Murdaugh defense, AG’s Office spar over evidence, alibi
COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. (WSAV) — Prosecutors and defense attorneys are battling over what evidence will be allowed in the upcoming trial of disgraced and disbarred South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh.
Murdaugh’s legal team said their client should “not” have to provide an alibi for the night his wife and son were killed.
Why?
Because prosecutors have never said exactly what time Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were killed.
That is one of the issues that could come up in a special hearing in Florence Thursday. The defense motion says prosecutors have never revealed what time Maggie and Paul were killed.
The mother and son were found shot and killed on the family’s Moselle property on the night of June 7, 2021. And Alex cannot offer an alibi for a time and crime that he doesn’t know.
In a second motion, Murdaugh’s defense team also asked for evidence they say prosecutors have “not” given them.
That includes Colleton County Sheriff’s and 14th Circuit Solicitor investigator notes on the case, cell phone forensic analysis, blood stain analysis, all SLED lab bench notes, as well as jail phone records and a complete autopsy file.
Also on that list were detailed test results on Paul and Maggie’s clothing that night.
The motion goes into detail about how investigators found gunshot residue on Alex’s shirt and shorts that night, but none on his hands or shoes.
The defense wants more analysis results because the amount of residue found they say is “inconsistent” with the prosecution theory that Alex shot his son Paul at close range with a shotgun.
Murdaugh’s lawyers in their motion also asked for body camera videos from Debbie McMillian and Grant Candor.
These people were “not” named previously in any documents, and it is not said who they are or what they may have said in those interviews.
So who did kill Paul and Maggie?
It seems like the defense team is pointing a finger at another suspect, Curtis “Eddie” Smith.
Smith is the man who allegedly shot Alex last September, so Murdaugh’s remaining son Buster could collect $11 million in insurance money. But Murdaugh’s attorneys now say that the man known as “Cousin Eddie” to many, failed a lie detector test when asked if he killed Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.