An South Carolina law enforcement agent admitted that the accused murderer Alex Murdaugh sobbed and said, “I did him so bad” when shown photos of his son’s murder in an alleged confession.
Murdaugh’s attorneys for defense insisted Wednesday that his legal son in fact stated, “They did him so bad” with tears in his eyes as they slowed the audio recordings of the conversation by state officials three days after he was alleged to have murdered his son and wife in June 2021.
State Law Enforcement Division senior special agent Jeff Croft testified he was “100% confident” that Murdaugh admitted to saying “I” during the interview and suggested that the 54-year old confessed to murdering his father Paul 22, and the wife Maggie five times, using two different guns close to the dog kennels on the Colleton County hunting estate.
The prosecution has not yet clarify why it has emphasized the importance of
“What were the things going through your mind when you heard, or misheard, ‘I did him so bad’?” defense attorney Jim Griffin asked Croft during cross-examination at the Colleton County Courthouse. “‘I was not a good dad What do you think of when you hear “‘I spoilt him”? Or, ‘I killed him'”?”
“It was definitely something we needed to follow up on,” Croft replied.
Croft admitted to the court that he didn’t immediately ask to clarify the significance of what Murdaugh meant , as he didn’t want to lose his involvement during the investigation. Griffin demanded Croft why they didn’t mention it when they interviewed him three months later. the agent responded that they didn’t get the time to do it, however, they did ask him directly whether he had killed his son and wife.
“[The jury gets] to hear the tape and make their own mind up on what he said, yes, sir,” Croft declared.
Murdaugh is the disgraced son of an influential multi-generational legal dynasty was accused of shooting troubled child Paul twice using a shotgun. Then shooting Maggie with an assault rifle several times prior to she was hit with a single execution-style shot on the side of her head. She was lying on the ground, not far from Paul.
Through the four days of trials, the prosecutor offered interesting details regarding the investigation and murder without providing any explanation. For instance, an $1,021.10 receipt from the Gucci store, with the item marked as a circle as Maggie’s cell phone was found in the middle on the main road.
Murdaugh’s defense attorneys cross-examined Croft -the defense’s 10th witness since the trial beganin an attempt to uncover flaws in the case.
Croft was asked why agents of the state didn’t raid Murdaugh’s residence in the days following the murders to look for dirty clothes, blood in the drains, or any other evidence. Croft claimed he was unaware of what other agents were doing.
Griffin Also, Griffin inquired Croft what the reason was for agents not scouring Murdaugh’s mother’s house until September, 3 months following the murders — when that was the only location Murdaugh stated he had visited prior to discovering the bodies just more than an hour later than he claimed to have murdered the bodies.
“I know I did not go and I’m not sure what any of the other agents in the investigative circle had done,” Croft stated.
A witness from Tuesday’s testimony testified about the phone records defense attorneys claim include “crucial evidence” in the trial.
Alex Murdaugh told police hours after the shootings and was repeated during Croft’s interrogation three days after, that he was not in the kennels that evening.
However, evidence from the cellphone suggests that he was in the kennels along with Maggie and Paul at the time of the murders, which were committed at about 8:50 p.m. Prosecutors claim he tried to hide his tracks with his mom by going to her house and calling family members and friends. He contacted police around 10:06 p.m. following his return to his home around 10:01 p.m.
Murdaugh’s lawyers have said “it’s much more likely” that there were two shootersbut neither was Murdaugh — which could explain the two different firearms that were used. The murder weapon is not discovered.
Murdaugh who has been found not guilty of the murders, also faces numerous charges of financial fraud as well as trying to persuade an individual to shoot Murdaugh so his son, Buster, could collect the life insurance payout of $10 million. policy. The case will be decided in a future trial.
Although Murdaugh has claimed innocence since the indictment last summer, the prosecution alleges that he shot dead his family members in order to cover his numerous financial crimes.
If convicted of murder the defendant will be subject to the minimum penalty which is thirty years. Prosecutors have not pursued capital punishment.
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