WALTERBORO, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh's theft of millions of dollars was about to be revealed so he killed his wife and son to buy time to figure a way out, a prosecutor said Wednesday during closing arguments in the disgraced South Carolina attorney's murder trial.
Murdaugh's fear that his decade-long theft would be exposed and his desire to maintain his lofty standing in the community led him to make sure his wife and younger son were at the family's Colleton County home on June 7, 2021, so that he could kill them as part of a clever plan aided by his knowledge of how criminal cases are constructed, prosecutor Creighton Waters told jurors.
“The pressures on this man were unbearable. And they were all reaching a crescendo the day his wife and son were murdered by him,” Waters said. The defense would get to sum up its case later Wednesday.
Murdaugh, 54, is accused of killing his wife Maggie and son Paul at the family's Moselle estate back in June of 2021. Prosecutors say he's the sole person responsible while the defense says the state never seriously looked for any other potential witnesses.
The key piece of evidence connecting Alex Murdaugh to the killings is a video Paul Murdaugh shot from the kennels about five minutes before he last used his cellphone. It took more than a year for federal agents to hack into the young man's locked iPhone and find it.
Before the trial, Alex Murdaugh repeatedly told investigators that he hadn’t been at the kennels on the night of the killings, but while testifying in his own defense, he admitted that he lied and that he had been there.
Although the weapons used to kill the victims haven't been found, an expert testified that the markings on the bullet casings found near Maggie Murdaugh’s body matched those found on casings at a shooting range on the family's property.
But there was no blood spatter or DNA linking the killings to Alex Murdaugh or anyone else, and prosecutors never laid out how they think Murdaugh could have killed his family, cleaned himself up, disposed of the clothes and weapons, and composed himself in the 15-minute window before GPS data shows he left the property to visit his ailing mother.
PHOTOS: Alex Murdaugh murder trial - Day 27 (Wed, March 1)
The prosecution's star crime scene expert said there isn't enough evidence to definitely say whether there were one or two shooters at the kennels.
Still, Waters said there is enough evidence to link the killings to the financial crimes and to Alex Murdaugh being the only person with the means and opportunity to kill his wife and son.
“As all of these pressures were mounting, the defendant killed Maggie and Paul,' Waters said, pulling out his cellphone and waving it. ”The forensic timeline puts him there. The use of the family weapons collaborates it. And his lies and his guilty actions afterward confirm that."
Waters said Alex Murdaugh has been lying for years to cover up his opioid addiction and theft of money from his law firm and clients, so it would be easy to lie about being at the kennels and killing his family, and to lie while testifying in his own defense last week.
"He's fooled them all," Waters said in his final statements. "He fooled Maggie and Paul too and they paid for it with their lives. Don't let him fool you too."
The defense has said state agents conducted a poor investigation that focused too quickly on Alex Murdaugh and missed evidence such as fingerprints and shoe prints that could have led to the real killers.
Jurors started the day with a trip to the Murdaugh family estate, known as Moselle, to look at the property. They left the courthouse around 9:10 a.m. according to the press pool report. The 1,700 acre plot is where Paul and Maggie were killed near the kennels on the land. The request to visit the site was made by Murdaugh's lawyers.
You can find trial updates here every day. Watch live streaming testimony and coverage on wltx.com, on the WLTX+ streaming app on Amazon Fire and Roku TV, and on the News19 WLTX YouTube page.
Wednesday Updates
Pool report from Valerie Bauerlein of The Wall Street Journal on the jurors trip to Moselle. Bauerlein was chosen by a lottery to be the person providing these updates:
The 12 jurors and 2 alternates assembled at the Colleton County Courthouse at 9 a.m. and loaded into three transport vans in the secured and gated area behind the courthouse. The windows were blocked to keep anyone from looking in. The vans left the courthouse at 9:10 a.m
Behind the jury was a phalanx of security vehicles and court personnel. Judge Clifton Newman rode in a pickup truck driven by Colleton County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jason Chapman. You may remember Capt. Chapman from the first full day of testimony; he was the lead local officer the night of June 7, 2021, at Moselle. He testified about Alex Murdaugh’s demeanor and the challenges of securing a scene in rainy conditions.
Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill and Court Reporter Elizabeth Harris followed the judge in a truck driven by Mike Atwood, who has led courthouse security for the duration of the trial. It was Mr. Atwood who told the judge about the bomb threat mid-trial.
The logistics are: the jury will be taken through the kennel entrance and have a total of 30 minutes to view the property. They will spend the bulk of their time at the kennels and the shed where Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were killed. Towards the end of the visit, the jury will be taken to the main house for a view of the exterior. They will not go inside.
At 9:41 a.m., the pool turned into the kennel entrance at Moselle. There were at least 6 vehicles on the far side of Moselle Road with journalists taking pictures and videos. So the road is not blocked in the manner we had been told to expect though there are deputies guarding the entrance.
PHOTOS: Murdaugh jury visits Moselle
Your pool van pulled briefly up the short drive to the kennels and did a quick circle around the kennel area and shed before coming back to wait at the foot of the driveway on Moselle Road. The jury preceded us by several minutes. We had a few seconds to view them as they walked the narrow path between the kennels and the shed.
One juror was standing in the feed room door, glancing up at the doorway that has been the subject of so much wrenching testimony. Judge Newman was with them, standing still, looking down. He was in street clothes. Some of the deputies on watch while the jurors tour are some of the key witnesses in the case, including CCSO Detective Laura Rutland, who sat in on Alex Murdaugh’s first interview with SLED investigator David Owen in the early hours of June 8. They were parked that night in SLED Special Agent Owen’s SUV to get out of the rain.
At 10:07 a.m., Dick Harpootlian and co-counsel Margaret Fox came down the short driveway in Mr. Harpootlian’s black Mercedes. Mr. Harpootlian said the jury is now at the house and is wrapping up their tour. Defense lawyer Jim Griffin is delivering the closing argument as soon as this afternoon and was not with his colleagues.
Your pool was informed by deputies that Attorney General Alan Wilson is here, too, escorted by Sgt. Daniel Greene. It was Sgt. Greene’s bodycam video the jury viewed at the close of the prosecution’s questioning of Mr. Murdaugh late last week.
Closing arguments
After the jury visited Moselle, court resumed in Colleton County with the presentation of closing arguments. Judge Newman told the jury, on Day 27, they have heard all of the testimony, seen all of the evidence and toured the site and now it is time for closing arguments.
Creighton Waters for the State
Waters starts out with saying there is only one person with the means, motive and opportunity -- and that it’s the defendant, Richard Alexander Murdaugh.
To set the stage: you must understand Alex and who he is – a person of singular prominence in the community and able to avoid accountability for his entire life.
For Alex, there was a financial storm brewing:
- there were bad land deals that led to financial problems
- he had big cases his partners thought took care of the issues
- he became addicted to the money and started to steal through billing his personal expenses to the firm,
- he is stealing and borrowing from his family and from clients
- he began to disburse funds from the fake Forge account that were converted to personal funds.
During this time, he’s stealing, borrowing millions of dollars – it continued until boat crash in 2019.
Because of criminal charges and civil charges related to the boat case, after the boat case, Alex’s theft increased. Everything was coming to a head in Spring 2021:
- he stole from the Satterfields, and then there was the publicity on the Satterfield settlement that Alex stole;
- he convinced Chris Wilson to send him the Ferris fees; Mark Tinsley was seeking $10M from Alex in the boat case, because he thought Alex had the money;
- there was a motions hearing scheduled in the boat case for May 25
- the Ferris fees check was found by Jeanne Seckinger
- Alex been talking about structuring fees and the firm suspected him of hiding assets for the boat case;
- financial statements show Alex ran out of money
On June 7, he was in his office when Jeanne Seckinger confronts him about the Ferris fees and he gets the news his father Randolph is put back in hospital that morning.
Alex killed Maggie and Paul that night. The forensic timeline puts Alex there at the scene, the use of family weapons corroborates that, and his lies afterward confirms that.
Everything that caused pressure on Alex goes away with the deaths of Maggie and Paul, sympathies involving the boat case goes away, the boat case hearing goes away, and everyone rallies around Alex.
By September:
- Alex has borrowed $250K from a law partner, and $350K from Palmetto State Bank.
- Jeanne finds the fake Forge account and Alex’s paralegal finds the cashed Ferris checks
- Chris Wilson confronts him on September 4 about the trust account and the $195K he put up in his personal money to cover Alex’s shortfall
- PMPED fires him
- and the side of the road shooting happens
The accountability he tried to get away again, but it fell apart quicker because his brother found out he was lying and trying to buy drugs.
This is a different like none you’ve seen before because Alex is a different man than any you’ve seen before: A middle aged man who appears outwardly successful, has a strong family legacy, has prominence and reputation in community, but is living a lie. The pressures on him are overwhelming and things like June 7 happen – husbands kill wives, fathers kill sons -- men become family annihilators.
Waters asks the jury to judge the facts -- determine the credibility and believability of witnesses and evidence; credibility – the demeanor, if the witness has been dishonest in the past; just because someone is deemed an expert, its up to juror to decide.
Waters reminds the jury that circumstantial evidence is as strong as physical evidence in proving the State’s case.
There was a gathering storm around Alex: his family legacy, prominence in community, he was seen as being wealthy, a successful lawyer, he was a part time solicitor (Waters pointed out Alex knew how to out together complex cases)
Alex made more than $1M a year, but was uninterested in firm management, the partners get paid once a year and but must make money last; there was intentional chaos; a constant velocity of money; there were questionable land deals; the big cases were not enough to satisfy; he steals – borrows, steals – and has the ability to sit down and lie to clients, partners and family.
Alex couldn’t tell one conversation he had with a client that stuck with him. He didn’t talk about those who trusted him and he has asked you, the jury, to trust him from the stand.
He was at the scene with the victims minutes before they were killed -- and he lied about it.
Some of the pressures Alex faced:
The boat case – a civil suit asking for $10M. Alex denies confronting Mark Tinsley over the civil suit; Alex doesn’t have the umbrella insurance policy after the Satterfield case to help pay for the Beach case; Faris case fees become a source of income; Alex served with motion to compel about finances in Beach case; Alex can’t have anyone looking at his finances because he will be found out. If he can stay one step ahead, he won’t have to face that accountability.
The process in the civil suit begins; Satterfield case reappears after media reports, Alex continues to lie about millions of dollars already stolen.
Faris case — spring 2021 paralegal finds check
Everything converging in one week, one day – father in hospital, Jeanne confronts him about Faris fees – the murders occur.
In the wake of this, everything changes -- people are afraid, concerned, backlash from boat case is gone. Alex worked those types of cases and knew if he were seen as a victim, the civil suit goes away because the sympathy toward him.
Alex put borrowed money into Wilson’s account – first thing he did was to keep financial wheel going.
This particular man, who proved over and over he would do anything to avoid accountability, can’t let anyone see his financials.
From May 2007 to June 7, Waters produces a graph showing Alex’s increasing financial misdeeds – money he stole or borrowed and the lines of credit he maxed out – and how the boat case increased Alex’s stealing.
Alex claims an opioid addiction for 20 years that gave him energy, makes him paranoid and agitated, and says withdrawals will make him do anything; he says he takes 1000mg per day. Waters asks the jury to use common sense, is 1000mg daily survivable? Would that amount of drugs allow Alex to engage in successful work and have an outward appearance of success and the ability to deal in complicated schemes? Waters says Alex couldn’t function if he were taking that much dope – it is just one more lie he wants the jury to believe.
Waters says you’ve seen the interviews, he talks about being paranoid. Waters asks the jury to listen to Alex’s interviews with David Owen. He’s not expressing paranoia, he’s smooth, focused on getting information from law enforcement officers; Alex went through the whole process in Savannah in September to get a sketch artist suspect drawing in the shooting; there were three interviews before September and Alex mentions Paul was a little detective, in reference to Paul paying attention to not letting Alex take pills.
In May, Paul texts Alex about Maggie finding pills and Paul tells his father they need to talk – another pressure on Alex. The weekend of the USC baseball game, Alex isn’t there, he’s at the hotel; Maggie and Paul were watching him like a hawk -- everything was coming down on him.
Alex doesn’t care about lying to friends, family, or clients if it keeps him from accountability.
There is an hour break for lunch -- court will resume at 2:15 p.m
Waters picks up his closing argument after lunch.
MEANS: The tools to commit the crime. Family weapons were used ot commit this crime. Forensic evidence was presented to you, Waters tells the jury.
He talks about the 300 Blackouts – three in total – Alex Murdaugh bought for Paul and Buster. Three, and only one is accounted for, Waters said.
Alex said he didn’t have a 300 Blackout when he and Paul would go out riding, Alex said he only had a 22 pistol.
Paul’s friends said they shot with a 300 Blackout near the house months prior to the murders. Spent cases and ammunition were found on the property, forensic scientists testified the six cases found around Maggie that killed her were at some point loaded into, extracted and ejected from the same firearm. A family Blackout killed Maggie. It was present months before the killings, its gone now. A family weapon the defendant cannot account for is missing
The shotgun. The two weapons Paul carried were the shotgun in evidence and a 300 Blackout. The defendant had the gun with him when the first responder showed up at the scene. The shotgun had similar characteristics of the shotgun that killed Paul but forensics couldn’t say absolutely it was the murder weapon.
It was misloaded with a 12- and a 16-gauge shot.
A second 12-gauge shotgun was recovered from the gun room at Moselle on June 8, it is Busters.
Nathan Tuten pointed out the differences between the family’s Super Black Eagle 1, 2 and 3 model shotguns.
OPPORTUNITY: Waters said there’s been a lot of evidence about the timeline. Alex has said a lot about times, he was almost never right, Waters says.
Defendant arrived at Moselle at 6:52 p.m.
Paul arrived at 7:04
Steps register on Alex’s phone at 7:03
A general symmetry on Alex and Paul’s phone through 7:55, at 7:39 the snapchat video of Alex and the tree is recorded
7:56, Paul sends snapchat to friends
8:06-8:08, Paul leaves kennel area to Moselle
8:05-8:09, last step activity on Alex’s phone until 9:02, cell activity until 9:04
Despite having a photographic memory, Alex cannot remember when Maggie arrived or what they talked about. But he can remember specific details that helps his story, Waters says.
8:17, Maggie arrives at Moselle and showing steps
Paul is using his phone from 8:17-8:30
8:30, Maggie’s phone register steps, Paul’s phone starts registering steps
8:38, Paul is at kennels
8:38-8:44, last GPS location recorded on Paul’s phone
8:40, Paul calls Rogan Gibson about Cash the dog
8:44, facetime with Paul and Rogan
8:49, Paul records snapchat video at kennel with Alex’s voice; law enforcement didn’t have video until April 2022 when Paul’s phone was unlocked. Rogan identified the video in 2022 and identified Alex’s voice on the video. At that time, Alex’s lies were exposed. Why would he lie and why lie so early? Because he didn’t know until then the video existed.
8:49, last time Paul’s phone was unlocked. Alex was there at the scene of the crime with the victims.
8:49:31, Maggie reads group thread about Mr. Randolph, screen turns off, and is locked until the next day.
The defendant, after hearing multiple witness testimony identifying him on the video, finally admitted he was on the video while on the stand. Why would he lie about it? Why think to lie about it if he were an innocent man? His story was he didn’t want to go there but went there and Bubba had a chicken and he left and went to the house and dozed for a second, got up at 9:02 and went to his mom’s.
Not a single person he was close to wasn’t lied to by this man
At 8:49, y’all been to the scene and saw the evidence from Ken Kinsey. The feed room is a kill zone, no defensive wounds, hands down, and takes a buckshot wound to the chest that didn’t kill him. Alex thought it killed him. Defense experts don’t know the family here and they ride around with two guns. Two family weapons? Paul is in the feed room doorway. Alex bends to pick up the 300 and is startled and blows Paul’s brain out. And Maggie, activity on her phone, sandal prints, Kinsey about the mark on her leg from the Polaris and all the cases in that area, Maggie had no defensive wounds. Maggie is running to her baby and Alex picks up the 300 and shoots her. You can see the casings and how they move around. She goes down and there’s the shot in the head.
Malice? It that malice? Is that intentional harm to another with evil intent? Clearly, Waters said, it is malicious. She heard that shot and was running to her baby. Running to her baby and was mowed down. He was there and lied about the fact until he couldn’t last week.
Alex said he went to the kennels in the golf cart and what you don’t see is any activity on his phone until 9:02
The crime occurred at the feed room. If you’re going to wash off real quick, that’s where you’d do it, get back on the golf cart and ride back to the house. And at 9:02-9:06 Alex records 283 steps, makes calls like crazy but cannot tell Waters on the stand what he was doing, who he was calling, yet has detailed memory of recovering his phone from the Suburban console. He calls Maggie, Randolph, Maggie again. Is the prosecutor manufacturing an alibi? He needs to compress the timeline to convince others he didn’t kill them.
9:05:56, Maggie’s phone has an orientation change two seconds before Alex’s second call. Is that Alex making sure the call is coming in to Maggie’s phone? you heard he went to the kennels and didn’t take the phone. It was unusual not to take the phone to the kennels. Is that manufacturing an alibi?
Then he is on the move, why if he is calling Maggie so much, why not just drive by the kennels to tell her he’s going to Almeda. Why make all those calls without driving the two minutes to check on Maggie and Paul?
Testimony Alex asked Maggie to come home to Moselle. Malice? Why not turn and drive down there? Why so anxious to have his missed calls show up?
9:06:52, Alex calls Maggie in the Suburban. Leaves Moselle Road at 9:07:06
9:08:52, Alex passes the location of where Maggie’s phone was found. Alex texts Maggie’s phone he is going to Almeda and would be back soon.
Testimony about variables and no guarantee about when an iPhone’s screen will or will not come on. Phone will not respond to violent movement, such as tossing or flipping a phone. Alex is driving by at the time.
9:07-9:22, Alex on the way to Almeda, speeding at night. On the way, he is making short calls to Chris Wilson and his brother.
9:22, car goes into park at Almeda. 195 steps taken, calling Libby Murdaugh
9:22-9:32 are the steps. Meanwhile, what is Alex doing at Almeda, there are structures near the house.
9:30 Rogan tries to call Paul and Maggie
9:35-9:45, more steps and system startup behind the house
9:53, Suburban moves out of park
9:44-9:44:54, Alex leaves Almeda. Calling Maggie’s phone and story about phone falling in console. Is that true? When he can’t remember what he and Maggie talked about at dinner? He can lie convincingly and easily, and he did it to y’all. He’s manufacturing an alibi. He’s a lawyer, he’s smart, he knows what to do to stop the evidence being gathered.
9:52, calls Chris Wilson and talks two minutes. Wilson said something about a case and Alex said he’d call him later because he was at Almeda. He’s calling anyone who will pick up to manufacture an alibi. Throughout the relative timeline, calls deleted from the extraction on June 10. On the way back, he’s speeding. What’s he in a hurry about in the dark, rolling 80mph while texting?
9:58, Rogan texts Paul’s phone
10:00-10:01:43, Alex at Moselle
10:05:06, Alex goes to kennels, gets there a minute later.
10:06:14, the 911 call is placed. Alex’s later statements are in great detail to law partners -- he was very clear he went to check Paul and Maggie. 19 seconds, is that enough for an individual to come to the scene, check the bodies and call 911?
During the 911 call, he leaves for the residence at 10:14
10:17, calls Randy twice, John Marvin
10:20:08, Paul’s phone reflects auto-lock feature
Alex tries to call Rogan multiple times. The texts were on Paul’s phone. Alex said he turned Paul over and the phone popped out. Popped out? Waters suggests this is a manufactured alibi, is Alex worried about what Rogan may have seen or heard or texted?
10:24-10:30, Alex texts Rogan
Motive, means, and opportunity.
A guilty conscious.
You heard from Blanca he was wearing one shirt when he left, another on the video and another shirt that night. There were multiple changes of shoes that day.
The texts from Maggie that Alex wants her to come home. Her sister Marion was surprised Maggie didn’t go to Almeda with Alex that night.
Alex said on the stand, “Whoever did this, thought about it for a long time.” Why did he say that? He said it was random vigilantes from the boat case. There is no evidence of any other specific individual being at the kennels that night. There has to be evidence.
He says things in one context but means them in another. “Whoever did this, thought about it for a long time.”
We’ve talked about Shelly and after Randolph’s funeral, Alex shows up early and moves some vehicles around, and there is the raincoat or tarp found in the closet upstairs.
In the defendant’s many statements, he went through a lot with him telling you he was paranoid for having pills in pocket, he had a distrust of SLED, he became paranoid when David Owen asked about his relationship with Maggie, him saying he was being advised to not talk without a lawyer.
Waters plays portions of the interviews and asks at what point did Alex decide to lie? June 8 at 1:21 a.m., Alex is lying about his whereabouts and when he last saw Maggie and Paul. Look how easily he did it -- about such a crucial thing.
Waters asks the jury to take into consideration the tone of the interview. Alex is saying he understands and calmly says he knows SLED needs to conduct the interview. He then proceeds to tell the agent he had dinner and went to sleep on the couch, called Maggie, she didn’t answer, he went to his mom’s. He lied.
In a second interview, Alex says he’s not sure what Paul and Maggie did, no one was in the house when he left. The last time he saw them was at dinner. Alex doesn’t know how the evening went, he said he went to sleep on the couch. He said he tried calling Maggie and she didn’t pick up.
On the August 11 interview, Alex said he doesn’t remember what he was wearing or when he changed clothes on June 7. During the interview, Alex is confronted with the kennel video. Alex said Rogan had asked if he was in the video and Alex said it wasn’t him, if he had his time right. Agents tell Alex that Rogan recognized his voice and Alex is asked who else it could have been?
The crime scene – Waters said you went to the scene at Moselle today and saw the proximity of the kennels to the residence on June 7.
You’ve heard from Dr. Riemer, Ken Kinsey and defense experts. Paul, first shot to the chest, the second injury to the left shoulder and cheek and through the head was fatal. Second shot could not come from the top because Paul’s face was intact. Evidence from top of door and biological matter at top of door there from shotgun blast. Wadding from shot that killed Paul was on the floor and caused some of the abrasions on Paul’s face. The shape of the wound on the shoulder was due to the angle of the shot.
Paul was shot in the feed room, no defensive wounds, no high-velocity blood spatter on the floor of the feed room. Dents in the feed room door from shots exiting of Paul’s body, not ricochets as the defense suggests.
Kinsey said a contact wound would have destroyed the face and head. The suggestion of contact wound and two shooters are red herrings from the defense. Kinsey’s experience and conclusion is consistent with the evidence at the scene.
On Maggie – first two shots didn’t kill her but had her doubled over in pain when she got the third, fatal shot, and then the final shot to the back of the head.
Kinsey said he took issue with an expert saying he can determine the height of the shooter. Kinsey isn’t going to tell you something not supported by the evidence. The shooter could be as tall as Alex at 6’4”.
Maggie is running to her baby and ran into the Polaris and was hit while she was running.
Kinsey also disputes the theory of two shooters. It’s just as likely there is one shooter using two weapons. The crime scene is fluid.
GSR on the defendant’s hand and seatbelt, Maggie’s blood on the shotgun and steering wheel.
Alex asking the first responder how they’re doing, body cam video images of how the kennels were lit. Defendant’s story about the kennel video, Alex said the dogs weren’t alerting to someone strange in the vicinity. He changed clothes, the clothes smelled fresh, again manufacturing the scene.
From his law partners, we know Alex was not overly concerned about threats to Buster. Why no threat to Buster? Because he was the threat.
Waters asked Alex if he remembers lying to anyone, when asked about what he did after the kennels, he said he got out of there, he did not say if only I had gone to the kennels, if only I stayed longer, if only I went to check on them.
Says he cooperated with SLED, but he hadn’t. There is nothing more important in an investigation than telling when you saw someone last.
Alex tried to convince you about his paranoia and confusing David Owen with another SLED agent. He kept adding detail to the lies but there is no mistaking David Owen and David Williams.
Alex had blue lights installed on his private vehicle. He makes lies up on the fly. He got caught with the badge hanging out of his pocket at the hospital after the boa accident. He said three times the sheriff gave him permission to get blue lights in the car and the sheriff said it never happened.
This is a man whose profession is to lie, and he looked you all in the eyes and told you those lies.
The man who had blue lights and rode around with a badge in the dash, tried to say he was paranoid about a bag of pills in his pocket. He said he wasn’t concerned about the boat case or the law firm. Why lie? He lied because he knew what he would find at the scene.
Alex admitted on the stand his own brother never heard the truth about the kennels until he took the stand. As did his defense attorney.
Why do people lie? They lie because they knew they did something wrong. He backtracks and pivots and tells a new lie when evidence comes up and he cannot deny.
Waters asks the jury to rewatch Alex’s testimony and look for the physical tell of him nodding his head ever so slightly when he’s telling a lie.
This man is trying to sell you on an idea he was at the kennels, he jetted back, went inside so quickly and napped and got in his car seconds after the supposed vigilantes who knew Paul and Maggie would be at Moselle -- alone – knew Alex was not at the kennels, who knew the property well enough to get there, didn’t bring weapons and relied of guns at the scene, then after the murders, traveled the same route Alex would make to Almeda – all within a short period of time.
Somebody put the dogs up and rolled up the hose.
Some vigilante found the weapons that Alex said were never there – he said he never rode around with the Blackout.
No one knew where he was. No one knew who this man was. He was facing ruin, his father dying, his son facing charges for the boat case, he was facing civil action that could expose him, he had an opioid addiction. He was facing shame and could not face that and became a family annihilator.
Two cannot testify. There are no eyewitnesses because they were murdered. Common sense and human nature can speak for them in this matter when you look at it in its totality.
Whoever did this had anger in their heart, whoever did this had thought about it for a long time.
It may be hard to fathom, but to understand him and the pressure he as facing for doing what he did for so long, you can understand it. There was one mistake – the kennel video.
Waters asked Alex what is the most important part of his testimony. Alex answered it was to look the jury in the eye to get them to believe him.
But he lied in the 911 call about when he last saw Maggie and Paul. And he lied to Daniel Greene, the first responder at the scene.
He was lying to you, the jury. And he’s good at it.
He had motive, means, opportunity, and a guilty conscious. Paul and Maggie deserve a voice. Waters shows the jury photos of Paul and Maggie and said this is what’s he did.
He fooled everyone and he fooled Paul and Maggie and they paid for it. Don’t let him fool you too.
Thursday Preview
Testimony is expected to resume at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday with defense closing arguments. After that, the prosecution will have time to present final arguments before the judge charges the jury.
You can find trial updates here every day. Watch live streaming testimony and coverage on wltx.com, on the WLTX+ streaming app on Amazon Fire and Roku TV, and on the News19 WLTX YouTube page.