In the Matter of Alex Murdaugh

[00:02] Mazda has been named Consumer Reports' safest new car brand. It starts with our approach. Every Mazda comes standard with proactive safety features, so you're more aware of what's around you, more focused on the road ahead, and ready before problems ever start. [00:19] Mazda. More of what matters most to you. Go to mazdausa.com to learn more. Consumer Reports does not endorse or promote any product. [00:30] When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track. [00:37] because there is no room for slowdowns. With Granger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts, and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place. [00:48] So nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. [00:51] Call 1-800-GRANGER, click granger.com, or just stop by. [00:55] Grainger, for the ones who get it done. [01:00] Tonight, on Dateline. Mr. Murdoch, are you a family annihilator? A family annihilator? You mean like, did I shoot my wife and my son? No. A bombshell on the notorious case of Alec Murdoch. His guilty verdict overturned. This decision is nothing short of shocking. This never, ever happens. Inside, this stunning new ruling. Jurors told you they felt coerced. Something really amiss went on in the jury room. [01:30] Revealing new interviews. The Attorney General. We intend to retry this case. Two people were murdered and they deserve justice. The defense team. What was Alex's response when you told him? He said, I didn't believe it was going to happen. The jurors. I feel like he didn't get a fair trial. I was like, what? Why? They are dead, aren't they? Yes, sir. That's what it looks like. He didn't kill Maggie and Paul.

[02:00] Back that up. Private investigators are out there investigating. If they have the evidence, we'd love to see it. The eyes of the world are on this trial. We have a job to do, and we are going to do it. I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline. [02:21] Here's Craig Melvin with In the Matter of Alec Murdoch. [02:30] Just three short years ago, it was proclaimed the trial of the decade. [02:36] Did you take this gun or any gun like it and shoot your son Paul? No, I did not. I didn't shoot my wife or my son any time. 28 days, more than 70 witnesses, some giving dramatic testimony. It was hard because I know she wasn't going to be coming back. [02:57] Amen. [02:58] No mother or father or aunt or uncle. [03:01] should ever have to see and do what I did that day. [03:05] Listen to that gathering storm that all came to a head on June 7, 2021, the day the evidence will show he killed Maggie and Paul. We got up this morning at 2 o'clock. We were here at 3 o'clock in line. It really has been worldwide. It ended with one of South Carolina's most prominent attorneys from one of its most famous families convicted of murder. Guilty verdict.

[03:34] or did it? They overturned his murder conviction. This is huge true crime news today. I just can't believe this is going to trial again. Social media blew up this week when the state's highest court [03:51] ordered a do-over in the case of South Carolina versus Alec Murdoch. How does the state of South Carolina convict a guy and then have it all undone? How does that happen? Look, um, [04:05] While I am disappointed, I don't put blame on anyone but one person. [04:09] Tonight, how the verdict against Alec Murdoch came undone. [04:14] I did not pressure the jury. She was definitely manipulating this jury. What happened was so egregious, so disgraceful. In the words of the court, they had no choice but to overturn this conviction. [04:26] You'll hear from insiders who fought over the case once and seemed destined to do so again. You dust yourself off, you get back up, you take a fresh look at it, and then you go do your job. We didn't give up. [04:39] And that's the secret to the business we're in. You don't give up. [04:49] But first, we'll take you back to the beginning and the man at the center of it all. It was June 7th, 2021, a dark night in South Carolina's low country. Now I want to wait for emergency.

[05:09] Adler's... [05:10] At 10.07 p.m., a call came into the Colleton County Sheriff's Department. There was an emergency at a remote home outside of town. [05:18] Sergeant Daniel Green was the first to arrive. Central 717 scene is secured. Got a Whiskey Fox, Whiskey Mike, both gunshot wounds to the head. His body camera rolled. Sir, I want to let you know because of the scene, I did go get a gun and bring it down here. It's in your vehicle? Do you have any guns on you at all? No, sir, it's leaning up against the side of my car. You're fine, man, you're fine. Green came face to face with the caller, Alec Murda, right away. [05:48] of dog kennels. [05:58] Maggie Murdoch, 52, and Paul Murdoch, 22. [06:02] Each had been shot multiple times, including to their heads. This is the firearm you brought from inside the house? Sir, yes, sir. I went to get... This is a long story. My son was in a boat wreck a few months back. [06:16] And while Alex said he didn't know who committed the murders, he suggested the motive. [06:21] Retribution for Crash [06:24] that killed a 19-year-old woman on a boat Paul Murdoch was said to be driving. He's been getting threats. Most of it's been benign stuff we didn't take serious. You know, he's been getting, like, punched.

[06:39] I know that's what it is. Murdoch also told the sergeant he had gone to visit his mother that night. When did you get home? Right when you called or did you go to the house first? Where is the house? I came to the house first. My mom has late stages Alzheimer's and my dad is in the hospital. I left. I don't know what time. I can go back on my phone and tell you the exact time. [07:01] As he told Green about the moment he found his wife and son, his emotions spilled over. Did you check them? We got medical guys that are, that's what they're going to do, okay? What are they doing? Can they hurry? They are, yes sir. [07:17] Once the EMTs arrived, Green confirmed Alec's worst fears. [07:22] They are dead, aren't they? Yes, sir. That's what it looks like. [07:27] Alec frantically called his friends and family, and they started arriving too. Meanwhile, Green learned the central fact about the man who'd made that 911 call. What's your first name, sir? My name is Alex Richard Alexander Murdoch. [07:48] Murdoch. [07:48] That was a name known to nearly everyone in the Lowcountry. A name that meant power and influence. [07:57] for generations. [07:58] As more deputies arrived, [08:01] They realized the gravity of what had happened here and to whom it happened.

[08:20] The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division arrived. [08:23] They were crime scene specialists who soon had a lot of questions for Alec Murdoch. How was your relationship with Maggie? [08:34] Very good. [08:38] As good as it could possibly be. I mean, you know, we had our issues. The tragic events on that warm, humid night would launch a southern gothic tale of epic proportions. [08:53] A final chapter, yet to be written. There's nothing that happened that day that would say to him, I better go kill Maggie and Paul. Seems like we're getting a good little preview here at the Retro. We're ready. [09:20] Even before the sun rose on June 8th, 2021, residents of tiny Hampton, South Carolina were playing a game of telephone. [09:32] Keep in mind that Hampton County is a small town, small place. You can't [09:37] Your gossip travels faster than you do. Just a few hours earlier, one of the town's most prominent figures, attorney Alec Murdoch, said he had come home to find his 52-year-old wife Maggie and 22-year-old son Paul shot to death on the family's sprawling property known as Moselle. They are dead, aren't they? Yes, sir, that's what it looks like.

[10:07] Michael DeWitt was born and raised in Hampton. [10:10] That night and early in the morning, the people in the Murdoch circle... [10:16] found out [10:17] They're getting phone calls. They're getting texts. Maggie and Paul have been shot and killed. As the news spread, Colleton County Sheriff's deputies and agents from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, or SLED, continue to gather evidence at the scene. A few things were clear right away. Maggie and Paul had been shot at close range, each with a different gun. [10:47] with the shotgun, and she had been shot multiple times with this high-powered rifle. That shotgun and rifle were nowhere to be found. But there were guns, a lot of them on the property, which was often used for hunting. [11:04] A lot of people hunt... [11:06] The fact that the Murdoch family had at least 27 guns in their family gun room is not surprising. [11:17] Chris Wilson, a friend of the Murdoch family, was a regular at Moselle. Just a very social place. They always welcome people into their home. His friendship with Alec dates back decades. Grew up in towns that were close to each other, you know, 30 miles or so apart. [11:36] and then a little bit of ball with each other. - The friends grew closer in law school

[11:42] And by that time, Alec [11:44] had met Maggie. Chris was in their wedding party. They had a very close relationship. I mean, Alec did what he needed to do to take care of the things that Maggie needed. [11:57] And Maggie did what she needed to do to take care of the things that Alec and the boys needed. The boys, sons Buster and Paul, became Maggie's world, according to Chris's wife, Dana. [12:09] When she had boys, she embraced that role and would fish with them and hunt with them. She probably even threw ball in the yard with them. But she was just such a great boy mom. [12:26] And... [12:27] It's where Alec taught his wife and kids to love the lifestyle of the Lowcountry. What did Maggie ever say about her life at Moselle? She loved being out there. It was away from everybody. And I mean, it was just such a beautiful place and so quiet. [12:47] Quiet and remote. [12:50] It was a special place for Paul too. He was always outdoors and so good at it. So good at tending the land and hunting and just being outside. It was a great place. 1,700 or so acres. [13:11] Hogs, turkey, deer, dove, quail, a huge house that would sleep and welcome a number of people.

[13:22] But now, the property was the scene of a bloody whore. [13:27] Sled Special Agent David Owen was leading the investigation. He climbed into a car with Alec to ask him some questions. Can you go by Alec? [13:38] yes sir just start the top take your time Alec told Owen he had been visiting his mother that night he described what happened when he got home Maggie and Paul were not at the house so he said he went looking for them at the dog kennels on the property I mean I pulled up and I could see him and you know I knew something was bad I ran out [14:04] I knew it was really bad. My boy over there, I could see. [14:11] It was... Owen asked if the family had had any issues of late, and Alec repeated the theory he had given to Sergeant Green earlier. Have y'all been having any problems out here? Trespassers, people breaking in? None that I know of. The only thing [14:37] that what comes to my mind is my son Paul was in a boat wreck a couple years ago and there's been a [14:47] You know he was charged with being arrested for being a driver. There's been a lot of negative publicity about that and there's been a lot of people online.

[14:57] just really vile stuff. That 2019 boat wreck had upended the lives of Paul and four of his friends and caused the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach. Paul was indicted [15:12] On three counts of boating under the influence causing death and great bodily injury, he faced a maximum of 55 years in prison and pleaded not guilty and awaited trial. But now he lay dead alongside his mother on the family's beloved property. He's been getting threats. Was Alec right? Was this the act of ultimate retribution? Has he received any direct threats related to the boat accident? Oh, yes. [15:42] Thank you. [15:47] Insurance is not one size fits all. [15:50] That's why drivers have trusted progressives name your price tool for years. [15:56] Just tell Progressive what you want to pay. [15:58] And they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget. [16:01] Visit Progressive.com to find a car insurance rate that works for you. [16:06] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. [16:12] This message is brought to you by Capital One Venture X Card. Venture X offers the premium benefits you expect like a $300 discount. [16:21] annual Capital One travel credit for less than you expect. [16:25] Elevate your urn with unlimited double miles on every purchase, bringing you one step closer to your next dream destination. Plus, enjoy access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide.

[16:38] The Capital One Venture X Card. [16:40] What's in your wallet? [16:42] Terms apply. Lounge access is subject to change. See CapitalOne.com for details. [16:48] This episode is brought to you by Penn Foster. [16:52] Sometimes things don't go as planned, especially with high school. [16:56] When you start to feel like you're falling behind, [16:59] Having another option can make a real difference. [17:02] Penn Foster High School is an accredited online diploma program [17:07] built for flexibility. [17:09] So whether you're hoping to go back and finish what you started, [17:13] Or you're the parent of a teen who needs a different approach to education. [17:16] There is a way forward. [17:18] With self-paced courses, you have the freedom to learn on your own schedule. [17:24] That way you can fit school around everything else going on in your life and stop falling behind. [17:29] Don't just get back on track. Start moving forward with Penn Foster. [17:34] Visit penfoster.edu to learn more. [17:48] From almost the very moment investigators arrived at his country home, Alec Murdoch had been telling them the murders of his wife and son had to be connected to a 2019 boat crash. This is a long story. My son was in a boat wreck.

[18:09] families upside down. 911, where's your emergency? We're in a boat crash on Archer's Creek. It happened in the middle of a February night at 2.30 a.m. Six teenagers, including Paul Murdoch, were in the Murdoch's motorboat in a local creek when the boat sped up. [18:28] and slammed into a bridge piling. [18:30] one of the passengers, Connor Cook, made the call. There's six of us and one is missing. [18:38] Please send someone. No, we're going, we're going, okay? Connor and several other passengers were rushed to the hospital. [18:46] Marty and Christine Koch. [18:48] are Connor's parents. How did you find out? [18:52] what had happened. [18:53] Connor Callum. [18:54] He said, "Daddy, we've been in an accident in Archer's Creek and we can't find Mallory." [19:00] 19-year-old Mallory Beach was still missing in the dark water. [19:05] Paul Murdoch [19:06] was rushed to the hospital too. His father and grandfather met him there, and Alec reached out to the cooks. [19:14] who were still on their way. [19:16] He'll be calling me. [19:18] Going on and on about an accident and the girl was missing and that Connor was driving the boat. He told you Connor was driving the boat? Yes, he did. Multiple times he called. To check on you? To check on Connor? No, hell no. Trying to get this scheme going. [19:33] To telling us about how he's not the world. To convince us that our son was driving the boat. That didn't make sense to the cooks. Paul usually drove his family's boat. The cooks also say Paul was a known troublemaker and thought Alec was wielding his considerable influence that night at the hospital to keep him out of trouble. It would be easier for him to get Connor out of trouble than his son. That was his exact word. I can look out of Connor better than I can't Paul.

[20:05] Meanwhile, on Archer's Creek, the search for Mallory Beach went on for a week. Crews are continuing to search for a former USC student who went missing over the weekend near Paris Island. [20:17] It ended tragically when two volunteers recovered Mallory's body. [20:24] You know, there were so many opportunities for this not to have happened. [20:28] Attorney Mark Tinsley filed a wrongful death suit on the Beach family's behalf in March 2019. [20:36] They wanted to hold all those people responsible for her death accountable, but more than that, they wanted to make sure that it didn't happen to someone else's. [20:43] child. The suit named Alec who owned the boat, along with several others. And why name Alec Murdoch in that? When you promote a certain kind of behavior, when you condone [20:56] the sorts of things that Paul did for the length of time without any consequences. [21:02] He bears responsibility for what happened. [21:05] Tinsley requested Alex Financial Records as part of the suit. What was the response? [21:12] you [21:13] Just an objection. [21:14] a refusal. In fact, Tinsley said Alec told him he was broke. Tinsley didn't believe it. He's making [21:24] millions of dollars a year, a million dollars a year, at least every year. [21:27] Why would he have no money? He comes from money. The impasse dragged on for more than two years. Finally, in June 2021, both parties were scheduled to appear at a hearing where Alec would likely be compelled to turn over his financial records. Then, June 7th, just a few days before that hearing, the unthinkable happened. I get a call about 11:30.

[21:57] that Monday night that Paul and Maggie had been murdered. [22:05] Now, investigators had to find out if the boat crash had anything to do with those murders. [22:11] even as they seem to be losing control of a crime scene [22:15] That was being overrun by Alex's friends and lawyers. [22:35] Moselle, the Murdoch family retreat that was known for parties and recreation, had become a place where people came to grieve. [22:44] and offer support to Alec Murdoch and his remaining son, 25-year-old Buster. Alec's friend, Chris Wilson, was one of them. When you got there, what did you find? When I got there... [22:57] and [22:58] Um... [22:59] pulled into the main gate. [23:01] I was kind of headed up the driveway towards the main house. [23:05] I saw a lot of lights and people. You could tell there was a lot of [23:09] commotion going on down at the kennels, which turned out to be law enforcement and other people. Alec was there. [23:17] I walked over and hugged his neck and we cried. [23:19] He didn't say anything. He was whimpering and crying and seemed destroyed. [23:24] We hugged. It was just there. I mean, I was trying to be there for a friend that, you know...

[23:31] Didn't know what to do for him, didn't know what to say, just wanted to be there. [23:34] Thank you. [23:35] Some questioned why the house wasn't cordoned off as a crime scene. [23:40] like the kennels were. How you doing, sir? It was clear the Murdoch family held a certain status [23:47] with Law Enforcement. [23:49] It basically allowed the family and all these attorneys from the law firm to just just move over there and set up and and console the grieving Alex console the family. While some investigators search the home and property, others were looking into Alex theory about the 2019 boat crash. [24:07] They wanted to know where the surviving passengers and their families were [24:12] on the night of the murders. [24:13] That meant Connor Cook and his parents, Marty and Christine. When you heard, what'd you think? [24:20] My first thought was, thank God Connor was home with me. Did they question him? Of course. Yes. [24:27] They questioned me. They questioned you. I was his witness that he got home from work and that he never left the house. [24:36] They questioned every passenger in that boat. But despite Alec's theory, it appeared no one involved in the boat crash was near Moselle on the night Maggie and Paul were gunned down. They did, you know, got an alibi from everyone. And I think they fairly quickly eliminated the boat crash passengers as possible suspects.

[25:06] far from Alec's mind. In another interview with Sled Agent David Owen three days after the murders, Owen asked Alec to take him through how he spent that faithful day. Alec mentioned the upcoming hearing where he was likely to be forced to [25:23] to turn over financial records. I'm a defendant in a civil case involving my son. I told you about the boat wreck. Yes, sir. And there were some motions coming up in that on Thursday. And I was mostly just getting ready for those things and then other junk. Alec also gave Owen more details about his whereabouts that night. After work, he said he came home and rode around the property [25:53] from that evening as the two watched a tree bed. [25:59] Then they went home to eat. - Maggie had gotten home and we sat down and we ate supper. We usually eat supper together. - After dinner, Alex said Maggie went to check on the kennels and Paul was outside too. [26:14] I stayed in the house and I was watching TV, looking at my phone, and I actually fell asleep on the couch. [26:24] Alec told Owen... [26:25] He left to visit his mom after he woke up, a little after 9 p.m. [26:30] She lived about 20 minutes away, and Alex said he stayed there for a while before he returned home.

[26:36] a little after 10 p.m. [26:38] Paul and Maggie [26:40] "Weren't there," he said, so he drove around the property. [26:45] He found them lifeless at the kennels and dialed 911. [26:49] Once again, he got emotional about the moment he discovered his wife and son. I know it's hard. [27:00] And... [27:01] Sitting here talking today is tough. It's just so bad. It's so bad. [27:13] He's such a good boy, too. [27:20] I'm sorry. Go ahead. [27:22] After that second interview with Special Agent Owen ended, [27:27] Alec got more bad news, this time about his father, Randolph. [27:32] who had been sick. Valerie Borlein is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. [27:37] On June the 10th, there's all this incredible activity going on in the background, trying to figure out what happened to Maggie and Paul. And his father, Randolph III, comes over to kind of huddle up with the lawyers and the family and then goes back home and dies just a couple hours after that interview. That weekend, the family buried Maggie, Paul, and Randolph. [28:03] A community gathering to remember a mother and son killed in the Lowcountry.

[28:08] Bye. [28:09] On June 25th, [28:10] Two and a half weeks after the murders, Alec and Buster put out a statement. They asked for help to bring justice to Maggie and Paul and offered a $100,000 reward. [28:23] you [28:24] By all appearances, Alec seemed to be a grieving father and husband. But that summer was about to unravel Alec's world and make so many question if they ever really knew it. He asked me to write the checks to pay the fees on the case that would have been payable to his firm directly to him. Had you written him checks like that before? No. [28:54] you [29:06] The summer of 2021 was a time of grief and confusion for the Murdoch family. Chris Wilson did his best to be there for Alec, his friend of more than three decades. I mean, the guy seemed destroyed to me, not eating. I didn't seem to be sleeping. [29:27] know of. [29:27] It was quite a contrast from their last happy time together. Alec had celebrated his birthday just one week before the murders. That's Chris.

[29:39] giving him a bear hug. [29:41] Everybody was having a good time that night. It was Maggie, Paul, Buster. [29:45] my wife, my family, a number of their friends, and we had a good time together. Alec and Chris were lawyers in neighboring counties and sometimes took on cases together to better serve their clients. But Chris would soon discover his apparently wealthy friend was hiding some secrets. [30:06] In the spring of 2021, Alec [30:09] was facing mounting pressure to turn over his financial records to Mark Tinsley for the 2019 boat crash lawsuit. [30:17] around that time [30:18] Chris... [30:19] says Alec asked him to do something [30:22] unusual [30:23] Alec asked me to write the checks for the fees directly to him instead of to his firm, which I did in March of 2021. He told me he had authority and approval from his firm. [30:32] And you had no reason not to believe him? I didn't have any reason not to trust the guy. I mean we had been dealing with each other, business and professional, [30:39] for 30 years with no problems whatsoever. [30:42] But a few months later, Alec changed his mind. He contacted me and said, "The fees can't be paid to me this way. They have to be paid directly to my firm." He was supposed to send me $792,000 back, the same amount of money that I had paid him. [30:56] Chris said Alec, [30:58] only sent back $600,000. I had to put $192,000 of my own money into my account to have that money available to pay the way that it should have been paid.

[31:10] had it been done the right way. [31:13] What Chris did not know was that he wasn't the only one getting suspicious of Alec. [31:18] Murdoch's law firm had quietly started an internal investigation [31:23] and found several missing payments related to his cases. [31:27] On June 7th, the CFO confronted Alec about it. That night, Maggie and Paul [31:36] We're killed. [31:37] After that, [31:39] No one was asking questions about missing fees. [31:43] They were doing their best to surround Alec with support. [31:46] Even Mark Tinsley had paused his civil case in the wake of Maggie and Paul's murders. [31:52] he thought. [31:53] maybe for good. [31:54] if [31:55] Alec is the victim of some vigilante. The boat crash probably as it relates to him would have been over. But then Tinsley noticed another lawsuit related to Alec had settled. It was the case of his longtime housekeeper Gloria Satterfield. [32:12] who died after a fall at Moselle in 2018. The settlement [32:17] seemed suspiciously small. The fact that she died, her age, how long she lived, case was worth a lot more than $505,000, which was the only thing reported in terms of the settlement. [32:30] He was right. [32:32] Gloria's family should have gotten over $4 million. Alec and two co-conspirators didn't tell the family that and kept most of the money.

[32:42] for themselves. And once that case became public, [32:47] Other allegations surfaced about Alex stealing money from clients. [32:51] for years. The allegations were a bombshell for the large group of people [32:59] who'd circle their wagons around Alec all summer. [33:02] In September, Chris Wilson heard about those allegations. [33:07] And he was shocked. [33:09] I told him that I needed to speak to him and I wanted it to be face to face. [33:12] That conversation was tense. [33:18] I looked at him and I said, "Elec, I need to know what [33:20] I'm sure I used a curse word. I said, "I need to know what's going on." [33:24] And he looked at me, started to cry. [33:27] And said, I can't write this second. [33:29] walked inside [33:31] grab some paper towels, came back out, dried his eyes off, [33:35] and said, [33:36] Look, I've got a drug addiction. I'm addicted to pain prescription pills, and it's been going on for 20 years. And I've been stealing from my clients, and I've been stealing from my firm, and I've done you wrong, and I've done a number of people wrong. [33:48] Wilson left the meeting furious but also worried about his friend. [33:55] And he was right to worry. [33:58] Because just a short time later... [34:00] I'm on my ride back to Columbia and I got a phone call. [34:04] and told me that Alec had been shot on the side of the road. Alec Murdoch. [34:09] Dial 911 [34:10] again. [34:12] Okay, what's going on? I stopped, I got a flat tire. And I stopped, and somebody stopped to help me.

[34:20] And when I turned my back... [34:22] They tried to shoot me. [34:23] Alec was on the side of this country road when he claimed the shooting happened. [34:33] They shot me and I'm bleeding a lot. When you heard about what had happened on the side of the road there, what was your initial thought? I thought he tried to kill himself. [34:43] Alec was airlifted to a Georgia hospital with a [34:46] fractured skull and a minor brain bleed. [34:49] But one week later, he confessed that he'd made up the whole thing. [34:55] It was a... [34:56] failed attempt to get life insurance money for Sun Buster. [35:00] He also admitted publicly to that [35:02] 20-year opioid addiction and promptly entered rehab. [35:07] Alec seemed to be spinning out of control. He was fired by the law firm and... [35:13] He was facing charges related... [35:15] to both the botched suicide attempt and [35:18] the insurance fraud of his longtime housekeeper. [35:21] During that tumultuous summer, Alec and his lawyer [35:25] Also, [35:26] had an ominous meeting with SLED Special Agent David Owen about the status [35:31] of the murder investigation. [35:33] Everybody stays in that investigation until we can get them out. And right now, because of the questions that I have that I need explanations for, I cannot get Alec out. So does that mean that I am a suspect? You were still in this with everything that we've talked about, with the family guns, the ammunition, nobody else's DNA.

[36:03] and going with the facts. [36:06] In October 2021, Alec was arraigned for some of his alleged financial crimes. The Wilsons... [36:15] no longer recognize the man they considered family. We didn't want to believe it. More came out, kept coming out. More's still coming out, probably. I mean, it's just, who is this person? We don't know this person. Who was he? The world was about to find out. What say you, Richard, Ella Murdoch, are you guilty or not guilty of the felonies wherein you stand and die? [36:45] Festival season is here. [36:47] And Apple Cash is an easy and secure way to split the bill. Just send or request money right in your group chat in the Messages app. Once you're settled up, you can spend the money you receive anywhere Apple Pay is accepted. Open your wallet app and set up Apple Cash today. Apple Cash services are provided by Green Dot Bank, member FDIC. [37:14] Brought to you by the Capital One Saver Card. [37:17] With Saver, you earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, and grocery stores. That's unlimited cash back on ordering takeout from home or unlimited cash back on tickets to concerts and games. [37:30] So grab a bite, grab a seat, and earn unlimited 3% cash back with a saver card. Capital One. What's in your wallet?

[37:39] Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com for details. [37:43] LinkedIn Premium All-in-One is amazing at helping you grow your small business. It can help you sell, market, and hire all in one place, so you're 60% more likely to get replies from suggested prospects. It can't stop you from being CEO, CFO, HR, and yes, even IT sometimes. Hello. [38:02] Unknown Error. [38:04] What? [38:05] Then how do you even know it's an error? Yikes. [38:08] Try LinkedIn Premium All-in-One for free at linkedin.com slash all-in-one. [38:22] After more than a year of speculation and questions, investigators appear ready to name Alec Murdoch as the killer of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. On July 14th, 2022, it happened. Alec Murdoch was [38:44] was scheduled surprisingly quickly. On January 23rd, 2023, the Colleton County Courthouse in tiny Walterboro, South Carolina [38:54] felt. [38:54] like the center of the universe. An invasion of cameras, tents and trucks on every corner of the courthouse. A nation now hooked on the spectacle [39:05] was greedy for every turn, every twist,

[39:09] to come. The trial was going to be live streamed, but spectators were out at dawn anyway. [39:17] Lining up for courtroom pass. [39:20] Food truck served breakfast. [39:22] And reporters? [39:24] The place was crawling with them. [39:27] you will find every major TV network. The New York Times is here. The Washington Post. The Wall Street Journal. [39:35] Alec Murdoch arrived in an unmarked van at the court's back door, straight from the jail cell where he spent more than a year dressed in business casual, a jacket draped over his handcuffs. Why did you tell your wife and your son? [39:52] Generations of Murdochs have tried cases here. [39:55] In fact, a Murdoch family portrait was taken down on the judge's orders before opening arguments began. Listen to that gathering storm that all came to a head on June 7th, 2021, the day the evidence will show he killed Maggie and Paul. [40:25] The defendant over there, Alec Murdock, took a 12-shade shotgun and shot him in the shoulder. Paul Murdock was shot first. But after that, another shot went up under his head and did catastrophic damage. Then Waters told the jury, Alec picked up an AR-style rifle and turned it on his wife, Maggie. Pow, pow. Two shots at him in the leg and took her down. I've got multiple gunshots.

[40:55] range, the scene, bloody, horrific, and, the prosecution said, a pile of evidence pointing to Alec Murdock as the killer. The motive? [41:06] He was trying to deflect attention from his storm of troubles. [41:10] you're going to reach the inescapable conclusion that Alec, [41:13] Murdered Maggie and Paul. That he was the storm. That the storm was coming for them. [41:19] That they died as a result. [41:21] Alec listened at the defense table, family members behind him, including... [41:26] His remaining son, Buster, [41:28] It is our honor to represent Alec Murdoch. Dick Harpootlian, a former member of the South Carolina Senate, [41:37] with decades of lawyering behind him, was the lead defense attorney. I submit to you what you've heard from the attorney general as facts are not. [41:50] Now stand up. [41:52] This is Alec Murdoch. [41:56] And Alec was the loving father of Paul and the loving husband of Maggie. [42:03] The facts were on his client's side, he told the jury. [42:07] There was no direct evidence tying Alec to the murders. He didn't do it. He is presumed innocent. [42:16] Please be seated. [42:19] Next morning... [42:21] The prosecution called its first witness. [42:24] Sergeant Daniel Green of the Colleton County Sheriff's Office

[42:30] was the first to respond to the murder scene. [42:32] They are dead, aren't they? The prosecutor used Green's body cam footage and testimony... [42:38] to examine Alec's behavior that night. [42:40] He was able to answer all the questions that I asked him. Was he panicking in any way? He seemed upset, but I wouldn't say panicky. The prosecutor said Alec immediately tried to divert attention to other suspects. My son was in a boat wreck. Casting suspicion on how he pointed to Paul's boat crash as a possible motive for a revenge killing. Who brought up the boat incident? Mr. Murdoch did. And he offered that right out of the gate as a possible explanation for what happened here. Is that right? Yes. [43:10] to attack Alex Alabin. [43:13] Remember, Alec told everyone he had a nap after dinner while Paul and Maggie went down to the kennels. Alec insisted he did not go with them. I was at the house. I left the house and went to my mom's. [43:29] But prosecutors unveiled... [43:31] an explosive exhibit that would gut Alec's alibi. A video that had been discovered on Paul's cell phone recorded at the kennels at 8:44 p.m. when Alec said he was napping at the house, and just minutes before prosecutors say Paul and Maggie were shot. [43:53] Get back, get back. Jurors were told to focus on the voices, not the pictures, [43:58] Paul is heard calling to this dog named Cash. Quit, Cash. Quit. Then Maggie. Hey, he's got a bird in his mouth. And a third voice. Come here, Bubba. Come here, Cash. Come here, Bubba. Cash. A man's voice saying, come here, Bubba, to a dog. Come here, Bubba.

[44:21] Cash. Half a dozen witnesses were asked to identify the voices on that video. [44:28] Always the same. [44:38] Maggie Murdoch. [44:40] An Alec murder. Paul, Ms. Maggie in it. Mr. Alec. It was a major blow to Alec's defense, but hardly the last. The prosecution had more surprises up its sleeve. There were a significant number of particles characteristic of gunshot primer residue on the inside of this jacket, yes. [45:10] Disturbing new details coming to light in the Alec Murdoch murder trial. Alec Murdoch is charged with killing his wife and son. I'm half a century old and there's never been a case like this in my neck of the woods. [45:24] The prosecution had undermined Alec's alibi [45:27] with that video at the kennels. Now, [45:31] They tried to poke holes in the rest of his story. Remember, Alec said he'd napped after dinner, then went to visit his mother. Now call Miss Michelle Smith to the same. Shelly Smith was Alec's mother's caregiver. She was there when he arrived at his mother's house about 9:20. [45:51] "An unusual hour for him to stop by," she said.

[45:54] Like he was fidgety. Fidgety? Yes. Did he talk to his mother? She was asleep, yes. She was asleep? She said he left after 15 or 20 minutes. [46:07] Did she even know that he was there? No. [46:10] Smith saw Alec again the next week. She testified they had an upsetting conversation where he appeared to be coaching her to tell investigators if they asked that he was at his mother's home longer than Smith said he was. [46:26] His phrase was, I was here, are you noticed? I was here 30 to 40 minutes. Days later, Smith testified, Alec was back at his mother's place, this time early in the morning with something balled up in his hands. Like a blue tart, like a tart. Blue? Blue. Okay. [46:48] Was it vinyl? It was like a tart that you put on a car, you keep your car covered up. What did you do when you walked in? Went upstairs. [46:56] house and discovered a blue raincoat similar to a tarp, balled up in a closet. [47:03] Agent Megan Fletcher, a trace evidence analyst, examined it for GSR, gunshot residue. There were a significant number of particles characteristic of gunshot primer residue on the inside of this jacket, yes. Would your findings be consistent with that item containing a recently fired firearm? It is possible, yes. Other people in Alex Circle also found his behavior after the murders strange.

[47:32] sister, Marion Proctor, to the stand. I'm Marion Proctor, P-R-O-C-T-O-R. She told the jury her family was terrified the killer would target Alec and Buster next, but Alec didn't appear worried at all. I was scared for Alec and Buster. I think everybody was afraid, and... Um... [48:06] Bellic didn't seem to be afraid [48:10] Marion told the jury Maggie... [48:12] was only at Moselle that night because Alec had asked her to be there. [48:17] He told her his father was gravely ill. [48:21] The sisters talked on the phone as Maggie drove... [48:24] Marion. [48:25] still haunted by that last call. [48:28] And I said, well, Maggie, I said, you know, Alec and his dad are super close, and that's probably what you should do. Go be with him if he needs you. You encouraged her to go to Moza? [48:41] I did. [48:44] Was that the last time you talked to her? [48:48] Yes. [48:50] One apparent weakness in the prosecution's case... [48:54] was the lack of blood evidence. They tried to turn this to their advantage by playing one of Alec's statements to police, recorded just hours after the murders. I think I tried to turn Paul over first. Um...

[49:08] Ugh. [49:10] You know, I tried to turn him over. Did you touch Maggie at all? I did. I touched them both. Okay. I tried to take... [49:16] I mean, I try to do it as limited as possible, but I try to take their pulse on both of them. So, why wasn't he covered in blood? The implication was that he'd washed up after the murders. Colleton County lead detective Laura Rutland was on the scene that night. How would you describe the defendant's hands when you saw them when you were interviewing him? How would you describe his hands? They were clean. How would you describe his t-shirt? Clean. [49:46] his shorts. Clean. Did he look like somebody who just changed his clothes? Yes. [49:52] Alex said something else prosecutors seized on in another statement to police. [49:58] three days after the murders. [50:00] Sitting here talking today is tough. It's just so bad. They did it so bad. [50:12] to repeat the words. What did he say? It's just so bad I did him so bad. I did him so bad? Yes, sir. Was it? [50:21] A slip of the tongue. An inadvertent confession. [50:25] On cross-examination, Alex's defense attorney, Jim Griffin, [50:28] played the tape at a slower speed. The question: [50:33] Did Alec say I or they? [50:37] I did it so badly.

[50:41] Did you hear "they" then? No, sir, I did not. You would agree the jury gets to decide what he said on that tape. That's the best evidence. [50:49] I agree that they get to hear the tape and make their own mind up as to what he said yesterday. [50:57] But no matter how much testimony prosecutors elicited about Alec Murdoch's inconsistencies and lies... [51:04] they still had to answer the most basic question of all. What could motivate a man to brutally murder the wife and son [51:14] he seemed to adore they would throw a hail mary to try to make that case they've got a whole lot more evidence about financial misconduct than they have in evidence of guilt in the murder case [51:32] people are building things here in america again and this moment calls for the best of america [51:44] Helping to train the next generation of welders, fiber installers, crew leaders, and more. Paid training, a job, and a path to America's future. Because the future is for everyone. Learn more at meta.com slash AmericasWorkforceAcademy. [52:03] Festival season is here, and Apple Cash is an easy and secure way to split the bill. Just send or request money right in your group chat in the Messages app. Once you're settled up, you can spend the money you receive anywhere Apple Pay is accepted. Open your wallet app and set up Apple Cash today. Apple Cash services are provided by Green Dot Bank, member FDIC.

[52:32] LinkedIn Premium All-in-One is amazing at helping you grow your small business. It can help you sell, market, and hire all in one place, so you're 60% more likely to get replies from suggested prospects. It can't stop you from being CEO, CFO, HR, and yes, even IT sometimes. Hello. [52:51] Unknown error. [52:53] What? [52:54] Then how do you even know it's an error? Yikes. [52:57] Try LinkedIn Premium All-in-One for free at linkedin.com slash all-in-one. [53:03] Good morning. [53:11] Prosecutors had punched holes in Alec Murdoch's alibi and cast doubt over many of his statements. [53:18] But the biggest question of all lingered. Why? Why would Alec Murdoch kill his wife and son, especially since they seem to be a close-knit family? Journalist Valerie Borlai. [53:31] And I think that is a high bar for the prosecution to have to get over to explain, yes, those things do hold together. Prosecutors had an explanation. Alec Murdoch was a compulsive thief, they alleged, a spinner of scams who stole money from everyone. And because those financial crimes were about to be exposed, they argued, he murdered his wife and son to win sympathy and time. [54:01] ruin his family and his family name? This issue is before me on the motion of the state. Normally, jurors are not allowed to hear about a defendant's past bad acts. But in this case, prosecutors believe they were crucial to explain motive. They asked the judge for permission to present testimony about Alex alleged financial crimes. I would like to respond. The defense protested

[54:31] than they have about a murder and evidence of guilt in the murder case. But in a pivotal decision, Judge Clifton Newman decided for the prosecution. I find that it is so intimately connected with and explanatory. [54:48] of the crime charge that proof of it is essential to complete the story prosecutors exhaled and called jeannie seconder to the stand i would be cfo slash coo seconder told the jurors the murdoch family law firm pmped operated on trust like a brotherhood [55:11] She said Alec Murdoch was a successful lawyer largely because of his gift of the gab. [55:17] He did it through the art of bulls**t, basically. In May of 2021, Secondger learned of Chris Wilson's missing check. She discovered other financial irregularities involving ALEC 2. [55:29] She confronted him about it [55:31] for the first time that month, and then again on June 7th. [55:36] He looked at me with a pretty dirty look, one I'd not seen before, and said, "What do you need now?" The conversation was interrupted. He took a phone call, and the call was saying that his father was in the hospital and he was terminal. So at that point, it turned into a personal conversation. [55:57] Prosecutors argued that was the day. June 7th, Murdoch realized his crimes were about to be revealed and that very night...

[56:08] Maggie and Paul [56:09] were murdered. [56:11] As prosecutors demonstrated, Alec got a reprieve from the firm's investigation. [56:16] After the murders happened, did it seem right to you to raise those issues to the defendant? No. We were concerned about the welfare of Alec, and we were trying to make sure that he was emotionally okay. [56:27] Old friend Chris Wilson testified he also stopped asking questions about that missing check. [56:34] After the murders, we all talk regularly about keeping an eye on him, about being there for him. If prosecutors thought evidence of Murdoch's financial crimes would provide a motive, they counted on their last witness to prove opportunity. Special Agent Peter Rudofsky. The prosecution's final witness, SLED Special Agent Peter Rudofsky, unveiled a digital tour de force. [57:04] Paul's phones and GPS data from Alec's car, he built a timeline of the night of the murders. It showed Alec had time to kill and to cover it up. How long have you been working on this document right here? Roughly about a year on this document. Rudofsky's timeline showed that not long after Maggie and Paul's phones went silent forever at 8:49 p.m., he was a [57:31] About the time prosecutors believe the two were killed, Alex phone, which had been inactive for nearly an hour, suddenly came alive. From 9.02 to 9.06 p.m., it counted his steps. How many steps? 283 steps. 70.75 steps per minute, estimated.

[57:52] He was a busy guy right then, wasn't he? [58:01] As it neared the location where Maggie's phone was later found, the vehicle was going 42 miles an hour. After passing that location, does the defendant's vehicle start to accelerate? It does. Then, the Suburban sped up to 74 miles an hour, reaching Murdoch's mother's home at 9.22 p.m. [58:22] It departed at 9.43 p.m. traveling back to Moselle, this time clocking a maximum of 80 miles an hour. [58:31] Would you at night, or did you ever at night, [58:35] On the roads as they existed at the time of June 7th, 2021. Run in code with your lights on. Run [redacted address]. I would not, no. [58:44] We've heard. We're getting somebody out there to you. The Suburban arrived at the kennels at 10.05 p.m. Alec called 911 less than 20 seconds later, telling the dispatcher he checked both bodies and neither was breathing. [59:02] With that, prosecutors rested. In the matter of the indictments, the state of South Carolina rests. [59:09] In all, they'd called 61 witnesses... [59:13] elicited hours of damaging testimony. But was it enough? The defense had its own cards to play, starting with insinuations of a botched and biased investigation. What effort, if any, was made to take fingerprints at the scene? None that I observed.

[59:45] Alec Murdoch's attorneys lead the groundwork for his defense long before the prosecution rested. Is that preservation of the scene that your standards require? Not exactly, no. Not exactly? And their cross-examinations of state's witnesses... [1:00:02] Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin criticized... [1:00:05] the way the murder investigation was handled. Should the police be walking through the scene? No. Do we know what other evidence they may have destroyed? [1:00:15] I have no idea. That's right, we don't. You've described this investigative circle, so you draw a circle around potential persons of interest, and Alex was in that circle. We don't draw a circle around any individual person. We work with the crime scene, which is what we consider the circle. [1:00:35] a circle and it was only around Alec. He was the only living and breathing person in the circle. Is that correct? That is the only person that we could place in the circle at that time. [1:00:46] They accused law enforcement of conducting a sloppy investigation from the very start. [1:00:53] Do you know whether any of those showers or tubs were in any way swabbed or checked for blood or tissue or any DNA, anything that would indicate somebody had washed off evidence of a crime? Nothing that I'm aware of. [1:01:07] The defense is a good one. [1:01:08] also called its own expert witnesses [1:01:11] To make the same point [1:01:13] If this had been your crime scene, would you save that sheet and save disclosed? Definitely. What effort, if any, was made to take fingerprints at the scene?

[1:01:25] None that I observed. [1:01:27] At the end of the day, the defense argued, there was no physical evidence tying Alec to the murders of Maggie and Paul. [1:01:34] No murder weapon. [1:01:36] No blood evidence on him. Sure, Alec had lied about being at the kennels that night, they said, but... [1:01:43] That wasn't evidence he killed his wife and son. [1:01:49] The defense also called people close to Alec and the family to attest to Alec's grief and pain after the killings. [1:01:58] He was devastated. I mean, he was crying. He was, I mean, just beside himself. He said, "Look at what they did. Look at what they did." To them. He was pretty distraught. When I got there, he and I saw each other and he gave me a hug and just started crying and told me they were gone. Alex's older son, Buster, had sat quietly in court for weeks. [1:02:25] When it was his turn on the witness stand, he relived the horror of losing both his mother [1:02:32] and brother. [1:02:33] My dad called me. He asked me if I was sitting down and I was like yeah and then he you know sounded odd and then he told me that that my mom and brother had been shot. [1:02:47] Buster said his father, [1:02:49] didn't act like a man who had just slaughtered his own family. [1:02:53] His demeanor was destroyed. He was heartbroken. I walked in the door and saw him and gave him a hug and just broken down. Could he speak? Not really. Are you crying? Yes, sir.

[1:03:08] Alec's brother, John Marvin, also took the stand in his defense. [1:03:12] As devastating as it was for me, [1:03:16] Thank you. [1:03:16] It was a thousand times worse for him. [1:03:19] So... [1:03:21] I knew as a brother I needed to be there for him. [1:03:24] And I was. I would have to create a new word to describe how distraught he was. [1:03:29] Pausing to wipe away his own tears, [1:03:32] John Marvin told the jury about the morning after the murders. I walked over to the feed room. It had not been cleaned up. I saw blood. I saw brains. I saw pieces of skull. It was terrible. [1:03:44] And for some reason, I thought it was mine. [1:03:48] Something that I needed to do for Paul to clean it up. [1:03:53] And I can... [1:03:54] Promise you. [1:03:55] No mother or father or aunt or uncle... [1:03:59] should ever have to see and do what I did that day. [1:04:04] And he asserted his brother Alex's innocence by... [1:04:08] Revealing a promise he made to his nephew Paul, Alex's son, in that tortured moment at the kennels. [1:04:25] But when the story of Alec Murdoch's defense is ultimately written, [1:04:30] It will not dwell on those emotional statements from family and friends or... [1:04:35] Accusations about sloppy crime scenes.

[1:04:38] or even withering cross-examinations. [1:04:41] It will focus instead [1:04:43] on the testimony of one man. The defendant, Richard Alexander Murdoch, wishes to take the stand. [1:04:55] People are building things here in America again, and this moment calls for the best of America, our people. Introducing America's Workforce Academy, built by Meta, a program helping to train the next generation of welders, [1:05:13] Paid training, a job, and a path to America's future. Because the future is for everyone. Learn more at meta.com slash americasworkforceacademy. [1:05:27] Need to pay a friend back for festival tickets or a morning coffee run? Apple Cash makes it simple. Just tap plus in the Messages app to find Apple Cash. No need to jump between apps or search for usernames. It's a private and secure way to send money. Send cash right in the chat with Apple Cash. Apple Cash services are provided by Green Dot Bank. Member FDIC. Terms apply. [1:05:56] LinkedIn Premium All-in-One is amazing at helping you grow your small business. It can help you sell, market, and hire all in one place, so you're 60% more likely to get replies from suggested prospects. It can't stop you from being CEO, CFO, HR, and yes, even IT sometimes.

[1:06:14] Unknown error. [1:06:17] What? [1:06:18] Then how do you even know it's an error? Yikes. [1:06:21] Try LinkedIn Premium All-in-One for free at linkedin.com slash all in one. [1:06:36] As day 23 of the Alec Murdoch trial dawned, there was a lot of buzz around the Colleton County Courthouse. Would he take the stand? The decision was only one man's to make. [1:06:49] and Alec Murdoch gave his answer. [1:06:52] I am going to testify. I want to testify. [1:06:56] Attorney Jim Griffin started [1:06:58] by cutting to the chase. [1:07:00] Did you take this gun or any gun like it and shoot your son Paul in the chest in the feed room at your property off Moselle Road? No, I did not. [1:07:11] Mr. Murdy. [1:07:12] Did you take this gun or any gun like it? [1:07:16] And blow your son's brains out on June 7th or any day or any time. [1:07:22] No, I did not. [1:07:24] I didn't shoot my wife or my son any time. [1:07:28] Ever. [1:07:29] For three weeks, prosecutors had branded Murdoch a serial liar and believe they caught him perhaps in his biggest lie with that video placing him at the dog kennels that June night in 2021. Alec and his attorney confronted that.

[1:07:47] Head on. [1:07:48] Is that you? On the kennel video at 8.44 p.m. on June 7th. [1:07:54] The night Maggie and Paul were murdered. It is. [1:07:58] Were you in fact at the kennels at 8.44 p.m. on the night Maggie and Paul were murdered? I was. [1:08:04] Did you lie to Sled Agent Owen and Deputy [1:08:07] Laura Rutland. [1:08:10] on the night of June 7th. [1:08:12] and told them that you stayed at the house after dinner. [1:08:15] I did lie to them. [1:08:17] Did you lie to Agent Owen? [1:08:19] And Agent Croft, on the follow-up interview, [1:08:21] on June 10th. [1:08:23] that the last time you saw Maggie and Paul, [1:08:26] was at dinner. [1:08:28] I did lie to them. [1:08:29] So why did he lie? [1:08:32] He said his addiction to painkillers was the reason, up to 60 pills a day. As my addiction evolved over time, [1:08:44] I would get in these situations and circumstances where... [1:08:47] I would get paranoid. [1:08:49] Thinking. [1:08:50] And it could be anything that triggered it. It might be a look somebody gave me. It might be a reaction somebody had to something I did. It might be a policeman following me. [1:09:00] in a car. He said he distrusted SLED intensely and [1:09:06] His drug-induced paranoia, coupled with the shock from the murders, [1:09:11] Fogged up his mind. [1:09:13] On June 7th, I wasn't thinking clearly. I don't think I was capable of reason.

[1:09:22] Thank you. [1:09:24] And I lied about being down there. [1:09:29] Thank you. [1:09:30] And I'm so sorry that I did. [1:09:32] Thank you. [1:09:33] Did you continue lying after that night? Did you not? Did you not? [1:09:38] Once I lied, I continued to lie. Yes, sir. Why? Why? [1:09:41] You know, oh, what a tangled web we weave. [1:09:46] Murdoch went on to give a new account of that afternoon and evening, constantly using the nicknames Mags and Pawpaw for his wife and son, [1:09:55] and offering details he had never mentioned in his interviews with law enforcement. [1:10:01] He described driving around Moselle with Paul on his son's last afternoon. [1:10:07] You could not be around Paw Paw. [1:10:13] Thank you. [1:10:16] You could not be around him and not have a good time. I love doing anything with Pawpaw. [1:10:22] It was an absolute delight. [1:10:24] After dinner that evening, he said, Maggie asked him to go out to the kennels where she and Paul were checking on the dogs. And this was his new story. [1:10:35] He said he drove a golf cart out there. [1:10:38] I'm talking to Maggie for just a short time before Bubba catches the chicken. [1:10:43] There's a chicken. There's a chicken. [1:10:45] Alec [1:10:46] said he tried to pull it away from him. Did you get the chicken out of Bubba's mouth? I did. I took the chicken from Bubba and I put it on top of that.

[1:10:55] What looks to me like a portable dog crate. What did you do after you got the chicken out of Bubba's mouth? I got out of there. I left. I went back to the house. So you went back to the house, you laid down on the couch, and then what happened next? I'm not positive I dozed off for a minute or didn't doze off for a minute, but I got up off of the couch and I made up my mind I was going to visit my mom. [1:11:25] mother's house. All routine, he claimed. When he got back to the house about an hour later, he said he didn't see his wife or son anywhere inside. So he started searching. And Alec, did you drive down to the kennels in your suburban? I did. And what'd you see? [1:11:48] So what y'all have seen pictures of. [1:11:51] Thank you. [1:11:59] Thank you. [1:12:01] so bad [1:12:12] Thank you. [1:12:13] what did you do when you went up to Paul at some point in time Paul was so he was so bad

[1:12:28] At some point, I know I tried to check him for a pulse. [1:12:35] I know I tried to turn him over. [1:12:38] When you say you try to turn him over, why were you trying to turn him over? I don't know. [1:12:45] I don't know why I tried to turn him over. Me and my boys laid face down. [1:12:51] I wish... [1:12:53] Done the way he's done. [1:12:55] It was the way it was. [1:12:59] I could see his brain laying on his sidewall. [1:13:04] I didn't know what to do. He said in the weeks after the murders, he was ready and willing to give the police anything they needed, whether it exonerated him or not. But the bottom line for the defense was this. Murdoch had no motive to kill his wife or son. I would never hurt Maggie and I would never hurt Paul ever under any circumstances. [1:13:30] But Alec wasn't finished on the stand. Now... [1:13:34] It was the prosecution's turn to question him. [1:13:37] And you've been able to lie quickly and easily and convincingly if you think it'll save your skin for well over a decade. Isn't that true?

[1:13:59] Alec Murdock had lied to police for a year and a half. He told them he was not at the dog kennels before his wife and son's murders. [1:14:09] Now, he said he was. All this time later, this is the first time you've ever said that? Yes, sir. Prosecutor Creighton Waters wanted to underscore that point. This defendant was a liar, and not just about the murders. For years, he'd been using one hand to shake with trusting clients and the other to rip them off. You would agree with me that... [1:14:38] For years... [1:14:39] You were stealing money from clients. [1:14:42] Yes, sir, I agree with that. And that you were stealing from your law firm. [1:14:47] Yes, sir, I agree with that. [1:14:49] And that had been going on since at least 2010. [1:14:54] I'm not sure of the exact date, but it's been going on a long time. I'll agree with that. This defendant, said Waters, stole millions of dollars, even from people he claimed to care about. [1:15:05] What was going through your head and how it went down when you sat there and looked them in the eye and convinced them that you were doing them right while you were lying to them and stealing their money? Yes, sir. I had a lot of conversations with a lot of my clients. [1:15:21] that I cared about. [1:15:23] I will tell you that I had conversations with them where I misled them. [1:15:28] And I lied to them, and I took their money. The only reason Alec stopped lying about stealing money, the prosecutor argued, was because he got caught. Just as the only reason he stopped lying about being at the kennels was the tape. You agree that the most important part of your testimony here today is explaining your life for a year and a half that you were never down at those kennels at 844. Would you agree with that?

[1:15:58] Thank you. [1:16:00] I think all of my testimony is important, Mr. Waters. Would you agree that that's an important part of your testimony? [1:16:07] Sure. [1:16:10] The prosecutor attacked Murdoch's new version of that night, which went like this. He was at the kennels at 8.44, but only for a minute or so. [1:16:21] to rescue a chicken in distress. [1:16:23] Then, [1:16:24] He went back to the house. [1:16:26] So we got you back around 849 and you didn't hear anything at all. Did you hear anything at all, Mr. Murdoch, during that time period? No, I did not. That's possibly because he was napping by Vin, Alex said. He had missed his wife and son's murders. [1:16:41] by mere seconds, missed the sound of multiple gun blasts. Likely, because he was out cold. According to your news story, how long did you doze? If I dozed... [1:16:55] Extremely short time. [1:17:00] Because you would agree with me that at 902... [1:17:02] You're up and moving. [1:17:04] According to the data. [1:17:06] I agree that according to that data, [1:17:09] My phone's recording steps at... [1:17:11] Whatever time it is, 902 something. [1:17:14] "So what was he doing?" Creighton Waters asked. [1:17:18] I know what I wasn't doing, Mr. Waters, and what I wasn't doing is doing anything, as I believe you've implied, that I was cleaning off or washing off or washing off guns, putting guns in a raincoat, and I can promise you that I wasn't doing any of that. Waters dismissed the latest alibi as the words of a man who routinely lied to escape trouble.

[1:17:48] if you think it will save your skin [1:17:51] for well over a decade. [1:17:54] Isn't that true? [1:17:56] Thank you. [1:17:56] I have lied. [1:17:58] Well over a decade. [1:18:05] Thank you. [1:18:07] to believe a story... [1:18:11] manufactured to fit the evidence. [1:18:14] that You brought. [1:18:16] forth just yesterday. [1:18:18] you [1:18:19] After hearing, this trial is worth a testimony. [1:18:23] No, sir, that's not correct. The trouble Murdoch was trying to save himself from this time, the prosecutor argued, was impending financial exposure at his law firm and in the Mallory Beach civil case. To avoid that, he seized on a harebrained scheme, commit a greater crime to blot out the lesser ones, kill two loved ones to attract sympathy instead of scrutiny. [1:18:53] are you a family annihilator? [1:18:56] A family annihilator? [1:18:59] You mean like, did I shoot my wife and my son? Yes. No. Nothing further. As a former attorney, Alec Murdoch... [1:19:07] had a knack for reading juries. [1:19:09] But all that mattered now was how these jurors were reading him. After 28 days of testimony, the case was theirs to decide.

[1:19:21] And they did it. In less than three hours. The tenant will rise. Docket number. It fell to the court clerk, Becky Hill, to read the verdict. Guilty. Guilty. [1:19:32] verdict. Alec Murdoch was sentenced to life in prison. Outside the courthouse, Attorney General Allen Wilson celebrated the state's victory. It was all worth it because we got to bring justice and be a voice [1:19:47] for Maggie and Paul Murdoch and bring justice for the people of South Carolina. He jubilately thanked everyone who worked the case. I want to thank the Carlton County Clerk of Court, Becky Hill, and her entire team and their staff. Including that court clerk, Becky Hill. I call her Becky Booth. That's her nickname. But Madam Clerk, wherever you are tonight. General, I hear you. [1:20:11] Little did he realize... [1:20:13] How quickly he'd come to regret that shout out. My name is Becky Hill. A whole new chapter in the Murdoch saga was about to begin. This is stunning. This is a bombshell. None of those are overstatements. This never, ever happens. [1:20:42] It had taken jurors less than three hours to convict Alec Murdoch. They said they didn't come to that decision lightly.

[1:20:52] you have to be very sure in your answer. That's not something that I want [1:20:56] to live with if it wasn't right. Jurors James McDowell, Gwen Gennarette, and Amy Williams talked to me just after the verdict. There's no doubt in any of your minds that Alec Murdoch's the one who did it. [1:21:08] I believe he did. No, don't. [1:21:11] No question. No question. Mm-mm. Becky Hill, the clerk of court who read the verdict, [1:21:17] praised the jury's care and diligence when she talked to Dateline after the trials. [1:21:24] This jury was definitely a jury [1:21:28] Sent by God. [1:21:29] They were very persistent. [1:21:32] They were prayerful. [1:21:33] She also talked about the jurors at length in a memoir she published about the case, just four months after the verdict. [1:21:42] That book raised a lot of eyebrows. NBC News legal analyst Laura Jarrett. [1:21:48] I could not believe it. An officer of the court thought that she could cash in on something that she was supposed to take an oath to uphold her duty. As soon as I saw it, I knew that this was going to be a fight. This is going to come back to haunt this case for a long time. By that point, Alex lawyers were hearing rumors that Hill had not just observed trial proceedings, but that she'd been an active participant, allegedly the. [1:22:17] trying to sway jurors toward a guilty verdict. [1:22:21] we had some indication that something really amiss when

[1:22:25] on in the jury room. And so we actually got in the car and went to the jurors' homes. On a Sunday afternoon. Yeah. Those who agreed to talk said the clerk had not pressured them. But one of them remembered a specific comment Hill had made about the defense. She said that Ms. Hill said, don't let them fool you. I mean, my world stopped. I mean, [1:22:55] that [1:22:57] I mean, you know, this woman had no reason. I mean, she was very suspicious of us. But when she said that, I mean, it was game on at that point. What the lawyers were hearing was a potential crime, jury tampering. They filed a motion asking for a new trial. Good morning. Please be seated. [1:23:17] A special judge heard the defense's motion and in a highly unusual move, she even brought back the original jurors to testify. Most of them said Becky's behavior did not influence them. Did you hear Becky Hill, clerk of court for Collington County, make any comment on her? [1:23:38] about this case before your verdict. No, ma'am. I wasn't pervue to any of that. [1:23:44] But one of them said she had pressured them. Was your verdict influenced in any way by the communications of the clerk of court in this case? Yes, ma'am. And how was it influenced? To me, it felt like she made it seem like he was already guilty. My name is Becky Hill. That's correct. Then the clerk herself took the stand. She insisted she'd done nothing wrong.

[1:24:12] At any time, did you tell the jury not to be fooled by evidence presented by Mr. Murdoch's attorneys? I did not. The judge was less than convinced, but did not find that the clerk's actions warranted a new trial. I simply do not believe that the authority of our South Carolina Supreme Court requires a new trial. [1:24:36] in a very lengthy trial such as this, [1:24:40] on the strength of some fleeting and foolish comments, [1:24:44] by a publicly influenced clerk of court. [1:24:47] Good morning, everyone. Becky Hill resigned her position and a year later faced a new set of charges on a separate issue. [1:24:55] leaking sealed crime scene photos to the media. She pleaded guilty to perjury and obstruction of justice. [1:25:03] She was sentenced to probation and community service. I am truly sorry. And I do take full responsibility for my actions. But Becky's role in Alec's case wasn't over. [1:25:17] Late last year, his lawyers raised her behavior with jurors again [1:25:21] when they appealed the case all the way to South Carolina's Supreme Court. When that court's ruling came out, it hit like a thundercrack. [1:25:31] A shocking twist in a double murder case. Alec Murdoch's murder conviction was thrown out. South Carolina's Supreme Court has overturned the double murder convictions of Alec Murdoch. The court called Becky Hill's conduct shocking and stated that she placed her fingers on the scales of justice and denied Alec Murdoch.

[1:25:55] A fair trial. What was Alex's response when you told him that he was going to be getting a retrial? He said, Joe. [1:26:03] I didn't believe it was going to happen. I'm reading the opinion and I got to tell you, [1:26:08] I still have a hard time believing [1:26:10] it. We reached out to Becky Hill for comment. [1:26:15] She did not respond. Mandy Pierce, one of the jurors who first raised the alarm about Becky, [1:26:22] talked to NBC News after the decision. I was okay that... [1:26:28] that he got a new trial because, um... [1:26:32] I feel like some of the things that happened during his original murder trial, he didn't get a fair trial. [1:26:39] Juror Amy Williams disagreed. [1:26:42] I was like, [1:26:43] What? [1:26:44] Why? The evidence was overwhelming. [1:26:48] He was guilty. In the middle of all the uproar, Attorney General Allen Wilson vowed to fight on. All I can promise the people of South Carolina is that we're going to continue to seek justice. But some wonder what the point of that would be. Murdoch is already serving 40 and 27 year sentences for his financial crimes. He pleaded guilty to those charges in 2023. Mr. Attorney General, to folks who might say, [1:27:18] try the case. What would you say to those people? [1:27:21] Well, I would ask those people to think about the position they would take if they

[1:27:25] if they had members of their family who were brutally murdered, [1:27:29] and the person who brutally murdered them were spending time in prison for financial crimes, would you want us to abandon seeking justice for your murdered loved ones? Legal analysts say a new trial would likely be very different from the first. For one thing, in their decision, the Supreme Court justices call the trial prosecutors' focus on Alex's financial crimes excessive and prejudicial. [1:27:59] that first trial, trying to litigate all of this evidence of him preying upon vulnerable victims. The court is saying you cannot do that the second time around. A retrial would also give the defense opportunity to introduce new evidence. [1:28:14] You've maintained from the beginning that it was someone else who killed Paul and Maggie. [1:28:20] Do you have new evidence to back that up? [1:28:27] different leads and information. We got a call from someone who says that he knows where the guns were disposed of. [1:28:39] Yeah, and we've been given other information from people, private investigators, and they've come up with some really solid information. The attorneys say they and their client are ready for a new fight. Would he consider a plea deal? No. That's a quick no. No. Why not? Because he didn't do it. How about that? Okay?

[1:29:04] The state is ready too. All options are on the table. But as of right now today, at the time of this interview, we intend to go back to trial in this case. [1:29:15] The Attorney General told us his office may even seek the death penalty this time. So it seems like everyone involved in the Murdoch case is destined to do it all over again. Another weeks-long trial in the Lowcountry with the whole nation tuning in. Another examination into the troubled life of Alec Murdoch. [1:29:44] For Maggie and Paul. [1:29:50] That's all for now. I'm Lester Holt. Thanks for joining us. [1:30:14] prospects. It can't stop you from being CEO, CFO, HR, and yes, even IT sometimes. [1:30:21] Unknown error. [1:30:23] What? [1:30:24] Then how do you even know it's an error? Yikes. [1:30:27] Try LinkedIn Premium All-in-One for free at linkedin.com slash all-in-one.