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Alex Murdaugh Testifies in Murder Trial. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired February 23, 2023 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[13:00:00]

ALEX MURDAUGH, DEFENDANT: We didn't bury them when we had the service on Friday, because I don't think they were done. But that's when we buried them, along with my dad on Sunday.

JIM GRIFFIN, ATTORNEY FOR ALEX MURDAUGH: And, Alex, what did you do the following week, that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday?

MURDAUGH: Starting when now?

GRIFFIN: So, the day after your dad's funeral.

MURDAUGH: All right, Monday.

I went to I went to grandma and Papa T.'s, Summerville.

GRIFFIN: At some point Monday?

MURDAUGH: In the afternoon. You mean what did I do when I got up that morning?

GRIFFIN: Just -- yes, where did you stay Monday night?

MURDAUGH: We stayed at Greenfield Sunday night, so we woke up at Greenfield on Monday.

GRIFFIN: And so -- and Sunday night you were with the same family members, your brother and Brooklynn and Buster and...

MURDAUGH: That's right.

GRIFFIN: OK. And Liz?

MURDAUGH: And Lizzie, and Lizzie's mom and dad, and I believe Donny (ph) and Paula was still there, but I can't remember when they left.

GRIFFIN: And then you went to Summerville with whom?

MURDAUGH: I believe I went to Summerville by myself, but I know Buster -- in the car by myself. I can't remember if Buster and I rode together, but I think we might have had separate cars.

We probably did ride together that first day. I don't remember, but I know I went to Summerville, and,Buster was in Summerville with me, with grandma and Papa T.

GRIFFIN: Right. And Summerville is where Maggie's parents live?

MURDAUGH: That's right. That's Maggie's mom and dad, his grand -- Maggie's mom is Grandma and Maggie's dad is Papa T.

GRIFFIN: And did you stay with them for a few days in Summerville?

MURDAUGH: I stayed with them longer. In Summerville? Yes, I stayed with them. We stayed in Summerville Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, and then we went to Greenville.

GRIFFIN: OK.

And what was in Greenville?

MURDAUGH: My niece. That was -- she was having a baby, and Maggie had just been -- she's just been so excited. So she was just so proud of those girls. She was so excited about the baby, and so the baby being born just came such a big deal to me.

GRIFFIN: So was the baby born?

MURDAUGH: Yes.

GRIFFIN: OK. And you went up.

MURDAUGH: Yes. The baby was born, and beautiful little baby girl, beautiful little mom.

GRIFFIN: OK. And then did you go up to the lake after that?

MURDAUGH: We did.

I mean, well, we stayed -- this Lake Keowee that you all heard about is really close to Greenville. So when I say we went to Greenville, we really went to Lake Keowee. But we went up there. And when she had the baby -- I want to say, the baby was born shortly after we got there, like Thursday. But I think it was Saturday before we could go see them and see my niece and see the baby.

So, that's where we went was to Lake Keowee. But they live in Greenville.

GRIFFIN: On the morning of June 16 -- I think that was that Wednesday. I think that's a Wednesday. Where did you wake up?

MURDAUGH: Summerville.

GRIFFIN: Did you ever go to Almeda on that day?

MURDAUGH: On Wednesday?

GRIFFIN: Yes, sir.

MURDAUGH: I don't believe so. GRIFFIN: Did you go to Almeda at 6:30 in the morning on the...

MURDAUGH: I know for a fact that I didn't go to Almeda at 6:30 in the morning. I was in Summerville.

[13:05:05]

I didn't go to Almeda at any point early in the morning. I was in Summerville. And I'm not positive about this, but I know those -- I know they did a -- some -- I know, in some of those records they have, it was some time before I left Summerville.

GRIFFIN: OK.

Did you -- did you ever take a -- during that week -- let's just start with -- that week following your dad's funeral, did you ever take a tarp into the house at Almeda, a tarp, a blue tarp?

MURDAUGH: The week following my dad's funeral?

GRIFFIN: Yes, sir.

MURDAUGH: No, I did not.

GRIFFIN: There's been -- I don't even know where it is in any of these boxes, but this blue rain jacket. Have you ever seen that before?

MURDAUGH: Never seen it before, never touched it, and don't know anything about it.

GRIFFIN: OK.

Did you did you ever remember taking a tarp at any point in time over the house at Almeda?

MURDAUGH: No, I don't remember it. I don't remember taking a tarp over there, but, I mean, Shelly has got something in her mind about that. And there may have been some point, but I certainly don't remember it, and it certainly wasn't any time around my dad's funeral or the weeks following.

GRIFFIN: I think we talked briefly about your recollection of times.

MURDAUGH: OK.

GRIFFIN: And I just want to play, Doug, from state's Exhibit 517, which is the August 11 interview starting at five minutes and 52 seconds, if you could pull that clip up. And I want you to listen to this.

MURDAUGH: OK.

Tell me again what it is.

GRIFFIN: It's the August 11 interview... MURDAUGH: OK.

GRIFFIN: ... starting at five minutes and 52 seconds.

MURDAUGH: All right.

GRIFFIN: Can you go to five minutes and 52 seconds?

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

QUESTION: Who was at your house when you left, and what time did you go to the office?

MURDAUGH: We had been...

QUESTION: Who was at your house when you left and what time did you go to the office?

MURDAUGH: We had been to a ball game that weekend. I don't remember exactly what time. It would have been somewhere between 8:30 and 9:30, probably, 10:00 maybe at the latest, something like that.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Now, on this tape, were you being asked when you went to work on the 7th?

MURDAUGH: Yes.

GRIFFIN: And you said 8:30 to 9:30 in the morning?

MURDAUGH: And then I think said 10:00 at the latest.

GRIFFIN: Is that correct?

MURDAUGH: No, it wasn't.

GRIFFIN: Now that you have seen all these records, what does it look like what time you went to work on the 7th?

MURDAUGH: A little after noon.

GRIFFIN: All right. If we will go to the -- Doug, state's Exhibit 243, which is the June 10 interview.

MURDAUGH: You know, Mr. Griffin, on that same date, I also, if you play that thing -- and I don't know if it's right then, but if you play that further, I also told them the best way to see exactly when I went in that door is to go and get my information from my law firm.

And I told them that they -- we have a -- you know how things are electronic now, where you don't have a key, you have a key card. And you have a key card in your wallet. And so when you use it, it creates a -- like all this other stuff, a digital footprint. And I told David Owen that he could go get it from my office, you know.

[13:10:00]

GRIFFIN: And was that a common response of yours when you're asked about specific times, that you would give them your best estimate, but you would point them to where they could find the most accurate data?

MURDAUGH: Yes, sir.

GRIFFIN: You did that more than once?

MURDAUGH: Yes, sir.

GRIFFIN: So, if we have got the June 10 interview, which is state's Exhibit 243 -- and, Doug, I'd like it to go to nine minutes and 59 seconds.

And, here, you're being asked, when did Paul arrive at Moselle?

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

QUESTION: Roughly what time in the afternoon?

MURDAUGH: I think it would be somewhere in the 5:00 range, a little bit -- it was broad daylight when we were -- it wasn't dusk, dark, or late.

QUESTION: OK.

MURDAUGH: You know? And we rode -- you know, we just rode around. We rode around.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: So, did you tell him on June 10 that Paul got there at 5:00 time period?

MURDAUGH: Yes, sir. Yes, sir, I obviously did.

GRIFFIN: And was that incorrect?

MURDAUGH: Yes, sir, it was incorrect.

GRIFFIN: And what time did you -- looking at the record now, what time did it look like Paul actually got there?

MURDAUGH: In looking at the records, it's clear that he got there some time around 7:00.

GRIFFIN: Did at some point in time you have a conversation with Shelly Smith about how long you were over at Almeda on the night of June the 7th? Do you remember?

MURDAUGH: I don't distinctly remember having a conversation with her about how long I was over there, but I know that I told Shelly Smith that SLED was going to come and talk to her, and that I'd appreciate it if she would talk to them, and that she just needed to tell them the truth. GRIFFIN: And did you take extra care not to talk to people that you

knew SLED would be talking to?

MURDAUGH: Absolutely.

GRIFFIN: And why is that?

MURDAUGH: After this boat wreck that you have heard so much talk about in this courtroom, there were social media, newspaper. I mean, it went deeper than that.

But there were so many -- so much talk about how I fixed witnesses and structured the investigation, just things that were totally false, that were absolutely baseless, but it was said repeatedly, repeatedly, and it was reported repeatedly how I'd done this and this witness and influenced this police officer and all these things. So I wasn't taking any chances.

GRIFFIN: I want to ask you about -- you can take that down, Doug. Thank you.

Ask you about the August 11 interview with David Owen at the SLED office in, I think here in Walterboro. Do you remember that?

MURDAUGH: Which?

GRIFFIN: August...

MURDAUGH: August 11? Absolutely.

GRIFFIN: Had you been requesting that meeting?

MURDAUGH: I'd been requesting -- what I'd really been requesting is some information. I'd been begging David Owen to come meet with me and, specifically, I wanted, grandma, Papa T.

There were so many questions that I couldn't answer, and I'd been begging him to meet with me and to meet with grandma and Papa T. I'd been begging him for weeks and weeks.

GRIFFIN: And did -- you went into the meeting on August 11. Did you think that's what it was for, to give you an update?

MURDAUGH: Yes.

GRIFFIN: And at the conclusion of the meeting, did they let you know that you're their prime suspect?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Objection, Your Honor.

JUDGE CLIFTON NEWMAN, SOUTH CAROLINA CIRCUIT COURT: (OFF-MIKE) what was said.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Facts not in evidence.

NEWMAN: Mr. Griffin? GRIFFIN: I will rephrase it.

At the -- by the conclusion of the meeting, did they make it known to you that you were a suspect?

MURDAUGH: Oh, there's no question about that, absolutely.

Now, he used a lot of -- I mean, you hear talk about how I'm in this circle, and he can't get me out and this and that. But there's no doubt in my mind. There was no question in my mind what was going on.

[13:15:12]

GRIFFIN: And the -- during that meeting, did they show you the Snapchat -- Snapchat video of you trying to stand up the fruit tree?

MURDAUGH: Yes.

GRIFFIN: And were you questioned about what clothing you were wearing?

MURDAUGH: I can't remember this. I can't remember if he showed me the whole video or he showed me a picture of it, but I was definitely showed that information. I was definitely shown those clothes in that meeting on August the 11th.

GRIFFIN: And what clothes were you wearing?

MURDAUGH: The same ones you see in...

GRIFFIN: And do you remember what kind of pants?

MURDAUGH: It was khaki pants.

GRIFFIN: And what kind of shirt?

MURDAUGH: It's a button down, short sleeve button down. I call it will a dress shirt, but a short sleeve button down dress shirt.

GRIFFIN: Like the shirt you have got there, but just short sleeves?

MURDAUGH: Just like this, but short sleeved, and it was colored.

GRIFFIN: And what color was it?

MURDAUGH: Blue. Blue with some blue stripes.

GRIFFIN: And were you questioned about when you changed out of those clothes?

MURDAUGH: I was.

GRIFFIN: And did you have a follow-up? Did you have a conversation after that meeting with SLED with Blanca about what you were wearing that day?

MURDAUGH: Absolutely.

GRIFFIN: And what was the purpose of the conversation with Blanca?

MURDAUGH: Well, they had made an issue about that in that meeting, and I asked Blanca about those clothes that I had on earlier that day.

GRIFFIN: Did you ask her specifically about the blue shirt?

MURDAUGH: I asked her specifically about all the clothes.

GRIFFIN: OK.

MURDAUGH: What I asked Blanca about specifically was, did she remember getting my clothes after she came back -- when she came back to Moselle, did she remember getting my clothes, is specifically what I asked her.

GRIFFIN: I see.

And why were you asking her those questions?

MURDAUGH: Because, on August the 11th, they had made an issue about me wearing -- still wearing those clothes, not having changed clothes when I was in that Snapchat video. So that's why I went to Blanca.

GRIFFIN: Did they ever ask you on August the 11 whether -- did they ask you for those clothes? Can you produce the clothes? Did they ask you that?

MURDAUGH: No, they didn't.

GRIFFIN: Have they ever asked you for those clothes?

MURDAUGH: No. As far as my understanding goes, my clothes were never an issue in this case until you all figured out, as my lawyers, figured out that there was no blood spatter on me.

(CROSSTALK)

NEWMAN: Sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said, objection, Your Honor.

NEWMAN: Reason for the objection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 401-402 and beyond and speculation, Your Honor.

NEWMAN: Mr. Griffin.

GRIFFIN: It's a matter of public record. It's a matter of public record.

NEWMAN: What is?

GRIFFIN: The issues with the shirt and the blood test.

NEWMAN: It's a matter of public record?

GRIFFIN: It's filed in this case, yes, sir.

NEWMAN: The objection's overruled.

MURDAUGH: I'm well aware that my clothes never became an issue in this case until my lawyers proved that this blood spatter that they said I had on my shirt from my wife and my son was a lie, and that there was no blood on my shirt.

And once they filed the documents and they proved that that was a lie, all of a sudden the clothes I was wearing back on that day became an issue. And that's in the weeks leading up to this trial.

GRIFFIN: Now, Alex, after the -- Maggie and Paul were murdered on June 7 and 8, where did you stay and where did you keep clothes?

MURDAUGH: Say that again, please.

GRIFFIN: Where were you staying overnight?

Let me ask you this. Did you ever spend another night at Moselle after June 7?

MURDAUGH: Never spent another night at Moselle.

GRIFFIN: Why not?

[13:20:06]

MURDAUGH: I couldn't. Didn't want to.

GRIFFIN: OK.

Where were you staying? And we talked about the days and weeks, the week afterwards, but where were you staying when you got back from the Lake Keowee and Greenville?

MURDAUGH: I stayed -- all right, so, when I got back from Greenville.

GRIFFIN: Yes.

MURDAUGH: So that would be the -- all right.

So, the first week, I have doing my dad's funeral. Then -- all right. So that'd be the second week, or after we -- I know Buster and I -- I stayed with grandma and Papa T. as much as I could. I stayed with -- I stayed with my brother Randy a lot. I stayed with my brother John a lot.

Bus and I stayed at Edisto a little bit. But at the beginning, I stayed with -- I really stayed with either my brother Randy and his wife, Christy, or I stayed with my brother John and his wife, Lizzie. And, basically, at that time, Buster was doing -- excuse me. Buster was -- Buster was -- Buster worked for Wild Wing at that time. And they had been so kind to him and gave him -- he was -- they let him be off just for a just ridiculous amount of time. They were so good to him, so he stayed with me.

When he had to go back to work, he would stay at my brother John and Lizzie's because it was close. So I would stay with Randy and Christy in Hampton when Buster was there. I would almost always go to John and Lizzie's when Buster was there. I would go to John and Lizzie's sometimes when Buster wasn't there.

But I was -- John E. Parker, one of my partners, had a guesthouse his mother-in-law had lived in when she was sick. That's really -- it's right at the foot of Randy's drive. It's 100 yards, 70 yards from Randy's house, and I was going to move into -- I was going to move into that house until we figured out where I could live.

So I have clothes there. I had clothes at Randy's. I had clothes at John Marvin's. I had clothes at Chechessee, which is -- I think you heard Buster talk about Chechessee's, like where we went to the river. And I had clothes there. I had clothes in Summerville. And I still had clothes at Moselle.

GRIFFIN: So, your clothes...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (OFF-MIKE)

GRIFFIN: Yes, sir.

NEWMAN: Last question.

GRIFFIN: No, this -- so your -- were your clothes spread out a lot of different places?

MURDAUGH: Yes.

GRIFFIN: All right.

NEWMAN: All right.

GRIFFIN: Thank you.

NEWMAN: We will break for lunch, and return at -- in an hour and 15 minutes.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: Hello. I'm Abby Phillip in Washington.

You have just been listening to some riveting testimony from Alex Murdaugh, who has taken the witness stand. It has been a pivotal day that has unfolded in this double murder trial, the disbarred attorney charged with killing his wife and his younger son.

Let's get straight to CNN's Dianne Gallagher, who is outside of that courthouse.

Dianne, a really incredible morning seeing Alex Murdaugh on the witness stand. Bring us up to date on all that has transpired in this testimony.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Abby, this is something we had heard from the beginning, that Alex Murdaugh wanted to testify.

But any time a defendant, especially in a murder trial, testifies, there is high risk. The defense is hoping there will also be high reward as he explains himself.

And straight out of the gate, they asked him what is the pivotal question in this trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Mr. Murdaugh, did you take this gun or any gun like it and blow your son's brains out on June 7 or any day or any time?

MURDAUGH: No, I did not.

[13:25:00]

GRIFFIN: Did you shoot a .300 Blackout into her head, causing her death?

MURDAUGH: Mr. Griffin, I didn't shoot my wife or my son any time, ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Now, that may have been the pivotal question at the center of this, but for people who have been watching this trial, the real question, the red flag, perhaps the biggest red flag, if you will, in this is this video that was found on Paul Murdaugh's phone that he recorded at the kennels where he was killed the moments before he was murdered.

So, we're talking just a matter of minutes here. It was recorded at 8:44 p.m. Paul Murdaugh is suspected to have been killed about 8:49 or 8:50 p.m. Alex Murdaugh's voice has been identified on that video as being heard by more than half-a-dozen friends and family members during this trial.

Alex swore to law enforcement, to anybody who would tell -- anyone who would listen, we have heard through testimony, he was never at the kennels after dinner and never at the scene of the crime until he showed up and found their bodies, Abby.

Well, today, he was asked why his voice was on that video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Mr. Murdaugh, is that you on the kennel video at 8:44 p.m. on June 7, the night Maggie and Paul were murdered?

MURDAUGH: It is.

GRIFFIN: Were you in fact at the kennels at 8:44 p.m. on the night Maggie and Paul were murdered?

MURDAUGH: I was. GRIFFIN: Did you lie to SLED Agent Owen and Deputy Laura Rutland on the night of June 7, and told them that you stayed at the house after dinner?

MURDAUGH: I did lie to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: And, Abby, perhaps even more astonishing to people was, beyond him admitting that he lied, when he was asked why he lied, as his attorney went through all the different people he lied to, his family, police, anybody, his own attorneys at the time, he said he did that because he was addicted to drugs and paranoid, and, once he told the lie, he felt that he had to continue telling it because of that paranoia.

He said, oh, what a tangled web we weave.

Today is the first time in more than a year-and-a-half, nearly two years, since Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were killed that Alex Murdaugh has admitted he was with them just moments before they were murdered, Abby.

PHILLIP: And that extraordinary explanation for why he lied, was there any reaction inside the courtroom when he made those comments about being paranoid, about being on drugs?

GALLAGHER: So, no, not necessarily a big reaction that you might expect.

And I think part of that is because that has been sort of this cornerstone of the state's case. They didn't find that video on Paul's phone until early 2022. And so it wasn't something that was initially known about when they were presenting evidence to Alex Murdaugh in the month after those murders, and listening to every single person identify it as his voice.

I think the bigger question was going to be, what's he going to say? He has to address this. Are they going to have some reason for it? Or what is his reasoning going to be that his voice was there? So I think it was more trying to just listen for what his excuse was, essentially, rather than surprise.

I will say, my producer Wesley Brewer (ph) was inside at the time, and he said that the jury has been listening intently to Alex Murdaugh. And he noted that, when the attorney Jim Griffin asked Murdaugh the questions, Abby, that the jury looks at him, but Alex Murdaugh then turns to the jury and answers all the questions looking directly at them, in an attempt to engage the jury with him.

He said, with the exception of one juror sitting in the front row, they do appear to be listening to him by looking at him and being intently engaged. He said that one woman on the front row of that jury seems to kind of have her back to Murdaugh during these discussions. And, again, we talked about high risk, high reward potentially for the defense. That risk, though, is there. And Alex Murdaugh has already been proven

through this testimony of many people in this particular trial to be a liar, to be a thief and to be a cheat. And that's something that state has pointed out.

Whether or not they trust him under oath on the stand is going to be another story.

PHILLIP: Yes.

And, Dianne, you have been reporting about this decision that was made for him to take the stand in the first place.

GALLAGHER: Yes.

PHILLIP: One of the things that we saw in this testimony was quite a lot of emotion coming from Alex Murdaugh himself.

GALLAGHER: Yes.

PHILLIP: Perhaps an attempt to, as you were saying, connect with that jury.

GALLAGHER: Yes.

And we have seen these kind of like heaving cries from him as he sits at the table with his defense attorneys. So I think that some of us were prepared to see him emote on the stand. But there were moments, especially when he was talking about his relationship with his son, that he broke down and had to gather himself.

Take a look at this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:30:00]