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13th Juror Podcast
The Trial of Alex Murdaugh
00:33:22
The downfall of Alex Murdaugh shocked the nation when a powerful attorney from one of South Carolina’s most influential legal dynasties was accused of murdering his wife and son. Explore the prosecution’s theory, the defense’s fight for reasonable doubt, and the key moments that led jurors to a guilty verdict in one of the country’s most high-profile trials.
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- [00:01]
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- [02:03]
Brandy Churchwell
Alec Murdaugh knew how cases unfolded, how evidence was presented, what juries listened for and what they didn't. He had spent his life inside courtrooms, watching other people's worst days play out in front of him until June 7, 2021. That night, Alec Murdoch placed a frantic call to 911. He told dispatchers that his wife, Maggie and his son Paul had been shot and killed at their family's estate in Islandon, South Carolina. Over the next two years, the world watched as the once wealthy and powerful attorney fell from grace, allegations surfaced of illegal drug use, financial crimes and years of deception. Through it all, Murdaugh maintained his innocence in the murders. In January of 2023, he his trial began. To the jury, one central question mattered. Could this successful attorney, this seemingly devoted husband and father, really have killed his own family? It took six weeks to present the case and less than three hours to decide. Alec Murdaugh was found guilty and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, one for Maggie and one for Paul. But Murdoch did not go quietly into his new fate. There were appeals, allegations and claims that a court official may have influenced the jury in a case that had already captured the nation's attention. And now, more than three years later, we're left with a question no one ever expected. Could Alec Murdaugh actually be getting a new trial? This is the 13 Juror podcast where we break down real court cases and put you in the juror's seat. Two sides, same evidence. You decide what to believe. I'm your host, Brandy Churchwell. Today's episode is South Carolina versus Alec Murdoch, Part one, the trial. The Murdoch family had long been a fixture in South Carolina's Lowcountry, a legal dynasty with deep roots and even deeper influence. For generations, they held power in courtrooms and within the community. But on June 7, 2021, that legacy took a dark and irreversible turn. At 10:06pm, the 911 call came in. Alec Murdaugh told dispatchers he had just returned to the family's hunting property on Moselle Road in Colleton County. He'd been gone. And when he came back, he found Maggie and Paul near the dog kennels. Both had been shot. He estimated it had been about an hour and a half to two hours since he had last seen them alive. On the call, Alec is crying. His breathing is heavy and his words uneven. He tells the dispatcher no one else was at the property and he doesn't know who would have done this. But then, as he waits for law enforcement to arrive, he offers something else. A possible reason, perhaps even a motive.
- [05:26]
Caller or Witness
He's been being threatened by my son, had a boat back. He's been being threatened for months and months. He. He's been hit several times. Do you know who was threatening your son? There's two over the phone and you don't know the name of who was threatening him at all? My son knows. And my son knows the boat crash
- [05:51]
Brandy Churchwell
he's referring to happened on February 24, 2019. That night, 19 year old Paul Murdaugh went out on the family boat with his girlfriend and friends to an oyster roast at another friend's house. Hours later, they made a brief stop at a Beaufort waterfront bar. Then the group began heading home in the early morning hours. Witnesses later said Paul had been drinking, that he argued with his girlfriend, that he had left the wheel of the boat briefly, then returned angry and accelerated. At 2:20am the boat's Garmin Tracker recorded a spike in the speed. Seconds later, the boat crashed into the pilings of the Archer's Creek Bridge by Parris Island. Some passengers were thrown into the water, others were injured, but one of them, 19 year old Mallory beach, never made it back. Her body wasn't found for six days. In the months that followed, Mallory's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Paul was criminally charged with one count of boating under the influence causing death and two counts of boating under the influence causing serious injury. And for the Murdaugh family, the scrutiny had only just begun. According to Alec, everything changed after that crash. He said his family became targets, that Paul faced threats, hostility, even violence. So when he stood on the phone with a 911 dispatcher, his wife and son lying dead just yards away, that was where his mind went. But while both sides agree the boat crash set a chain of events into motion, they fundamentally disagree on what that chain led to. Because according to the state, the crash didn't bring danger from the outside. It brought pressure from within. As the wrongful death lawsuit moved forward, so did the discovery process, making certain questions increasingly harder for Alec to avoid. They were asking questions about the Murdaugh finances. And with those answers would come devastating truths that Alec had spent years trying to hide. So with the pressure building and the clock running out, prosecutors argue that Alec Murdaugh took matters into his own hands.
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Josh Dean
to have a stylist.
- [08:14]
Brandy Churchwell
I really look my best when someone else makes the decisions.
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- [09:08]
Brandy Churchwell
Even with all of the coverage this case has received, the motive remains one of the most difficult pieces to untangle. So I want to spend a little more time here breaking it down. Prosecutors knew this wouldn't be easy to explain, which is why they called Mark Tinsley to the stand to begin connecting the dots for the jury. Tinsley was the attorney representing Mallory Beach's family in the wrongful death lawsuit stemming from the 2019 boat crash. And from the beginning, his focus wasn't just on proving liability. It was on securing meaningful compensation for his clients in civil court. Financial compensation is the primary mechanism for holding a defendant accountable and addressing the harm caused. With criminal penalties handed separately, the lawsuit focused on securing damages for the victim's family, both as a measure of justice and a way to quantify the loss of life support and companionship. It doesn't make up for the loss, but it's the only form of accountability the civil system can offer. Tinsley introduced a key negligent entrustment in simple terms, holding ALEC legally responsible for letting Paul drive the boat, knowing his history of excessive drinking. But proving liability was only part of the equation. The next issue was where the money would actually come from. Tinsley began by looking into alec's available insurance coverage. What he found was limited, far short of what would be needed in a case involving one death and multiple serious injuries. Tinsley testified that the damages they were pursuing were in the range of $10 million. And based on what he found about the limited insurance coverage, that meant Alec Murdaugh himself could be financially responsible. When confronted, Alec claimed he was essentially broke, saying he might be able to come up with around a million dollars at most. Tinsley didn't believe him. He knew Alex personally and they moved in the same legal circles. He knew the kind of cases Alec handled and the money those cases could generate. From Tinsley's perspective, the numbers simply didn't add up. And when it became clear Alex wasn't willing to resolve the case voluntarily, Tinsley escalated. He pushed for financial transparency. He filed requests for bank records, seeking to understand Alex's true financial position. The structure of his assets and whether money had been moved or concealed. Alec objected. So Tinsley took it a step further, preparing subpoenas and filing a motion to compel, asking the court to force disclosure. After multiple delays, a hearing was scheduled for June 10, 2021. At the time, Tinsley believed Alec was simply trying to hide assets to avoid paying. But according to the state, the pressure being applied was far greater than anyone realized. Because Alec Murdoch wasn't just trying to conceal wealth. He was trying to conceal a pattern of financial misconduct that had been going on for years. And if Alec were forced to turn over his financial records, the truth would finally come to light. It had all started years earlier. Alex had been asking for checks from the law firm under the guise of expenses or fees, but then keeping the money for his own use. Safeguards that were supposed to catch that were either being worked around or weren't working. And over time, the amounts just kept getting bigger. But it didn't stop there. Alec had been taking money from his own clients, People who trusted him during some of the hardest moments of their lives. These weren't just any clients either. They included vulnerable accident survivors, a quadriplegic client, a state trooper, and even a trust fund meant for children. When settlement checks came in, he would intercept them, tell clients they were getting less than they actually were, and keep the rest. Sometimes it was just a portion. Other times it was most of it. To conceal what he was doing, he used an account labeled Forge, which also happened to be the name of a legitimate structured settlement company the law firm used. On paper, it appeared routine, but in reality, it allowed Alec to move money without drawing attention. Basically acting like his own personal pass through for money that wasn't his. Just days before the hearing that could have exposed everything, Alec was staring down the collapse of his entire life. His reputation, his career, his family. Not to mention the very real possibility of being arrested and charged with a long list of financial crimes. But what he didn't realize was that it wasn't just the court system closing in on him behind the scenes. A woman named Jeannie Seckinger had already started connecting the dots. On June 7, she confronted Alec about the missing money. Seckinger, the firm's cfo, testified that a paralegal had flagged missing settlement fees tied to Alec. When she reviewed the records, she found more discrepancies and realized it wasn't a one off, it was a pattern. She went to his office and asked about it. At first, she said, he seemed irritated, then increasingly agitated. But the conversation never reached a resolution. It was cut short when Alec got a call. He said it was about his father in the hospital. And Seckinger, knowing how close they were, backed off. But the conversation never picked back up. And neither did the hearing set for three days later. Because by the end of that night, Maggie and Paul Murdaugh would be dead.
- [14:48]
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- [15:23]
Brandy Churchwell
Motive isn't something the prosecution has to prove, but it's something juries expect, especially when you're asking them to believe a husband and father could kill his own wife and son. In this case, the state spent days walking the jury through the financial crimes and the civil lawsuit, laying out just how serious the consequences were for Alec Murdaugh if he were to be exposed. It wasn't a simple motive. Even prosecutors acknowledged that. But they argued it was a powerful one. Because once Maggie and Paul were killed, the immediate pressure on Alec eased. The boat crash lawsuit stalled, questions about his finances faded into the background. And for a moment, Alec was no longer at the center of it all. But motive alone wouldn't be enough. So the state turned to the timeline. They began reconstructing the night of June 7, 2021, using phone data, vehicle GPS, text messages, and one video that would ultimately shatter Alec's alibi. It started after his meeting with Jeannie Seckinger. She testified that once Alec got the call about his father, they ended the meeting so he could go to the hospital. But the evidence showed he didn't leave the office. Instead, he started calling Maggie. Maggie had been staying at the Edisto beach house. It was where she preferred to stay. She loved the beach and had been working on a renovation at their home there. She hadn't planned on going to Moselle that night, but Alec called and asked her to come, telling her his father was ill. Text messages showed Maggie coordinating her plans, letting her sister and the family housekeeper know that she was heading there for the night. Alec also called Paul, asking him to come by that evening to help with the property, specifically to prepare for dove season. Paul agreed and left for Moselle after finishing work. Alec left the office and arrived at Moselle around 6:40pm Paul arrived 20 minutes later. For the next hour, they rode around the property together, stopping at the shop, the shooting range and a small cabin. At one point, Paul recorded a Snapchat video of Alec standing by a leaning tree. They're laughing at the tree, not being able to stand up. And it's a quiet, almost ordinary moment, the kind that, in hindsight, feels devastating. Around 8:15pm Maggie arrived. The three of them had dinner, and about 20 minutes later, everything began to shift. At 8:38pm Paul and Maggie's phones show them arriving at the dog kennels. For the next several minutes, their activity is routine. Paul walks around, responding to messages. Maggie checks a group text. Then at 8:49pm Paul's phone locks for the last time. Thirty seconds later, Maggie's phone does the same. Neither phone is ever used again. Prosecutors argued this was the moment they were killed. During this time, Alec told investigators that he had taken a nap, then woke up and decided to drive to his mother's house to check on her. He said he was gone for about an hour and a half, and when he returned, that's when he discovered the bodies. He told law enforcement repeatedly that he had not gone down to the kennels that night, that the last time he saw Maggie and Paul alive was at dinner. Over and over again, he said the same thing. Then came the video. In what became one of the most pivotal moments of the trial, the jury saw a cell phone video recorded by Paul at 8:44pm just minutes before the phones went silent. And in that video, three voices can be heard. Paul, Maggie, and Alec placing him at the kennels at the exact time he said he wasn't there. The impact was immediate. It didn't just contradict Alec's timeline. It proved that he had lied repeatedly about the last time he saw his wife and son alive. From there, the state began filling in the rest. Prosecutors pointed to changes in Alex's appearance earlier that evening. He had been seen in the Snapchat video wearing khakis and a collared shirt. But when the first responders arrived, he was in a white T shirt and shorts. Phone data and vehicle GPS helped reconstruct Alex movements, and what they showed didn't match his story. His phone appeared largely inactive while Maggie and Paul were at the kennels. But then, about 10 minutes after prosecutors believed the shootings occurred, there was a sudden burst of activity. Nearly 300 steps were recorded in just four minutes. Prosecutors argued that wasn't someone waking up from a nap. It was someone moving with urgency. Vehicle data told a similar story. Alex car showed him accelerating down rural roads at speeds reaching nearly 80 miles per hour, far above what would be expected on those roads. And as he drove, he passed the exact location where Maggie's phone would later be found, discarded along the roadside. Around the same time, it stopped registering any activity. When he arrived at his mother's home, the timeline tightened even further. Her caregiver testified that Alec did come by that night, but only for about 15 to 20 minutes. Remember, that's much shorter than what Alec later told police. She also told the jury that after investigators began asking questions, Alec approached her and encouraged her to remember his visit as longer if anyone asked. Days later, she said, he returned again unusually early, around 6:30 in the morning, carrying what she described as either a blue tarp or rain jacket. Investigators later recovered both a tarp and a rain jacket from the property. Testing revealed a significant amount of gunshot residue on the jacket, consistent with either firing a weapon while wearing it or wrapping it around recently fired guns. Prosecutors believe Alec wanted to hide the jacket in his parents closet, not knowing that police would eventually search there as well. The murder weapons themselves were never recovered, but prosecutors argued they didn't need them. They presented evidence that the weapons used were consistent with firearms owned by the Murdaugh family. Shell casings from the scene were compared to others previously fired on the property. A firearms expert testified that the markings matched. That indicates the same weapon used to kill Maggie Murdaugh had been used there before at the shooting range and around the property. Even more troubling, the rifle believed to have been used had been purchased for Paul Murdaugh, and it's now missing. From there, the state laid out what they believe happened in those final moments. They argued that Paul was the first target shot with a 12 gauge shotgun in the feed room near the kennels. The first shot struck him in the chest, but didn't immediately kill him. As he moved toward the doorway, prosecutors say Alex fired a second shot, this one to the head. Maggie, they argued, heard the gunfire and ran toward her son. That's when Alec picked up Paul's rifle, loaded with 300 Blackout ammunition, and fired multiple shots, striking her several times before she collapsed near the kennels. The murders of Maggie and Paul shifted everything. In the immediate aftermath, Alec Murdaugh was no longer the man under scrutiny. He was the grieving husband and father, a victim of an unthinkable tragedy. And for a time, the pressure that had been building against him seemed to fade into the background. But according to the state, that relief didn't last. Because as questions started to resurface and the walls began closing in again, prosecutors say Alec made one more desperate move to try to control the narrative. On labor day weekend of 2021, three months after Maggie and Paul's deaths, Alec Murdaugh made another 911 call. This time, he said it was him who had been shot. He told responders he'd pulled over on the side of the road for a flat tire. A passerby stopped to help, and then, according to Alec, turned on him and fired a shot at his head before driving away. Jurors watched body camera footage of Alec in the ambulance, describing what he said had happened. He was transported to a hospital, treated, and later even worked with a sketch artist to identify the supposed shooter. But investigators quickly began to question that version of events. They noticed the tire didn't appear to have blown out. Instead, it had a small puncture consistent with a blade. The tire itself was a run flat, meaning it typically wouldn't disable the vehicle unless the damage was severe. Then, when they searched the area, they found a utility knife in the grass across the street from where Alex's car had been parked. Investigators reviewed surveillance from the area and spotted a distinctive truck traveling in the same direction as Alec, then turning around and passing back through. Just minutes later, that vehicle was traced to Curtis Eddie Smith. And when the knife recovered from the roadside was tested, it revealed two DNA profiles, One belonging to Smith and the other to Alec Murdoch. It was only then that Alex's story changed. He finally admitted that he had orchestrated the entire event. He said he asked Smith to shoot him, claiming he believed his surviving son, Buster, would receive life insurance money if he died. He admitted to slashing his own tire and staging the scene. According to Alec, the plan failed when the shot didn't kill him, only grazing his head. Prosecutors raised doubts about this version of events as well, pointing out that Alec had called his housekeeper to get a copy of his health insurance card before this happened. Dead men, they reminded the jury, didn't need health insurance cards. But investigators also zeroed in on the timing. The day before the roadside shooting, Alec was confronted by his law firm after a paralegal discovered a settlement check he had claimed didn't exist. Money the firm had been waiting on. When it became clear he'd had it all along and had been lying, he was forced out of the firm the very next day, as word of his firing spread, he met with a longtime friend and fellow attorney about nearly $200,000 in missing money. Once again, the pressure was building. Once again, Alex was being pushed to answer for it. And once again, he found himself at the center of a similar sudden, violent incident, one that shifted the narrative, casting him not as the one under scrutiny, but as the victim. The state's argument was clear. When pressure built, Alec Murdoch didn't face it. He redirected it. They pointed to the inconsistencies in his stories, the shifting timelines when he was confronted with evidence, the statements that didn't align with the digital data. And finally, prosecutors left the jury with one final question. Why would an innocent father lie over and over again about the last time he saw his wife and son alive? They argued that all the evidence pointed to one conclusion. Alec Murdaugh killed his wife and son. With the Murdaugh case back in the headlines and a wave of new developments to unpack, we're changing things up this week, laying out both the prosecution and the defense in a single side by side narrative before we move into all the new developments next week. When Alex's defense began to present their case, they didn't try to pretend Alec Murdoch was a perfect man. They didn't even try to defend everything he had done. They acknowledged it and told the jury that Alex was a flawed man, someone struggling with a severe opioid addiction that led him down a path of deception. They admitted he had stolen money, that he had lied, that he had hurt people who trusted him. But then they drew a line, because being an addict, being a thief, being a liar does not make someone a murderer. They asked the jury to separate those two things, to look past the financial crimes and focus only on the evidence tied to the murders of Maggie and Paul. And when you do that, they argued, the state's case starts to fall apart. The defense pointed out that there was no physical evidence tying Alec Murdaugh to the killings. No murder weapons ever recovered. No blood evidence linked him to the scene, no eyewitness placed him there at the moment of the murders. They challenged the state's timeline, calling it speculative. They criticized the reliance on phone inactivity to determine a time of death, arguing that it wasn't definitive proof of anything. They also attacked the investigation itself. They argued that the crime scene was not properly secured, that too many people moved through the area. Sled agents, family members and local law enforcement, contaminating potential evidence that could have pointed to someone else. And they raised questions about the use of two different weapons. According to the defense, it was unlikely that one person would use two Separate guns to carry out the murders. They suggested instead that it pointed to the likelihood of more than one shooter. They also pointed to witness testimony that said Paul was always leaving his guns all over the place. It didn't mean that it was Alec who fired it. They didn't ignore Alex's lies. They confronted them. Yes, he lied about being at the kennels. Yes, he lied to investigators. But they argued those lies weren't about murder. They said he was a man deep in addiction, paranoid thinking, irrationally trying to hide the extent of his drug use and financial crimes, not someone covering up a double homicide. They also challenged the state's forensic conclusions, arguing that the trajectories and interpretations presented by the prosecution's experts did not align with what they believed the physical evidence actually showed. At its core, the defense argued one thing. Reasonable doubt, a rushed investigation, assumptions presented as conclusions, and a case built on circumstantial evidence without definitive proof. But before the jury could decide what they believed, they heard directly from Alec Murdaugh himself. In a decision that carried enormous risk, Alex took the stand in his own defense. After weeks of testimony about his lies, his finances, and his actions, and he now had to face the jury and answer for all of was a moment that could humanize him or completely destroy his credibility. When his attorney, Jim Griffin, asked about the kennel video, Alec admitted it was him. He admitted he had lied. He said he wasn't thinking clearly, that his opioid addiction had led to paranoia and poor judgment. He said he was sorry. But he was firm on one thing. He did not kill his wife or son. He told the jury that after being at the kennels with Maggie and Paul, he left. And when he did, they were both alive. When questioned about the financial crimes, Alec didn't deny them. He admitted he had taken money that wasn't his. He said he was ashamed. Ashamed of what he had done and of how it affected his family, especially his surviving son, Buster. On the stand, Alec became emotional. He cried. He broke down. He referred to Paul by his nickname, Paul Paul. He described Maggie, his college sweetheart, as a loving mother. And even then, he maintained that whoever killed them did so out of anger toward Paul and that it was retaliation for the boat crash. On March 2, 2023, with all evidence in, Alec Murdaugh's fate was placed in the hands of the jury. The following day, Judge Clifton Newman handed down the sentence. In his remarks, he reflected on the Murdaugh legacy, a family name that had carried power in that very courtroom for generations. Alec's Grandfather, a prosecutor for nearly half a century, had a portrait that hung on the wall of the very courtroom where Alec had been tried to. But that legacy, he said, only made the fall more profound. He spoke directly to Alec, admonishing what he saw as a lack of remorse. But Alec maintained his innocence. He said he would never hurt Maggie or Paul. And that's when Judge Newman delivered a line that would echo far beyond that courtroom. He told Alec, quote, it might not have been you. It might have been the monster you you've become. Judge Newman sentenced Alec Murdaugh to two consecutive life sentences. The man who once stood in that courtroom seeking justice would spend the rest of his life on the other side of it. With the murder trial behind him, Alex still had to answer for his financial crimes. In September of 2023, he pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $11 million from clients and his law firm over a 16 year period between 2005 and 2021. Prosecutors described him as one of South Carolina's most prolific fraudsters. Much of that money was taken the same way, diverting settlement funds, creating fake expenses and misleading clients about what they were owed. But it didn't stop with defrauding his clients and his firm. Alec also carried out schemes that targeted insurance companies. And one of the most disturbing examples. After his housekeeper died, he helped arrange a multi million dollar insurance settlement for her family. But instead of making sure they received it, he worked with his close friend, another attorney, to keep it for themselves. The family never saw those funds. While the grieving family was facing eviction because they couldn't pay rent, Alec was spending those millions on vacations, extravagant Christmas gifts and a brand new luxury car. The attorney that helped Alec in this scheme later pleaded guilty for his role and was sentenced to prison. There was also a separate banking scheme going on. Alec had settlement checks made out to Palmetto State Bank. Even though the money was meant for his clients, those checks came from his law firm's trust account. But instead of being properly distributed, they were funneled through his banker and longtime friend, Russell Lafitte. Alec also had Lafitte appointed as conservator over some clients settlement accounts, which gave him control of their money. From there, Lafitte allowed Alec to borrow against those funds without the client's knowledge and use the money for his own benefit, including paying off loans, covering expenses, and taking cash. Lafitte was later convicted for his role in the scheme and in August 2023 was sentenced to seven years in federal prison. Murdaugh ultimately admitted to these crimes, pleading guilty to multiple federal charges, including fraud and money laundering. He was ordered to pay back millions of dollars to his victims and sentenced to 40 years in federal prison, in addition to the life sentences he is already serving for the murders of his wife and son. 22 federal convictions, two murder convictions, two life sentences, plus decades more for the financial crimes. It seemed like Alec Murdoch's story had reached its final chapter. The verdicts were in, the sentences handed down. On paper, this case looked finished. But some cases don't end when the gavel falls. Just when it seemed like everything was settled, new questions started to surface. Serious ones. Allegations that a court official may have influenced the jury. Claims of improper misconduct. Behind the scenes motions and appeals that don't just challenge details, but the integrity of the trial itself. And now those questions have changed everything. In a stunning decision, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Alec Murdaugh will receive a new murder trial. In the next episode. We step outside the jury box, we break down the jury tampering allegations, the controversy surrounding Becky Hill, the book deals and media attention surrounding the trial, and the legal battles that ultimately led to one of the country's most high profile murder convictions to be overturned. Because after everything this case has already become, the story is no longer about how it ended. It's about what happened next. Thirteenth Juror is an audio Chuck production hosted by Brandy Churchwell. Ashley Flowers is executive producer. You can follow 13th Juror on Instagram @Thirteenth Juror podcast. I think Chuck would approve.
- [36:54]
Josh Dean
Everyone's told a lie. But what happens when one lie becomes a life, a movement, a conspiracy? I'm Josh Dean, host of Chameleon, and I uncover true stories of deception scams so intimate and convincing, they fooled the people closest to them. These aren't strangers. They're lovers, friends and trusted allies. Because the most dangerous cons don't feel like crimes. They feel personal. Listen to Chameleon wherever you get your podcasts.