Newly released images from Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial shows the disgraced attorney speaking to police on the night of his wife and son’s killings.
Murdaugh, who is accused of shooting his wife, Maggie, 52, and younger son Paul, 22, at their sprawling hunting lodge, appeared distraught as he spoke to officers while wearing a loose fitting white T-shirt and black shorts.
The white shirt was also void of any signs of blood from the brutal crime scene, echoing police’s testimony that Murdaugh was clean when cops arrived at the lodge.
Prosecutors, however, allege that Murdaugh carried out the murders to gain sympathy and distract attention away from his damning financial crimes.
It comes as attorney’s in the case agreed on Thursday to release a redacted version of the body cam footage submitted to the court.
New images from police body cam footage shows Alex Murdaugh (right) wearing a clean white shirt on the night of his wife and son’s murder
Other images show drone shots of the crime scene, including the buildings where Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s bloody bodies were found. Maggie was found by the red-roof building
Pictured: The dog kennel where police found Paul’s body in a pool of blood
Along with the images of Murdaugh, the new images also show areal shots of the crime scene, including the buildings were Maggie and Paul’s body were found.
The full body cam video was presented to jurors on Thursday, allowing them to see what happened when police arrived to Murdaugh’s lodge on June 7, 2021.
The video seen the courtroom featured the gruesome discovery of the ‘butchered’ bodies of Maggie and Paul, causing the jury to cover their mouths and Murdaugh to break down in court.
Colleton County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Daniel Greene was the first on the scene who appears in the video questioning Murdaugh and seeing the bodies.
Greene had previously stated that when he arrived he could see Murdaugh at the end of the driveway. He had sped over in his patrol car after Murdaugh called 911.
‘As I was approaching towards [Murdaugh] I could see the male lying on the ground to my left, and the female victim to my right.
‘There was a large deal of blood that had pooled around his body, same for the female victim, also a lot of blood pooled around the body.’
Greene added that there was ‘a large amount of blood, as well as brain matter.’
Alex Murdaugh cries as the murder of his wife and son is described by Colleton County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Daniel Greene
The prosecution’s first witness Sgt. Daniel Greene shows the shotgun that he found Murdaugh holding at the scene which he took into his vehicle as Murdaugh appeared ‘upset and anxious’
The cop said there was also what appeared to be a large volume of water around the bodies, despite the fact it was not raining when he arrived.
Fire chief Barry McRoy told the court that when he arrived Paul’s ‘brains were down by his ankles’ and that he checked neither victim because ‘both had injuries that were incompatible with life.’
Greene added that he secured the shotgun, a Benelli Super Black Eagle 12-gauge, that Murdaugh was holding – taking it to his vehicle. He noted that shotgun shells were strewn across the driveway.
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The gun was later given to investigators and Greene stated he did not unload or modify the weapon before turning it over.
He said he also noticed a number of tire tracks in the wet grass, more than could be explained by the vehicles at the scene. Murdaugh says he only came in and out of the property in a single vehicle.
Greene said he lifted Paul’s body as he continued to investigate the scene. Officers were working to rule out the possibility that Paul shot his mother before killing himself.
Greene said he noticed there were rifle rounds, .300 blackout cases, surrounding Maggie’s body, but did not appear to be many around Paul’s body.
In the footage a deputy can be heard remarking that there could not be a gun under Paul’s body ‘unless it’s the shortest .300 Blackout that’s ever been made.’
The prosecution’s case is that Murdaugh shot his son first with a shotgun before shooting Maggie with the AR-15-style rifle. The rifle has never been found.
Murdaugh claimed he had been visiting his elderly mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s and arrived home to find Maggie and Paul dead near the estate’s dog kennels
Fire chief Barry McRoy (left) told jurors that when he arrived Paul’s ‘brains were down by his ankles’ and that he checked neither victim because ‘both had injuries that were incompatible with life.’ Police officer Capt. Jason Chapman (right) said he found Paul lying facedown, his hands under his body and a smartphone propped on his back. His clothes were saturated in blood and water – Chapman said it was not clear where the water came from. It hadn’t rained yet
Murdaugh’s attorney Dick Harpootlian, however, grilled McRoy about tire tracks the fire chief said he spotted nearby.
McRoy said he mentioned the tracks to one of the deputies but it did not appear they were taped off despite other vehicles arriving.
Harpootlian also ripped Sgt. Daniel Greene for not taking photos of tire tracks or footprints, and not putting anything on his feet to preserve blood and brains spattered on the ground.
The defense theory is that somebody else killed Murdaugh’s wife and son in revenge for a boat crash during which Paul had been driving under the influence, killing a 19-year-old woman, in February 2019.
A shed near the dog kennels at Moselle Hunting Lodge where Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were gunned down
Murdaugh claimed that he had been visiting his mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s and arrived home to find Maggie and Paul dead near the estate’s dog kennels. But prosecutors say cell phone pings will show Murdaugh was at the property when the pair were killed.
In a horrifying 911 call, Murdaugh told the dispatcher through sobs: ‘I can tell [Paul’s] shot in the head and he’s shot really bad… He’s got blood everywhere. I can see his brains.’
He went on to describe how his wife was lying down nearby, telling the dispatcher ‘she’s got a hole in her head.’
Murdaugh told the dispatcher his son ‘has been being threatened for months and months and months’.
Greene, told jurors he could not see any blood on Murdaugh and although he appeared upset, he did not see any tears either.
Murdaugh sounded lucid as the officer questioned him and is even heard casually greeting an officer arriving on the scene, saying: ‘How ya doin?’
Greene, who said he saw multiple tire tracks incompatible with the number of vehicles at the hunting lodge, admitted that he did not photograph the tracks or footprints at the scene. He said he did not inform SLED (state law enforcement) about the evidence because it was ‘not part of my job description.’
