Accused killer Alex Murdaugh took the stand Thursday morning to defend himself against prosecutors’ claims he shot his wife and son on the family’s South Carolina property in June 2021.
The 54-year-old former attorney admitted he wasn’t truthful with police when they asked if he’d been to the family’s kennels on the day Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s bodies were found there. According to Murdaugh, his addiction to painkillers made him paranoid, which put him on a slippery slope where he “had to keep lying.”
Asked about his relationship with Paul, 22, Murdaugh said they “couldn’t be any closer.”
Prior to Murdaugh’s taking the stand shortly before 11 a.m., prosecutors asked his close friend Nolen Tuten if he could identify the voice heard on video shot by Paul before his death as that of the suspect. Tuten confirmed the voice was Murdaugh’s.
Asked by his attorney if he killed his wife and son, Murdaugh insisted “No, I did not.”