Live-streamed across the country, the trial in a small courtroom in Walterboro opens a window to a world of both simple country life and pecuniary privilege: Mr. Murdaugh and his sons hunt deer and pigeons on the family’s 1,700-acre estate, frolic on four-wheelers, gathering TV trays around the television for family dinners.
It also revealed what Mr. Murdaugh’s double life was. To many, he was a fourth-generation successful attorney who earned millions of dollars for the family business and lived a comfortable life.
But Mr. Murdaugh admitted that many things were not what they seemed: Ever since he had knee surgery years ago, he said, he had been addicted to oxycodone; he said he stole money to pay for it, often from his law firm and clients, some of whom had won settlements after serious injuries.
In his cross-examination of Mr. Murdaugh, which will continue Friday morning, the chief prosecutor sought to make clear how often and easily Mr. Murdaugh had lied not only to the police, but also to others close to him. The prosecutor, Creighton Waters, held up a stack of papers pertaining to clients from whom Mr. Murdaugh had stolen.
“Each of these, you had to sit down and look someone in the eye and convince them you were on their side, when you weren’t, correct?” he asked, looking directly at the jury.
“What I admit is that I misled them, did them wrong and stole their money,” Mr Murdaugh replied.
Prosecutors have said that at the time of the murders, Mr Murdaugh feared his financial misdemeanor was about to be exposed, and that he killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and end investigations into his finances.
Mr Waters spent much of Thursday’s cross-examination trying to establish that Mr Murdaugh had capitalized on his storied family’s reputation, suggesting that Mr Murdaugh had felt he was operating above the law. He held a volunteer position with the local prosecutor’s office that allowed him to wear a badge, and he had blue lights installed on his car.