Alex Murdaugh 'frantic' over Mallory Beach suit, owed $4.2M to bank
Alex Murdaugh, a former lawyer, assistant prosecutor and scion of a powerful South Carolina legal dynasty, is charged with the double murder of his wife, Maggie, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, on June 7, 2021.
Coverage for this event has ended.
Alex Murdaugh leaving the Colleton County Courthouse Feb. 9, 2023. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
Alex Murdaugh left the Colleton County Courthouse Thursday after the 12th day of his double murder trial.
A black van took him back to the Colleton County Jail. The disbarred attorney's trial is set to resume Friday at 9:30 a.m.
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.
Buster Murdaugh, his aunt Lynn Murdaugh Goettee, his uncle, John Marvin Murdaugh, and his girlfriend, Brooklynn White, arrive to the courthouse Jan. 30, 2023. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
Alex Murdaugh's son, Buster Murdaugh, allegedly flipped off attorney Mark Tinsley on Monday in court, according to a source.
Tinsley testified in the absence of the jury to determine whether evidence of Alex's alleged financial crimes would be admitted at trial to prove motive. The judge ruled in the prosecution's favor.
The witness represents the family of 19-year-old Mallory Beach, who was killed when Paul Murdaugh drunkenly crashed his father's boat into a bridge.
The 2019 boat crash that also injured four other passengers marked the Murdaugh dynasty's waning power.
The alleged obscene gesture wasn't the only courtroom violation. Alex's sister Lynn Murdaugh Goettee allegedly passed her brother an “undisclosed item," a source told FITS News.
After she was confronted, she became "demonstrative," the source added.
Judge Clifton Newman ordered the Murdaugh family moved back several rows becauseBuster brought a John Grisham novel to court Wednesday and asked a paralegal to give it to Alex, according to Avery Wilks of The Post and Courier.
Colleton County deputies called it contraband, Wilks reported.
Buster was so upset over Thursday's directive he allegedly "kicked over a water bottle," according to FITS News.
Alex's only living son recently settled the Beach suit, agreeing to give up the majority of his late mother's approximately $5 million estate.
He was sued for letting his underage brother use his fake ID to buy alcohol for the boat excursion.
Alex is accused of executing Paul, 22, and Maggie Murdaugh, 54, in June 2021.
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.
Screenshot of GoFundMe page for Shelley Smith, former caretaker of Alex Murdaugh's mom. (GoFundMe)
Defense lawyer Phillip Barber asked Judge Clifton Newman to bar the testimony of an upcoming witness because he donated to another witness' GoFundMe page.
After Shelley Smith, the former caretaker for Alex Murdaugh's mom, testified at his double murder trial, her daughter launched the online charity.
"I want to reward her for her bravery and honesty," the page initially said. The summary has since been replaced with two sentences.
The first donation of $1,000 was made by Mark Tinsley, another witness in the murder trial who is testifying Thursday and the attorney who represents Mallory Beach's family in their wrongful death lawsuit against Alex.
Tinsley later removed his name but confirmed with the South Carolina Attorney General's Office that he made the donation.
"He made a financial payment to a witness in the middle of a trial that he has a financial interest in the outcome of," Barber argued.
He said he couldn't find a single case in which this had happened.
"That would be good fodder for cross-examination," the judge said, rejecting the motion to exclude Tinsley.
Smith's GoFundMe page has raised $8,789 from 215 donations as of Thursday afternoon.
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.
Buster Murdaugh and girlfriend Brooklynn White return to the Colleton County Courthouse from a lunch break on Feb. 9. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
Buster Murdaugh, 26, and his girlfriend, 26-year-old Brooklynn White, are pictured returning to the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, from a lunchbreak on Thursday afternoon.
Alex Murdaugh, Buster's father, is charged in the murders of his youngest son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh, and his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, in June 2021.
Buster, White, and several of Alex's other relatives have attended every day of the disgraced South Carolina attorney's double murder trial since jury selection began on Jan. 23.
Palmetto State Bank CEO Jan Malinowski took the stand after the lunch break on Thursday. Alex owed the bank $4.2 million as of August 2021.
Tony Satterfield identifies Alex Murdaugh in the Colleton County Courthouse Feb. 3, 2023. (Sam Wolfe/The State/pool)
The state's 41st witness took the stand Thursday and said Alex Murdaugh never gave him a penny of the $4.3 million settlement that stemmed from his mother's trip and fall on the Murdaugh property.
In 2018, Gloria Satterfield died after falling on the stairs of the Murdaugh family residence at their hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina.
Alex told Tony he'd help secure him and his disabled brother $100,000 each by filing a claim against his insurance company. He linked Tony to his friend, attorney Cory Fleming, to represent them in the lawsuit. There were two policies that settled for $505,000 and $3.8 million.
Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters asked Tony if he ever learned that the case settled for $4.3 million.
"No," he replied.
"At any time did [Alex] ever pay you one penny?" asked Waters.
"No," he answered.
Around the time of the double murders, Tony learned of the $505,000 sum from a press report and called Alex, who insisted the case still hadn't settled.
Eventually, Tony learned that Alex had stolen the money. Alex later signed a confession of judgment for $4.305 million.
Prosecutors contend the theft of Tony's settlement was evidence of Alex Murdaugh's financial pressures coming to a head in June 2021 that allegedly drove Alex to murder his wife and son.
Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaugh family's longtime housekeeper. (Facebook)
Alex Murdaugh's defense lawyer Dick Harpootlian objected to the testimony of Tony Satterfield, the son of the Murdaugh's longtime housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield.
Gloria died in 2018 in a trip and fall on the Murdaugh's property. At Alex's urging, Tony and his brother sued the now-disgraced attorney. But Alex stole the $4.3 million settlement.
Harpootlian argued that Alex's financial crimes were admitted to prove the prosecution's theory of motive in the double slayings June 7, 2021, and Tony did not ask about the settlement money until after the murders.
"This is a murder trial, not a financial fraud trial," Harpootlian said.
But Judge Clifton Newman overruled the defense's objection.
"I find that that this testimony is consistent with the state’s theory of the defendant being in a frantic state, seeking to avoid disclosure of these financial crimes and thefts," Newman said.
He called the evidence "close in point in time and admissible." The jury was then brought into the Colleton County courtroom and Tony was called as the state's 41st witness.
A crowd of people gathers outside the Colleton County Courthouse as people wait for the 12th day of the Alex Murdaugh trial to begin. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
A long line of people gathered outside the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Thursday morning to snag seats at the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial.
Alex is accused of fatally shooting his 22-year-old son, Paul Murdaugh, and 52-year-old wife, Maggie Murdaugh, on June 7, 2021.
The trial began Thursday with testimony from FBI electronics engineer Dwight Falkofske, who explained how the agency analyzed Alex's vehicle data, before Alex's longtime friend and attorney Chris Wilson took the stand.
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.
Justin Bamberg outside the Colleton County Courthouse for Alex Murdaugh's trial. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
South Carolina attorney Justin Bamberg said the bomb threat called into the Colleton County Courthouse Wednesday could derail Alex Murdaugh's murder trial.
"The biggest question is what impact would something like this have on the jury — even when there’s no reason for the jurors to be scared," Bamberg, of Bamberg Legal, told Fox News Digital.
It's possible that some members of the panel of four men and eight women were so rattled by the bomb threat they will try to get off the jury, he added.
The trial was interrupted Wednesday at about 12:30 p.m. when a call came into the court's general sessions phone line.
Judge Clifton Newman calmly halted the trial moments after the state called its 38th witness."Ladies and gentlemen, we have to evacuate the building at this time, so we'll be in recess until we discover what's going on," he calmly said.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division dispatched a bomb squad to sweep the building, and the trial resumed at about 3:10 p.m. The judge did not address the bizarre incident in open court.
Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
Alex Murdaugh listens to testimony from Jeanne Seckinger about alleged financial crimes during his trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool
Alex Murdaugh is a former South Carolina attorney accused of killing his 22-year-old son, Paul Murdaugh, and 52-year-old wife, Maggie Murdaugh, at his hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina, on the evening of June 7, 2021.
Alex worked for the private injury law firm Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick (PMPED), now known as The Parker Law Group, before he resigned in September 2021 following his alleged financial crimes with the firm.
Alex's great-grandfather, Randolph Murdaugh, founded PMPED in 1910. He then became the regional prosecutor overseeing five counties in 1920. The Murdaugh family maintained a stronghold over the prosecutor's office for decades.
The disgraced lawyer is also facing 99 financial crimes in which he allegedly defrauded multiple victims of an estimated $9 million.
Alex is accused of stealing funds from his own law firm's clients as well as friends and fellow attorneys. The former lawyer told his best friend, attorney Chris Wilson, that he had been addicted to opioids for about two decades after Wilson confronted him about his alleged stealing.
Prosecutors argue Alex shot his wife and son in June 2021 when his financial crimes began to come to light.
The allegations temporarily subsided after Paul and Maggie's deaths until September 2021, when his firm revisited the allegations, and he resigned.
He then allegedly staged a botched suicide attempt later that month in an effort to get a $10 million insurance payout for his eldest son, Buster Murdaugh.
Papa John's pizza is delivered to the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina on Thursday, February 9, 2023. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
Papa John's pizzas were delivered Thursday to the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, minutes before Alex Murdaugh's trial broke for the lunch break.
It is unclear whether the six boxes of pizza are for courthouse staff, the inmates or both.
On Jan. 27, Alex ate Domino's pizza in his cell during the lunch break.
Alex is charged with the double killings of his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and his youngest son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh in June 2021.
His only living son, Buster Murdaugh, has been present in the audience everyday since the trial started last month.
The Murdaugh family in an undated photo. (Facebook)
Attorney Chris Wilson admitted Thursday on redirect by lead prosecutor Creighton Waters that he really didn't know his best friend for decades, Alex Murdaugh.
Chris Wilson and Alex had been close since they attended law school and were roommates.
Their families socialized, they vacationed together, and they collaborated on cases for years.
But Wilson was stunned when he learned Sept. 3, 2021, that Alex had been stealing from his law firm and his clients.
It was nearly three months after the double murder of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and his son, Paul Murdaugh.
The next day Alex confessed to the thefts and said he had been addicted to opioids for decades, Wilson testified.
"And that was a lightning bolt because you had no idea?" Waters asked.
"It floored me," he said. "I never expected that." The redirect came after Wilson, on cross-examination, described the the loving relationship Alex had with his wife and sons.
After Wilson wrapped up his testimony, the trial broke for lunch.
Alex Murdaugh arrives at the Colleton County Courthouse on Feb. 9. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
Alex Murdaugh arrived to the Colleton County Courthouse smiling on Thursday for the 12th day of his double murder trial.
The disgraced South Carolina lawyer is accused of gunning down his 22-year-old son, Paul Murdaugh, and 52-year-old wife, Maggie Murdaugh, on his hunting property known is Moselle in Islandton, South Carolina, on June 7, 2021.
The Murdaugh family poses on a fishing boat. (Facebook)
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.
Alex Murdaugh's former best friend, attorney Chris Wilson, confronted him after learning he'd been stealing from clients and his firm.
On Sept. 3, 2021, nearly three months after Paul and Maggie Murdaugh's double murder, Lee Cope, a partner at his firm -- then named Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick -- called Wilson.
“He says Alex is stealing money from the firm and from clients and he’s going to resign," Wilson recalled.
Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters asked him how he felt.
"Shocked, betrayed, mad, numb,” he replied. "I wanted to talk to him face-to-face." The next day, he drove to the home of Alex's parents.
Alex broke down crying and said he'd been addicted to opioids for two decades and admitted to the thefts, Wilson testified.
“He said, 'I sh-t you up. I’m sorry, I sh-t you up. I’ve sh-t a lot of people up,'” Wilson told the jury in the Colleton County Courthouse.
"I couldn’t believe I didn’t know it, never saw it, never suspected it: drugs or money," said Wilson, who had been close friends with Alex and his family for decades.
Wilson had fronted Alex $192,000 after he'd stolen a fee that should have gone to his law firm.
"Did you ever get that $192,000 back?" asked Waters.
"No, sir," he replied.
A week before the slayings, Wilson attended Alex's birthday party, and can be seen in a green shirt in a video of the celebration.
Hours after the Sept. 4 confrontation between the friends, Wilson learned that Alex had been shot in the head.
The judge barred Wilson from testifying about the botched murder-suicide, siding with an objection from the defense.
It was later revealed that Alex had allegedly hired Curtis "Cousin Eddie" Smith to kill him so his son, Buster Murdaugh, could receive a $10 million life insurance policy.
Lynn Murdaugh Goettee, John Marvin Murdaugh, Brooklynn White and Buster Murdaugh (L-R) arrive at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina on Thursday, February 9, 2023. Alex Murdaugh is on trial for the double slaying of his son, Paul, and wife, Maggie, in June 2021. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
Alex Murdaugh's family is pictured arriving at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, for his double murder trial.
Alex's sister, Lynn Murdaugh Goettee; brother, John Marvin Murdaugh; eldest son, Buster Murdaugh; and Buster's girlfriend, Brooklynn White have attended every day of the trial since it began on Jan. 23.
The disgraced South Carolina lawyer is accused of gunning down his 22-year-old son, Paul Murdaugh, and 52-year-old wife, Maggie Murdaugh, on his hunting property known is Moselle in Islandton, South Carolina, on June 7, 2021.
Alex has said he was napping around the time of the double murder, which occurred at approximately 8:50 p.m., and then drove to his mother's house.
He says he did not discover his wife and son's bodies near the dog kennels at Moselle until after 10 p.m. that evening.
His friend and fellow attorney, Chris Wilson, took the stand for the second time Thursday morning, but it was the first time jurors were present for his testimony.
Alex is accused of stealing from Wilson after they worked on a pair of lawsuits involving a Mack Truck accident that netted them a $5.5 settlement in 2021.
"Everything I knew from the way his partners treated him...was that he was one of the biggest dogs in that firm, one of the biggest producers they had," Wilson testified. "He seemed to own a lot of things, do a lot of things, spend money.”
Chris Wilson testifies as Alex Murdaugh weeps in court Feb. 9, 2023. (Fox News)
Attorney Chris Wilson, Alex Murdaugh's longtime friend, testified Thursday about learning of the double murder of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh.
He was awoken in the middle of the night by his wife and rushed to Moselle, the Islandton, South Carolina, hunting estate where the Murdaugh family lived.
“I walked in, hugged him and cried. Didn’t know what to say," Wilson told jurors, as Alex wept and wiped tears from his eyes with a white tissue. “Everybody was shocked and destroyed.”
Wilson had spoken to Alex on the phone minutes after prosecutors say the disgraced attorney had gunned down his son and wife at about 8:50 p.m. near the estate's dog kennels June 7, 2021.
At the time, friends and family believed the slayings were committed by an unknown assailant.
“I was worried he was going to kill himself just like a lot of people were,” Wilson said.
The following month, Alex made an unusual request. Wilson had paid him directly a $792,000 fee from a case they had worked on together. The fee initially should have been paid to Alex's firm.
But Alex now wanted the $792,000 to go back into Wilson's trust account, then get paid directly to his firm, then known as Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick (PMPED).
Alex wired Wilson $600,000 in July but didn't have the other $192,000, which Wilson had to front him.
“At that point, I know I have a trust account for which I’m responsible for, and I have money that was supposed to be in my trust account payable to his firm for fees,” Wilson said.
PMPED had started asking questions about the missing fee.
Within weeks, Alex would be pushed out of the firm his great-grandfather founded in 1910 after his decade-long scheme of embezzling from his partners and clients was uncovered.
Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.
Chris Wilson testifies Feb. 9, 2023, at Alex Murdaugh's murder trial. (Fox News)
Prosecutor Creighton Waters asked Alex Murdaugh's longtime friend, Chris Wilson, about his perception of the disgraced lawyer before the murders.
“Big firm, big reputation. Alex had a big reputation," Wilson testified. "I thought he made a whole lot more money than I did."
Wilson, who ran his own law firm, had partnered with Alex and his former firm, then named Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, on a Mack Rruck case that netted them $5.5 million in 2021.
"Everything I knew from the way his partners treated him...was that he was one of the biggest dogs in that firm, one of the biggest producers they had," Wilson testified at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina. "He seemed to own a lot of things, do a lot of things, spend money.”
Wilson paid Alex his $792,000 fee checks directly, which was unusual. The fee was supposed to go directly to his firm.
Weeks later, Alex's paralegal contacted a staffer in Wilson's office about the missing funds and back and forth ensued for weeks.
"I would have never suspected that him asking me to write checks to him had anything to do with money problems," Wilson testified.
Alex Murdaugh arrived in a black van on the 12th day of his murder trial for the double slayings of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and his youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, in June 2021.
Alex was seen wearing a checkered shirt and dark pants while covering his handcuffs with his jacket. He was escorted into the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina by law enforcement.
FBI electronics engineer Dwight Falkofske returned to the stand for cross-examination on Thursday, having testified on direct that it took him over a year to analyze computer data on Alex's 2021 Chevrolet Suburban.
The data appeared to show that Alex only visited his mother for a total of 21 minutes before he alleges he found his wife and son dead.
Prosecutors contend that Alex slaughtered his family to prevent his alleged decade-long embezzlement scheme from being exposed.
Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.
Attorney Chris Wilson testifies Feb. 2, 2023, at hearing in Alex Murdaugh's murder trial. (Andrew J. Whitaker/ The Post and Courier/ pool)
Attorney Chris Wilson was one of Alex Murdaugh's best friends before Alex allegedly stole $192,000 from him.
Wilson is one of eight witnesses who previously testified in the absence of the jury at a hearing to determine whether evidence of Alex's alleged financial crimes could be admitted at trial.
Judge Clifton Newman ruled in favor of prosecutors and allowed in the evidence.
Wilson, this time testifying before the jury, described working on a case with Alex and another lawyer on a pair of lawsuits involving a Mack truck that netted them a $5.5 settlement in 2021.
Alex's cut due to his firm, then named Peters Murdaugh Parker Eltzroth & Detrick, was $792,000 fee, while Wilson, who worked for his own practice, earned $791,000.
He couldn't recall the third lawyer's cut.
When the checks came in March 10, Alex told Wilson he was going to put his fee into an annuity and the checks needed to be payable directly to him instead of his firm.
"He was concerned about his exposure in the boat case," said Wilson, referring to a wrongful death lawsuit Alex was facing after his his son, Paul Murdaugh, drunkenly crashed a boat into a bridge, killing Mallory Beach.
The request to pay Alex directly was unusual as all settlement fees were supposed to go to Alex's law firm, then the funds were disbursed to the partners at the end of the year.
FBI Dwight Falkofski testifies Feb. 8, 2023, at Alex Murdaugh's murder trial. (Joshua Boucher/ The State/ pool)
On the 12th day of Alex Murdaugh's murder trial, FBI electronics engineer Dwight Falkofske returned to the stand for cross-examination.
He testified on the direct that it took him over a year to analyze computer data on Alex's 2021 Chevrolet Suburban -- including each time he put his car in park on the night of the murders.
The data appeared to suggest that Alex had only visited his mother for 21 minutes before he allegedly found his slain wife and son a little after 10 p.m. -- another potential chip in his alibi.
His mother's caretaker testified that Alex told her to tell anyone who asked that he was visiting for 35 to 40 minutes.
Falkofske also testified that Alex made one 9-1-1-1 call on June 7, 2021, at 10:06:14 p.m. and one 9-1-1 call at 10:06:18 p.m. on the night of the slayings.
The call information came from "an attached phone" that the car's system downloaded from its entertainment system, Falkofske explained.
Alex claims he was napping at the time Paul Murdaugh, 22, and Maggie Murdaugh, 52, were shot at 8:50 p.m.
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agent with the bomb squad patrols the courthouse where Alex Murdaugh's trial is being held. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
A South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agent with the bomb squad unit patrolled the Colleton County Courthouse Thursday -- one day after a bomb threat suspended Alex Murdaugh's trial for nearly three hours.
The agent had a bomb-sniffing canine at his side. The courthouse received the threat on its general sessions line at about 12:30 p.m., and Judge Clifton Newman ordered an evacuation of the courthouse.
It was soon determined that the call was a hoax and court resumed at 3:10 p.m.
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division bomb squad agent Feb. 8, 2023, after a bomb threat was received at Alex Murdaugh's trial. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
A bomb threat and a courthouse evacuation were the highlights of day 11 of Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial.
A photo gallery of the turbulent day -- including images of the bomb squad and crowds exiting the courthouse -- is available here.
Judge Clifton Newman ordered the Colleton County Courthouse emptied at 12:30 p.m. after a bomb threat came in on the general sessions line.
A source told the Post and Courier that the caller indicated there was an explosive in the judge's chambers, but a sweep of the courthouse quickly determined it was a hoax.
After court resumed at about 3:10 p.m., the state called FBI electronics engineer Dwight Falkofske, who analyzed the computer data on Alex's 2021 Chevrolet Suburban, which recorded each time he put his car in park on the night of the murders.
The data appeared to suggest that Alex had only visited his mother for 21 minutes before he alleges he found his slain wife and son a little after 10 p.m. -- another potential chip in his alibi.
His mother's caretaker testified that he told her to say he was there for 35 to 40 minutes.
Alex is accused of gunning down his son, Paul Murdaugh, and his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, June 7, 2021, on the family's hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina.
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 10:07 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.
Warning: Graphic content
A video from 3D imaging company FARO depicts a visual representation of dog kennels on Alex Murdaugh's 1,700-acre hunting estate known as Moselle in Islandton, South Carolina, where his wife and son were murdered on June 7, 2021.
The 3D property representation was presented in court last week to depict the scene of the double murder.
Alex is accused of shooting his son, Paul, and his wife, Maggie, that evening using two different firearms. Alex claims he was never at the family's dog kennels that evening and was napping during the time of the murders.
Maggie Murdaugh's body was found near a single dog house on the property and Paul Murdaugh's body was found next to a row of dog kennels nearby, where he had recorded a video of a chocolate lab just minutes before his death, according to prosecutors.
While Alex claims he was never at the crime scene when the murders occurred, three witnesses have identified his voice in a video Paul took at the family’s dog kennels just minutes prior to his death.
Alex Murdaugh leans his head down during his double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Thursday, Feb. 02. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool)
Prosecutors have argued that Alex Murdaugh was "burning through cash like crazy" and "extremely leveraged,” which they allege was part of his motive in the murders of his son, Paul Murdaugh, and wife, Maggie Murdaugh.
Alex is charged with fatally shooting Paul and Maggie on the evening of June 7, 2021, though he claims he was never at the scene of the crime when it occurred.
Prosecutors say he shot his wife and son in an effort to distract from his financial wrongdoings dating back more than a decade.
He has been charged with 99 financial crimes alleging he stole more than $9 million.
Palmetto State Bank CEO and President Jan Malinowski testified last week that Alex owed the bank $4.2 million as of August 2021.
Parker Law Group CFO Jeanne Seckinger testified Tuesday that the law firm, which has been in the Murdaugh family since 1910, had to repay its clients about $5 million as a result of Alex's theft.
While Judge Clifton Newman ruled that evidence of Alex's alleged financial crimes can be admitted at his trial, he also noted on Tuesday that his apparent financial wrongdoings do not indicate guilt for his two murder charges.
His financial charges do, however, indicate potential motive for the shootings.
Buster Murdaugh looks to his father, Alex Murdaugh, during his trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse into recess on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool)
Richard "Buster" Murdaugh Jr. is the lone surviving son of disgraced South Carolina lawyer and accused killer Alex Murdaugh. Buster lives with his girlfriend, Brooklynn White, both 26, and their beloved golden retriever, Miller, in a modest one-bedroom Hilton Head Island condominium.
It’s unclear when Buster and White began dating — but she accompanied him to the joint funeral of his younger brother, Paul Murdaugh, and his mother, Maggie Murdaugh, according to a source.
Buster attended University of South Carolina Law School alongside White. He was allegedly kicked out in his second semester for plagiarism, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Alex paid an attorney $60,000 to try to get Buster readmitted, according to FitsNews.
The news site also reported that Buster attended the annual South Carolina Association for Justice convention on Hilton Head in August with his attorney uncle, Randolph "Randy" Murdaugh IV.
Buster was named as a defendant in the Mallory Beach death suit for allegedly letting his brother Paul, who was underage, use his ID to buy alcohol for the doomed boating trip.
He has since settled the suit.
South Carolina criminal defense attorney Cindy Crick joined "Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy" to weigh in on the murder trial involving Alex Murdaugh, saying "I don't envy [Murdaugh's] defense attorneys."
Murdaugh is charged with fatally shooting his wife Maggie Murdaugh and youngest son Paul Murdaugh near the dog kennels of the family's Islandton hunting estate called Moselle on June 7, 2021.
Prosecutors allege Murdaugh's financial difficulties, including 99 counts of financial crimes totaling an estimated $9 million, may have been motive for creating a diversion as a grieving husband and father.
"The state is doing exactly what the state is supposed to be doing, which is very methodically laying foundation for each and every piece of evidence they need to get in during the course of this trial," Crick said. "The one interesting little tidbit where the state has weighed in is this issue of motive and I do think that could be one of the more pivotal issues in this case. You have to remember, although– the state doesn't have to prove motive, it's not an element; but a jury of 12 normal people are going to have a hard time wrapping their minds around the idea that this local prominent attorney, who used to be a prosecutor, decided one day to get up off of his sofa and go down to the kennels and put a bullet through the heads of his wife and son."
Read the full report on Cindy Crick's interview on "Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy."
From left, Buster Murdaugh, 26; his mother, Maggie Murdaugh; his brother, Paul Murdaugh; and his father, Alex Murdaugh. (Facebook)
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.
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."
Live Coverage begins here