The state’s top attorney said Wednesday that only Richard “Alex” Murdo could have killed his wife and son, telling jurors that the now-disbarred South Carolina attorney was “living a lie” and trying to use the killing to cover his tracks. Reuters.

In his closing argument, Creighton Waters said the evidence presented during more than a month of testimony, including Murdo’s presence at the crime scene moments before the June 7, 2021, murders and his lies afterward, all point in one direction.

“After an exhaustive investigation, there is only one person who had the motive, who had the means, who had the opportunity to commit these crimes, and whose culpable conduct following these crimes betrays her,” Waters said.

“The accused is the only person who lived a lie. The accused is the person who was hit by the storm,” said the prosecutor.

Murdaugh, 54, the scion of an influential family of lawyers from the area west of Charleston, was accused of killing his wife Maggie, 52, and their youngest son, Paul, aged 22, outside a dog shelter on their property known as Moselle.

Jurors traveled to Moselle to view the crime scene during the day on Wednesday.

Prosecutors argued that Murdo committed the murders in an attempt to gain sympathy as his life crumbled amid allegations that he stole vast sums from clients and law partners to fuel a years-long opioid addiction and maintain a lavish lifestyle.

Murdo admitted to stealing millions of dollars from clients and his law firm.

Murdaugh, who has denied any involvement in the murders in court, faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted.

Widespread publicity and a Netflix documentary

The case has attracted intense media coverage, given the family’s enormous judicial and political power in and around Colleton County, where the trial is taking place. For decades, until 2006, family members were top prosecutors in the region, and Murdo was a prominent personal injury attorney in the state.

In addition to the murders, Murdoch was charged with dozens of financial crimes, including an alleged plot to commit suicide so his eldest son, Buster, could collect $10 million in insurance.

“He was a person who enjoyed special popularity and respect in this community. But he’s also someone who’s managed to avoid responsibility all his life,” Waters said.

Murdoch’s lawyers, who will present their closing arguments later Wednesday, sought to portray him as a loving family man who, despite struggling financially and suffering from a severe opioid addiction that drove him to lie and steal, would never harm his wife and child . .

Murdaugh said last week that he lied about where he was the night of the murders, changing his testimony after jurors were shown video evidence that showed him at the scene moments before investigators said the crimes took place.

In addition, his youngest son, who was killed with his mother, was investigated for involuntary manslaughter because he drove a boat under the influence of alcohol, crashed it into a bridge, and one of the people who was with him in the boat, she was thrown into the cold water and drowned.

The Murdo family tried all tricks to save Paul from prison, which they succeeded until he was killed.

Their story is also the subject of a Netflix documentary: The Murdaught Murders, A Southern Story