom loved
that beach house, didn't she?
Yes, sir.
Uh, she she loved the ocean.
Had she been spending more time
down there leading up to June 7th?
As I said, she was having
work done on the house.
So, yes, I believe so.
[Creighton]
Did her spending more time down there
have anything to do with how the community
treated your family after the boat crash?
Did she feel ostracized?
Uh, she did, yes.
Did that cause stress within the family?
[Buster] It was a stressful time.
But, um
you know, we just tried
to support each other through that.
Thank you for your time.
No further questions.
[tense music playing]
[Alex]
"Buster Murdaugh takes the stand,
but does little to counter
the state's GPS and cell phone evidence."
[Dick] Well, you testifying
is dumber than dirt, Alec.
Y'all got any other cards
you wanna play, Dick? I'm all ears.
Now God bless Buster boy,
but there's only so much he can do.
I mean, this is
this is slipping away, boys.
It's our experts' turn now, Alec.
Oh, yeah, Jim?
Hey, they got anything that can counter
the phone data and the GPS horseshit?
Oh, no, I didn't think so.
Now I didn't do this, all right?
You know it, I know it.
But the only way
that jury's gonna know it, Dick,
is if they hear it straight from me.
All this jury has heard this whole trial
is how much you have lied
to everybody about everything.
To your clients, law enforcement,
to your friends and family.
Your credibility is in
the goddamn septic tank at this point.
Then I own the lies.
Yeah, I don't run from them, Dick.
I run straight to 'em.
I strongly advise you against doing this.
You know who the fuck I am, bo?
No, do you know who my fuckin' family is?
Then you got some idea how much time
I spent in this courtroom as a kid,
upstairs at the state's table
while my daddy and my granddaddy
put away murderers, rapists,
and ne'er-do-wells aplenty.
Now you got your crime scene expert,
you got your weapons expert,
Jim, fine.
You have the fuck at it!
But if they wanna try me for something
this god-awful on my family's turf?
Fuck, no, bo!
Okay? Not without going through me first.
Now you put me on that fuckin' stand.
The defendant Richard Alexander Murdaugh
wishes to take the stand.
[court clerk] Do you swear and affirm
that the testimony you give today
will be the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth?
- Yes, ma'am.
- [court clerk] Thank you.
I'm Alec Murdaugh.
M-U-R-D-A-U-G-H.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Mr. Murdaugh
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?
No, I did not.
Did you take this gun,
or any gun like it
and blow your son's brains out
on June 7th, or any day or any time?
No, I did not.
Mr. Murdaugh
did you take a 300
Blackout such as this,
and fired into your wife
Maggie's leg, torso,
or any part of her body?
No, I did not.
[Jim] Mr. Murdaugh,
did you shoot this gun
into Maggie's head, causing her death?
Mr. Griffin, I didn't shoot
my wife or my son anytime, ever.
Mr. Murdaugh,
were you in fact at the kennels
at 8:44 p.m.
the night that Maggie
and Paul were murdered?
I was.
And did you in fact lie repeatedly
to law enforcement that night?
The night that Maggie and Paul
were murdered?
I did lie.
As my addiction evolved over time
I would get in these situations,
these circumstances,
where I would get paranoid thinking.
That night, June 7th
after finding
[sniffles]
Mags and Paul
Paw-Paw.
I had a deputy sheriff
takin' gunshot tests from my hands.
I'm sittin' in a police car
with David Owens
and asking me about my relationship
with my wife and my son.
And all of those things,
coupled together with,
after finding them,
coupled with my
My distrust for SLED,
caused me to have paranoid thoughts.
Now, normally [sniffles]
when these paranoid thoughts
would hit me,
I could just take a deep breath,
you know, real quick.
Just think about it, you know,
reason my way through it.
Just get past it really quickly.
On June the 7th
I wasn't thinking clearly.
I don't think I was capable of reason.
And I lied about being down there.
And I'm I'm so sorry that I did.
I'm sorry to my son Buster.
I'm sorry to Grandma, Papa-T.
[sniffles] I'm sorry
to both of our families.
But most of all
I'm sorry to Mags and Paw-Paw.
I would never intentionally do anything
to hurt either one of them.
Ever.
Ever.
Why did you continue to lie
after you left, after you were sober?
Oh, I don't know, you know
Oh, what a tangled web we weave.
And once I told a lie, told my family
I had to keep lying.
[dramatic music playing]
[crickets chirping]
[gasps]
Sorry.
[whispers] It's okay, babe.
You can't sleep?
You don't have to stay with me.
What are you talking about?
You shouldn't, actually.
You don't deserve all this.
All this craziness.
[Brooklynn sighs]
You don't deserve it either.
Okay?
[gasps softly]
So you would have us believe that
you jetted down there to the kennels,
dealt with the dead chicken,
and then jetted back.
No, sir. I did not jet down there,
and I did not jet back.
After Maggie asked me to go down,
and I didn't, I went back to the house.
I laid down. I felt stupid.
I thought, "What am I doing?"
So I got up, I got in my golf cart.
I drove down there.
I did what I did.
I took the chicken from Bubba's mouth.
And in short order, I said, um,
"I'm leaving, I'll see you in a minute."
Or words to that effect.
And I got in my cart
and I went back to the house.
Does that sound like real life to you?
That you jetted down there
and jetted back, Mr. Murdaugh?
Mr. Waters, I've already said I didn't
jet down there and I didn't jet back.
- The reason you had to be
- Hang on, hang on, hang on.
- fussy about the details?
- Just a second
[Jim] Your Honor,
he should be allowed to finish his answer
before another question is presented.
[Judge Newman] Yes, sir.
Do you agree that I'm entitled
to ask my questions to you, sir?
Absolutely, and I'm gonna
answer all of 'em.
I'm just taking issue
with the manner in which
you're puttin' words in my mouth
that I did not use.
Do you disagree this is a new story?
Do you disagree
with that characterization?
Yes.
This is the first time
this has been talked about openly.
When accountability
is at your door, Mr. Murdaugh,
bad things happen, is that correct?
What do you mean, Mr. Waters?
For the first time in your life
of privilege and prominence and wealth,
you were facing accountability.
Suddenly, you became a victim,
and everyone ran to your aid.
Prospect of humiliating your legacy
is an extraordinary
provocation for you, isn't it?
You had a very successful career
up to this point, did you not?
You think you lived a life of privilege?
I think you could say that.
In June of 2021, you were
suffering from drug addiction.
Your father was ill.
You were coming
to the point of a financial crisis.
- Isn't that true?
- I had some financial issues, yes.
- That's correct.
- Issues you lied to your father about.
- I'm sure I did at some point.
- Uh-huh.
You lied to your brothers?
About financial matters, I did.
You lied to your sister-in-law,
Marian Proctor?
I did lie to her, yes.
Did you lie to your colleagues
and law partners at PMPED?
- I did.
- You lie to your clients?
Some of them.
Did you lie to Tony and Brian Satterfield
whose mother Gloria
was your longtime housekeeper?
Yes, I did.
[Creighton] Mr. Murdaugh
are you a family annihilator?
I would never hurt Maggie Murdaugh.
I would never hurt Paul Murdaugh
under any circumstances.
You say that.
But you lied to Maggie, didn't you?
[Alex] Yes, I did lie to her.
You lied to Paul.
Yes.
So if you admit that you lied
to all these people,
why should we believe
you're telling the truth now?
[dramatic music playing]
You know why people lie, Mr. Murdaugh?
'Cause they know
they've done something wrong.
[reporter] And breaking
news this evening,
as the jury
in the Alec Murdaugh murder trial
appear to have reached a verdict
after only two and a half hours
of deliberation.
[somber music playing]
The jury finds the defendant,
Richard Alexander Murdaugh
guilty of murder.
[indistinct murmuring]
Buster.
I'm so sorry, sweetheart.
[cries softly]
I just
I just want my mom.
- [cries]
- Oh!
I know you do.
[Buster sobbing]
I know you do.
[Judge Newman]
The question, Mr. Murdaugh, is
when will the lies end?
Within your own soul,
only you can answer that.
And I know you have to see
Paul and Maggie during the night
when you're trying to go to sleep.
I'm sure they come to visit you.
All day and every night.
And they will continue to do so
as you reflect on the last time
they looked you in the eyes.
For the murder of your wife,
Maggie Murdaugh,
I sentence you to a term
for the rest of your natural life.
For the murder of Paul Murdaugh,
whom you probably loved so much
I sentence you to a term
of the rest of your natural life.
What's wrong?
You ever feel guilty about it all?
Like, if it weren't for all the pressure
we were putting on him?
Maybe he wouldn't have killed them?
There are about a hundred things
that I wish I could do differently
if I had to go back and do it again.
But do I feel guilty?
No.
Not for going after someone
who was doing all that he was doing.
And you shouldn't either.
Maybe if I hadn't pushed so hard,
just accepted his offer.
You got the Beaches the money
they deserved for losing Mallory.
- Yeah.
- We helped the Satterfields
do the same for losing their mother.
- I know.
- If it weren't for you,
he would still be out there
stealing from so many more victims.
But maybe Maggie and Paul
would still be alive.
What he did is on him and him alone.
Yeah, my head knows you're right.
But, damn if I don't still feel like
my hands are dirty.
Okay.
Keep in touch, Mandy.
[Mandy] Thanks, Mark.
[Alex] You follow through
with that letter to the dean?
No, not yet.
Then, Bus, you gotta get on that
if you wanna get back in.
I mean, come on, bud. I know
I know the trial delayed things
for you and all,
but, but time's a-wastin', son.
I don't know if I want to go back.
What do you mean you don't know?
I don't know if it's what
I want to do anymore.
Oh, come on. That's crazy talk.
Of course, you do.
Dad, I've been meaning
to ask you something.
Okay. What?
Why didn't you ask me
to come home that day?
What?
Well, the day that Mom and Paul
Why didn't you ask me
to come home that day?
What do you mean?
You asked Paul to come home
and look at the sunflowers.
And
you told Mom that y'all needed
to be together as a family because
of how sick Granddaddy was, and
you didn't ask me to come home.
Why are you askin' me this now?
Huh? You think you could have been there,
there might have been something
you could've done?
- Don't do that to yourself, bo.
- No, it's not like that.
Just been on my mind.
You'd just started your job, hadn't you?
- Yeah.
- You're up at Rock Hill with
with Brooklynn and her family.
It was a long drive.
I made that drive all the time, Dad.
[exhales]
You know what, I don't know
what else to tell you.
I didn't wanna worry you none, I guess.
And you know what?
Thank God I damn didn't.
Because if I had, whoever did this might
have done it to you, too, you know?
I should go.
You got places to be, yeah?
I get it. I do.
Now listen, can you, uh, make sure
that Uncle Randy puts that money
in my canteen fund?
Yeah.
Yeah, I'll give you a call. We'll talk.
Yeah?
Love you, son. I do.
[somber music playing]
[ominous music playing]
[crickets chirping]
[sighs]
[dogs barking]
[Paul and Maggie chatting indistinctly]
[chicken clucks]
I couldn't rest.
- What y'all doing?
- I'm talking to Rogan.
Oh, he's all worried.
Yeah, bo, I'll take a video.
He looks okay, though.
- Yeah, sounds good.
- Where are you off to, Mags?
Oh, I'm just gonna go check
on these wildflowers.
Oh, right down there.
They're pretty, they are.
[dogs barking]
Get back. Get back.
[dogs barking]
He's got a bird in his mouth!
- Bubba, come on, Bubba. Come on.
- [claps hands]
- [Maggie] It's a guinea.
- [Paul] It's a chicken.
Ah, ah, ah. Come on, I got it.
[Maggie] Now what'd you do that for?
- [Alex] It's dead.
- [Maggie] Sweet boy.
He's been out at the beach too long.
That boy needs to hunt.
[Alex] Come on, Bubba. Come on.
Come on, Bubba.
Come on, kennel up.
There you go. In you go.
[Paul] What are you doing?
That ain't his run.
I know, but I'm more worried
about these chickens.
You hungry, Cash Money?
Yeah? Yeah? Let's get you some food.
Oh, I forgot to tell you that I'm redoing
your bedroom at the beach house.
So if you have any requests.
Uh, I've been sleeping real good
in Aunt Elizabeth's guest room.
Give me all the flower patterns.
[laughs] Oh.
Hey, don't you tempt me.
[dogs barking]
[cell phone vibrates]
Rogan said he's not that hungry, bo!
He said to feed him
anything in there, bo.
- [Paul] Yeah, I'm just doing Blue bag.
- [Alex] All right.
Yeah, it's not for you.
All right, Cash Money, yeah?
Yeah, I got you the good stuff.
Look at you beauties.
[dogs barking]
[gun racks]
[gunshot]
[gasps]
[dogs barking]
[Maggie] Paul?
[gun racks]
[gunshot]
[Maggie] Paul!
Alec!
What's going on?
[dogs barking loudly]
- Bubba?
- [gun racks]
[gasps]
Paul?
[barking]
[Maggie whimpering]
[breathing heavily]
Alec
[gunshot]
[dogs barking]
[gunshot]
[barking]
[insects buzzing]
[discordant music playing]
[cell phone buzzing]
[crickets chirping]
[ignition starts]
[crickets chirping]
[ominous music playing]
[sniffles, cries]
[insects chirruping]
[birds tweeting]
[indistinct chatter]
[somber music playing]
[woman] Hey, honey? Look at this.
What do you think of these over here?
[man 1] Oh, that's nice.
[indistinct chatter continues]
[footsteps approach]
[man 2] Excuse me.
Do you?
Sorry, I-I-I don't see a sticker on this.
Do you Do you know how much it is?
Uh, you know what? This one's, uh
You know what, sir? You can have that.
Oh.
Thank you.
[wistful music playing]
[Alex] Four, seven
[indistinct chatter]
That shit ain't four hours of TV time.
It's barely even two.
That's what it was last time.
Lance, bo, come on.
Tell him, Lance. That's what it was!
Don't look at me. I don't even know
what y'all doing over here.
The last time was last time.
This is this time.
You gotta pay the piper, brother.
Damn, you're a fuck
- You're a tough customer.
- Mm.
- There you go. That's it.
- [Jermaine] Any beef sticks?
No, that's That's it, dude.
Last and final.
That's all I got.
All right. Four hours.
But once them Gamecocks of yours
get they ass kicked, TV time is over.
All right, well,
I'm gonna be back for kickoff.
Oh, so you holding out on me?
[Alex laughs]
You trying to cheat me, huh?
It's only cheating if you get caught, bo.
[chuckles]
You dirty, Red.
[cell door slams]
[door lock buzzes]
[prisoners shouting indistinctly]
[somber music playing]
Sub extracted from file & improved
There are five recent deaths
connected to the Murdaughs.
I was with you and Mama that night.
It was about 45 minutes.
You think it was that long?
[Agent Owen] So you didn't go
to the kennels before then?
No, sir.
[Randy Murdaugh] My jackass
little brother has spent the better part
of a decade stealing from his clients.
Your father slashed his own tire
and attempted to have Mr. Smith
You got to shoot me.
I got a problem with pills.
I will help you get the help you need.
You go get yourself cleaned up,
little brother.
Do you have any idea the damage
you've done to this firm?
To our family, to Buster's future?
[golf club smacks ball]
Oh, straight down the middle, bo.
Look at it go.
Where the fuck is that brother of yours
with those beers?
It's hotter than the devil's ass crack
out here.
[Buster Murdaugh] He's probably
taking shots with the cart guy.
[smacks golf ball]
So how's law school going?
It's good. I'm slogging through
this essay on the ethics of truth
and the professional law for my
- [yawns] Oh, bo.
- Fuck off.
It's my first big assignment.
It's like 30 pages.
[laughs] I'm just havin' a lend of you.
You know, your great-granddaddy Buster
had a saying about the truth.
What's that?
There's what's true, what's not,
and a whole bunch of in between.
But the only real truth in this world
is what you can get others to believe.
I don't think I can put that in my essay.
No, you can't.
But I'll be damned if it hasn't
served me well over the years.
[smacks golf ball]
[Alex whistles]
[somber music playing]
[bell rings]
[Dorothy Glavin] So, Mr. Harpootlian,
your client, Alec Murdaugh,
claims he paid somebody
to shoot him with a gun
so his son could collect
on a $10 million insurance policy,
but the shooter missed?
Well, let's back up a minute.
Alec's wife and son
were murdered 90 days ago,
and that takes a
monumental toll on a man.
Now, consider Alec's father
also died of cancer
the very same week.
[retching]
Now I don't know anyone who would be able
to get through all of that.
And Alec was able
to merely survive by using opioids.
[groans]
Just last week, it was discovered
that Alec had maybe
Well, not really maybe.
Alec had taken some money
from his clients and from his law firm,
and spent the vast majority of that
on more opioids.
He knew things were going
really badly for him
and, well, he made the decision
to take his own life.
He thought his insurance policy
was gonna pay him $10 million.
So he made arrangements
to have someone shoot him.
Alec Murdaugh
was just trying to leave money
to his surviving son, Buster.
[Dorothy] There are reports
that Alec stole millions
and millions of dollars
from his clients and the firm.
Are you claiming
he used it all to buy drugs,
or was some of it spent elsewhere?
[Dick Harpootlian ]
Now, from what we understand,
most of it was used to buy opioids.
[exhales]
[sighs]
Say, where did you stay ♪
Last night? ♪
Did you stay ♪
Jesus fuckin' Christ.
where the sun never shines ♪
- Shit.
- [Owen] Alec Murdaugh.
You're under arrest for obtaining
property under false pretenses
as it relates to the death
of Gloria Satterfield.
Watch your head.
[Dorothy] It's not far-fetched
to connect the dots
from the roadside shooting,
which he himself staged,
to his wife and son being murdered.
[Dick] The only connection with Alec
was that he was in a terrible,
terrible head space
with what he was coping with.
And he was desperately
trying to come up with a plan
to help Buster, his surviving son.
And, in such a terrible state,
that was the plan that he came up with.
But he did not murder his wife and son.
[door lock bolts]
[upbeat rock music playing]
[inaudible]
- Hey, can you change it?
- [bartender] What's up?
Can you change the channel?
Oh. Yeah, of course.
Let me just go find the remote.
Oh, shit.
They say he killed that gay kid.
Look.
What's wrong?
Nothing. Let's, uh
Let's just go.
[patron] And the dad
stole a bunch of money,
and then killed the mom and brother.
- [Buster] He didn't kill 'em.
- What?
You fuckin' heard me. I said he didn't.
- Buster, come on.
- [patron] Okay, man.
If you say so.
Let's go. It's not important.
Let it go. You know,
we were just trying to have a drink.
Why do you have to be an asshole?
So, as y'all know, we have been
trying to unlock Paul's phone
since the murders.
And we were finally able to.
And as you can imagine,
it's yielded some new evidence
in the murder investigation.
- It took y'all long enough.
- What kind of evidence?
We think it's better you see
and hear it for yourselves.
This video was recorded approximately
10 minutes before the murders.
- [dogs barking]
- [Paul Murdaugh] Get back, get back.
Come on.
- It's okay, come here.
- [Alex Murdaugh] Bubba!
[Maggie Murdaugh]
He's got a bird in his mouth!
- [Alex] Come on, Bubba.
- Who's that?
- Shh!
- [Maggie] It's a guinea.
[Paul] It's a chicken.
[Alex] Ah, ah, ah, I got it.
[Maggie] Now what'd you do that for?
[dogs continue barking on recording]
Alec always maintained with us
he was never
down at the kennels that night.
So he lied about being down there.
[Detective Rutland]
It appears that he did, ma'am.
Did y'all hear another voice?
I-I think I heard another voice.
Play it again.
[dogs barking]
[Paul] Get back, get back.
It's okay, come here.
[newscaster] [on TV]
Breaking news in at this hour.
Sources telling us Alec Murdaugh
is set to be formally charged
with the murders of his wife Maggie
and son Paul.
[guard] Murdaugh, you got a visitor.
[Buster] Why didn't you tell me?
I mean, why'd you have to lie
to everybody about it?
'Cause I knew how bad it would look.
I mean, my head was
all messed up, bo, from the pills.
You know, from what I saw that night.
And I panicked.
I don't know what else to say, Bus.
What happened when you were
down there with him?
I just found out
Granddaddy was at death's door.
I didn't want to be alone,
so I went down there to be with him.
To distract myself.
Bubba likes to chase them chickens.
I tried to get it from him
before he killed the damn thing,
but by the time I wrangled it,
it was too late, and
What happened after that? I mean
They're saying it was
a few minutes after that.
Oh, then I left.
I mean
it was muggy as hell.
I was starting to sweat like a hog
from chasin' the damn dog.
I went back to the
house, I took a shower.
Had a lie-down.
I got up and left pretty
much straightaway
to see Grandma Em.
I mean, Bus,
you saw the video, you tell me.
Does that sound like anybody's
about to kill anybody?
No.
I mean, it sounded
like y'all were just
hanging out like we always did.
Because we were, okay?
We were.
Now, do you honestly think
that I could shoot up
that beautiful mom of yours
and my baby boy like that?
No.
But it don't look good lying about it.
[sighs] I should have told you, Bus.
I know that, okay?
I'm sorry.
It's been gnawing
at my insides that I didn't.
It's okay.
Are you sure?
Yeah, I get it.
I can't lose you, Bus.
You're the only family I got now.
[gentle music playing]
You worried about the trial?
Oh, hell no.
No, Dick and Jim are the best
lawyers in the state.
I mean, at least until you
finish law school, right?
- Yeah, if I ever get back in.
- You will.
[guard] Time's up.
Hey, make sure you get Uncle Randy
to put some more money
in my canteen fund.
All right, I'll let him know.
All right.
I love you, son.
I love you too, Dad.
[hangs up receiver]
[dramatic music playing]
- [reporter 1] There he is!
- [reporter 2] Get the camera, quick!
[reporter 3] Camera!
[camera shutters clicking]
[door closes]
[Creighton Waters]
On the evening of June 7, 2021,
Paul Murdaugh was standing
in a small feed room
in some kennels the Murdaughs
have on their property.
About 8:50 p.m.,
Paul's father, the defendant,
Alec Murdaugh,
took a 12-gauge shotgun
and shot Paul in the chest
and shoulder with buckshot.
Another shot went up under his head,
doing catastrophic damage
to his brain, killing him.
Moments later,
Alec picked up a 300 Blackout
That's a kind of ammunition
With an AR-style rifle,
one of many such
weapons the family owned,
and opened fire on his wife,
Maggie Murdaugh.
Pow, pow.
[slams tabletop]
Two shots to the abdomen
and the leg took her down.
Then another two shots to the head.
Execution style.
Execution style. That's
what the Mob does.
Killing her instantly.
Now, Alec Murdaugh declared
to anyone who would listen
that he was never
at the kennels that night,
a claim we now know was a lie
thanks to a simple
cell phone video taken by Paul.
We're gonna ask you to consider
the tremendous financial pressure
Mr. Murdaugh was under
in the months and days
leading up to June 7, 2021.
How a costly civil suit
was nipping at his heels
for his son Paul's role
in a deadly boat crash.
How his rampant fraud
and stealing of his client's money
was about to be discovered.
And how his father, Randolph,
long his powerful protector,
was nearing the end of his life,
taking that protection
that Alec always enjoyed with him.
How the murder of Maggie and Paul
served to deflect the scrutiny
comin' Alec's way.
That's an important fact.
[thunder rumbling faintly]
Ladies and gentlemen
Hell, there was a storm comin'
toward Maggie and Paul,
just like the storm
heading here right now.
And that storm arrived on June 7, 2021.
That storm
was Alec Murdaugh.
[indistinct murmuring]
[thunder rumbles]
Alec, stand up here.
Alec here is the loving,
devoted father to Paul,
the loving husband of Maggie.
And what you're gonna hear
is many a witness tell you
just how loving Alec and Maggie were.
And Paul was the apple
of his father's eye.
[clears throat]
Now when it comes to the guilt
or innocence of Alec,
well, y'all get to decide
what the evidence says.
Evidence, by the way,
that is circumstantial at best.
No eyewitnesses,
no camera, no fingerprints,
no forensics tying him
to this crime whatsoever.
Cell phone data that's incomplete.
Well, heck, they haven't even
been able to access
his car's GPS data.
They can't find the murder weapons.
Now, they gonna seriously ask y'all
to believe that a father could
slaughter his wife and son
with two different guns
at close range and somehow,
somehow have no blood
on his clothes whatsoever?
Well [scoffs]
The whole thing is
preposterous, ain't it?
It's simple.
It's because Alec Murdaugh
did not kill his wife and son.
He didn't do it.
[Creighton] Can you tell us
what the Murdaughs meant
to your mother, Gloria?
[Tony Satterfield] Well, um, my mother
used to be their housekeeper
for the last 20 years.
So that's two decades.
I mean, it meant a lot to her.
Paul and Buster
were like second sons to her.
So when the defendant said
he would take care of you
and your brother, why did you agree?
We trusted him.
[Creighton] Uh-huh.
Check the receipt up here on screen.
You recognize it?
[Jeanne Seckinger] I do.
Can you tell the jury what makes
this particular check memorable?
Gabriel Alvarez was Alec's client,
but the settlement check
was never recorded.
Alec told me he didn't know
what happened to it.
Eventually, our paralegal
found this receipt
in Alec's office.
[crickets chirping]
[knock on door]
You got everything you need?
Yeah, yeah. Aunt
Christy set me up nicely.
Granddaddy sure made
that poet a lot of money, huh?
[laughs] Are you kidding me?
I remember three straight Christmases
he gave these to all of us.
[laughs] Yeah.
Can't have too many reminders
of wise words to live by.
He would say.
- It's a lot to live up to.
- [Randy] Mm-hmm.
I know you gotta be pissed off at him.
Stealing all that money.
All the blowback the firm's getting.
Yeah, I am.
But he's also my brother.
So
best to classify it as complicated.
Dick and Jim want me
to testify as a character witness.
That's a lot of pressure.
You feel comfortable doing that?
Somebody's gotta talk
about what it was like
for our family on the inside.
Well, it's a sound strategy.
What do you think his chances are?
I'm a personal injury lawyer.
You know, your dad was the one
who dabbled in criminal cases.
You're Randolph Murdaugh III's son.
Just be honest with me.
Well, the prosecution's
really driving home
that your dad stealing a lot of money
from a lot of people
and about to be found out
as a form of motive.
Yeah.
And his behavior on the night of
and following
was particularly incriminating.
You're talking about the behavior
of a husband and a father
who just found his wife
and his son brutally killed.
And trauma responses are
I mean, they're unique,
especially when someone
has a substance abuse problem.
Yeah, that's good.
They don't have a murder weapon.
There's no DNA evidence.
Yeah, I wish he hadn't lied
about the video at the kennels.
- Yeah, that was a bad look.
- Yeah, well, a liar isn't a murderer.
Well, that's absolutely true.
Look, like I said, I'm a
I'm a personal injury lawyer.
I have no idea
how the jury will land on this.
But like I tell all my clients
you should prepare yourself for
all the different ways
this thing could play out.
Now your testimony
is gonna help his cause.
You are a good son, Buster.
And he's lucky to have you.
[Creighton] The state calls Mark Tinsley.
[menacing music playing]
I didn't have a clue
about this fake Forge account
or what he was doing
with the Satterfield settlement.
But I would've found out
soon as those records were handed over.
So would the court.
[Creighton] Which would've meant
a reckoning with all his fraud.
[Mark Tinsley] Both criminally
and with the law firm, correct.
Did you offer the defendant
any other sort of settlement?
I did.
Offered him a payment plan.
You claim money's tight right now? Fine.
Pay in installments over time.
What was their response to that?
Well, Alec rejected it.
And, Mark, tell the jury when the judge
was supposed to rule
on making Alec turn over
those financial documents.
June 10, 2021.
Three days after Maggie and Paul
were murdered.
Did that put pressure on him?
Was Alec aware of this date?
[Mark] Oh, more than aware.
And that's exactly what it was.
Pressure.
Alec didn't want
to turn those records over.
So that's a pressure point for me.
And it's my job to make him
as the defendant feel maximum pressure.
So what happened
to the boat crash civil suit
after the murders of Maggie and Paul?
Well, it ended the case
against Alec altogether.
Look, I knew Maggie personally.
I knew Paul from
when he was a little boy.
So I felt for Alec and Buster.
And in a civil case like this,
if Alec is now the victim
of a crime this horrible,
well, a jury's gonna
have sympathy for him.
They're not likely to reach
a verdict against him.
So the murders of Maggie and Paul
actually benefited Alec,
at least as far
as the pressure of the civil suit?
Objection, Your Honor.
Improper characterization
Sustained.
Mr. Waters, please stick to the facts.
[Creighton] Of course.
As a lawyer, it's your job
to gauge sympathies and emotion
in a case.
Something Alec Murdaugh did well
when he was a lawyer?
Correct?
When it comes to knowing
what makes people tick
getting 'em to believe you
there's nobody better than Alec.
[somber music playing]
[door opens]
You all right in here?
Yeah, yeah.
Brooklynn just went to grab us some food.
What's up?
Uh
[clears throat]
I was approached
by the prosecutor's office.
They want me to testify.
Against Dad?
Well, you know, I spent some time
with your mom before it all
and I did talk to her
on the phone that day.
I think they're just trying
to paint a picture
leading up to what happened.
So you're gonna do it?
Well, honey, I feel like I have to.
But I wanted you to know first.
They want you to trash-talk him?
Just like every other friend
that they've called up there.
You are family.
You are a kind and loving person,
and that is gonna make it
10 times worse for him.
After everything we've learned
what do you think happened?
I think that someone
had a grudge against Paul,
or Dad 'cause of all the money he stole,
took him out as some kind of revenge.
What do you think happened?
I don't know what to think anymore.
I just wish they had
something else to go on.
Yeah, well, maybe they would
if they'd have looked for it
instead of zeroing in
on Dad from the jump.
You do what you have to do.
Everybody else is already
against us anyways.
[sighs]
None of us should be here right now.
But please know that I would never,
ever be against you.
[Marian Proctor]
Maggie loved her family,
loved her boys.
Buster and Paul, they were her world.
She was just a
a really, really good person.
Um, she hadn't grown up
hunting or fishing,
but she always tried
to join in as best she could.
We used to laugh
that she'd be in the deer stand
with her Southern Living magazine,
and the boys would say
she was making too much noise
turning the pages.
So as we move closer to June 7, 2021,
the family received a bad prognosis
about Mr. Randolph, correct?
Yes.
She was busy redecorating the house,
and Mr. Randolph
wasn't doing well at all.
And Alec really wanted her
to come home that night.
She hadn't planned on it,
but he needed her to come home,
and Paul was gonna be there, too.
Maggie didn't really know what to do.
She, she really wanted to stay
and finish getting the beach house ready.
But I said, "Well
"Well, Maggie,
"Alec and his dad
are super close, so that
So that's probably what you should do."
[cries]
[somber music playing]
Sorry. [sniffles]
[Creighton] Was that the last time
you ever talked to your sister?
It was, yes.
[Creighton]
And in the aftermath of it all,
did you talk to Alec
about what had happened?
[Marian] I did, yes.
Um, I asked him, did he
have any idea who'd done this?
And he said he didn't know who'd done it,
but that he felt like whoever it was
had thought about it
for a really long time.
[Creighton] Did that strike you as odd?
I just didn't know what it meant.
That was some of the most
emotionally compelling testimony so far.
I mean, but to what end?
I mean, come on.
Maggie is a wonderful woman.
Paul's a great kid.
I mean, hell, you put me up
on the stand under oath,
I'll say the same goddamn thing.
Creighton made it seem like
you lured 'em back, Red.
I wanted my wife and my son there
while my daddy died,
which y'all need to do a better job
of reminding them, by the way.
Okay, well, I must be a damn fool
for taking an attorney as a client.
Well, I'm willing to trade places
with you any time, bo.
Mm.
Jimmy G, why the long face?
Rest of the cell phone records
and GPS data from your Suburban.
[Dick] Anything else
we need to know, Alec?
[newscaster 1] A bombshell turn of events
in the Murdaugh trial
as the prosecution has obtained
previously inaccessible
cell phone and GPS data.
[newscaster 2] SLED agent David Owen
is taking the stand today
to share what data reveals
about that fateful night.
[Owen]
So, what all this data allows us to do
is create a timeline and map
of everything everyone was doing
the night of the murders.
How fast the defendant was driving,
when and where he started his car,
and when certain calls were made
from the victims' and defendant's phones.
What time was the kennel video
taken on Paul's phone, Agent Owen?
[Owen] 8:46 p.m.
[Creighton] Uh-huh, and originally,
the coroner estimated time of death
sometime around 8:56,
about 10 minutes after.
But what time did Paul and Maggie's phone
go silent forever?
Both phones were locked at 8:49 p.m.
[Creighton] Three minutes
from where Alec has confirmed
to have been there, they were killed.
Agent Owen, talk us through
the map on slide 18 here.
Yes, sir.
Uh, this is a map of Moselle Road,
just outside the property.
- [Creighton] Uh-huh.
- The orange dot
is where Maggie Murdaugh's phone
was located, just in the tree line.
Obviously removed from the crime scene.
Along the same route the defendant took
to his parents, passing here at 9:08,
traveling at approximately
42 miles per hour.
After passing the location
where her phone was found,
did the defendant's vehicle accelerate?
It reaches a max speed
of 74.4 miles per hour,
faster than any other speed that day
coming and going from work.
So the defendant slowed down
at the same spot
where her phone
happened to have been found
and then accelerated away.
Correct.
The state rests, Your Honor.
[indistinct murmuring]
[dramatic music playing]
[somber music playing]
[Alex] Ask it.
[eerie music playing]
Go on.
Go on and ask it.
Ask what?
The question you want the answer to.
Ask it with your whole entire chest.
Come on, son.
Go on, son.
[eerie music swelling]
Go on, son.
You know that I worked a case
with your great-granddaddy Buster
in this very courtroom
when I was a baby lawyer?
- Really?
- [laughs] Oh.
That man was the cock of the walk,
I'll tell you what.
And he knew it, too.
Yeah.
Alec wanted you to know
he's real proud of you
for getting up there for him today.
[Jim Griffin]
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
this is a photo taken
of the Murdaugh family
at a baseball game just a few weeks
before the murders.
Buster, what do you remember
about that day?
Uh, my brother Paul was, um,
making everyone laugh like he would.
And I remember, uh
my mom was real proud of the work that
she'd gotten done on the beach house.
Y'all were real happy
when y'all were together, weren't you?
[Buster] We were.
I mean, we had our moments, you know?
Like all families, I think. Yeah.
But, yes, sir. I'd say, uh
I'd say that we were.
Tell us a little bit
about your brother Paul.
Uh
Ahem, uh, well, he, uh
he loved to fish and hunt.
Lots of outdoor stuff.
Me and him and Dad would, um
we'd do that stuff together a lot, so
[Jim] Did y'all ever fight?
Well, I-I-I don't know a pair
of brothers that doesn't,
so, yes, sir.
Yes, sir, we did.
Uh, but we
You know, we also
had a lot of fun together.
[Jim] I bet you did.
- Thank you. Bus.
- [knocks on tabletop]
You didn't know about your dad's
financial difficulties, did you?
No, sir. I did not.
Your mom loved
that beach house, didn't she?
Yes, sir.
Uh, she she loved the ocean.
Had she been spending more time
down there leading up to June 7th?
As I said, she was having
work done on the house.
So, yes, I believe so.
[Creighton]
Did her spending more time down there
have anything to do with how the community
treated your family after the boat crash?
Did she feel ostracized?
Uh, she did, yes.
Did that cause stress within the family?
[Buster] It was a stressful time.
But, um
you know, we just tried
to support each other through that.
Thank you for your time.
No further questions.
[tense music playing]
[Alex]
"Buster Murdaugh takes the stand,
but does little to counter
the state's GPS and cell phone evidence."
[Dick] Well, you testifying
is dumber than dirt, Alec.
Y'all got any other cards
you wanna play, Dick? I'm all ears.
Now God bless Buster boy,
but there's only so much he can do.
I mean, this is
this is slipping away, boys.
It's our experts' turn now, Alec.
Oh, yeah, Jim?
Hey, they got anything that can counter
the phone data and the GPS horseshit?
Oh, no, I didn't think so.
Now I didn't do this, all right?
You know it, I know it.
But the only way
that jury's gonna know it, Dick,
is if they hear it straight from me.
All this jury has heard this whole trial
is how much you have lied
to everybody about everything.
To your clients, law enforcement,
to your friends and family.
Your credibility is in
the goddamn septic tank at this point.
Then I own the lies.
Yeah, I don't run from them, Dick.
I run straight to 'em.
I strongly advise you against doing this.
You know who the fuck I am, bo?
No, do you know who my fuckin' family is?
Then you got some idea how much time
I spent in this courtroom as a kid,
upstairs at the state's table
while my daddy and my granddaddy
put away murderers, rapists,
and ne'er-do-wells aplenty.
Now you got your crime scene expert,
you got your weapons expert,
Jim, fine.
You have the fuck at it!
But if they wanna try me for something
this god-awful on my family's turf?
Fuck, no, bo!
Okay? Not without going through me first.
Now you put me on that fuckin' stand.
The defendant Richard Alexander Murdaugh
wishes to take the stand.
[court clerk] Do you swear and affirm
that the testimony you give today
will be the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth?
- Yes, ma'am.
- [court clerk] Thank you.
I'm Alec Murdaugh.
M-U-R-D-A-U-G-H.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Mr. Murdaugh
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?
No, I did not.
Did you take this gun,
or any gun like it
and blow your son's brains out
on June 7th, or any day or any time?
No, I did not.
Mr. Murdaugh
did you take a 300
Blackout such as this,
and fired into your wife
Maggie's leg, torso,
or any part of her body?
No, I did not.
[Jim] Mr. Murdaugh,
did you shoot this gun
into Maggie's head, causing her death?
Mr. Griffin, I didn't shoot
my wife or my son anytime, ever.
Mr. Murdaugh,
were you in fact at the kennels
at 8:44 p.m.
the night that Maggie
and Paul were murdered?
I was.
And did you in fact lie repeatedly
to law enforcement that night?
The night that Maggie and Paul
were murdered?
I did lie.
As my addiction evolved over time
I would get in these situations,
these circumstances,
where I would get paranoid thinking.
That night, June 7th
after finding
[sniffles]
Mags and Paul
Paw-Paw.
I had a deputy sheriff
takin' gunshot tests from my hands.
I'm sittin' in a police car
with David Owens
and asking me about my relationship
with my wife and my son.
And all of those things,
coupled together with,
after finding them,
coupled with my
My distrust for SLED,
caused me to have paranoid thoughts.
Now, normally [sniffles]
when these paranoid thoughts
would hit me,
I could just take a deep breath,
you know, real quick.
Just think about it, you know,
reason my way through it.
Just get past it really quickly.
On June the 7th
I wasn't thinking clearly.
I don't think I was capable of reason.
And I lied about being down there.
And I'm I'm so sorry that I did.
I'm sorry to my son Buster.
I'm sorry to Grandma, Papa-T.
[sniffles] I'm sorry
to both of our families.
But most of all
I'm sorry to Mags and Paw-Paw.
I would never intentionally do anything
to hurt either one of them.
Ever.
Ever.
Why did you continue to lie
after you left, after you were sober?
Oh, I don't know, you know
Oh, what a tangled web we weave.
And once I told a lie, told my family
I had to keep lying.
[dramatic music playing]
[crickets chirping]
[gasps]
Sorry.
[whispers] It's okay, babe.
You can't sleep?
You don't have to stay with me.
What are you talking about?
You shouldn't, actually.
You don't deserve all this.
All this craziness.
[Brooklynn sighs]
You don't deserve it either.
Okay?
[gasps softly]
So you would have us believe that
you jetted down there to the kennels,
dealt with the dead chicken,
and then jetted back.
No, sir. I did not jet down there,
and I did not jet back.
After Maggie asked me to go down,
and I didn't, I went back to the house.
I laid down. I felt stupid.
I thought, "What am I doing?"
So I got up, I got in my golf cart.
I drove down there.
I did what I did.
I took the chicken from Bubba's mouth.
And in short order, I said, um,
"I'm leaving, I'll see you in a minute."
Or words to that effect.
And I got in my cart
and I went back to the house.
Does that sound like real life to you?
That you jetted down there
and jetted back, Mr. Murdaugh?
Mr. Waters, I've already said I didn't
jet down there and I didn't jet back.
- The reason you had to be
- Hang on, hang on, hang on.
- fussy about the details?
- Just a second
[Jim] Your Honor,
he should be allowed to finish his answer
before another question is presented.
[Judge Newman] Yes, sir.
Do you agree that I'm entitled
to ask my questions to you, sir?
Absolutely, and I'm gonna
answer all of 'em.
I'm just taking issue
with the manner in which
you're puttin' words in my mouth
that I did not use.
Do you disagree this is a new story?
Do you disagree
with that characterization?
Yes.
This is the first time
this has been talked about openly.
When accountability
is at your door, Mr. Murdaugh,
bad things happen, is that correct?
What do you mean, Mr. Waters?
For the first time in your life
of privilege and prominence and wealth,
you were facing accountability.
Suddenly, you became a victim,
and everyone ran to your aid.
Prospect of humiliating your legacy
is an extraordinary
provocation for you, isn't it?
You had a very successful career
up to this point, did you not?
You think you lived a life of privilege?
I think you could say that.
In June of 2021, you were
suffering from drug addiction.
Your father was ill.
You were coming
to the point of a financial crisis.
- Isn't that true?
- I had some financial issues, yes.
- That's correct.
- Issues you lied to your father about.
- I'm sure I did at some point.
- Uh-huh.
You lied to your brothers?
About financial matters, I did.
You lied to your sister-in-law,
Marian Proctor?
I did lie to her, yes.
Did you lie to your colleagues
and law partners at PMPED?
- I did.
- You lie to your clients?
Some of them.
Did you lie to Tony and Brian Satterfield
whose mother Gloria
was your longtime housekeeper?
Yes, I did.
[Creighton] Mr. Murdaugh
are you a family annihilator?
I would never hurt Maggie Murdaugh.
I would never hurt Paul Murdaugh
under any circumstances.
You say that.
But you lied to Maggie, didn't you?
[Alex] Yes, I did lie to her.
You lied to Paul.
Yes.
So if you admit that you lied
to all these people,
why should we believe
you're telling the truth now?
[dramatic music playing]
You know why people lie, Mr. Murdaugh?
'Cause they know
they've done something wrong.
[reporter] And breaking
news this evening,
as the jury
in the Alec Murdaugh murder trial
appear to have reached a verdict
after only two and a half hours
of deliberation.
[somber music playing]
The jury finds the defendant,
Richard Alexander Murdaugh
guilty of murder.
[indistinct murmuring]
Buster.
I'm so sorry, sweetheart.
[cries softly]
I just
I just want my mom.
- [cries]
- Oh!
I know you do.
[Buster sobbing]
I know you do.
[Judge Newman]
The question, Mr. Murdaugh, is
when will the lies end?
Within your own soul,
only you can answer that.
And I know you have to see
Paul and Maggie during the night
when you're trying to go to sleep.
I'm sure they come to visit you.
All day and every night.
And they will continue to do so
as you reflect on the last time
they looked you in the eyes.
For the murder of your wife,
Maggie Murdaugh,
I sentence you to a term
for the rest of your natural life.
For the murder of Paul Murdaugh,
whom you probably loved so much
I sentence you to a term
of the rest of your natural life.
What's wrong?
You ever feel guilty about it all?
Like, if it weren't for all the pressure
we were putting on him?
Maybe he wouldn't have killed them?
There are about a hundred things
that I wish I could do differently
if I had to go back and do it again.
But do I feel guilty?
No.
Not for going after someone
who was doing all that he was doing.
And you shouldn't either.
Maybe if I hadn't pushed so hard,
just accepted his offer.
You got the Beaches the money
they deserved for losing Mallory.
- Yeah.
- We helped the Satterfields
do the same for losing their mother.
- I know.
- If it weren't for you,
he would still be out there
stealing from so many more victims.
But maybe Maggie and Paul
would still be alive.
What he did is on him and him alone.
Yeah, my head knows you're right.
But, damn if I don't still feel like
my hands are dirty.
Okay.
Keep in touch, Mandy.
[Mandy] Thanks, Mark.
[Alex] You follow through
with that letter to the dean?
No, not yet.
Then, Bus, you gotta get on that
if you wanna get back in.
I mean, come on, bud. I know
I know the trial delayed things
for you and all,
but, but time's a-wastin', son.
I don't know if I want to go back.
What do you mean you don't know?
I don't know if it's what
I want to do anymore.
Oh, come on. That's crazy talk.
Of course, you do.
Dad, I've been meaning
to ask you something.
Okay. What?
Why didn't you ask me
to come home that day?
What?
Well, the day that Mom and Paul
Why didn't you ask me
to come home that day?
What do you mean?
You asked Paul to come home
and look at the sunflowers.
And
you told Mom that y'all needed
to be together as a family because
of how sick Granddaddy was, and
you didn't ask me to come home.
Why are you askin' me this now?
Huh? You think you could have been there,
there might have been something
you could've done?
- Don't do that to yourself, bo.
- No, it's not like that.
Just been on my mind.
You'd just started your job, hadn't you?
- Yeah.
- You're up at Rock Hill with
with Brooklynn and her family.
It was a long drive.
I made that drive all the time, Dad.
[exhales]
You know what, I don't know
what else to tell you.
I didn't wanna worry you none, I guess.
And you know what?
Thank God I damn didn't.
Because if I had, whoever did this might
have done it to you, too, you know?
I should go.
You got places to be, yeah?
I get it. I do.
Now listen, can you, uh, make sure
that Uncle Randy puts that money
in my canteen fund?
Yeah.
Yeah, I'll give you a call. We'll talk.
Yeah?
Love you, son. I do.
[somber music playing]
[ominous music playing]
[crickets chirping]
[sighs]
[dogs barking]
[Paul and Maggie chatting indistinctly]
[chicken clucks]
I couldn't rest.
- What y'all doing?
- I'm talking to Rogan.
Oh, he's all worried.
Yeah, bo, I'll take a video.
He looks okay, though.
- Yeah, sounds good.
- Where are you off to, Mags?
Oh, I'm just gonna go check
on these wildflowers.
Oh, right down there.
They're pretty, they are.
[dogs barking]
Get back. Get back.
[dogs barking]
He's got a bird in his mouth!
- Bubba, come on, Bubba. Come on.
- [claps hands]
- [Maggie] It's a guinea.
- [Paul] It's a chicken.
Ah, ah, ah. Come on, I got it.
[Maggie] Now what'd you do that for?
- [Alex] It's dead.
- [Maggie] Sweet boy.
He's been out at the beach too long.
That boy needs to hunt.
[Alex] Come on, Bubba. Come on.
Come on, Bubba.
Come on, kennel up.
There you go. In you go.
[Paul] What are you doing?
That ain't his run.
I know, but I'm more worried
about these chickens.
You hungry, Cash Money?
Yeah? Yeah? Let's get you some food.
Oh, I forgot to tell you that I'm redoing
your bedroom at the beach house.
So if you have any requests.
Uh, I've been sleeping real good
in Aunt Elizabeth's guest room.
Give me all the flower patterns.
[laughs] Oh.
Hey, don't you tempt me.
[dogs barking]
[cell phone vibrates]
Rogan said he's not that hungry, bo!
He said to feed him
anything in there, bo.
- [Paul] Yeah, I'm just doing Blue bag.
- [Alex] All right.
Yeah, it's not for you.
All right, Cash Money, yeah?
Yeah, I got you the good stuff.
Look at you beauties.
[dogs barking]
[gun racks]
[gunshot]
[gasps]
[dogs barking]
[Maggie] Paul?
[gun racks]
[gunshot]
[Maggie] Paul!
Alec!
What's going on?
[dogs barking loudly]
- Bubba?
- [gun racks]
[gasps]
Paul?
[barking]
[Maggie whimpering]
[breathing heavily]
Alec
[gunshot]
[dogs barking]
[gunshot]
[barking]
[insects buzzing]
[discordant music playing]
[cell phone buzzing]
[crickets chirping]
[ignition starts]
[crickets chirping]
[ominous music playing]
[sniffles, cries]
[insects chirruping]
[birds tweeting]
[indistinct chatter]
[somber music playing]
[woman] Hey, honey? Look at this.
What do you think of these over here?
[man 1] Oh, that's nice.
[indistinct chatter continues]
[footsteps approach]
[man 2] Excuse me.
Do you?
Sorry, I-I-I don't see a sticker on this.
Do you Do you know how much it is?
Uh, you know what? This one's, uh
You know what, sir? You can have that.
Oh.
Thank you.
[wistful music playing]
[Alex] Four, seven
[indistinct chatter]
That shit ain't four hours of TV time.
It's barely even two.
That's what it was last time.
Lance, bo, come on.
Tell him, Lance. That's what it was!
Don't look at me. I don't even know
what y'all doing over here.
The last time was last time.
This is this time.
You gotta pay the piper, brother.
Damn, you're a fuck
- You're a tough customer.
- Mm.
- There you go. That's it.
- [Jermaine] Any beef sticks?
No, that's That's it, dude.
Last and final.
That's all I got.
All right. Four hours.
But once them Gamecocks of yours
get they ass kicked, TV time is over.
All right, well,
I'm gonna be back for kickoff.
Oh, so you holding out on me?
[Alex laughs]
You trying to cheat me, huh?
It's only cheating if you get caught, bo.
[chuckles]
You dirty, Red.
[cell door slams]
[door lock buzzes]
[prisoners shouting indistinctly]
[somber music playing]
Sub extracted from file & improved