Alex Murdo is devastated by the fatal shooting of his wife and son, his surviving son testifying in his father’s double murder trial on Tuesday, as defense works to counter prosecutors’ claims that Murdo was responsible for the murders.
He was heartbroken. I walked through the door and saw him, I hugged him, Buster Murdo said of his father meeting in class after learning that his mother, Margaret Maggie Murdo, and younger brother, Paul Murdo, 22, had been shot dead. Alex Murdo was “devastated,” said Buster, adding that his father was in tears and unable to speak.
Buster Murdo is the third witness called by the defense, who opened their case Friday, after prosecutors called more than 60 witnesses to support their case that 54-year-old Alex Murdo died on June 7, 2021, his wife and son in Island ton. Family home in an attempt to divert attention from his alleged financial crimes, which quickly came to light and he now faces 99 charges in addition to murder.
Alex Murdough pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two counts of weapons in the murder, and defense has described Murdough as a loving father and husband who was falsely accused after an allegedly poorly conducted investigation.
During the last three weeks of the trial, prosecutors tried to overcome the lack of direct evidence, such as eyewitnesses, linking Murdov to the murder. Instead, the case was based largely on circumstantial evidence suggesting that Murdo had lied to investigators and was at the scene of the crime minutes before the murder.
His defense attorneys have criticized the prosecution’s case as speculative and dismissed their focus on his alleged financial plans as irrelevant.
The defense used Buster Murdo on Tuesday to undermine testimony from a state witness who told the court late last month that he believed Alex Murdo inadvertently confessed to the murders while talking to investigators.
The witness, South Carolina Law Enforcement Special Agent Jeff Croft, said he believed the word Murdo was referring to Paul’s body during an emotional interview with investigators on June 10, 2021, I hurt him a lot.
Croft did not respond to the statement, however, and the defense claimed Murdo instead said: You did very badly, a claim Buster backed up on Tuesday.
The June 10, 2021 taped interview isn’t the first time he’s heard his father say, They did so badly, Buster said.
“The first time I heard him say it was the night I went to the Moselle, he said, referring to the Islandton estate, the night of June 7th.
Did you say that more than once? asked attorney Jim Griffin.
The defense also sought to refute the testimony of the nanny of Murdo’s mother, who testified that Murdo had visited her mother’s house in Almeda between 8.30pm and 9pm on the night of the murders. And 9:30 p.m. Caretaker Mushel Shelly Smith has been looking after Murdo’s mother since 8 p.m. to 8am and stated that late night visits were not uncommon.
But his family did not stick to a set schedule when visiting his grandparents, as his father often did. It can happen any time. We go out a lot at lunchtime, a lot at night, there’s no set schedule, says Buster. It’s kinda dirty in there.
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