Trial of Alex Murdo: before testifying, the judge has key decisions

WALTERBORO, South Carolina – Before testimony begins in the trial of the murder of South Carolina attorney Alex Murdo, defense attorneys will ask the judge to issue a couple of key rulings this week that could rule out a huge amount of evidence from the case.

Prosecutors want to present voluminous evidence of Murdo’s misbehavior and numerous other crimes he’s accused of, to show that he killed his wife and son to buy time and prevent his other wrongdoings from being revealed.

Defense lawyers don’t want the judge to admit the evidence, arguing that prosecutors are trying to smear Murdo to support a weak case.

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When District Judge Clifton Newman hears arguments after the jury has sat down, Murdo’s lawyers will also try to convince him to refuse to admit evidence that authorities say will testify to the blood of his murdered youngest son splattered on Murdo’s shirt. Defense lawyers said the shirt was destroyed before they could check it, and there is evidence that the expert who examined the shirt changed his findings under pressure from government agents.

Jury selection continues Tuesday as the court attempts to assemble 700 people into a pool of several dozen potential jurors to select a final pool of 12 plus six alternates.

Murdo, 54, faces 30 years to life in prison if found guilty of killing 52-year-old Maggie and their 22-year-old son Paul. Murdo found their bodies outside his Colleton County home on June 7, 2021. d was away for about an hour to visit his sick father and mother.

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Murdo also faces nearly 100 charges related to other crimes, including money laundering, stealing millions from clients, tax evasion and trying to get a man to shoot him so his surviving son could get a $10 million life insurance policy.

Typically, key evidence for the prosecution is known ahead of time in famous South Carolina lawsuits, whether it’s Susan Smith’s admission that she drove her car into the Union County lake and drowned her children, or surveillance footage of Dylan Roof with his signature haircut. in and out of Charleston. An African American church where he killed nine members in a racist attack.

But little is known about the State v. Murdo case other than controversial blood spatter evidence, Google and Snapchat subpoenas, and references to videos filmed at Murdo’s home where the murders took place.

When asked during a preliminary hearing about what evidence they would present, prosecutors provided a detailed timeline of how Murdo’s wife and son were killed on the same day that a paralegal at a law firm reported that he was possibly stealing money.

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They contend that Murdo shot the two to distract attention from his financial stalemate, and that evidence of other crimes he is awaiting trial for are relevant to illustrate how a father and husband could have committed such a heinous act.

Murdo’s lawyers said it defies logic when a lawyer thinks his life will be less tested when his wife and son were found shot multiple times with two different guns. They claim prosecutors are trying to vilify him because they don’t seem to have any other substantial evidence.

It took 13 months for state agents and prosecutors to charge Murdo with murder. No evidence has been made public that the weapons used to kill the victims, nor have any possible confessions, eyewitness accounts, or other information in the case emerged.

In blood spatter evidence, Murdo’s lawyers said emails given to them by prosecutors showed that an expert who analyzed the shirt Murdo was wearing when he discovered the bodies initially determined that there were no blood spatter stains, only stains. which may have appeared when Murdo checked to see if his son and wife were alive.

The expert changed his mind weeks later after state agents flew to his home in Oklahoma, according to emails cited by Murdo’s lawyers. The shirt was tested with chemicals that made it impossible for any defense expert to conduct their own testing or even verify the original results, the defense said.

Prosecutors said at a December hearing that there could be problems with dealing with blood splatter, but asked that it be discussed with investigators. Since then, they have not commented on this topic either in court documents or in the courtroom.

Murdo’s trial is expected to last up to three weeks, with prosecutors and defense attorneys providing the judge with a list of more than 200 potential witnesses.