6 New Startling Revelations in Alex Murdaugh Murder Trial
Here is what we have learned from the trial this week.
Alex Murdaugh is currently on trial, accused of murdering his wife, Maggie, 52, and son, Paul, 22, at their South Carolina hunting lodge on June 7, 2021. The family patriarch claims the murders were likely a result of someone trying to get revenge against his family for the boating accident Paul was involved in that took the life of a young girl. The prosecution maintains that Alex murdered his family members to take the heat off his other legal woes. If convicted, Murdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison. Here are six new shocking revelations we have learned from the trial this week.
Rogan Gibson, a friend of Paul's who describes the Murdaughs as a "second family," was corresponding with the murder victim shortly before he was killed. The correspondence was about Gibson's dog, who Paul was watching. In a short video clip sent to Rogan of his dog's tail time-stamped at 8:44 p.m. and taken at the kennels where the double murder took place, three voices could be heard.
Gibson testified that he spoke with investigators the day following the murders and was "99%" sure that Alex's voice was in the background. On Wednesday, lead prosecutor Creighton Waters asked, "did you recognize the voices of your second family?" and Gibson responded, "I did."
In another video taken at 7:56 p.m. and uploaded a minute later by Paul, Alex can be seen next to a tree. Snapchat representative Heidi Galore is the 19th witness. "It's a video of a subject near a tree, and it's a short video with some audio," Galore said. Paul and Alex can be heard laughing in the background. In the video, Alex is wearing different clothes than he was when law enforcement arrived.
In new testimony, Jeanne Seckinger, CFO of the Parker Law Group, reveals that she confronted Alex on the day of the double murder over $792,000 in missing settlement funds. "[Alex] was leaning on a file cabinet outside his office, and he turned to look at me as I came up and said, 'What do you need now?' and gave me a very dirty look," recalled Seckinger. "We went in the office and closed the door, and I told him I had reason to believe he received the funds himself and that I needed proof that he had not."
He then assured her that he would get the documentation, but the conversation was interrupted when Alex said he got a phone call that his father, Randolph Murdaugh III, was in the hospital and dying. Later that day, he called her to ask how much money was in his 401k account. "He stated that he was working on some financials for the boat accident hearing later in the week," she said.
During Gibson's testimony, he confirmed the suspicion that neither Margaret nor Paul had any idea that they were in trouble. He said that neither of the two sounded stressed or scared.
Maggie was shot multiple times with a rifle, while her son Paul was shot twice with a shotgun. During opening statements, prosecutors revealed that neither of the murder weapons have been found. However, bullet casings found around other parts of the property match those found around Maggie's body, which suggests she was killed with "a family weapon."
Prosecutors maintain that Alex tried to set up an alibi by calling his wife, testing her just moments after the murders to tell her he was going over to his mother's house 20 minutes away. Prosecutors believe he was trying to cover his tracks and "manufacture an alibi. He also made five additional calls to other people on the drive.
