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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Oliver O'Connell and Rachel Sharp

Alex Murdaugh trial – live: Murdaugh testimony ends with dramatic video disproving key defence claim

AP

Dramatic moment Alex Murdaugh confronted over why he lied about night of murders

Alex Murdaugh was intensely grilled by prosecutor Creighton Waters throughout Friday as cross-examination continued in the double murder trial that has captured attention across the globe.

The disgraced attorney was on the witness stand in Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, where he is on trial for the brutal slayings of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

Mr Waters confronted the accused killer head-on about the murders and his “new story” about what he did and where he was when they were killed.

While the cross grew increasingly combative on Thursday, the prosecutor had not brought up the 7 June 2021 killings at that point, focusing on Mr Murdaugh’s financial crimes, and attempts to influence an investigation into his son’s 2019 boat crash.

During Mr Murdaugh’s direct testimony, he shocked the court when he confessed for the first time that he had lied about his alibi on the night of the murders. He also admitted to his extensive financial crimes and to orchestrating the botched hitman plot – but continued to deny killing his wife and son.

As Mr Waters’ questioning drew to a close on Friday he played bodycam footage seeming to completely undermine the reasons the defendant gave for lying in his police interviews.

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