Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdau said he would take the position of his own defense and present his view at Thursday’s double-murder trial.
Murdoh, 54, has been charged with shooting his wife Maggie, 52, and his 22-year-old son, Paul, near the kennel on the property of his home on June 7, 2021. . he was found guilty. Murdow, whose family has controlled the small Hampton County legal system for generations, denies any role in his murder.
In court Thursday, Murdau told a judge, “I’m going to testify. I want to testify.”
Alex Murdau’s decision to testify could be a gamble. Prosecutors can question not only the deaths of his wife and son, but also about 100 charges he faces, ranging from theft from customers to arranging a highwayside shooting.
But the five-week trial has raised questions that only Murdoh can answer.
For example, a once-prominent attorney told police that hours before the murder, he was visiting his ailing mother in another town, not near her Colton County home. testified in a cell phone video taken at the kennel about five minutes before the shooting that he believed he heard Murdo along with his son and wife.
This is vital evidence in the absence of the weapon, bloody clothing, confession or surveillance video used to kill the victim.
Several witnesses, including Maggie Murdau’s sister, said that despite the brutality of the shooting and the lack of clear clues from the police, weeks after the murder, Alex Murdau was unable to secure himself or his surviving son’s safety. He testified that he did not appear to be afraid.
Murdoh is being held without bail for financial and other crimes, so even if he is found not guilty, he will not be a free man from court.
Murdow will likely spend decades in prison if convicted of most or all of these financial crimes.
