Alex Murdaugh seen sobbing near slain wife and son in newly released video
Walterboro, South Carolina - At the start of the third week of Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial, the public witnessed the disgraced attorney in a seemingly traumatized state via body camera footage when he asked law enforcement officers whether his wife and son were dead.
Murdaugh, a former attorney who is being accused of gunning down his wife Maggie Murdaugh and son Paul Murdaugh on June 7, 2021, has appeared rather rattled in the courtroom since the trial kicked off with jury selection on January 23.
Though much of Monday's testimony was largely focused on DNA, labs, and blood splatter, the public has been tuned into social media to watch the newly available body cam footage.
At points in the graphic video, which was previously played in court but released to the public on Monday, Murdaugh is seen – and heard – sobbing while interacting with police and taking several phone calls.
The body cam footage was taken by the first officer on the scene. At one point, Murdaugh is seen on the phone, and he turns to ask the officer, "They are dead, aren't they?"
In the redacted footage, the bodies of Maggie (52) and Paul (22) are seen blurred out several feet away from where Murdaugh was speaking with the officer.
Later, Murdaugh is seen pacing back and forth before telling the officer, "It's bad, I checked their pulses." The once prominent attorney then tells Sergeant Daniel Greene that he had been gone for about an hour and a half to visit his mother, but saw them before he left.
"I rode around with Paul for two hours this afternoon in the pick-up truck," Murdaugh adds before asking, "Has somebody gone to check 'em? They did check 'em? They're sure that they're dead?"
The prosecution is expected to rest their case this week.
The prosecution and defense paint different pictures in Alex Murdaugh's murder trial
Murdaugh is accused of shooting his wife Maggie five times and shooting his son twice. He was indicted for two counts of murder in July 2022. No murder weapon has ever been found.
The prosecution has argued that Murdaugh killed them to distract from his financial woes. On the day Maggie and Paul were murdered, the CFO of Murdaugh's family law firm confronted him about over $792,000 in missing settlement funds.
The defense has argued that somebody killed Murdaugh's wife and son out of revenge for a boating accident Paul was previously in.
Cover photo: IMAGO / USA TODAY Network