Prosecutors specify times of deaths of Murdaugh victims in new court documents

COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - In newly filed court documents, the state’s attorney general has provided the Alex Murdaugh defense team with critical information about the deaths of Murdaugh’s wife and son.

In a motion filed Tuesday, prosecutors specify that Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and Paul Murdaugh, 22, were murdered between 8:30 p.m. and 10:06 p.m. on June 7, 2021, at the Murdaugh family property in rural Colleton County.

The motion was filed in response to a defense motion demanding a specific time range for which their client would have to provide an alibi to show he was not responsible for the deadly shooting.

Murdaugh told investigators that evening that he arrived at the property at 4147 Moselle Road and found his wife and youngest son shot to death.

The defense team filed a motion in October asking that a state request for Murdaugh’s alibi be stricken, claiming that prosecutors demanded Murdaugh provide “the specific place or places [Murdaugh] claims to have been at the time of the alleged offense and the names and addresses of the witnesses upon he intends to rely to establish such an alibi” without providing them with the range of time for which that alibi would be necessary.

Based on its investigation, the State Law Enforcement Division previously estimated the deaths to have occurred between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on June 7, 2021.

The Associated Press reported that Murdaugh said he had been visiting his ailing father, Randolph Murdaugh III, before driving to the Moselle Road property where he found the victims and called 911 at approximately 10 p.m.

Randolph Murdaugh III died of cancer three days later.

The trial of Alex Murdaugh is expected to begin in Colleton County on Jan. 23.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.