Original subtitles

how does alex murdaugh,

A self-proclaimed loving father and husband...

hey, bus!

- Would you say alex shows display of affection

And love to maggie and to paul and buster?

- Yes, sir.

become their executioner?

- Alex murdaugh is facing four charges,

Two murder charges

And two gun charges related to the deaths.

- This was the act of a desperate man.

- He goes from just a normal everyday dad,

Laughing with his wife and son,

To a cold-blooded murderer.

- Maybe he just snapped.

But still, it was hard to grasp a parent doing

This to their child.

- He's torn down an entire legacy, a law firm.

I'm mad as hell.

- No one, no matter how close they thought they were,

And so many people did think

They were close to alex murdaugh,

Nobody knew who he really was.

and if alex's life has been a lie.

does his family even know him?

- It was all a lie.

- And he lied to you?

- He did.

- Alex's only living child, buster,

Tells his side of the story

In an exclusive interview.

How did that make you feel?

- It made me feel horrible.

And what made me feel even worse was

What he was actually trying to do.

and for the first time,

Alex murdaugh reads excerpts

From a journal he says he kept during the trial.

- When I look up the definition of psychopaths,

Like someone who can completely get away with lying

And acting normal and carrying through,

As if nothing's happening,

Does that describe your dad

When you look at those definitions of that?

- I'm not prepared to sit here

And say that it encompasses him as a whole,

But certainly I think there are characteristics

Where you look at the manipulation

And the lies and the carrying out of that such.

And I think that's a fair assessment.

- If I were a betting person,

I'd say there may be one more twist

Or one more turn in the murdaugh saga.

mr. Murdaugh, do you hope to testify this week?

- Where were you the night that stephen smith was killed?

- Those who know, know...

And those who don't know,

Just make things up.

- Thank you, ma'am.

just start the top.

Take your time.

in the early morning after the murders,

Sled investigators interview alex.

he claims he was never at the moselle kennels.

but a video recorded that night

Exposes the truth.

- Very big moments in court today.

Cell phones took center stage

In the colleton county courtroom.

- It was around March of 2022, I believe,

Where they were able to crack into paul's phone.

And this is what, nine months after the murders occurred,

And they were able to find a video

Several moments before the murders.

- On the video, we hear maggie's voice and paul's voice

And then someone we don't expect to hear.

- Whose voices did you recognize on that video?

- Paul murdaugh, maggie murdaugh, and alex murdaugh.

and how sure are you?

100%.

- So that became huge.

We had alex at the scene with the victims

Just moments before they died

And he had been lying about it.

- Your dad had told you that

He didn't go down to the kennel that night?

- That's right.

He told everybody that.

- And you went to the scene where alex was,

Is that right?

I did.

- And did he deny ever going down to those kennels

To his buddy and law partner of 34 years?

- He said that he ate dinner, laid down on the couch,

Took a nap, and then left.

and now you know that's not true

From seeing the kennel video, right?

- I do.

- So when you discovered that he had lied about that,

What'd you think?

- I thought it was very odd.

I was confused.

I didn't know why you would lie about such a thing.

- Why do you think he did?

- I don't know.

I'd still like to understand, you know, why that was,

You know, needed to be lied about.

- Why do people lie?

People lie because they knew they did something wrong

And they're trying to avoid accountability.

- Now, clearly he lied about where he was,

But you can hear alex and maggie in the background.

- The tone is very convivial.

They're almost laughing about it.

- According to the state's theory,

Within just that few minutes,

He goes from just a normal everyday dad,

Laughing with his wife and son,

To a cold-blooded murderer.

- I don't understand fully how he could lie about that.

What else is he lying about?

were you concerned about his lie in the courtroom?

- Yeah, most definitely.

When the kennel video surfaced in the trial,

I think that you have to get up there

And you have to say to the jury what made you lie.

And that was very, very important.

- Will alex murdaugh testify

In his own double-murder trial?

We asked the disbarred attorney about his plans

As he entered the courthouse this morning.

mr. Murdaugh, do you hope to testify

This week?

- It was a high-stakes thing either way,

But the kennel video kind of forced him

To take the stand, I think.

He had to explain why he hadn't told the truth.

- Mr. Murdaugh, if you'll come forward.

- Anytime you put the accused on the witness stand,

There is substantial danger,

But the cat was outta the bag and it was a bad cat.

- Mr. Murdaugh, have you made a decision

As to whether you're gonna testify?

- Yes, sir.

and what is your decision?

- I am going to testify.

I want to testify.

- All right, very well, thank you.

thank you, your honor.

- Do you swear or affirm that the testimony

You give today will be the truth,

The whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

- Yes ma'am. - Thank you.

- Were you, in fact, at the kennels at 8:44 pm

On the night maggie and paul were murdered?

- I was.

- I think people were surprised when alex took the stand.

But he was probably thinking, you know what,

I'm still alex murdaugh.

I know my way around a courtroom.

These are my people.

- Alex, why did you lie

About the last time you saw maggie and paul?

- As my addiction evolved over time,

I would get in these situations

Or circumstances where I would get paranoid.

- Now, what type of addiction are you referring to?

- My addiction is to

Opiate painkillers.

And that night, June 7th,

I'm sitting in a police car

With david owen asking me about my relationship

With my wife and my son.

And all those things caused me to have paranoid thoughts

And I lied about being down there.

- He says he was having

This paranoia the night of the murder.

But then he had more interviews with law enforcement

Where he lies again.

So how long was he planning to continue the lie?

And I believe he was gonna continue the lie

Forever

If this video did not emerge.

but you continued lying after that night,

Did you not?

- But once I lied, I continued to lie.

- Yes, sir. - why?

- You know, oh what a tangled web we weave.

- Tell me what was going on from where you were sitting,

Watching that play out?

- Nobody wants to be sitting in the sixth row

Of the colleton county courthouse,

You know, been there for 4 1/2 weeks

Of a murder trial that your father is accused

Of killing your mom and brother and now all of a sudden,

You need to watch him defend his innocence.

during approximately 10 hours of testimony

Over the course of two days,

Alex murdaugh confronts his many lies and misdeeds.

you agree that the most important part

Of your testimony here today is explaining your lie

For a year and a half,

That you were never down at those kennels at 8:44?

- I agree, that is an important component.

- All right.

And what was the discussion?

You said that they were going down there,

But you didn't wanna go, is that right?

- I wasn't gonna go.

I said I'm not gonna go.

- So why'd you change your mind?

- Because maggie wanted me to.

- You pulled up, you get out of the golf cart.

- No, when I pulled up I stayed on the golf cart.

- Stayed on the golf cart.

How long did you stay on the golf cart?

- However long I was down there.

- And what did you do after that?

- I left.

- You left?

Are these convenient facts in your new story

That have to fit with the timeline

Now that that evidence has been thrown in your face?

- No, sir.

- Once he made the decision to testify,

He was not going to get off the stand easy.

How many pills were you using a day?

- Anywhere from 1,500 milligrams maybe

To more than 2,000 milligrams a day.

- All right, so you're taking 60 a day

Or something like that?

- There were days where I took more than that.

And I was an addict for more than 20 years.

- I don't know if he was really taking 60 pills a day

And walking around acting otherwise

Normal and functioning.

- Alex taking that many pills in x amount of years,

If you do the math, after a couple hours,

That would've been a lethal amount of oxy.

- Your mom and paul were very concerned

About your dad's drug use.

Did paul mention that to you?

- Yeah, so there were times where they mentioned it to me.

It would be a little bit of a scenario

Of maybe they discovered like pills or found pills.

But never in my wildest imagination could I think,

Like, oh man, I mean,

This guy's battling a 20-year opiate addiction

Where he's taking, you know, however many pills a day.

- So when did you start stealing money from clients?

How long did it take before you started doing that?

- I'm not sure when the first time I did that is.

alex claims his addiction

Not only caused him to lie,

It forced him to steal millions of dollars

To fund his opioid habit.

let's start with natasha thomas.

Do you remember her?

I do.

she was underage, correct?

- Yes, she was underage.

I do believe that. - Right.

So you got $800,000 attributed to you with the firm,

But that was not enough.

You also stole money from that teenager, is that correct?

- That is correct.

- He'd been stealing money for years.

Hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars.

No one had found him

Because he was able to stay one, two,

And three steps ahead of everybody.

- Tell me about ms. Melley.

So she lost her daughter, correct?

- That is correct.

- Very, very sweet lady.

Correct?

- Very sweet lady. - Right,

And you stole all of the money, didn't you?

- I don't dispute that.

- You don't really understand

What the potential destruction of a legacy

And of a life that alex is facing

Until you understand all that he's been doing.

All the years and years

Of alleged misappropriations and thefts.

And this was as tangled a web

As I think anyone has ever seen.

alex doesn't just steal money from clients,

He even targets people who were close to him,

Like the sons of his beloved housekeeper,

Gloria satterfield.

- Do you remember looking tony satterfield

In the eye

And lying to him?

- Yeah.

he was the son

Of your longtime housekeeper, gloria,

Who had served your family for many years

And you stole millions from those boys.

- I-I stole those funds.

I hate that I did it.

I'm embarrassed for my son.

- And what was your response when you heard

That he was stealing $3.8 million

From the satterfield family?

- So it was all, I mean, you know,

Obviously I had been privy to the information.

Like I knew there were financial wrongdoings.

But I mean, yeah, to get the details

And to get the understanding

Of who he took money from is heartbreaking.

- These are all real people, yes or no?

- They're all real people

And a lot of 'em are people that I love.

- Yes, you hurt the people that you love.

I know.

- It became a case more about the accused being a liar

And a thief than it became about being a murderer.

Alex murdaugh, by any account, is a bad person,

But that is not what he was on trial for.

nevertheless, the state continues

To shine a light on alex's financial misdeeds

And the upcoming $10 million civil lawsuit

For the 2019 boat crash that killed mallory beach.

- Mark tinsley made it very clear to alex,

You're gonna have to pay

And you're gonna have to pay a lot of money.

And alex's defense team says alex can't do that.

You had been told by the defense essentially

That alex had no money, correct?

- He's broke.

- All right, did they say he could cobble

Together a certain amount?

- A million dollars.

Did you believe that that was accurate?

- It couldn't have been.

- And that's when mark tinsley said, okay, fine,

Then show me the books.

Show me his finances.

And that was one of the big issues on the table

For the June 10th hearing in the boat case.

in the weeks leading up to the murders

On June 7th, 2021,

Alex murdaugh is facing a civil lawsuit hearing

That may force him to expose his personal finances.

- The boat accident was putting financial pressure on him

That his finances were gonna come to light.

- I believe the beach family lawsuit against alex murdaugh

And all those other parties contributed

To his fear of being exposed

For stealing money from the firm and from clients.

- Were you concerned that your house, financial house,

Was going to be opened up for the world

As a result of that hearing?

no.

I personally have never been able

To get a judge to order the kinda information

That mark tinsley was saying he was seeking.

- Yeah, the boat crash was definitely a grenade pin

That set lots of things into motion.

- On the day of the murders,

The cfo of the murdaugh law firm testified

She had gotten suspicious about like missing fees

And just some financial irregularities,

And she came to alex.

- You asked him for proof, is that correct?

- Yes.

And that he'd get the records

And they would get everything that we needed.

- And what was your concern then

Back at that point in time on June 7th?

- That he was trying to hide income from the boat wreck.

And that is hiding assets

And we're not going to be part of any wrongdoing.

- That's a very significant confrontation

That that's going on.

He's being asked, show me where those fees are

'cause I think you took them.

the prosecution argues

That that confrontation motivates alex

To murder his wife and son.

- Now he is a victim, a grieving father, a grieving husband.

Murdering his wife and son was the horrible, dramatic price

That he was willing to pay.

- This motive of,

He got questioned about stealing $750,000 that day

And went home and killed his wife and son

To distract attention from this thievery

Is the worst malarkey I've ever heard in my life.

How does that, in anybody's mind,

Justify him going home

And executing the love of his life and the apple of his eye?

- After the murders happened,

Was anybody at all concerned about getting the proof?

- We weren't gonna go in there and harass him about money

When we were worried about his mental state

And the fact that this his family had been killed.

Um.

It just wasn't even on our mind at that point.

- He was on the cusp of facing financial ruin,

Legal ruin,

And all those inquiries that people were making,

All those things that were coming to a head,

They immediately stop.

When you were facing accountability,

Suddenly you became a victim and everyone ran to your aid,

Isn't that true?

- There were no accountability issues

On my doorstep on June the 7th.

- That's what you say, not what other people say.

- To me, that made no sense at all.

Like, killing two people would clearly bring more attention

To his life, his finances.

It wouldn't distract from any of it.

the prosecution's theory

That playing the victim to get sympathy is all part

Of alex murdaugh's mo is demonstrated again

In September of 2021,

Just three months after the murders.

- In the aftermath of the murders,

You get confronted about your thefts

From the law firm, correct?

No wiggling out of this one, correct?

- I didn't try to wiggle outta this one.

- Things took a very bad turn for alex

On September 3rd, 2021

When the partners at his law firm basically approached him

With a lot of irregularities and they made him resign.

- Just when we thought it couldn't get any crazier,

Then there's this labor day shooting incident

Where he claims he was fixing a flat tire

And that somebody came and tried to kill him.

- And then it came out, well, in fact, it was all a setup,

That he had gotten in touch with a remote relative

And friend and he hired curtis smith

To shoot him in the road

So buster, his sole surviving son,

Would get a life insurance policy.

- We saw the symmetry between, wait a minute,

Alex is facing accountability again, and guess what?

Now he's suddenly the victim of the side of the road

And everybody's rushing to his aid again,

Just like what happened, you know, with the murders.

But we knew that there was something here.

Again, the motive, the means, the opportunity,

And the acts of a guilty person.

They're all there with alex.

Lie that you told of an unknown assailant

Was to try to make people think

That the quote real guy bad guys

Were back again to finish the job.

Isn't that true?

- No, sir, that's not true.

- That's not the effect that you intended

That story to have?

That's the story that you told.

- That is the story I told.

But that's because

The man who shot me did not shoot me that day

As I intended.

And I had to have a story as to how I got shot,

So I lied.

- Whatever his motivations were,

He was using lies to cover his trail

Until he couldn't any longer.

This was the act of a desperate man.

- It had nothing to do with the murder.

It wasn't relevant to the murder.

It was about a financial house crumbling.

- Did you ask him to shoot you as a sympathy ploy?

- I meant for him to shoot me so I'd be gone.

and why did you wanna be gone?

- I mean, I knew all this was coming to a head.

I knew how humiliating it was gonna be for my son.

I'd been through so much.

At the time, in the bad place that I was,

It seemed like the better thing to do.

how did that make you feel?

- It made me feel horrible.

And what made me feel even worse was

What he was actually trying to do.

And to understand that he thought

That that was going to be some kind of benefit,

Giving all the things that I had gone through prior,

You know, disappointed me.

And you know, I told him.

He was like, I mean, you should know that,

That this is not the way to handle it.

This is not what I needed.

You know, I needed you here not, you know,

Attempting some kind of suicide stunt.

- So what can we believe from alex murdaugh now?

I mean he's just digging his hole deeper and deeper.

What in the world is he doing?

alex admits to a litany of lies,

But the biggest is that he isn't at the kennels

Moments before maggie and paul's phones go silent at 8:49,

Which the prosecution says gives him 17 minutes

To kill them and leave moselle at 9:06.

- The timeline is very, very key and it damns alex.

- Paul and maggie are murdered

Sometime during the 8:49 minute.

And then at 9:06, alex gets in the car

To drive to alameda where his mother is.

- Under the attorney general's theory,

He would've had to have killed maggie,

Killed paul close to 8:50.

And their expert and our expert said whoever shot paul

Would be covered in blood, head to foot.

so the question is,

What happened to all of that blood?

- Sled didn't do its job.

And the best evidence of this fumbling the ball

Was this t-shirt that had a pattern of something

Which would be consistent with blood spatter.

blood spatter on alex's shirt

Was a significant piece of evidence the state needed

To bring him to trial for murder.

- The cornerstone that they went

To the grand jury on wasn't true.

We got a trial date set

And then they found out it wasn't human blood.

That just shows there was no forensic evidence

Tying him to the murder.

- It's very clear that alex took off

Whatever he was wearing and rinsed off.

I mean, he's down there at the kennels

Where you've got that hose and a very, very bloody scene.

What were you doing?

- What I wasn't doing is doing anything,

As I believe you've implied

That I was cleaning off or washing off,

And I can promise you that I wasn't doing any of that.

- He apparently becomes a lowcountry john wick

With lots of activity, killing and cleaning off.

What still amazes me is he's killed these two people

In a very bloody, violent fashion,

Very close quarters with his son,

But didn't get any blood on him.

He's completely clean.

- So he had less than 17 minutes

To get in like the golf cart,

Go back up to the main house,

Dispose of the weapons,

Dispose of the bloody clothes,

Put himself in new clothes,

And get into his car and leave.

How can you do that in 17 minutes?

- You know how hard it is to wash blood off?

It is very hard.

And there's no way in the world you gonna wash it off

In no 10 to 15 minutes and do a good job.

- He either changed shirts

Or he had on a barrier between he and the business end,

The muzzle in of that shotgun.

- Well, maybe he was wearing some sort of coverall

Or some reason that he was able

To very quickly get cleaned up.

- Did you get high-velocity blood spatter

From being within a distance

Of shooting of maggie or paul?

- There's no way

That I had high-velocity blood spatter on me.

- They tried to come up with a suggestion

Without any evidence

That was down at the dog kennel.

- But there's no evidence whatsoever.

And again, no forensic evidence

There was any blood in any water.

- They never swabbed the sinks

To see if there's blood in the sinks,

Dna in the sinks.

They were giving them a lot of,

You know, a lot of courtesies.

- It just shows the privilege that the murdaughs had

And how law enforcement treated them,

The way they wouldn't treat anybody else.

You know, it was all privilege and power.

- The sad situation is,

It was to alex's disadvantage

That they didn't go by the book and search thoroughly.

And we believe those opportunities that they missed

Would have or could have exonerated alex.

without that physical evidence,

The prosecution focuses on digital data

From that critical time period.

- Alex's phone is showing no activity

From the early part of the eight o'clock hour until 9:02.

The fact that he didn't take his phone down to the kennels

Is very telling.

- He left the phone at the house

And he personally went down

So that it couldn't be tracked for his actual whereabouts.

- Let me ask you this, mr. Murdaugh,

Did you take your phone with you down to the kennels

According to the new facts

That you're testifying to yesterday and today?

I must not have.

- You must not have?

- If this is accurate, no, sir.

- Is that typical for you?

- Sure it is.

Absolutely.

- His phone doesn't move once until 9:02.

And between 9:02 and 9:06,

His phone takes over

280-something steps.

What is he doing during that four-minute period?

He's running around the house doing something.

- Preparing to leave for my mom's house.

- Well, the real reason, mr. Murdaugh,

Is that you as a lawyer and prosecutor

Are up at 9:02,

Finally having your phone in your hand,

Moving around and making all these phone calls

To manufacture an alibi.

Is that not true?

- That's absolutely incorrect.

I never manufactured any alibi

In any way, shape, or form.

- Maybe he was stepping while he was talking on the phone.

Maybe he was pacing.

I could think of other explanations

For like taking a lot of steps

That didn't seem that incriminating.

- Alex gets in the suburban around 9:06.

Though he's called maggie multiple times,

He does not drive down to the kennels

Or say, hey guys, I'm heading over to alameda.

What's going on? Why aren't you answering the phone?

Doesn't do any of that.

You're obviously wanting to get in touch with them.

Why didn't you go down to the kennels that were so close by?

- It wasn't important to do that.

Me- me making those phone calls is simply me letting them know

That I'm leaving for a minute, I'll be back.

And as far as not going down there,

There was no sense of urgency.

Maggie was with paul.

You know,

She should be as safe

As she could be.

- So as you're listening to them talk about

These timelines and break it all down,

Did you second guess your belief

That it was somebody from the outside?

- I still stand with my opinion

And, you know, I don't, you know,

I just think it still was somebody from the outside.

- And there's no evidence as to who these people might be?

- I mean, not as that have been found yet.

- Mr. Murdaugh,

Did you take this gun or any gun like it

And blow your son's brains out?

- No, I did not.

did you fire it into your wife maggie's

Leg, torso, or any part of her body?

- No, I did not.

- Mr. Murdaugh, are you a family annihilator?

- A family annihilator?

You mean like, did I shoot my wife and my son?

- Yes.

- No.

Would never hurt maggie murdaugh.

I would never hurt paul murdaugh

Under any circumstances.

the trial for the murders

Of maggie and paul murdaugh

Was expected to last three weeks,

But it stretches on for six,

Making it the longest and most sensational criminal trial

In south carolina history.

- And now it's time for closing arguments.

First by the state, mr. Waters.

- Good morning.

in his closing argument,

Lead prosecutor creighton waters

Is out to demonstrate that, even with all the privilege

That came with the murdaugh name,

No one is above the law.

- On June 7th, 2021

At the moselle property in colleton county,

Maggie murdaugh and paul murdaugh

Were brutally and maliciously murdered at the kennels

By alex murdaugh.

And after an exhaustive investigation,

There is only one person

Who had the motive,

Who had the means,

Who had the opportunity to commit these crimes

And also whose guilty conduct after these crimes betrays him.

The defendant is the person on which a storm was descending

And the defendant is a person

Where his own storm would actually mean consequences

For maggie and paul.

He'd avoided accountability his whole life.

He had relied on his family name,

But now, finally,

He was facing complete ruin.

The entire illusion of his life was about to be altered.

He couldn't live for that.

He has fooled everyone,

Everyone who thought they were close to him.

And he fooled maggie and paul too,

And they paid for it

With their lives.

Don't let him fool you too.

the next day, the defense makes the case that,

Although he admits to being a liar,

Alex murdaugh isn't lying

About the one thing that matters most:

Murdering his wife maggie and his son paul.

- Good morning.

Closing arguments would be very important.

It's an opportunity to tie all the loose ends together

And summarize and crystallize to the jury

That alex did not kill maggie and paul.

Alex lied about being down at the kennels.

And why did he lie?

And that is certainly a fair question

And, frankly,

Probably wouldn't be sitting over there right now

If he had not lied.

But he did lie.

And he told you he lied.

He lied 'cause that's what addicts do.

Addicts lie.

You've heard testimony from a lotta witnesses who

Actually knew

Alex and maggie and paul and buster,

Testified under oath how much alex adored maggie.

That she was his all.

Some people described paul as alex's best friend.

His relationship with him was awesome.

I mean, that was unanimous.

When you get this case,

You'll be making one of the most consequential decisions

That you will have ever made in your life.

If there's any reasonable cause for you

To hesitate to write guilty,

Then the law requires you to write not guilty.

On behalf of alex,

On behalf of buster,

On behalf of maggie,

On behalf of my friend paul,

I respectfully request that you do not compound

A family tragedy with another.

Thank you.

- Fox news alert.

A verdict has been reached in the trial

Of south carolina attorney, alex murdaugh.

- It's a good sign when they come back that quickly,

But I wasn't ready to believe yet.

I understand that there's a verdict.

You may bring the jury.

- To me, the biggest surprise of the trial

Was how quickly the jury came to its decision.

And the whole time I was watching the trial,

I was thinking like this is a lot of complicated evidence.

It's gonna take a while to kind of sort through all of this.

And three hours didn't seem to be enough time

In the jury's deliberations to do all of that.

- Thank you.

Madam forelady, if you'll stand for me.

Have you reached a verdict?

- When you have a favorable verdict,

The jurors sometimes will smile at you, nod at you.

So we had an early verdict come back

And we had no one looking at us.

- The defendant will rise.

Madam clerk, you may publish the verdict.

- I'm the one that read the verdict of alex murdaugh

And I was a little,

My breath was knocked out for a moment.

But then I have to tell myself to treat this

Just like any other trial,

Any other verdict that I have to read.

And I have to place my mind there

And take out any other personal relationships.

The state versus richard alexander murdaugh, defendant,

Indictment for murder.

Guilty verdict.

- You could hear a pin drop.

Um, I don't think there were a lot of people,

Especially in the community,

I don't think they thought that the jury was going

To come back that fast with a guilty verdict.

- Alex murdaugh had no reaction at all

During the reading of the verdicts.

There were so many reactions from so many others.

did you cry?

- You know, I don't like to do that thing

In the front of a camera.

I don't think anybody would.

But yeah, I mean you

Are going through a tremendous emotional time.

It's an absolutely excruciatingly

Difficult experience.

- Wow, what a great day for the people of south carolina.

- Once the jury heard about

The despicable things he had done, stealing the money,

They were ready to convict him of anything and everything.

- When you look back at this trial,

They didn't find a murder weapon,

They didn't find any bloody clothing,

There were no witnesses.

A lot of digital evidence.

- Yeah. Crappy motive.

- You think it was a crappy motive?

And yet 12 jurors all agreed

That your dad killed your mom and paul.

- That's right.

- What do you think about that?

- I do not believe it was fair.

- Why?

And I think it was a tilted table from the beginning.

And I think, unfortunately,

A lot of the jurors felt

That way prior to when they had to deliberate.

It was predetermined in their minds prior

To when they ever heard any shred of evidence

That was given in that room.

- Why would the jurors be inclined to go against your dad?

- Because of everything they had the ability

To read prior to the trial.

I think that people get overwhelmed

And I think that they believe everything that they read.

And I think it took advantage of a jury pool

In a very small town, in a very small county.

- In this particular case, the alex murdaugh case,

We could go to ohio and pick a jury

And probably have almost as many people know about it.

We can't change the reality of the modern media landscape.

So all you can do is go

And have your jury selection process

And rely on people to do what they swear they're gonna do

When they take their oath as jurors.

And it was a tough case, but they honored that oath.

- Joining us now are jurors,

Good morning to all of you.

- Morning. - Good morning.

four days after the verdict,

Three of the jurors appeared on the "today" show

To explain why they convicted alex murdaugh.

- Well, first of all,

I couldn't believe that he was taking the stand.

And when he got on the stand,

I was like, okay, so it was him.

You know, I don't know him

So I never, you know, knew his voice

But I realized it was him

In the kennel video that just kinda sealed the deal.

- If you really think about what the jury was dealing with,

This story went international.

Everybody was watching the story.

And when the jury came back that fast,

I think they didn't wanna be part of what people thought

This area was like.

I think they thought we need to clean house.

The guy's guilty, come back, done and dusted, goodbye.

the day after the verdict,

Now in his prison uniform,

Alex murdaugh arrives at the courthouse to be sentenced.

- Good morning.

good morning, your honor.

anything further?

I don't think further comment

Is necessary, your honor.

- We didn't want to pursue the death penalty.

The death penalty adds a whole layer of logistics,

A whole layer of cost.

It would double the cost of the trial

And possibly double the length of the trial.

- I know you have to see

Paul and maggie during the nighttime

When you're attempting to go to sleep.

I'm sure they come and visit you.

- All day and every night.

- I'm sure.

And they will continue to do so.

- Judge, I tell you again,

I respect this court

But I'm innocent.

- Well, and it might not have been you.

It might have been

The monster you become

When you take opioid pills.

Maybe you become another person.

We'll leave that at that.

All right, mr. Murdaugh,

I sentence you

To the state department of corrections

On each of the murder indictments.

In the murder of your wife maggie murdaugh,

I sentence you for the term

Of the rest of your natural life.

For the murder of paul murdaugh,

Whom you probably love so much,

I sentence you to prison

For murdering him

For the rest of your natural life.

- For the sentencing,

Judge newman spoke and he said, said,

"I'm sure maggie and paul visit you every night

When you're trying to go to sleep."

And your dad said, "every day and every night."

Did you think the judge was going too far?

- Yeah, I think that's just another one

Of his clever little lines to suggest

That he agrees with the guilty verdict.

I think he was very straightforward about that,

And I think it was just a kind of a cruel analogy

To be throwing out amongst just an overly public trial.

with the guilty verdict

And sentencing handed down,

Alex murdaugh's lawyers continue to fight on his behalf.

- You know, I'm sorry for our client,

But we're not gonna give up.

We're gonna go forward with an appeal

And if we get an a new trial,

I'll be right there doing it.

- Absolutely they're gonna appeal it.

I mean, the defense has to appeal everything.

But we believe it is sound

- Obviously the admission of the financial evidence

Is gonna be a key issue.

We knew that.

But I think judge newman, you know,

Very carefully considered all of this

And had some very sound legal reasoning for letting it in.

And so we're confident on an appeal.

That's just the process

And we'll follow it until its conclusion.

while the appeal makes its way

Through south carolina's judicial system,

The question remains for buster

And those who still believe in alex murdaugh's innocence,

If not alex, then who did pull the trigger?

- I do not know who killed maggie and paul.

I wish I did.

I believe the answer lies in the drug world

That alex was financing,

But I don't know the answer.

- Well, the killer is walking around out there somewhere

And I know it ain't alex.

There's a possibility that he might know who done it,

Because we had a lotta rumors going around

It had to do with the boating accident

And then the other rumor was to do with the drugs.

But I can't prove none of it.

- I think it was somebody that wanted to hurt my brother

And it was carried out.

And it still is.

in the aftermath of alex's trial and conviction.

there is no respite for his only living son.

- I'm concerned about buster.

I have been concerned about buster

Since all of this started.

He's been presented in a way that's remarkably unfair.

- Buster's had his own demons to live with

And his own accusations and rumors to live with.

the most damaging,

A rumor of his involvement

In the death of a high school acquaintance,

19-year-old stephen smith.

- A classmate of alex murdaugh's older son, buster,

Was found dead in the middle of a south carolina road

On July 8th, 2015.

smith's body is discovered

Approximately 15 miles from moselle

And his death is ruled a hit-and-run accident.

- The case was reopened in June of 2021

Based on information brought to life

During the investigation

Into maggie and paul murdaugh's murders.

The death of stephen smith is now considered a homicide.

- Stephen smith is a young man who was killed in 2015.

His body was found in the middle of the road.

as that investigation was launched,

Rumors of a connection between smith's death

And alex's son, buster, have popped up.

- A lot of people in town have come right out

And said, oh, you know,

Buster was in a gay relationship with stephen.

Buster was secretly gay.

All sorts of things.

And they really have no proof at all.

- His sister said someone approached her

And said that you and stephen were romantically involved.

His brother says that someone approached him

And says that you were with a group of young men

Who beat him with a baseball bat.

What do you say to that,

To both of those?

- Absolutely

Baseless rumors.

I unequivocally deny anything that you just read off

Of that piece of paper.

I did not have any personal intimate relations with stephen

And that obviously cannot be proven because it is baseless.

I never had anything to do with his murder

And I never had anything to do with him

On a physical level of any regard.

- Where were you the night that stephen smith was killed?

- The night stephen was killed,

I was at our edisto beach house.

- With your family?

- With my mom and my brother.

- Given everything you're going through,

What did you feel like

When you heard that this thing was surfacing again?

- Well, it's a lot like this and, you know,

I don't wanna be rude here,

But have you ever been accused of murdering somebody?

- No.

- Well, lemme tell you this,

It is very, very, very, very, very,

It's a terrible thing to place on somebody

With absolutely no fact.

I mean, it has harmed my reputation.

I mean, people perceive me as a murderer.

- There's no evidence to any involvement

Of buster murdaugh

Or any murdaugh

In the death of stephen smith.

- In one documentary,

They are recreating the night of stephen smith's murder

And they have a bunch of frat boys in trucks

With baseball bats.

They don't have any proof of this.

This story, like so many today,

Has become more about what might have happened

Or what people think happened or what people say happened,

As opposed to the truth.

- Those who know, know,

And those who don't know,

They just make stuff up.

- It's slanderous.

It's defamatory.

There's no evidence there.

There's no there there.

I hope the smith family finds answers if they can,

But the answer is not buster murdaugh.

Can promise you that.

- But that is still a case

That a lotta people are still very interested in,

And obviously we can't comment beyond that.

But I will say that our office will continue

To pursue the truth at every corner.

- I think that the murdaugh family that is left

Will try to do everything they can do

To bring back a fondness for the name.

But is it tarnished forever?

I do believe so.

- Alex tainted his own legacy.

He didn't damage the family name.

You can only destroy what belongs to you

And the murdaugh name,

It belongs to the whole family.

- It feels like anybody

That maintains the last name of murdaugh now has some,

You know, horrible stain on their integrity

Because there's obviously a perception, you know,

People think like,

Oh, the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree.

- Do you ever worry, you know, am I like dad?

- No, I do not worry because I am not a thief,

I am not a liar,

I'm not a manipulator.

In those regards, I am nothing like him.

But in other regards,

I believe that I do hold some of his more admirable traits,

Which I am quite proud of.

- And your mom,

What do you think she would say to you about moving on?

- Well, my hope is that she would be proud

Of the way that I am handling these situations

And the way that I am carrying out my life.

Obviously, I have to live my life now

With 100% of my immediate family no longer around me.

bus, how you gonna get a blue marlin one day?

did you get hurt?

- A little bit.

But what I do have are the fantastic memories.

Same story, different day.

And things that I was able to do with them

While they were here

That I try to run in a little bit of a reel

In my head constantly.

And holding onto that is

What gets me through the tough days.

the tragedy of the murders

Of maggie and paul go beyond the murdaugh family,

Beyond the grounds of moselle.

It spills over to the lowcountry,

The beach and satterfield families,

And so many others.

The murder trial may have lasted just six weeks,

But the ripple effect it created endures.

- What this incredibly dramatic fall

Of the house of murdaugh

Has also meant is the lowcountry has become famous,

And it will be for quite some time.

- I would have to say a point of personal pride

Would be the number of people

Who came up to me after the trial who said,

You and your team restored my faith,

You renewed my faith in the criminal justice system.

I had completely lost faith

That someone like alex murdaugh could be held accountable.

- There was a lot of relief that we had managed to

Get such an uphill battle,

But to get justice for maggie and paul.

That was really the feeling that struck me the most.

alex murdaugh, guilty of murder.

- Apparently, millions of people watched

This thing, cover to cover.

- Of course, the remaining question is,

If he didn't do it, who did?

- A number of people that stopped me say,

I think he didn't do it.

A woman from canada yesterday stopped me,

Talked to me about it, said, "he didn't do it.

You all did a great job.

You'll win it on appeal."

- I thought a lot about what reasonable doubt means

In this trial because there's no direct evidence.

It's complicated.

And to me, I feel like if I were on the jury,

I would find that there's reasonable doubt.

I honestly don't know if he murdered maggie and paul,

But I think he could have done it.

But like if forced to answer, I would say,

No, I don't think he did it.

- Do we know really what happened that night?

No.

No, we don't.

And I doubt we ever will.

But if I were a betting person,

I'd say there may be at least one more twist

Or one more turn

In the murdaugh saga.

- All right, so let's talk about buster 2024,

2025 and beyond.

What are your plans for the future?

- My plans for the future are

To live a very, very happy life

With happy people around me,

And hopefully get to a place where I can go out

And enjoy myself without having to be perceived

As a character in this murdaugh story.

thank you, you may step down.

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