There are five recent deaths connected to the Murdaughs.
I was with you and Mama that night. It was about 45 minutes.
You think it was that long?
[Agent Owen] So you didn't go to the kennels before then?
No, sir.
[Randy Murdaugh] My jackass little brother has spent the better part
of a decade stealing from his clients.
Your father slashed his own tire and attempted to have Mr. Smith--
You got to shoot me.
I got a problem with pills.
I will help you get the help you need.
You go get yourself cleaned up, little brother.
Do you have any idea the damage you've done to this firm?
To our family, to Buster's future?
[golf club smacks ball]
Oh, straight down the middle, bo.
Look at it go.
Where the fuck is that brother of yours with those beers?
It's hotter than the devil's ass crack out here.
[Buster Murdaugh] He's probably taking shots with the cart guy.
[smacks golf ball]
So how's law school going?
It's good. I'm slogging through this essay on the ethics of truth
and the professional law for my--
- [yawns] Oh, bo. - Fuck off.
It's my first big assignment. It's like 30 pages.
[laughs] I'm just havin' a lend of you.
You know, your great-granddaddy Buster had a saying about the truth.
What's that?
There's what's true, what's not, and a whole bunch of in between.
But the only real truth in this world is what you can get others to believe.
I don't think I can put that in my essay.
No, you can't.
But I'll be damned if it hasn't served me well over the years.
- [smacks golf ball] - [Alex whistles]
[♪ somber music playing]
♪
[bell rings]
[Dorothy Glavin] So, Mr. Harpootlian,
your client, Alec Murdaugh,
claims he paid somebody to shoot him with a gun
so his son could collect on a $10 million insurance policy,
but the shooter missed?
Well, let's back up a minute.
Alec's wife and son were murdered 90 days ago,
and that takes a monumental toll on a man.
Now, consider Alec's father also died of cancer
the very same week.
[retching]
Now I don't know anyone who would be able to get through all of that.
And Alec was able to merely survive by using opioids.
[groans]
Just last week, it was discovered that Alec had maybe...
Well, not really maybe.
Alec had taken some money from his clients and from his law firm,
and spent the vast majority of that on more opioids.
He knew things were going really badly for him
and, well, he made the decision to take his own life.
He thought his insurance policy was gonna pay him $10 million.
So he made arrangements to have someone shoot him.
Alec Murdaugh was just trying to leave money
to his surviving son, Buster.
[Dorothy] There are reports that Alec stole millions
and millions of dollars from his clients and the firm.
Are you claiming he used it all to buy drugs,
or was some of it spent elsewhere?
[Dick Harpootlian ] Now, from what we understand,
most of it was used to buy opioids.
[exhales]
[sighs]
♪ Say, where did you stay ♪
♪ Last night? ♪
♪ Did you stay... ♪
Jesus fuckin' Christ.
♪ ...where the sun never shines ♪
- Shit. - [Owen] Alec Murdaugh.
You're under arrest for obtaining property under false pretenses
as it relates to the death of Gloria Satterfield.
Watch your head.
[Dorothy] It's not far-fetched to connect the dots
from the roadside shooting, which he himself staged,
to his wife and son being murdered.
[Dick] The only connection with Alec
was that he was in a terrible, terrible head space
with what he was coping with.
And he was desperately trying to come up with a plan
to help Buster, his surviving son.
And, in such a terrible state,
that was the plan that he came up with.
But he did not murder his wife and son.
[door lock bolts]
[♪ upbeat rock music playing]
[inaudible]
- Hey, can you change it? - [bartender] What's up?
Can you change the channel?
Oh. Yeah, of course.
Let me just go find the remote.
Oh, shit.
They say he killed that gay kid.
Look.
What's wrong?
Nothing. Let's, uh...
Let's just go.
[patron] And the dad stole a bunch of money,
and then killed the mom and brother.
- [Buster] He didn't kill 'em. - What?
You fuckin' heard me. I said he didn't.
- Buster, come on. - [patron] Okay, man.
If you say so.
Let's go. It's not important.
Let it go. You know,
we were just trying to have a drink. Why do you have to be an asshole?
So, as y'all know, we have been trying to unlock Paul's phone
since the murders.
And we were finally able to.
And as you can imagine,
it's yielded some new evidence in the murder investigation.
- It took y'all long enough. - What kind of evidence?
We think it's better you see and hear it for yourselves.
This video was recorded approximately 10 minutes before the murders.
- [dogs barking] - [Paul Murdaugh] Get back, get back.
Come on.
- It's okay, come here. - [Alex Murdaugh] Bubba!
[Maggie Murdaugh] He's got a bird in his mouth!
- [Alex] Come on, Bubba. - Who's that?
- Shh! - [Maggie] It's a guinea.
[Paul] It's a chicken.
[Alex] Ah, ah, ah, I got it.
[Maggie] Now what'd you do that for?
[dogs continue barking on recording]
Alec always maintained with us
he was never down at the kennels that night.
So he lied about being down there.
[Detective Rutland] It appears that he did, ma'am.
Did y'all hear another voice?
I-I think I heard another voice. Play it again.
[dogs barking]
[Paul] Get back, get back.
It's okay, come here.
[newscaster] [on TV] Breaking news in at this hour.
Sources telling us Alec Murdaugh is set to be formally charged
with the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.
[guard] Murdaugh, you got a visitor.
[Buster] Why didn't you tell me?
I mean, why'd you have to lie to everybody about it?
'Cause I knew how bad it would look.
I mean, my head was all messed up, bo, from the pills.
You know, from what I saw that night.
And I panicked.
I don't know what else to say, Bus.
What happened when you were down there with him?
I just found out Granddaddy was at death's door.
I didn't want to be alone, so I went down there to be with him.
To distract myself.
Bubba likes to chase them chickens.
I tried to get it from him before he killed the damn thing,
but by the time I wrangled it, it was too late, and...
What happened after that? I mean...
They're saying it was a few minutes after that.
Oh, then I left.
I mean...
it was muggy as hell.
I was starting to sweat like a hog from chasin' the damn dog.
I went back to the house, I took a shower.
Had a lie-down.
I got up and left pretty much straightaway
to see Grandma Em.
I mean, Bus, you saw the video, you tell me.
Does that sound like anybody's about to kill anybody?
No.
I mean, it sounded like y'all were just...
hanging out like we always did.
Because we were, okay?
We were.
Now, do you honestly think that I could shoot up
that beautiful mom of yours and my baby boy like that?
No.
But it don't look good lying about it.
[sighs] I should have told you, Bus.
I know that, okay?
I'm sorry.
It's been gnawing at my insides that I didn't.
It's okay.
Are you sure?
Yeah, I get it.
I can't lose you, Bus.
You're the only family I got now.
[♪ gentle music playing]
You worried about the trial?
Oh, hell no.
No, Dick and Jim are the best lawyers in the state.
I mean, at least until you finish law school, right?
- Yeah, if I ever get back in. - You will.
[guard] Time's up.
Hey, make sure you get Uncle Randy
to put some more money in my canteen fund.
All right, I'll let him know.
All right.
I love you, son.
I love you too, Dad.
[hangs up receiver]
[♪ dramatic music playing]
- [reporter 1] There he is! - [reporter 2] Get the camera, quick!
[reporter 3] Camera!
[camera shutters clicking]
[door closes]
♪
[Creighton Waters] On the evening of June 7, 2021,
Paul Murdaugh was standing in a small feed room
in some kennels the Murdaughs have on their property.
About 8:50 p.m.,
Paul's father, the defendant, Alec Murdaugh,
took a 12-gauge shotgun
and shot Paul in the chest and shoulder with buckshot.
Another shot went up under his head,
doing catastrophic damage to his brain, killing him.
Moments later, Alec picked up a 300 Blackout--
That's a kind of ammunition--
With an AR-style rifle,
one of many such weapons the family owned,
and opened fire on his wife, Maggie Murdaugh.
- Pow, pow. - [slams tabletop]
Two shots to the abdomen and the leg took her down.
Then another two shots to the head.
Execution style.
Execution style. That's what the Mob does.
Killing her instantly.
Now, Alec Murdaugh declared to anyone who would listen
that he was never at the kennels that night,
a claim we now know was a lie
thanks to a simple cell phone video taken by Paul.
We're gonna ask you to consider
the tremendous financial pressure Mr. Murdaugh was under
in the months and days leading up to June 7, 2021.
How a costly civil suit was nipping at his heels
for his son Paul's role in a deadly boat crash.
How his rampant fraud and stealing of his client's money
was about to be discovered.
And how his father, Randolph,
long his powerful protector,
was nearing the end of his life,
taking that protection that Alec always enjoyed with him.
How the murder of Maggie and Paul
served to deflect the scrutiny comin' Alec's way.
That's an important fact.
[thunder rumbling faintly]
Ladies and gentlemen...
Hell, there was a storm comin' toward Maggie and Paul,
just like the storm heading here right now.
And that storm arrived on June 7, 2021.
That storm...
was Alec Murdaugh.
[indistinct murmuring]
[thunder rumbles]
Alec, stand up here.
Alec here is the loving, devoted father to Paul,
the loving husband of Maggie.
And what you're gonna hear is many a witness tell you
just how loving Alec and Maggie were.
And Paul was the apple of his father's eye.
[clears throat]
Now when it comes to the guilt or innocence of Alec,
well, y'all get to decide what the evidence says.
Evidence, by the way, that is circumstantial at best.
No eyewitnesses, no camera, no fingerprints,
no forensics tying him to this crime whatsoever.
Cell phone data that's incomplete.
Well, heck, they haven't even been able to access
his car's GPS data.
They can't find the murder weapons.
Now, they gonna seriously ask y'all
to believe that a father could slaughter his wife and son
with two different guns at close range and somehow,
somehow have no blood on his clothes whatsoever?
Well... [scoffs]
The whole thing is preposterous, ain't it?
It's simple.
It's because Alec Murdaugh
did not kill his wife and son.
He didn't do it.
[Creighton] Can you tell us what the Murdaughs meant
to your mother, Gloria?
[Tony Satterfield] Well, um, my mother used to be their housekeeper
for the last 20 years.
So that's two decades. I mean, it meant a lot to her.
Paul and Buster were like second sons to her.
So when the defendant said he would take care of you
and your brother, why did you agree?
We trusted him.
[Creighton] Uh-huh.
Check the receipt up here on screen. You recognize it?
[Jeanne Seckinger] I do.
Can you tell the jury what makes this particular check memorable?
Gabriel Alvarez was Alec's client,
but the settlement check was never recorded.
Alec told me he didn't know what happened to it.
Eventually, our paralegal found this receipt
in Alec's office.
[crickets chirping]
[knock on door]
You got everything you need?
Yeah, yeah. Aunt Christy set me up nicely.
Granddaddy sure made that poet a lot of money, huh?
[laughs] Are you kidding me?
I remember three straight Christmases he gave these to all of us.
[laughs] Yeah.
Can't have too many reminders of wise words to live by.
He would say.
- It's a lot to live up to. - [Randy] Mm-hmm.
I know you gotta be pissed off at him.
Stealing all that money.
All the blowback the firm's getting.
Yeah, I am.
But he's also my brother. So...
best to classify it as complicated.
Dick and Jim want me to testify as a character witness.
That's a lot of pressure. You feel comfortable doing that?
Somebody's gotta talk about what it was like
for our family on the inside.
Well, it's a sound strategy.
What do you think his chances are?
I'm a personal injury lawyer.
You know, your dad was the one who dabbled in criminal cases.
You're Randolph Murdaugh III's son.
Just be honest with me.
Well, the prosecution's really driving home
that your dad stealing a lot of money
from a lot of people and about to be found out
as a form of motive.
Yeah.
And his behavior on the night of...
and following...
was particularly incriminating.
You're talking about the behavior
of a husband and a father
who just found his wife and his son brutally killed.
And trauma responses are...
I mean, they're unique, especially when someone
has a substance abuse problem.
Yeah, that's good.
They don't have a murder weapon.
There's no DNA evidence.
Yeah, I wish he hadn't lied about the video at the kennels.
- Yeah, that was a bad look. - Yeah, well, a liar isn't a murderer.
Well, that's absolutely true.
Look, like I said, I'm a-- I'm a personal injury lawyer.
I have no idea how the jury will land on this.
But like I tell all my clients...
you should prepare yourself for...
all the different ways this thing could play out.
Now your testimony is gonna help his cause.
You are a good son, Buster.
And he's lucky to have you.
[Creighton] The state calls Mark Tinsley.
[♪ menacing music playing]
I didn't have a clue about this fake Forge account
or what he was doing with the Satterfield settlement.
But I would've found out soon as those records were handed over.
So would the court.
[Creighton] Which would've meant a reckoning with all his fraud.
- [Mark Tinsley] Both criminally and with the law firm, correct.
Did you offer the defendant any other sort of settlement?
I did.
Offered him a payment plan.
You claim money's tight right now? Fine.
Pay in installments over time.
What was their response to that?
Well, Alec rejected it.
And, Mark, tell the jury when the judge was supposed to rule
on making Alec turn over those financial documents.
June 10, 2021.
Three days after Maggie and Paul were murdered.
Did that put pressure on him? Was Alec aware of this date?
[Mark] Oh, more than aware.
And that's exactly what it was.
Pressure.
Alec didn't want to turn those records over.
So that's a pressure point for me.
And it's my job to make him as the defendant feel maximum pressure.
So what happened to the boat crash civil suit
after the murders of Maggie and Paul?
Well, it ended the case against Alec altogether.
Look, I knew Maggie personally.
I knew Paul from when he was a little boy.
So I felt for Alec and Buster.
And in a civil case like this,
if Alec is now the victim of a crime this horrible,
well, a jury's gonna have sympathy for him.
They're not likely to reach a verdict against him.
So the murders of Maggie and Paul actually benefited Alec,
at least as far as the pressure of the civil suit?
Objection, Your Honor. Improper characterization
Sustained.
Mr. Waters, please stick to the facts.
[Creighton] Of course.
As a lawyer, it's your job to gauge sympathies and emotion
in a case.
Something Alec Murdaugh did well when he was a lawyer?
Correct?
When it comes to knowing what makes people tick...
getting 'em to believe you...
there's nobody better than Alec.
[♪ somber music playing]
[door opens]
You all right in here?
Yeah, yeah. Brooklynn just went to grab us some food.
What's up?
Uh...
[clears throat]
I was approached by the prosecutor's office.
They want me to testify.
Against Dad?
Well, you know, I spent some time with your mom before it all
and I did talk to her on the phone that day.
I think they're just trying to paint a picture
leading up to what happened.
So you're gonna do it?
Well, honey, I feel like I have to.
But I wanted you to know first.
They want you to trash-talk him?
Just like every other friend that they've called up there.
You are family.
You are a kind and loving person,
and that is gonna make it 10 times worse for him.
After everything we've learned...
what do you think happened?
I think that someone had a grudge against Paul,
or Dad 'cause of all the money he stole,
took him out as some kind of revenge.
What do you think happened?
I don't know what to think anymore.
I just wish they had something else to go on.
Yeah, well, maybe they would if they'd have looked for it
instead of zeroing in on Dad from the jump.
You do what you have to do.
Everybody else is already against us anyways.
[sighs]
None of us should be here right now.
But please know that I would never,
ever be against you.
♪
[Marian Proctor] Maggie loved her family,
loved her boys.
Buster and Paul, they were her world.
She was just a...
a really, really good person.
Um, she hadn't grown up hunting or fishing,
but she always tried to join in as best she could.
We used to laugh that she'd be in the deer stand
with her Southern Living magazine,
and the boys would say she was making too much noise
turning the pages.
So as we move closer to June 7, 2021,
the family received a bad prognosis about Mr. Randolph, correct?
Yes.
She was busy redecorating the house,
and Mr. Randolph wasn't doing well at all.
And Alec really wanted her to come home that night.
She hadn't planned on it, but he needed her to come home,
and Paul was gonna be there, too.
Maggie didn't really know what to do.
She, she really wanted to stay and finish getting the beach house ready.
But I said, "Well...
"Well, Maggie,
"Alec and his dad are super close, so that...
So that's probably what you should do."
[cries]
[♪ somber music playing]
Sorry. [sniffles]
[Creighton] Was that the last time you ever talked to your sister?
It was, yes.
[Creighton] And in the aftermath of it all,
did you talk to Alec about what had happened?
[Marian] I did, yes.
Um, I asked him,
did he have any idea who'd done this?
And he said he didn't know who'd done it,
but that he felt like whoever it was had thought about it
for a really long time.
[Creighton] Did that strike you as odd?
I just didn't know what it meant.
That was some of the most emotionally compelling testimony so far.
I mean, but to what end?
I mean, come on.
Maggie is a wonderful woman.
Paul's a great kid.
I mean, hell, you put me up on the stand under oath,
I'll say the same goddamn thing.
Creighton made it seem like you lured 'em back, Red.
I wanted my wife and my son there while my daddy died,
which y'all need to do a better job of reminding them, by the way.
Okay, well, I must be a damn fool for taking an attorney as a client.
Well, I'm willing to trade places with you any time, bo.
Mm.
Jimmy G, why the long face?
Rest of the cell phone records
and GPS data from your Suburban.
[Dick] Anything else we need to know, Alec?
[newscaster 1] A bombshell turn of events in the Murdaugh trial
as the prosecution has obtained previously inaccessible
cell phone and GPS data.
[newscaster 2] SLED agent David Owen is taking the stand today
to share what data reveals about that fateful night.
[Owen] So, what all this data allows us to do
is create a timeline and map
of everything everyone was doing the night of the murders.
How fast the defendant was driving,
when and where he started his car,
and when certain calls were made from the victims' and defendant's phones.
What time was the kennel video taken on Paul's phone, Agent Owen?
[Owen] 8:46 p.m.
[Creighton] Uh-huh, and originally, the coroner estimated time of death
sometime around 8:56, about 10 minutes after.
But what time did Paul and Maggie's phone go silent forever?
Both phones were locked at 8:49 p.m.
[Creighton] Three minutes from where Alec has confirmed
to have been there, they were killed.
Agent Owen, talk us through the map on slide 18 here.
Yes, sir.
Uh, this is a map of Moselle Road, just outside the property.
- [Creighton] Uh-huh. - The orange dot
is where Maggie Murdaugh's phone was located, just in the tree line.
Obviously removed from the crime scene.
Along the same route the defendant took to his parents, passing here at 9:08,
traveling at approximately 42 miles per hour.
After passing the location where her phone was found,
did the defendant's vehicle accelerate?
It reaches a max speed of 74.4 miles per hour,
faster than any other speed that day coming and going from work.
So the defendant slowed down at the same spot
where her phone happened to have been found
and then accelerated away.
Correct.
The state rests, Your Honor.
[indistinct murmuring]
[♪ dramatic music playing]
[♪ somber music playing]
[Alex] Ask it.
[♪ eerie music playing]
Go on.
Go on and ask it.
Ask what?
The question you want the answer to.
Ask it with your whole entire chest.
Come on, son.
Go on, son.
[♪ eerie music swelling]
Go on, son.
You know that I worked a case with your great-granddaddy Buster
in this very courtroom when I was a baby lawyer?
- Really? - [laughs] Oh.
That man was the cock of the walk, I'll tell you what.
And he knew it, too.
Yeah.
Alec wanted you to know
he's real proud of you for getting up there for him today.
[Jim Griffin] Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
this is a photo taken of the Murdaugh family
at a baseball game just a few weeks before the murders.
Buster, what do you remember about that day?
Uh, my brother Paul was, um,
making everyone laugh like he would.
And I remember, uh...
my mom was real proud of the work that she'd gotten done on the beach house.
Y'all were real happy when y'all were together, weren't you?
[Buster] We were.
I mean, we had our moments, you know?
Like all families, I think. Yeah.
But, yes, sir. I'd say, uh... I'd say that we were.
Tell us a little bit about your brother Paul.
Uh...
Ahem, uh, well, he, uh...
he loved to fish and hunt.
Lots of outdoor stuff.
Me and him and Dad would, um...
we'd do that stuff together a lot, so...
[Jim] Did y'all ever fight?
Well, I-I-I don't know a pair of brothers that doesn't,
so, yes, sir.
Yes, sir, we did.
Uh, but we...
You know, we also had a lot of fun together.
[Jim] I bet you did.
- Thank you. Bus. - [knocks on tabletop]
You didn't know about your dad's financial difficulties, did you?
No, sir. I did not.
Your mom loved that beach house, didn't she?
Yes, sir. Uh, she... she loved the ocean.
Had she been spending more time down there leading up to June 7th?
As I said, she was having work done on the house.
So, yes, I believe so.
[Creighton] Did her spending more time down there
have anything to do with how the community treated your family after the boat crash?
Did she feel ostracized?
Uh, she did, yes.
Did that cause stress within the family?
[Buster] It was a stressful time.
But, um...
you know, we just tried to support each other through that.
Thank you for your time. No further questions.
[♪ tense music playing]
[Alex] "Buster Murdaugh takes the stand,
but does little to counter the state's GPS and cell phone evidence."
[Dick] Well, you testifying is dumber than dirt, Alec.
Y'all got any other cards you wanna play, Dick? I'm all ears.
Now God bless Buster boy, but there's only so much he can do.
I mean, this is...
this is slipping away, boys.
It's our experts' turn now, Alec.
Oh, yeah, Jim?
Hey, they got anything that can counter the phone data and the GPS horseshit?
Oh, no, I didn't think so.
Now I didn't do this, all right? You know it, I know it.
But the only way that jury's gonna know it, Dick,
is if they hear it straight from me.
All this jury has heard this whole trial
is how much you have lied to everybody about everything.
To your clients, law enforcement, to your friends and family.
Your credibility is in the goddamn septic tank at this point.
Then I own the lies.
Yeah, I don't run from them, Dick. I run straight to 'em.
I strongly advise you against doing this.
You know who the fuck I am, bo? No, do you know who my fuckin' family is?
Then you got some idea how much time I spent in this courtroom as a kid,
upstairs at the state's table while my daddy and my granddaddy
put away murderers, rapists, and ne'er-do-wells aplenty.
Now you got your crime scene expert,
you got your weapons expert, Jim, fine.
You have the fuck at it!
But if they wanna try me for something this god-awful on my family's turf?
Fuck, no, bo!
Okay? Not without going through me first.
Now you put me on that fuckin' stand.
The defendant Richard Alexander Murdaugh wishes to take the stand.
[court clerk] Do you swear and affirm that the testimony you give today
will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
- Yes, ma'am. - [court clerk] Thank you.
I'm Alec Murdaugh.
M-U-R-D-A-U-G-H.
Good morning.
Mr. Murdaugh...
on June 7, 2021...
did you take this gun, or any gun like it,
and shoot your son Paul in the chest
in the feed room at your property off Moselle Road?
No, I did not.
Did you take this gun, or any gun like it...
and blow your son's brains out
on June 7th, or any day or any time?
No, I did not.
Mr. Murdaugh...
did you take a 300 Blackout
such as this,
and fired into your wife Maggie's leg, torso,
or any part of her body?
No, I did not.
[Jim] Mr. Murdaugh, did you shoot this gun
into Maggie's head, causing her death?
Mr. Griffin, I didn't shoot my wife or my son anytime, ever.
Mr. Murdaugh, were you in fact at the kennels
at 8:44 p.m.
the night that Maggie and Paul were murdered?
I was.
And did you in fact lie repeatedly to law enforcement that night?
The night that Maggie and Paul were murdered?
I did lie.
As my addiction evolved over time...
I would get in these situations, these circumstances,
where I would get paranoid thinking.
That night, June 7th...
after finding...
[sniffles]
...Mags and Paul--
Paw-Paw.
I had a deputy sheriff takin' gunshot tests from my hands.
I'm sittin' in a police car with David Owens
and asking me about my relationship with my wife and my son.
And all of those things,
coupled together with, after finding them,
coupled with my-- My distrust for SLED,
caused me to have paranoid thoughts.
Now, normally... [sniffles]
...when these paranoid thoughts would hit me,
I could just take a deep breath, you know, real quick.
Just think about it, you know, reason my way through it.
Just get past it really quickly.
On June the 7th...
I wasn't thinking clearly.
I don't think I was capable of reason.
And I lied about being down there.
And I'm... I'm so sorry that I did.
I'm sorry to my son Buster.
I'm sorry to Grandma, Papa-T.
[sniffles] I'm sorry to both of our families.
But most of all...
I'm sorry to Mags
and Paw-Paw.
I would never intentionally do anything
to hurt either one of them.
Ever.
Why did you continue to lie
after you left, after you were sober?
Oh, I don't know, you know...
Oh, what a tangled web we weave.
And once I told a lie, told my family...
I had to keep lying.
[♪ dramatic music playing]
[crickets chirping]
[gasps]
Sorry.
[whispers] It's okay, babe. You can't sleep?
You don't have to stay with me.
What are you talking about?
You shouldn't, actually.
You don't deserve all this.
All this craziness.
[Brooklynn sighs]
You don't deserve it either.
Okay?
[gasps softly]
So you would have us believe that you jetted down there to the kennels,
dealt with the dead chicken, and then jetted back.
No, sir. I did not jet down there, and I did not jet back.
After Maggie asked me to go down, and I didn't, I went back to the house.
I laid down. I felt stupid. I thought, "What am I doing?"
So I got up, I got in my golf cart.
I drove down there.
I did what I did. I took the chicken from Bubba's mouth.
And in short order, I said, um,
"I'm leaving, I'll see you in a minute."
Or words to that effect.
And I got in my cart and I went back to the house.
Does that sound like real life to you?
That you jetted down there and jetted back, Mr. Murdaugh?
Mr. Waters, I've already said I didn't jet down there and I didn't jet back.
- The reason you had to be... - Hang on, hang on, hang on.
- ...fussy about the details? - Just a second--
[Jim] Your Honor, he should be allowed to finish his answer
before another question is presented.
[Judge Newman] Yes, sir.
Do you agree that I'm entitled to ask my questions to you, sir?
Absolutely, and I'm gonna answer all of 'em.
I'm just taking issue
with the manner in which you're puttin' words in my mouth
that I did not use.
Do you disagree this is a new story?
Do you disagree with that characterization?
Yes.
This is the first time this has been talked about openly.
When accountability is at your door, Mr. Murdaugh,
bad things happen, is that correct?
What do you mean, Mr. Waters?
For the first time in your life of privilege and prominence and wealth,
you were facing accountability.
Suddenly, you became a victim, and everyone ran to your aid.
Prospect of humiliating your legacy
is an extraordinary provocation for you, isn't it?
You had a very successful career up to this point, did you not?
You think you lived a life of privilege?
I think you could say that.
In June of 2021, you were suffering from drug addiction.
Your father was ill.
You were coming to the point of a financial crisis.
- Isn't that true? - I had some financial issues, yes.
- That's correct. - Issues you lied to your father about.
- I'm sure I did at some point. - Uh-huh.
You lied to your brothers?
About financial matters, I did.
You lied to your sister-in-law, Marian Proctor?
I did lie to her, yes.
Did you lie to your colleagues and law partners at PMPED?
- I did. - You lie to your clients?
Some of them.
Did you lie to Tony and Brian Satterfield
whose mother Gloria was your longtime housekeeper?
Yes, I did.
[Creighton] Mr. Murdaugh...
are you a family annihilator?
I would never hurt Maggie Murdaugh.
I would never hurt Paul Murdaugh
under any circumstances.
You say that. But you lied to Maggie, didn't you?
[Alex] Yes, I did lie to her.
You lied to Paul.
Yes.
So if you admit that you lied to all these people,
why should we believe you're telling the truth now?
[♪ dramatic music playing]
You know why people lie, Mr. Murdaugh?
'Cause they know they've done something wrong.
♪
[reporter] And breaking news this evening,
as the jury in the Alec Murdaugh murder trial
appear to have reached a verdict
after only two and a half hours of deliberation.
[♪ somber music playing]
The jury finds the defendant,
Richard Alexander Murdaugh...
guilty of murder.
[indistinct murmuring]
Buster.
I'm so sorry, sweetheart.
[cries softly]
I just...
I just want my mom.
- [cries] - Oh!
I know you do.
[Buster sobbing]
I know you do.
[Judge Newman] The question, Mr. Murdaugh, is...
when will the lies end?
Within your own soul, only you can answer that.
And I know you have to see Paul and Maggie during the night
when you're trying to go to sleep.
I'm sure they come to visit you.
All day and every night.
And they will continue to do so
as you reflect on the last time they looked you in the eyes.
For the murder of your wife, Maggie Murdaugh,
I sentence you to a term for the rest of your natural life.
For the murder of Paul Murdaugh,
whom you probably loved so much...
I sentence you to a term of the rest of your natural life.
What's wrong?
You ever feel guilty about it all?
Like, if it weren't for all the pressure we were putting on him?
Maybe he wouldn't have killed them?
There are about a hundred things that I wish I could do differently
if I had to go back and do it again.
But do I feel guilty?
No.
Not for going after someone
who was doing all that he was doing.
And you shouldn't either.
Maybe if I hadn't pushed so hard, just accepted his offer.
You got the Beaches the money they deserved for losing Mallory.
- Yeah. - We helped the Satterfields
do the same for losing their mother.
- I know. - If it weren't for you,
he would still be out there stealing from so many more victims.
But maybe Maggie and Paul would still be alive.
What he did is on him and him alone.
Yeah, my head knows you're right.
But, damn if I don't still feel like my hands are dirty.
Okay.
Keep in touch, Mandy.
[Mandy] Thanks, Mark.
[Alex] You follow through with that letter to the dean?
No, not yet.
Then, Bus, you gotta get on that if you wanna get back in.
I mean, come on, bud. I know...
I know the trial delayed things for you and all,
but, but time's a-wastin', son.
I don't know if I want to go back.
What do you mean you don't know?
I don't know if it's what I want to do anymore.
Oh, come on. That's crazy talk. Of course, you do.
Dad, I've been meaning to ask you something.
Okay. What?
Why didn't you ask me to come home that day?
What?
Well, the day that Mom and Paul...
Why didn't you ask me to come home that day?
What do you mean?
You asked Paul to come home and look at the sunflowers.
And...
you told Mom that y'all needed to be together as a family because...
of how sick Granddaddy was, and...
you didn't ask me to come home.
Why are you askin' me this now?
Huh? You think you could have been there,
there might have been something you could've done?
- Don't do that to yourself, bo. - No, it's not like that.
Just been on my mind.
You'd just started your job, hadn't you?
- Yeah. - You're up at Rock Hill with...
with Brooklynn and her family.
It was a long drive.
I made that drive all the time, Dad.
[exhales]
You know what, I don't know what else to tell you.
I didn't wanna worry you none, I guess.
And you know what? Thank God I damn didn't.
Because if I had, whoever did this might have done it to you, too, you know?
I should go.
You got places to be, yeah?
I get it. I do.
Now listen, can you, uh, make sure
that Uncle Randy puts that money in my canteen fund?
Yeah.
Yeah, I'll give you a call. We'll talk.
Yeah?
Love you, son. I do.
[♪ somber music playing]
[♪ ominous music playing]
[crickets chirping]
[sighs]
[dogs barking]
[Paul and Maggie chatting indistinctly]
[chicken clucks]
I couldn't rest.
- What y'all doing? - I'm talking to Rogan.
Oh, he's all worried.
Yeah, bo, I'll take a video. He looks okay, though.
- Yeah, sounds good. - Where are you off to, Mags?
Oh, I'm just gonna go check on these wildflowers.
Oh, right down there. They're pretty, they are.
[dogs barking]
Get back. Get back.
[dogs barking]
He's got a bird in his mouth!
- Bubba, come on, Bubba. Come on. - [claps hands]
- [Maggie] It's a guinea. - [Paul] It's a chicken.
Ah, ah, ah. Come on, I got it.
[Maggie] Now what'd you do that for?
- [Alex] It's dead. - [Maggie] Sweet boy.
He's been out at the beach too long. That boy needs to hunt.
[Alex] Come on, Bubba. Come on. Come on, Bubba.
Come on, kennel up.
There you go. In you go.
[Paul] What are you doing? That ain't his run.
I know, but I'm more worried about these chickens.
You hungry, Cash Money? Yeah? Yeah? Let's get you some food.
Oh, I forgot to tell you that I'm redoing your bedroom at the beach house.
So if you have any requests.
Uh, I've been sleeping real good in Aunt Elizabeth's guest room.
Give me all the flower patterns.
[laughs] Oh.
Hey, don't you tempt me.
[dogs barking]
[cell phone vibrates]
Rogan said he's not that hungry, bo!
He said to feed him anything in there, bo.
- [Paul] Yeah, I'm just doing Blue bag. - [Alex] All right.
Yeah, it's not for you.
All right, Cash Money, yeah?
Yeah, I got you the good stuff.
Look at you beauties.
[dogs barking]
[gun racks]
- [gunshot] - [gasps]
[dogs barking]
[Maggie] Paul?
[gun racks]
[gunshot]
[Maggie] Paul!
Alec!
What's going on?
[dogs barking loudly]
- Bubba? - [gun racks]
[gasps]
Paul?
[barking]
[Maggie whimpering]
[breathing heavily]
Alec...
[gunshot]
[dogs barking]
[gunshot]
[barking]
[insects buzzing]
[♪ discordant music playing]
[cell phone buzzing]
[crickets chirping]
[ignition starts]
[crickets chirping]
[♪ ominous music playing]
[sniffles, cries]
- [insects chirruping] - [birds tweeting]
[indistinct chatter]
[♪ somber music playing]
[woman] Hey, honey? Look at this.
What do you think of these over here?
[man 1] Oh, that's nice.
[indistinct chatter continues]
[footsteps approach]
[man 2] Excuse me.
Do you...?
Sorry, I-I-I don't see a sticker on this.
Do you... Do you know how much it is?
Uh, you know what? This one's, uh...
You know what, sir? You can have that.
Oh.
Thank you.
[♪ wistful music playing]
[Alex] Four, seven...
[indistinct chatter]
That shit ain't four hours of TV time. It's barely even two.
That's what it was last time.
Lance, bo, come on.
Tell him, Lance. That's what it was!
Don't look at me. I don't even know what y'all doing over here.
The last time was last time. This is this time.
You gotta pay the piper, brother.
Damn, you're a fuck...
- You're a tough customer. - Mm.
- There you go. That's it. - [Jermaine] Any beef sticks?
No, that's-- That's it, dude. Last and final.
That's all I got.
All right. Four hours.
But once them Gamecocks of yours get they ass kicked, TV time is over.
All right, well, I'm gonna be back for kickoff.
Oh, so you holding out on me?
[Alex laughs]
You trying to cheat me, huh?
It's only cheating if you get caught, bo.
[chuckles]
You dirty, Red.
[cell door slams]
[door lock buzzes]
[prisoners shouting indistinctly]
[♪ somber music playing]