Murdaugh groundskeeper's phone not in vicinity of crime scene at time of murders: FBI agent

Nathan Tuten, Paul Murdaugh's friend, on Friday testified that lights from the Murdaugh family's dog kennels on their hunting estate called Moselle in Islandton, South Carolina, were visible from a house on the property.

Alex Murdaugh is accused of killing his wife, Maggie , and son, Paul, at the Moselle dog kennels around 8:50 on June 7, 2021, but he maintains is innocence and was napping at the time of the murders before he drove to his mother's house later that evening.

Alex found their bodies around 10 p.m. His defense has suggested that the kennels would not be visible from the house at Moselle in June.

"Are there sufficient lights out there to make it a well-lit area if all the lights are on?" prosecutor John Conrad asked Tuten, who spent time with Paul at Moselle, of the family's dog kennels on Friday afternoon.

"I'd say so," Tuten responded.

The prosecutor then asked if lights from the kennels, when turned on, could be seen from the Murdaugh's home at Moselle.

"Yes," Tuten said.

Paul Murdaugh's friend, Nathan Tuten. (Fox News screenshot)

Nathan Tuten, one of Paul Murdaugh’s friends, on Friday identified Alex Murdaugh’s voice in a video Paul Murdaugh took just before he was murdered on June 7, 2021. 

Tuten is the sixth witness to identify Alex’s voice in the video taken just minutes before he and his mother – Maggie Murdaugh, Alex’s wife – were shot to death near the family’s dog kennels around 8:50 p.m.

Tuten, who described Paul as “the definition of a good person,” said he could hear “Paul Murdaugh’s, Maggie Murdaugh’s and Alex Murdaugh’s” voices in the video.

He also identified the location of the video as the “dog kennels” on the Murdaugh’s hunting property called Moselle in Islandton, South Carolina, where he spent time with Paul.

Prosecutors are using the video and witnesses to place Alex at the crime scene against Alex’s claims that he was napping at the time his wife and son were murdered and then drove to his mother’s house before finding their bodies around 10 p.m.

Tuten, who worked as a "runner" for Alex's law firm – then called Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick – also testified Friday then Alex Murdaugh had him cash numerous checks for him at the Palmetto State Bank.

Murdaugh groundskeeper C. B. Rowe's phone was not in the vicinity of Alex Murdaugh's hunting estate called Moselle in Islandton, South Carolina, when Paul Murdaugh and Maggie Murdaugh were murdered on June 7, 2021.

Alex previously named Rowe as a potential suspect when David Owen, an agent with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), asked the former attorney if he suspected anyone of the crime directly after the murders occurred.

"You reviewed the phone records of C.B. Rowe and Marty Cook, correct?" prosecutor John Conrad asked FBI special agent Matthew Wilde, who shared his analysis of cellphone data from members of the Murdaugh family and others on Friday. Wild responded yes.

"And were any of those phones in the vicinity of Moselle between 8:50 p.m. and 9 p.m. on the night of the murders?" Conrad asked.

"No," Wilde responded.

A 32-minute video of Owen questioning Alex after the murders was played in court last week.

Brooklynn White, Lynn Murdaugh and Buster Murdaugh (L-R) arrive the Colleton County Courthouse after a lunch break on Friday, February 10, 2023 in Walterboro, South Carolina. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)

Alex Murdaugh's son, Buster Murdaugh; Buster's girlfriend, Brooklynn White; and Alex's sister, Lynn Murdaugh Goette, are pictured returning to the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, after a lunchbreak on Friday.

Buster, Brooklynn, Lynn, and Alex's brother, John Marvin Murdaugh, have attended every day of Alex's double murder trial since jury selection began on Jan. 23.

Alex is accused of fatally shooting his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul, on June 7, 2021. Prosecutors allege Alex killed Maggie and Paul in an effort to distract from his 99 alleged financial crimes that were beginning to come to light at the time.

Blanca Simpson, the Murdaugh family's former housekeeper, testified Friday that Alex Murdaugh told her, "I got a bad feeling," after a Snapchat video his son, Paul Murdaugh, took about an hour before his murder surfaced.

The disgraced attorney is charged with fatally shooting his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and Paul on evening of June 7, 2021.

In August 2021, Alex asked Simpson if she remembered the shirt he wore on the morning of the murders, which she found unusual.

"He was pacing back and forth in the living room, and he said, 'I got a bad feeling. I got a bad feeling. Something's not right.' And then he said, 'Well, you know, there...was a video that was out.' I hadn't seen the video. He said, 'You remember what shirt I was wearing. It was a [Vineyard] Vines shirt," Simpson began.

She continued: "In my mind, I was saying I don't remember a [Vineyard] Vines shirt. It was the polo shirt. ... I didn't say anything, but I was kind of thrown back because I don't remember him wearing that shirt that day. I remember what shirt he was wearing because I fixed the collar."

Alex was wearing a white, Hanes t-shirt and cargo shorts on the evening of June 7, 2021, when his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, were found dead near dog kennels on his hunting estate around 10 p.m.

But Simpson said Alex was wearing a "sea foam" polo the morning of the murders. Alex can be seen wearing a blue-ish polo in the Snapchat video taken about an hour before his wife and son's murders.

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) officials testified earlier this week that they found gunshot residue on Alex's white t-shirt and cargo shorts from the evening of June 7, 2021.

Fox News' Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.

The blue raincoat that investigators recovered from the home of Alex Murdaugh's mother Sept. 16, 2021. (Jeff Blake/The State/ pool)

On cross-examination, Dick Harpootlian asked the Murdaugh's former housekeeper if she recognized the blue raincoat recovered from Alex's mother's house in Almeda.

Blanca Simpson, who worked with the family for years, said she'd never seen the jacket before.

On further questioning, Simpson said Alex Murdaugh usually wore a a size 2XL. The rain jacket was a large.

Prosecutors have argued that Alex stashed a blue coat that was coated with gunshot residue at his parents' house after the murders.

But the defense has countered there's no evidence linking the coat to Alex.

Shelley Smith, the former caretaker of Alex's mother, testified that Alex came by June 7, 2021, with a bundled up blue tarp.

Investigators didn't find the raincoat until Sept. 16, 2021, when they executed a search warrant on Alex's parents' home.

Jim Griffin, Alex Murdaugh and Dick Harpootlian Feb. 1, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/The State/ pool)

On cross-examination, defense attorney Dick Harpootlian questioned Blanca Simpson on Alex and Maggie Murdaugh's relationship.

"I never saw them have arguments. Just some minor disagreements," she said.

They had disagreements about paint colors for the Edisto Beach house remodel, and Maggie had complained that she wished Alex could sit still for 10 minutes and listen to her.

Simpson conceded she and her husband had similar disputes. After Paul and Maggie's slayings on June 7, 2021, Simpson and her husband stayed at the property for weeks to maintain it.

Alex went to his parent's house and never spent another night at Moselle, she said.

Harpootlian established that South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents searched the house as Simpson started tidying up the morning after Paul Murdaugh and Maggie were shot to death.

The khaki pants she found by the master bathroom were not taken as evidence. The agents also didn't ask Simpson any questions or tell her not to clean up the house.

She rinsed out the bathtub and washed the khaki pants.

Simpson previously identified a blue shirt and cloth Sperry shoes Alex was wearing in a Snapchat video recorded at 7:38 p.m. about an hour before the murders.

She said she never saw those items again, but Harpootlian established that she doesn't know if Alex took those items with him when he left the house to stay with his parents.

Blanca Simpson, a housekeeper for the Murdaugh family, on Friday testified that she could hear Alex Murdaugh's voice in a cellphone video that his deceased son, Paul Murdaugh, took just before he was murdered on June 7, 2021.

Simpson is the fifth witness to hear Alex's voice in the video. Two of Paul's friends and two people who worked closely with Alex at his law firm, now called The Parker Law Group, also identified the voices.

"It's Paul, Maggie, Alex," Simpson said of the voices she could hear in the video.

Simpson also testified that Alex's wife, Maggie Murdaugh, would not have gone to the dog kennels at night by herself.

"She was scared. It got dark out there," the former housekeeper said.

Colleton County authorities found Maggie’s body near a dog house about 30 feet from the dog kennels on the Murdaugh's 1,700-acre hunting property called Moselle. Officials found Paul's body nearby in front of the dog kennels.

Alex, who is charged with fatally shooting Maggie and Paul, maintains his innocence. He says he was napping at the time of their deaths.

A family portrait of the Murdaugh family. (Facebook)

The Murdaugh housekeeper, Blanca Simpson, told jurors Friday that Maggie Murdaugh asked to talk to her a few months before the murders.

"I’ve got something to tell you," Maggie said. "Let me make some coffee." The two sat in the gunroom and closed the door.

John Meadors asked Simpson if Maggie was concerned about money problems, and the defense quickly objected to the testimony as hearsay.

Jurors were asked to leave the room while the attorneys hashed it out. In the absence of the jury, Simpson disclosed the conversation.

"She was worried about a lawsuit and stated they wanted $30 million and was crying, stating we don’t have that kind of money," the housekeeper recalled. "If I could give them everything that I got and make this go away, I would do it in a heartbeat. I’ll start over. We’ll start over. I just want it gone.”

Judge Clifton Newman ruled that jurors could hear the testimony and the panel was called back into the courtroom.

She repeated a similar statement to the panel, adding that Maggie feared Alex wasn't telling her everything about the boat wreck lawsuit.

Earlier in Simpson's testimony, she said she was cleaning Maggie's Mercedes after the murders and found her wedding ring under the driver's side seat.

Prosecutor John Meadors asked the Murdaugh housekeeper Blanca Simpson to identify the clothes Alex Murdaugh was wearing in the Snapchat video recorded at 7:38 p.m. the night of the murders.

She pointed out that Alex is wearing boat shoes and a blue polo shirt. She said she never saw those items again.

After the murders, Alex led her aside, and said, "I got a bad feeling, I got a bad feeling something’s not right."

He allegedly told her, "You remember the shirt I was wearing, that Vinny Vines shirt?"

But Simpson said she didn't remember that shirt. "I remember a polo shirt," she said, referring to the blue polo shirt he had on when he left the house the morning of the murders to go to work. "I didn’t say anything, but I was kind of thrown back. I don’t remember him wearing that shirt."

She said she had fixed his collar that morning and noted that it was the blue polo shirt, which is a different material from the Vineyard Vines shirt.

Alex Murdaugh weeps in court Jan. 27, 2023, at his double murder trial. (Grace Beahm Alford/ The Post and Courier/ pool)

Alex Murdaugh asked his housekeeper to go to Moselle the morning after his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and his son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, were fatally shot.

He wanted her to prepare the house the way Maggie would have liked it since they would be expecting family and friends there to mourn.

The housekeeper weeped when she recounted entering the dark, empty house.

“It was hard because I knew she wasn’t going to be coming back, and I didn’t want to move her stuff,” said Simpson, crying. “I felt cold.”

She described finding several items out of place. The pots that she had prepared their final meals in had been placed in the fridge.

"Usually when they ate diner the night before, the pots stayed on the stove," Simpson said.

She also noticed that Maggie's clean pajamas were in the middle of the doorway going into the laundry room. "That was very unusual," she added.

Next to the floor in the master bathroom was a puddle of water and a pair of khaki pants. She took them to the laundry room to wash.

In the closet, there was a "white damp towel on the floor," she told jurors in the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina.

Simpson was tidying up the house before the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division searched the home for evidence.

Murdaugh housekeeper, Blanca Simpson, testifies Feb. 10, 2023, at Alex Murdaughs murder trial. (Fox News)

The Murdaugh housekeeper, Blanca Simpson, testified Friday that she spoke to Maggie Murdaugh hours before the double slayings.

Maggie told her that Alex had asked her and their son, Paul Murdaugh, to come home to the family's sprawling South Carolina estate, Moselle, on June 7, 2021.

“She sounded like she was little disappointed," Simpson said of Maggie going to Moselle instead of the Edisto Beach house where she usually stayed.

"[Maggie] said Alex asked Paul to come home, too, because he’s got to fix the mess up that CB had done," Simpson continued.

Maggie was referring to the trees that were falling over on the property after their groundskeeper, C.B. Rowe, planted them. Simpson went to the house before Maggie and Paul arrived to prepare dinner for the family.

She left a meal of cubed steak and gravy, white rice and green beans for the family before heading out.

Early the next morning, Alex called Simpson.

"He sounded shaky on the phone, his voice sounded really shaky," she said. "They're dead," he told her.

Mark Tinsley about to testify Feb. 6, 2023, in the Colleton County Courthouse at Alex Murdaugh's trial. (Jeff Blake/The State/ pool)

Alex Murdaugh's defense lawyer Phillip Barber conducted a surprisingly brief cross-examination of Mark Tinsley, the civil lawyer who represents Mallory Beach's family.

Beach, then 19, died in 2019 when the late Paul Murdaugh drunkenly crashed his father's boat into a bridge.

Tinsley sued the Murdaughs and several other entities.

Prosecutors have argued that Alex allegedly murdered Paul, 22, and his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, June 7, 2021, in part, to create a diversion from an upcoming hearing in the boat wreck case.

Three days later, Tinsley planned to demand that Alex turn over his financial records to prove he was broke.

Had Alex opened his accounts, his decade-long scheme to embezzle from his law firm and clients would have immediately been exposed, prosecutors contend.

"Did you previously testify that, 'I think it’s fair to say there wouldn’t have been an explosion on June 10?" asked Barber, referring to the date of the hearing.

"You’re trying to turn it into something it’s not, but I probably said words to that effect," Tinsley replied.

Barber was trying to undercut the prosecution's theory that had the hearing gone forward, it could have ruined Alex.

It was the only question the defense asked.

More than 50 people lined up outside the Colleton County Courthouse to snag a seat at Alex Murdaugh's murder trial. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)

More than 50 people lined up outside the Colleton County Courthouse Friday in Walterboro, South Carolina, to try to secure a coveted seat in the courtroom.

Mark Tinsley, the attorney representing the family of Mallory Beach, who was killed in a 2019 boat crash, returned to the stand at 9:30 a.m.

He sued the Murdaughs over the accident, which triggered the Murdaugh dynasty's downfall.

Paul Murdaugh drunkenly crashed his father's boat into a bridge in Beaufort County, ejecting Beach into the frigid water and injuring four others.

After Alex claimed he was broke, Tinsley filed a motion demanding that Alex turn over his financials, which threatened to expose the once powerful attorney's decade-long financial schemes.

Prosecutors contend he gunned down his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and son, Paul, to distract from his alleged financial crimes.

Tony Satterfield in Colleton County Court Thursday testifying against Alex Murdaugh. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool)

On Thursday jurors heard from several financial witnesses who testified about Alex Murdaugh's alleged financial crimes.

A photo gallery of the 12th day of Alex's trial is available here.

Tony Satterfield said Alex never gave him a penny of the $4.3 million settlement that stemmed from his mother's deadly trip and fall on the Murdaugh property.

He didn't even know the case had settled until he read a news article about it.

Alex's former best friend, attorney Chris Wilson, described the disbarred attorney as one of the "biggest dogs" at the firm formerly known as Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick.

“Big firm, big reputation. Alex had a big reputation," Wilson testified. "I thought he made a whole lot more money than I did."

He said it hit him like a ton of breaks when he learned Alex had been embezzling funds from the firm his great-grandfather founded in 1910.

Prosecutors have argued that the financial pressures Murdaugh was facing drove him to kill his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and his son, Paul Murdaugh, June 7, 2021.

Alex Murdaugh and his defense attorney Dick Harpootlian listen to testimony during his double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse on Wednesday, Feb. 8, in Walterboro, South Carolina. (Joshua Boucher/The State via AP, Pool)

Alex Murdaugh, 54, the once powerful scion of a South Carolina legal dynasty, is on trial for the slayings of his wife and son.Prosecutors say Alex gunned down 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh and their troubled 22-year-old son, Paul, on June 7, 2021.

The Murdaughs, a prominent Democratic family, wielded enormous judicial and political power for nearly a century.

A comprehensive timeline details the events that contributed to Alex's downfall and the progress of his murder trial.

The family’s dominance began to wane after Paul was criminally charged for a deadly 2019 boat wreck that triggered a series of lawsuits and threatened to expose his father’s financial schemes.

The accident set in motion a spiral of destruction that has stained the family’s legacy.

For 87 years, three generations of Murdaughs served as the top prosecutor overseeing five counties in South Carolina's Lowcountry.

That reign ended in 2005 when Alex's father, Randolph Murdaugh III, stepped down from the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office -- the chief prosecuting agency for Colleton, Hampton, Allendale, Beaufort and Jasper counties.

At the time of the murders, Alex was a volunteer prosecutor in the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office.

Maggie and Alex Murdaugh posing together on a boat. (Facebook)

Maggie Murdaugh, the 52-year-old wife of disgraced South Carolina legal scion Alex Murdaugh, was shot to death with a rifle on June 7, 2021, on her family’s hunting estate called Moselle in Islandton.

Colleton County authorities found Maggie’s body near a single dog house about 30 feet from the dog kennels on the 1,700-acre property.

Maggie attended the University of South Carolina, where she was a member of the Kappa Delta Sorority and met Alex before she graduated in 1991.

She and Alex had two sons, Paul and Buster. Paul was also murdered with a shotgun on the family’s Moselle property on June 7, at the same time as his mother.

“Maggie had a heart of pure generosity, and loved welcoming friends and family into her home on any given occasion,” her obituary published by the Peeples-Rhoden Funeral Home states. “She adored her family, and cherished spending time on the boat with her two sons. She will be remembered as a ‘second mom’ to her sons’ many friends. She made the most out of every situation, and lived each and every day to the fullest.”

Prosecutors argue Alex Murdaugh killed his wife and youngest son, Paul, in an effort to distract from his 99 alleged financial crimes totaling some $9 million.

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Photo Gallery: See evidence photos from Alex Murdaugh's murder trial

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Alex Murdaugh is accused of blasting his 22-year-old son Paul Murdaugh twice with a shotgun at the family's sprawling South Carolina estate, leaving him with  horrific injuries.

The second shot entered Paul's left shoulder traveling into his neck and brain, wrote state forensic expert Dr. Kenneth Kinsey in an affidavit. "Brain was completely detached from head," which would have caused immediate death, Kinsey stated in the report.

Paul was first struck in the chest as he stood in the feed room connected to the property's dog kennels, an outbuilding on the family's property in Islandton, South Carolina. 

“The gases from that shot literally exploded his head like a watermelon hit by a sledgehammer,” Alex’s defense lawyer Dick Harpootlian said in opening statements. “All that was left was the front of his face. Everything else was gone. His brain exploded out of his head, hit the ceiling in the shed and dropped to his feet. Horrendous. Horrible. Butchering.” 

Paul’s  mother, Maggie Murdaugh, was shot at least five times -- including in the back of the head -- with a semiautomatic rifle and died about 30 yards from her son.

Alex Murdaugh listens to testimony Thursday at the Colleton County Courthouse. (Joshua Boucher/The State via AP, Pool)

On cross-examination, Alex Murdaugh's lead defense lawyer, Jim Griffin, questioned attorney Chris Wilson.

Wilson and Alex had been close for decades and both attended University of South Carolina Law School.

"Would you agree Alex’s number one priority was his family?" Griffin asked Wilson.

"Yes, it appeared that way to me.”

Wilson said Alex always answered his phone if Paul, Buster or Maggie Murdaugh called him.

Alex is accused of gunning down his youngest son, Paul, and his wife, Maggie, June 7, 2021, to prevent his financial crimes from coming to light.

A week before the slayings, Wilson attended Alex's birthday party at the family's Edisto Beach house. He described the convivial atmosphere.

"Were Alex and Maggie getting along?" asked Griffin.

"Yes," Wilson replied.

He said they appeared to have a good relationship and were warm and generous.

“They were great to my children and seemed to welcome my children into their house and did the same for Paul and Buster’s friends,” he added.

Will Loving testified last week that his friend, Paul Murdaugh, sent him a Snapchat video at 7:56 p.m., about an hour before he was killed.

Alex Murdaugh is seen wearing a blue shirt and long khaki pants. He and his son, Paul, can be heard laughing about a poorly planted tree in the clip played for jurors.

Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters asked Loving to describe Alex's clothes in the footage -- including his shoes.

Prosecutors say an hour later, Alex gunned down Paul and his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, to prevent his alleged financial crimes from coming to light.

Two hours after the Snapchat recording, Alex called 911 at 10:06 p.m. to report that his wife and son were "badly shot."

In his videotaped interview with investigators, Alex is wearing a white T-shirt and shorts, indicating he had changed his clothes since the 7:56 p.m. Snapchat video.

At one point during cross-examination, Loving glowingly described the father and son's relationship. "It kind of seemed like he was the apple of his eye,” Loving said.

In addition to the Snapchat video, Paul also recorded a cellphone video that prosecutors say places Alex at the scene three minutes before the murders.

From left, Buster Murdaugh, 26; his mother, Maggie Murdaugh; his brother, Paul Murdaugh; and his father, Alex Murdaugh. (Facebook)

Paul Murdaugh was 22 when he and his mother, Maggie Murdaugh, were shot to death near the dog kennels on the family's sprawling hunting estate in Islantdon, South Carolina.

His father, Alex Murdaugh, is on trial for their murders accused of executing his wife with a rifle and gunning down his son with a shotgun.

Paul was at the helm of his father’s boat in February 2019 when he crashed into a bridge, killing 19-year-old Mallory Beach and injuring four others.

He was charged with three felony counts of boating under the influence. Paul had used his mother’s credit card and his older brother Buster Murdaugh’s ID to buy alcohol for the excursion.

The Murdaugh family was hit with a wrongful death suit that threatened to expose Alex’s decade-long schemes to steal from his law firm and clients.

Three days after Paul’s murder, a hearing in the boat wreck case to determine whether Alex would have to disclose his financial records was canceled. 

Several witnesses have described Paul as an outdoorsman who loved  hunting, fishing and roaming the family’s 1,700 acre property. 

"Paul’s just a really fun guy," his friend, William McElveen, testified. "The life of the party kind of guy. Everybody that really knew him loved him. Just a great guy."

From left to right: Buster Murdaugh, Maggie Murdaugh, Paul Murdaugh and Alex Murdaugh. (Facebook/ Fox News)

While Alex Murdaugh’s net worth may have at one point been in the millions, the disgraced South Carolina lawyer’s current ledger is unknown.

Alex is charged with 99 financial crimes alleging he stole more than $9 million going back more than a decade.

Palmetto State Bank CEO and President Jan Malinowski testified Friday that Alex owed the bank $4.2 million as of August 2021.

Prosecutors have argued that Alex was "burning through cash like crazy" and "extremely leveraged,” which they allege was part of his motive in the murders of his son, Paul, and wife, Maggie.

In the financial crimes indictments, Alex allegedly embezzled funds from multiple clients who employed the services of his personal injury law firm and used those funds for personal use.

Alex was once a successful attorney and one of the biggest producers at the law firm founded by his great-grandfather then known as Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick , according to trial testimony.

He and his wife owned a home in Edisto Beach, South Carolina — an island south of Charleston — that went up for sale in 2022 and received an all-cash offer of $955,000 in April, according to The Island Packet.

The family’s primary residence, a 1,700-acre hunting property known as Moselle in Islandton, South Carolina, was owned by Maggie. The estate was listed for $3.9 million in 2022.

Other than property, Alex’s assets reportedly include three bank accounts totaling about $10,000, a retirement account worth about $2.1 million, an IRA fund worth between $350,000 and $400,000 and more real estate, according to the Greenville News, citing South Carolina attorneys John Thomas Lay and Peter McCoy, who control the former lawyer’s assets.

Jan Malinowksi testifies on Feb. 9. (Fox News screenshot)

Jan Malinowski, CEO of Palmetto State Bank, testified again on Thursday that Alex Murdaugh owed the bank $4.2 million as of August 2021.

Former Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Laffitte, a friend of Alex's, was convicted for helping Alex Murdaugh steal from clients of his law firm, then called Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick (PMPED). Laffitte plans to appeal the conviction.

Prosecutors are arguing that Alex’s motive behind the murders of his son, Paul, and wife, Maggie, in June 2021 related to his financial crimes that were coming into the spotlight around that time.

The state alleges that Alex was so deep in financial trouble, he killed his wife and son in an effort to divert attention away from his alleged theft of an estimated $9 million.

Victims of the Murdaugh boat crash, including deceased Mallory Beach. (Beaufort County Sheriff)

Mark Tinsley, a South Carolina attorney representing the family of 19-year-old Mallory Beach, who died in an accident on the Murdaugh family's boat in 2019, on Thursday testified that her family was concerned about a cover-up in the case.

The Beach family sued the Murdaughs after the fatal crash in which Paul Murdaugh drove friends around in his family's boat while drinking along the South Carolina coast before it crashed into a bridge near Parris Island.

After the incident, the deceased victim's distraught mother, Renee Beach, wanted to go down to the Archer Creek Bridge in Beaufort, South Carolina, where her daughter died, but the scene was cordoned off, Tinsley said.

"After the boat crash, law enforcement had a...rope up. Yellow flag. Yellow tape. ... And so, Ms. Beach wanted to go down to see where her daughter had died," Tinsley testified Thursday afternoon. "She wasn't allowed to go down to the bridge. She was told it was a crime scene. She couldn't go down there."

But then she saw the Murdaugh family welcomed to the crime scene, the attorney said.

"Almost immediately thereafter, a car pulled up driven by Alex's wife...[Alex's wife] was in the front seat, and they were waved down to the crime scene," Tinsley testified. "That caused [Renee Beach] a great amount of distress. ... That day, I got involved."

Alex's father, Randolph Murdaugh III, was the top prosecutor overseeing South Carolina's Lowcountry until 2005 – including Beaufort County, where the accident occurred. The family wielded enormous influence in the region.

"My concern was that it was going to get covered up," Tinsley said.

Defense attorney Phillip Barber objected to the statement, which the judge sustained.

Read more about the Murdaugh boat crash here.

Murdaugh family's boat. (Beaufort County Sheriff)

Mark Tinsley, a South Carolina attorney representing the family of deceased 19-year-old Mallory Beach, testified Thursday that Alex Murdaugh confronted him after he took up the Beach family's case against his family.

Tinsley filed a lawsuit against the Murdaughs in March 2019 after Mallory Beach died aboard the Murdaugh family's boat, which Paul was driving while intoxicated before it crashed into a bridge off Parris Island in February 2019.

"I thought we were friends," Alex texted Tinsley after the attorney decided to take up the case.

Alex was formerly an attorney at his family's century-old personal injury law firm, then known as Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick (PMPED), before he resigned under the pressure of his alleged financial crimes in September 2021.

The family held a strong grip on the prosecutor's office for decades.

His great-grandfather founded the firm in 1910 and then became the region's top prosecutor in 1920. Alex's father, Randolph Murdaugh III, was the top prosecutor overseeing the same region – including Beaufort County, where the accident occurred – until 2005.

Alex's only living son recently settled the Beach suit in an agreement to give up the majority of his late mother's approximately $5 million estate.