(NewsNation) — Alex Murdaugh took the stand Thursday and admitted that he stole millions of dollars from his legal clients, but said he didn’t kill his wife and son. Will the jury buy his story?

Legal analysts say that’s now one of the questions, if not the central question, the panel will weigh when they enter deliberations.

The disbarred South Carolina attorney is on trial for killing his wife Maggie and son Paul, who were shot dead on their property in June 2021. Prosecutors allege Alex Murdaugh killed them to deflect from impending revelations that he stole money from his clients for years.

Murdaugh at times broke down in tears as he denied that he had any involvement in the death of his wife and son. But he did admit that he lied to authorities about where he was at certain times.

He originally told police he had been visiting his ailing mother in another town, and was not near his Colleton County, South Carolina, hunting property, known as Moselle, before the killings. Phone records and Snapchat video presented at trial disproved that.

Donte Mills, a criminal defense attorney, said on NewsNation’s “Dan Abrams Live” that Murdaugh was trying to “walk the fine line” of being emotional but not dramatic and being sincere but believable.

“For the most part, he did. His presence and his presentation was on point,” Mills said. “But when you then have to turn around and agree, ‘Yes I lied to this person, yes I lied to this person, yes I lied to this person, but I’m not lying to you,’ it makes it truly difficult for the jury to buy into what he’s saying.”

In explaining his reasoning for the lies, Murdaugh said once he started, he had to keep it going. He also said he didn’t trust police and told the jury his opioid addiction gave him paranoia.

“What a tangled web we weave,” he testified.

If Murdaugh were Sara Azari’s client, he would be exactly the type of client she would want on the stand.

“There was some explanation that was required by Alex Murdaugh, and so far, I think he’s doing a great job,” Azari, a criminal defense attorney, said Thursday on “CUOMO.” “I think it was a brilliant strategy to put him up.”

His account of what happened that night and thereafter was also an emotional appeal to the jury. He repeatedly referred to Maggie as “Mags” and Paul as “PawPaw,” nicknames he said were used by the family.

During cross-examination, lead prosecutor Creighton Waters noted that Murdaugh never used those names in any of his interviews with police during the investigation.

“Have you ever called him that on all the recorded statements that jury has heard?” Waters asked.

“I don’t know,” Murdaugh replied.

“A big part of the defense is that he’s a family guy, so they’re bringing out the nicknames that we haven’t heard before. It doesn’t mean that he’s coming up with it now at the last minute before the jury, but there’s a real emphasis on these endearing sort of nicknames because it’s part of him connecting with the jury,” Azari said. “That’s a huge part of this defense that you can’t underestimate.”

It’s details like that from Murdaugh’s testimony that Richard Gabriel says the jury will have to weigh. Gabriel is a prominent jury consultant who worked on the O.J. Simpson and Casey Anthony cases.

“That’s the key issue here. Is it canned or is it candid?” Gabriel said on “CUOMO.” “I think they’re having to scrutinize him in finding out ‘is this really a performance or is this truly real,’ and I think they’re looking for little nuances to kind of go ‘does it feel genuine, does it feel authentic to me?'”

Cross-examination will continue Friday. The prosecution has focused heavily on the financial crimes Murdaugh admitted to, but legal analyst Jesse Weber will be looking to see if they lean into more questions about the killings.

“If they don’t ask where the blue seafoam shirt is, I’m going to scream,” Weber said on “Dan Abrams Live.” “We still haven’t gotten a straight answer.”

The blue shirt in question is one worn by Murdaugh in a Snapchat video that was taken on the day of the killings. He is with his son Paul on the Moselle property replanting trees.

A housekeeper testified she never saw that shirt after the killings. When police arrived at the crime scene, Murdaugh was wearing a white T-shirt and shorts.