Dad accused of killing wife and son tried to blame farmhand 'who was in the FBI'
The dad who stands accused of murdering his wife and son suggested police investigate a farmhand who had claimed was undercover with the FBI, police audio has revealed.
The recordings of police interviews were played in court where Alex Murdaugh is standing trial for allegedly killing his wife Maggie, 52, and their son Paul at the family's hunting lodge in Islandton, South Carolina, US, on June 7 2021.
The disgraced attorney also suggested the double murder could have been connected to a boat crash during which Paul had been driving under the influence and a 19-year-old woman was killed in February 2019.
In the audio of the interviews, Murdaugh claimed how farmhand CB Rowe had told 22-year-old Paul that he had killed radical Black Panthers while working undercover for the FBI.
Defendant Alex Murdaugh prepares for jury selection to resume during his murder trial (Joshua Boucher/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Murdaugh said: "I actually do not think in all honesty it's him but I know y'all got to talk to him."
Man in 30s dies after being stabbed in park sparking police probe
According to Murdaugh, Paul was so shocked by the story that he recorded the farmhand saying some of it.
The accused also told detectives that Paul was threatened "all the time" about the boat incident and that Paul had been punched and attacked while he was out.
Prosecutors claim Murdaugh killed his family members to distract from a number of other charges from money laundering to trying to get a man to fatally shoot him so his surviving son could collect a $10million (£8.14m) life insurance policy.
Alex Murdaugh claims he found his wife Maggie and son Paul shot dead in the grounds outside the family’s hunting estate in Islandton, South CarolinaThe two victims were shot with two different guns, with lawyers saying the force of the shots caused such bad damage to Paul that his brain was blasted right out of his skull.
When crime scene photos were showed to the court, Murdaugh became visibly upset.
On the first day of the trial defence lawyer Dick Harpootlian said the blast from the shotgun used in the killing "literally exploded his head like a watermelon hit with a sledgehammer".
Alex and Maggie MurdaughMurdaugh could be seen crying when his lawyer discussed the details.
Also brought up was how clean Murdaugh appeared to be in initial interviews with police despite claims he had checked his wife and son for a pulse and had turned his son over.
His defence team argue prosecutors incorrectly focused on Murdaugh’s guilt from the start and have spent all that time trying to jam bits of evidence.
In court one of the investigating officers said: “That night, everybody was a suspect.”
Russian model killed after calling Putin a 'psychopath' was strangled by her ex
Alex Murdaugh has been charged with murdering his wife and son (Uncredited/AP/REX/Shutterstock)“There’s no direct evidence. There’s no eyewitnesses. There’s nothing on camera. There’s no fingerprints. There’s no forensics tying him to the crime. None,” defence lawyer Dick Harpootlian said.
If convicted Murdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison.
The trial continues.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
