Alex Murdaugh cries in court as bodycam footage is played

Alex Murdaugh broke down again in court Thursday as bodycam footage of the aftermath of his wife and son’s murder was played to the jury.

The South Carolina legal scion’s murder trial over the heinous slayings proved highly emotional as it entered its second day of evidence and testimony.

The 54-year-old was wiping away tears through the proceedings and often looked down in what seemed like an attempt to avoid video of his slain wife Maggie and son Paul, while at another point a member of his defense team covered the screen.

Both had been shot several times between 9 and 9:30 p.m. the night of June 7, 2021, outside their house on the family’s estate near the community of Islandton.

In the chilling footage, a distraught Murdaugh, 54, can be heard asking “They are dead, aren’t they?”  

Witness Daniel Greene, a member of the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office, can then be heard responding: “Yes sir, that’s what it looks like.”

Murdaugh had a shotgun with him in the aftermath of the murders, the video showed. He said he had grabbed it after calling 911, according to Greene. The gun was brought into the court as evidence and displayed to the jury.

In the immediate aftermath of the murder, Murdaugh told Greene he believed the slayings were related to his son Paul’s boating accident, in which he drunkenly drove his boat into a bridge, killing passenger Mallory Beach. 

The prosecution charges Murdaugh – a now-disbarred lawyer – killed each of his family members with different guns then drove to his mother’s house and texted and called his wife to help establish an alibi. He is then said to have arrived back at home at 10 p.m. and called 911.

In the immediate aftermath of the murder, Murdaugh told Greene he believed the slayings were related to his son Paul’s boating accident, in which he drunkenly drove his boat into a bridge, killing passenger Mallory Beach. 

“This is a long story. My son was in a boat wreck . . . He’s been getting threats. Most of it’s been benign stuff we didn’t take serious, um, you know he’s been getting punched… I know that’s what it is,” Murdaugh says in the body cam footage.

However, Murdaugh lawyer Dick Hartpoolian attempted to chip away at the credibility of Greene, grilled him about why he failed to document tire marks and footprints discovered at the scene.

When asked why he didn’t take pictures of the tracks, Greene said it wasn’t his job — a line he repeated when asked why he didn’t tell state police about the evidence. 

Murdaugh “talked about the tire tracks coming and going, and he told you those weren’t his tire tracks, correct?” Harpootlian asked, prompting Greene to acknowledge the statement was true.

He then accused him and other deputies of not keeping the crime scene in a pristine condition by covering their shoes when walking “in an area where there is blood, where there is brain matter.”

Later in the day, another Colleton Sheriff’s deputy, Jason Chapman, took the stand and provided insight into why the tracks weren’t taken.

“We were rushing against the weather,” the cop said, explaining it started raining the night of the murders.

The deputy also claimed that Murdaugh’s demeanor “changed” when the officers were inspecting the tracks, claiming he no longer looked upset.

“The breathing slowed, and he began to watch us work more closely, sometimes out of the corner of his eye,” Chapman said. Once the cops finished looking, Murdaugh looked distraught again, according to the testimony.

At the time of the murders, Murdaugh was in deep financial trouble and battling a drug addiction. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

If convicted, Murdaugh will face a minimum sentence of 30 years. Prosecutors are not pursuing the death penalty. The trial, which began Monday, is expected to last three weeks.