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Alex Murdaugh’s defense team is making its final bid to prevent him from spending decades in prison, delivering their closing argument in the trial of the disbarred South Carolina attorney charged in the murders of his wife and son.
The trial resumed shortly after 9:30 a.m. Thursday — the day the case is expected to go to the jury, more than a month after the court heard opening statements on Jan. 25.
After the defense presents its closing argument, the prosecution will offer a response. Judge Clifton Newman is then expected to give final instructions to the jury, and charge them with coming to a verdict.
Murdaugh, 54, is charged with using a rifle to kill his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and a shotgun to kill his son Paul, 22. They died on the night of June 7, 2021, at the family’s sprawling Moselle hunting estate in South Carolina’s Lowcountry region.
Murdaugh faces the possibility of life in prison if he’s found guilty of two counts of murder and other charges. He’s being tried at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C.
His defense team has sought to sow doubt about the work by police and forensics teams, saying they fell far short of preserving evidence from the crime scene and the hunting estate’s main house.
