Attorneys for former attorney Alex Murdaugh have accused law enforcement agencies of botching the murders of his wife and child and fixing his murders with fabricated evidence because they had no other suspects.
“They decided that if we don’t find somebody else, it’s going to be Alex,” defense attorney Jim Griffin said Thursday in closing arguments in the week-long trial that could send the prominent South Carolina lawyer to prison on life if convicted. .
Murdaugh, 54, insisted he never hurt his wife Maggie, 52, or his 22-year-old son Paul. Both were found shot and killed on the family’s rural hunting property in Islandton, South Carolina, on June 7, 2021.
Murdaugh admitted to stealing, being addicted to opioids and lying to detectives about not being at the crime scene the night his family was killed. The paranoia of his drug addiction made him lie, he also confessed, but he is not a criminal.
via the Associated Press
“Alex was not going to kill the people he loved the most in the world. There is no evidence that they would,” Griffin said.
Murdaugh’s lawyers sought to discredit the prosecution’s case, saying detectives failed to collect fingerprints from the crime scene, did not take blood samples and allowed Murdaugh’s friends and family to walk through the property hours before law enforcement orders to reach the Law Enforcement Division.
Griffin also accused SLED of “fabricating evidence against” Murdaugh, with an officer claiming early in the investigation that Murdaugh was found with blood spattered on his clothes.
“They came in with a report that Alex’s shirt had blood spatter at high speed,” suggesting he was within walking distance of a shooting, Griffin said. An officer later testified that tests on the shirt failed to conclusively find blood.
“The circumstances do not conclusively point to Alex’s guilt,” the lawyer continued. “Apparently, in fact, the state is manipulating the evidence to fit their theories of guilt, which have changed over time.”
Griffin further examined the prosecution’s criminal history, questioning how Murdaugh could have shot the couple within minutes without leaving any evidence at the scene.
The state historian, using the family’s phone records, suggested that Murdaugh had about 15 minutes to shoot his wife and son directly with two different rifles, to clean up and dispose of evidence, including gunshots, that did not were found. .
Prosecutors said Murdaugh then made a series of short phone calls, including to his wife and family, while driving to visit his mother to create an alibi. His defense team said this behavior was nothing out of the ordinary and did not show he killed his family.
“The Tugator is full of blood. The shooter’s weapon is covered in blood. That’s not enough time to clean all this up, make all this go away and then call your son Buster while he goes to see your mother,” Griffin said. “There’s no blood on him, he’s acting normal like every day. It’s the same old Alex. But their theory is that he stunned the people he loved the most in the world, stunned them.”
The jury is expected to begin deliberations later Thursday.
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