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Murdaugh Testifies In His Murder Trial About Financial Issues At Work; Murdaugh: "I Did" Steal Client Funds From Law Firm; Murdaugh Admits Asking Man To Shoot Him To Death. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired February 23, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

ALEX MURDAUGH, MURDER DEFENDANT: Because a secretary other than mine, apparently other than mine was going to be the person who was going to put those - that financial information into the final document and that's the document that Mark Ball talked about that he found on my desk whenever it was that he found it.

So that was what was going to be, if necessary, what was going to be used Thursday.

JIM GRIFFIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Juries heard about testimony of you stealing client funds. Did you do that?

MURDAUGH: I did.

GRIFFIN: Did you steal or divert that (inaudible) fee away from the law firm?

MURDAUGH: I did.

GRIFFIN: How did you get in such a financial predicament that led you to steal money that wasn't yours?

MURDAUGH: I'm not quite sure how I let myself get where I got. But it came from - I battled that addiction for so many years, I was spending so much money on pills. I got in the spot I couldn't ...

GRIFFIN: Now, what type of addiction are you referring to?

MURDAUGH: My addiction is to opiate painkillers ...

GRIFFIN: And when did you ...

MURDAUGH: ... specifically oxycodone, OxyContin.

GRIFFIN: And when did you first become dependent or addicted to opioids?

MURDAUGH: Oxycodone or opiates in general?

GRIFFIN: Opiates in general.

MURDAUGH: I'm not quite sure the exact date but I can give you a timeframe. I hurt my knee really bad playing football in college and I had a knee surgery, and the medical science at the time was such that the surgery didn't work bottom line, so it just didn't last.

So within a couple of years of that, I started having a lot of knee troubles. And ultimately, I had to have a couple of surgeries. But this - the last surgery I had was, I think, around 2002 or four and I think it was around four, so I would have started taking hydrocodone a couple of years before that.

And I took hydrocodone got addicted to that very quickly. I continued taking that for a long time, I would - I force myself after that we myself off of it, lean myself off of it, I go back to it. I just - I battled that for a long time. And after a while I was taking so much of that I moved on to oxycodone.

And I'm guessing that was around 2000, that transition was around 2008, '09, something like that. And, of course, it just escalates it escalates, it escalates and ...

GRIFFIN: Did you receive treatment or go to detox on occasion?

MURDAUGH: I did.

GRIFFIN: How many times?

MURDAUGH: That I went to detox or that I detoxed?

GRIFFIN: Well, let's start with going to a detox facility.

MURDAUGH: I've been to a detox facility three times.

GRIFFIN: And when was the first time?

MURDAUGH: December of 2017.

GRIFFIN: Okay. And before December 2017, had you tried to detox at home?

MURDAUGH: I tried to detox everywhere I could.

GRIFFIN: When you ...

MURDAUGH: Maggie would help me - go ahead.

GRIFFIN: Yes. When you went in to - was it inpatient facility?

MURDAUGH: The detox is - the formal detoxes that I went to?

GRIFFIN: Yes, in December 2017.

MURDAUGH: Yes, it was inpatient. All three former detoxes that I've done had been at the same facility called Sunrise Detox in Atlanta, Georgia. It's a very good facility.

GRIFFIN: And juries heard an audio tape of a telephone conference with SLED agents, was that where you were during that meeting with Mr. Harpootlian?

MURDAUGH: That's correct.

[15:05:00]

GRIFFIN: The first time you went to the detox in Atlanta, how long of a stay is that? Did you stay?

MURDAUGH: Seven days is the opiate detox program.

GRIFFIN: And is there a difference between detox and rehab?

MURDAUGH: Yes.

GRIFFIN: What's the difference?

MURDAUGH: Detox is the act of getting the drugs out of your system. Getting to the point where, okay, there is no longer a physical dependency, right, and that's a big difference than the rest of the dependency. But the physical dependency is supposed to be gone after seven days.

So in other words, the - I mean, there are so many things - opiate withdrawal is - I mean, it's hard. But supposedly, at the end of seven days, you don't have those physical symptoms, like - I don't want to be too graphic - but you're sick, you throw up. You have terrible diarrhea. You sweat like you're running a marathon. You can't hold your legs still. You can't lay down now, like, what I'm talking about the legs moving, that goes away after about 24 hours.

So after about 24 hours, you can lay down again and maybe sleep some, but you sweat, you throw up. I mean, you just have - there's so many issues, but after seven days, those are supposed to be over. That's what detox is, the detoxification of your body.

GRIFFIN: And what's rehab?

MURDAUGH: Rehab is the period that you go to learn how to stay off. You're supposedly off after detox, rehab is where you get help staying off.

GRIFFIN: And before September 2021, had you ever gone to that second stage of rehab?

MURDAUGH: No.

GRIFFIN: So in June - excuse me - December 2017, how long did it take you to relapse once you got home from detox?

MURDAUGH: Not long at all. I mean, you're still going through - this physical dependency is gone, you still have - I mean, you're still so sick. I mean, you just ...

GRIFFIN: Is that something you've been battling for quite some time?

MURDAUGH: As long as I can remember.

GRIFFIN: How long you've been drug free opioid free? MURDAUGH: Five hundred and thirty-five days and I'm very proud of that.

GRIFFIN: I want to ask you questions about Labor Day weekend 2021.

MURDAUGH: Okay.

GRIFFIN: Do you remember being confronted by your law firm?

MURDAUGH: Sure, I did.

GRIFFIN: And what were you confronted about?

MURDAUGH: Stealing money.

GRIFFIN: And did you admit your misconduct to your law partners?

MURDAUGH: Well, to one of my law partners and one of my - and my brother and my law partner, Danny and Randy, yes. I mean ...

GRIFFIN: Did ...

MURDAUGH: ... admit it, admitted them.

GRIFFIN: And they learned about fake Forge account. Did you admit the fake Forge account?

MURDAUGH: Yes, I did.

GRIFFIN: And did you tell them about your opioid struggles, opioid addiction?

MURDAUGH: I told them about my addiction. Yes, sir.

GRIFFIN: To your knowledge, are any of your law partners aware of your addiction?

MURDAUGH: Not just to my knowledge, I'm certain that they were not aware of my addiction.

GRIFFIN: How would you characterize your opioid use or addiction, severe? Moderate?

MURDAUGH: Then or now?

GRIFFIN: No, in 2020, 2021 ...

MURDAUGH: I mean, I don't know how would I characterize it then. After going to rehab and learning more of the things I've learned, really talking to addicts about experiences, I mean I'll - I will tell you that my addiction was extremely, extremely bad.

GRIFFIN: How were you able to function or were you able to function?

MURDAUGH: Yes, I was able to function.

GRIFFIN: You're able to practice law?

MURDAUGH: Yes.

GRIFFIN: And were you successful practicing law while you were addicted to opioids?

MURDAUGH: On some level, yes, sir, I was Successful.

[15:10:00]

I mean, I ...

GRIFFIN: After you were confronted on Labor Day weekend 2021, did you resign or were you forced to resign from a law firm?

MURDAUGH: Absolutely.

GRIFFIN: And then on Saturday, September the 4th, do you remember what happened that day?

MURDAUGH: Saturday, September 4th? Yes, sir. I remember.

GRIFFIN: And what happened?

MURDAUGH: It started when I woke up.

GRIFFN: Well, let's start after you met with Chris Wilson, did you meet with Chris Wilson?

MURDAUGH: I met with Chris Wilson at my mom's and dad's house in Alameda.

GRIFFIN: And did you lay it out for Chris Wilson your opioid addiction and your misconduct?

MURDAUGH: I definitely laid out my addiction, I definitely gave him some details about monies that I had taken. I didn't give him - we didn't go into all the details about all of it, but I certainly was very candid with him about the things that involved him.

GRIFFIN: Had you already just contacted the detox facility, before you met with Chris Wilson on the fourth?

MURDAUGH: I believe that we had already - at that point, I believe that we had already spoken to the guy that I knew from sunrise and made arrangements for me to go there on Monday.

GRIFFIN: Okay. And ...

MURDAUGH: I know we had arrangements for me to go there on Monday and I - I'm - so we had to have had it by then, because I went to the hospital shortly after that, so yes.

GRIFFIN: And did you reach out to Blanca (ph) to get your insurance information?

MURDAUGH: I did.

GRIFFIN: And for what purpose?

MURDAUGH: Because I was going to use my insurance at detox and rehab to help pay for it.

GRIFFIN: Okay. And what would - what was your immediate plans after - I mean, for the day after you met with Chris Wilson, did you have plans to do anything - have any other meetings on that Saturday?

MURDAUGH: I wanted to go and meet with Cory Fleming who was another lawyer who was affected by things I did.

GRIFFIN: And did you ...

MURDAUGH: And a good friend.

GRIFFIN: Did you go meet with Cory Fleming?

MURDAUGH: No.

GRIFFIN: What did you do instead?

MURDAUGH: I'd given my - when I gave my pills to my brother Randy and Danny - I think I gave them to Randy. But I'd taken - I took a lot of pills, because I knew I won't going to be taking any more. So Randy had pills. I had to get some from him the night before, but only got a small amount. I could tell - I wasn't taking anything near like what I had been taking, so I knew it was coming. And I called someone to bring me more pills and before - I believe before I met with Chris Wilson.

GRIFFIN: And did you meet this - did the person you call bring you more pills?

MURDAUGH: I don't know if he brought me more pills or not because by the time I met with him after meeting with Chris and after the starting of the withdrawals, I changed my plan.

GRIFFIN: And what was the change and plans?

MURDAUGH: Not to get pills from him anymore and instead I asked him to shoot me.

GRIFFIN: Did you ask him to shoot you as a sympathy ploy or did you want to die?

MURDAUGH: As a sympathy ploy?

GRIFFIN: Yes, sir. Why did you asked him to shoot you? What was the end goal in your - that you wanted to accomplish?

MURDAUGH: I meant for him to shoot me so I'd be gone.

GRIFFIN: And who was this?

[15:15:00]

Who did you ask to do this?

MURDAUGH: Eddie Smith.

GRIFFIN: And did he in fact shoot you?

MURDAUGH: He did.

GRIFFIN: And where was that located - not your gunshot, but where were shot in Hampton and Colleton County, where were you?

MURDAUGH: It's Hampton County. It's right on the border of Salkehatchie Road that runs right along the Salkehatchie River.

GRIFFIN: And why did you want to be gone?

MURDAUGH: I mean, I knew all this was coming to a head. I knew how humiliating it was going to be for my son. I mean, I've been through so much at the time and the bad place that I was. It seemed like a better thing to do. I don't think that way now, thankfully, but I did at the time.

GRIFFIN: Did you have life insurance on you?

MURDAUGH: Oh, yes. I had a lot of life insurance.

GRIFFIN: And who was the beneficiary?

MURDAUGH: Maggie was the beneficiary.

GRIFFIN: How much life insurance did you have?

MURDAUGH: I had $12 million. I had a $4 million policy and a 12 - and an $8 million policy, a total of 12.

GRIFFIN: Did you ever have any life insurance on Maggie?

MURDAUGH: No, never.

GRIFFIN: Did you ever have any life insurance on Paul?

MURDAUGH: No.

GRIFFIN: Alex, will you tell the story about Maggie and your relationship with her.

MURDAUGH: I just saw a picture, she was just as beautiful inside as she was outside. And I mean, she was so adventurous. I mean, she - you couldn't tell her something was good or bad. I mean, she wanted to find out for herself. She wanted to do it, see it, experience it on her own and form her own opinion. She was devoted. Two boys, Buster, Paul, me, I mean, she made sure we didn't move for anything ever. She's fun, playful. I mean, she had a laugh that - you didn't even have to know what was funny, if you heard her laugh, you would laugh. She had this little playful look where she'd smile at you and bite her lip. I can't do it, but - I mean, when she just do it, it just melts you. She was such a lady - such a feminine person a girl, but then she had two boys and - I mean, she didn't grow up in the swamp and in the country riding four wheelers and hunting and fishing. And I mean she changed everything. She became a boy's mom. I mean her life became ball in riding four wheelers.

[15:20:04]

And, I mean, doing those things now - don't get me wrong, she was still a hundred percent girl and your heard Mary (ph) and Sammy (ph), she loves to do those things with her nieces. But, I mean, she threw herself into her boys' life. I mean, she never took not working for granted.

I mean, she might not work, but I promise you, she worked and she worked - make sure me and Paul, and Buster had everything. She wanted a big family and pregnancy just didn't suit her. Her pregnancies were so hard. I would leave her in the mornings and she'd be sick, I come home and check on her and she'd be sick. I come back at the end of the day and she'd be sick. I mean, she was so sick all the time with both of those boys. And when we had PawPaw, Maggie got in trouble and PawPaw got in trouble.

And pregnancy didn't suit her, so we've decided that we just have two boys. And I just think how hard it was on her, just made her love those boys so much more, and she did. But she was the kind of person, Maggie, she could put on the most elegant ball gown and go to the governor's mansion and hang out with the most affluent people, whatever, or she could come down to - she could go to a food bank in Hamden or Walterboro and fit in. Everybody at both places would say when she left, that Maggie, she's good, she's just a special person.

GRIFFIN: Alex, would you ...

MURDAUGH: A special person.

GRIFFIN: Would you ever do anything to harm Maggie?

MURDAUGH: I would never hurt Maggie, ever.

GRIFFIN: Will you tell the jury about Paul, please, and your relationship with him.

MURDAUGH: And PawPaw - I mean, PawPaw was just the brightest - he was the brightest - he's the most inquisitive young man. He wanted to be a part of everything. If you were working, I can remember as a little boy, you'd be working on something, it didn't matter what it was. His little head was going to come in there, he's nose in there to see what you were doing. He was a man's man. He was a hundred percent country boy. He was tough.

I mean, he could hunt anything. He could catch any fish. He could run any piece of equipment. He could use any tool. I mean, he could do anything. He - at 22 years old, he could do so many things. I mean, he took care of so many - and he was so tough.

But on the other hand, he had a side to him that was just so sweet. I mean, he wouldn't come home when he wouldn't go check on his grandparents. He wouldn't go near some of them where he wouldn't go out of his way check on his grandparents.

To be such a tough person, he would get all his buddies and get on a boat and go watch a sunset. How many 22-year-old you know do stuff like that? I mean, he was such a special boy.

[15:25:00]

He cared about people. He was fiercely, fiercely loyal. He was so misrepresented in the media. I mean, never, never an accurate story told about what he was. And I'll challenge you right now, I would challenge everybody in this room to go find somebody, somebody that knew PawPaw, who really knew him that did not have an ulterior motive that would say something negative about him and I'll challenge everybody who can hear me now to do that.

I mean, Paul was that kind of person, if you knew him, he would help you and he would be glad to help you. I thought Mark Ball made a good point when he said, PawPaw might not - he might not have quite found his place yet. Paul was ADD - ADHD and so he would jump around from thing to thing a lot. But there's absolutely no question in my mind whatsoever that PawPaw would have found whatever that thing was that he was going to do. And whatever that ended up being, he was going to be one of the best that you've ever known.

And I'll tell you one more thing, I didn't even know this when Paul was alive, but - excuse me. Excuse me. When they were doing his eulogy, I gave the names of some of his friends and he had a real cute friend that they were just friends, but cute little girl that Maggie adored. I didn't know her very well, but Maggie did. Maggie adored her. But they talked to her and PawPaw, they - we learned this from her, Julianne (ph).

And at 22 years old, we learned that PawPaw would tell his friends be present, appreciate where you are, the things you have and the people around you. I think a lot of that came from - and it hurt Paul so bad when Mallory (ph) died. But how many 22-year-olds do you know that think that way? Be present, appreciate things around you, at 22 years old.

GRIFFIN: Alex ...

MURDAUGH: He's the most special boy.

GRIFFIN: ... do you love Paul?

MURDAUGH: God I love him like no other, he and Buster.

GRIFFIN: Do you love Maggie?

MURDAUGH: More than anything. I love Maggie from the first time we went out. GRIFFIN: Did you kill Maggie?

MURDAUGH: No, I did not kill Maggie. I did not kill Paul. I would never hurt Maggie and I would never hurt Paul, ever, under any circumstances.

GRIFFIN: Thank you. (Inaudible) answer any questions (inaudible) may ask.

MURDAUGH: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, we'll take a --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excuse me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll take a 10 minute recess. Please do not discuss the case.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: More bombshell testimony, about 45 minutes of testimony there from Alex Murdaugh testifying there at Walterboro, South Carolina courtroom on his murder trial.

Let's bring in Jean Casarez and Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida.

Jean, to you first. When I said bombshell, I mean bombshell and the fact that he's admitted to stealing money from his firm.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was huge because he is charged with many financial crimes and it could lend him two decades in prison. He has not entered a plea in a criminal court for these, but yet when he was asked, did you commit financial crimes stealing from your firm, the answer was yes, I did.

It was plain, it was simple, but it was yes, I did.

And did you notice also his demeanor during all of the testimony regarding the financial crimes, the stealing of funds that were meant for victims in the civil firms.

[15:30:02]