Dad 'changed his shirt' the night he is accused of shooting son and wife dead

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Dad 'changed his shirt' the night he is accused of shooting son and wife dead

New footage of Alex Murdaugh has emerged from the night his wife and son were shot to death showing he changed his shirt around the time they were killed.

Murdaugh, 54, is currently standing trial, charged with murdering wife Maggie., 52 and son Paul, 22, at the family's hunting lodge in Islandton, South Carolina, US, on June 7 2021.

He denies the murders saying he was visiting his elderly mum at the time.

Now the jury have been shown a Snapchat video appearing to show the accused wearing a different shirt hours before the killing occurred.

A number of videos sent by Paul have been presented as evidence.

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One sent at 7.56pm shows the 22-year-old riding around the family's hunting estate with Alex.

Dad 'changed his shirt' the night he is accused of shooting son and wife deadAlex Murdaugh covers his face during his double murder trial (Andrew J Whitaker/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

The video also shows Alex trying to plant a tree on the property and shows him wearing a light blue shirt and khaki trousers.

Investigators believe Paul and Maggie were killed between 9 and 9.30pm.

This video is just the latest shown in court with a previous one placing Murdaugh at the scene moments before the killings took place, prosecutors say.

Another video taken by Paul at 8.44pm at the kennel, allegedly proves that Maggie, Paul and Alex were still together then.

Dad 'changed his shirt' the night he is accused of shooting son and wife deadThe jury were shown a picture of Murdaugh wearing a different shirt hours before the killing

In court Rogan Gibson, who described the Murdaughs as his "second family", listened to the video and told jurors he was positive he could hear Paul, Maggie and Alex.

Paul was looking after Mr Gibson's dog at the time.

This testimony contradicts Murdaugh's claim he last saw Maggie and Paul while they were having supper at the house.

Murdaugh sobbed as the video of Paul playing with the dog was played.

He has claimed he was visiting his mum, who is in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease, about a 15-minute drive away.

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At 10.07pm, Murdaugh called 911 claiming he had arrived home to find his wife and son shot dead.

Murdaugh called police at 10.07pm claiming he had come home from his mum's house to find his wife and son lying dead.

Dad 'changed his shirt' the night he is accused of shooting son and wife deadMurdaugh wearing a pristine shirt when police arrived

He later told police he had rolled the bloodied body of Paul over while trying to find a pulse.

But bodycam footage shows him wearing a pristine white t-shirt, different to the top seen on earlier.

Prosecutors pointed out to the jury the change of clothes but offered no explanation to it.

Murdaugh's defence lawyers also have not explained the outfit change.

Dad 'changed his shirt' the night he is accused of shooting son and wife deadThe Murdaughs - from left to right: Paul. Maggie, Alex and Buster

The judge is also set to rule if prosecutors will be able to tell the jury about the wider financial and legal predicaments he was in.

The suspect has also been charged with embezzling millions.

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.

The 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.

Dad 'changed his shirt' the night he is accused of shooting son and wife deadMurdaugh cries in court (Grace Beahm Alford/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

When crime scene photos were shown 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".

Murdaugh 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.

Charlie Jones

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