This Friday, former attorney Alex Murdaugh answered questions from his defense lawyer after hours of intense cross-examination by the prosecutor, Creighton Waters, who tried to cast doubt on his testimony from the previous day, when he admitted that he had lied about the last moments that happened with his wife and son before they were killed. In the second day of testimonies, also revealed details of his severe addiction to opioids.
Murdaugh pleaded not guilty to two murder and weapons charges in connection with the shooting that killed his wife, Margaret, and his son Paul Murdaugh. The bodies of both were discovered on the family farm on June 7, 2021..
On Thursday, before the former lawyer testified, Judge Clifton Newman denied the defense’s request to limit questioning about his financial irregularities. Murdaugh admitted that there was stole millions of dollars from his clients and his law firm, called PMPED. “I hate that I did it. I’m embarrassed about that, for my son. I am ashamed of my family, ”he assured, according to CNN.
According to his testimony, for two decades he had a deep addiction to painkillers and he was sure that none of his partners knew about that addiction, for which he continued to practice. Murdaugh testified that one cause of his financial problems was the use of opioids, but not the only one. Part of the money he stole from his clients he used to buy doses of oxicodona, while another destined her to his “accommodated” lifestyleaccording to the definition given by the prosecution.
This Friday, the defendant admitted that he sometimes took more than 2,000 milligrams of oxycodone a day in the months before his wife and son died. As she said, this gave her “energy” and made anything “more interesting.”
He also assured that he stole for years from people whom “wanted and appreciated”. Crimes helped finance his addiction, which at one point involved a few $50,000 a week, when I used up to 60 pills a day. He also described withdrawal symptoms as painful when trying to stay drug-free, according to BBC.
The former South Carolina attorney faced intense questioning about what he did on the night his wife and son were killed. On Thursday he had revealed that he was in the kennels (or kennels) where they were shot before they died. Prosecutor Creighton Waters called this version “his new his story” of him, while trying to find the inconsistencies in his account. However, Murdaugh repeated: “Beyond lying about going to the kennels, I have cooperated in all aspects of this investigation.”
The prosecutor closed his interrogation and asked if he had lied to his family, partners, friends, clients and even the police. Murdaugh agreed in most cases. “And you want this jury to create a fabricated story to fit the evidence that you presented just yesterday, after hearing testimony from an entire trial?” Waters asked, according to the agency. AP.
Murdaugh couldn’t remember how long he was in the kennels, or if he got blood on his hands pulling a dead chicken out of the dog’s mouth or what the last words he said to his son and wife were. The former lawyer blamed the killings on social media anger against his son, Paul, who had been involved in an accident that killed one person.
On Friday, he admitted that after the visit to the kennel, he returned home in a golf cart and then got up to prepare to visit his sick mother. For his part, prosecutors pointed out that the defendant killed his family to gain time, because his financial crimes were yet to be discovered.
Murdaugh is charged with the murder of his wife, Maggie, 52, and their 22-year-old son, Paul. OK con AP, if you are found guiltyHe will face 30 years to life in prison.. He is also accused of another 100 crimeswhich include theft from their clients and tax evasion. He is currently in prison, with no possibility of bail.
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