As CNN writes, to get their conviction, prosecutors in the Alex Murdaugh trial had to first overcome a paucity of direct evidence linking the former lawyer to the crime. With that lack of direct evidence, including a murder weapon, evidence of blood on Murdaugh’s clothing, or any witnesses, prosecutors built their case around photo, video, and cell phone data showing that Murdaugh was in the area where his wife and son were shot and killed. According to Murdaugh, he saw his wife and son alive near the kennels on the expansive Murdaugh family rural property. He then left the scene to visit his mother, according to Murdaugh’s defense.
Per Murdaugh’s own testimony, he called 911 when he got back to the property and found his wife and son dead. Key to the prosecution’s case was video evidence on Paul Murdaugh’s phone proving Murdaugh was there only a moment before Paul and Maggie died. Location data from Murdaugh’s cell phone also disproved the former lawyer’s initial alibi. To explain this discrepancy, Murdaugh claimed his addiction to opiate painkillers led to paranoid thinking, so he lied to investigators at first.
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On the stand, Murdaugh said (per CNN): “As my addiction evolved over time, I would get in these situations or circumstances where I would get paranoid thinking.” He said that on June 7, the day Maggie and Paul were shot and killed, “I wasn’t thinking clearly. I don’t think I was capable of reason. And I lied about being down there.”
