What was the motive for Alex Murdaugh? State prosecutors vital closing arguments explored

On June 7, 2021, Alex Murdaugh, who belonged to a prominent local family, made a 911 call claiming that he found his wife and son dead at the family’s hunting lodge in South Carolina. It was later discovered that Murdaugh’s 52-year-old wife, Maggie, and 22-year-old son, Paul, sustained multiple gunshot wounds. He claimed that during the death, he was with his mother, who had dementia, and his terminally ill dad.

The Alex Murdaugh trial began on January 25, 2023, and the closing arguments were heard on March 1 and 2. According to prosecutors, Murdaugh's primary motive for killing his family back in 2021 was so that he could distract investigators from looking into his financial problems. They further revealed that Murdaugh was suffering from stress due to several factors, which eventually got him entrapped in a series of lies.

---

Prosecutors claimed that Alex Murdaugh was under extreme stress and was worried about his financial crimes getting revealed

The closing arguments for Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial took place recently, which convicted him of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, in June 2021. According to state prosecutors, he was the only one with a strong motive, means, and opportunity to murder his son and wife. They also claimed that Murdaugh lied, which later backfired against him. Prosecutor Creighton Waters said:

“People lie because they know they did something wrong. That’s why he lied, ladies and gentlemen.”

Waters further told the jury:

“This defendant … has fooled everyone, everyone, everyone who thought they were close to him. Everyone who thought they knew who he was, he’s fooled them all. He fooled Maggie and Paul too, and they paid for it with their lives. Don’t let him fool you, too.”

The prosecution claimed that Alex Murdaugh’s primary motive was to delay the investigations into his rising financial issues. Around 70 witnesses took the stand to testify in the murder trial. The prosecution’s evidence was more circumstantial and lacked the presence of any direct evidence.

Alex Murdaugh defended himself by denying killing his wife and son in June 2021. However, he admitted to having lied to the investigative officers about his whereabouts during the killings. Murdaugh also confessed that he stole millions of dollars from his former clients and the law firm and was lying to cover up his crimes and tracks.

Moreover, Netflix's docuseries Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal dives deep into the factors of the case where Alex Murdaugh killed his wife and son in 2021. It also highlights the motive behind committing such a heinous crime. Episode 2 of the docuseries explains that Alex’s oldest son got kicked out of the University of South Carolina on charges of plagiarism. Mentions of stress in Alex and Maggie’s marriage have also been mentioned.

Besides that, it was revealed that a forensic accountant was hired by Maggie to look into unpaid bills and also that she was having talks with a divorce lawyer. Adding to the financial stress, 22-year-old Paul was charged for his participation in the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach in 2019. The series further revealed that Alex was caught misappropriating money from his own law firm’s clients, after which he had to resign. As a result, the entire family was going through stress in several aspects.

One of Murdaugh's former clients was Gloria Satterfield. The latter's family attorneys, Ronnie Richter and Eric Bland, said:

“We have evidence that [Alex misappropriated money from other clients of the Murdaugh firm] many times predating [misappropriating money from the Satterfield family].”

The primary motive behind Alex murdering Maggie and Paul was to distract investigators from looking into his financial problems. Morgan Doughty, Paul’s former girlfriend, said:

“I think Mr. Alex, facing all this heat from the media, from the court... He's about to be exposed from all angles of cheating and lying and stealing. I do believe that Alex Murdaugh would kill Paul and Maggie.”

The Guardian further reported:

“By murdering his wife and son, prosecutors said, Murdaugh hoped to buy time and sympathy.”

It has been discovered that Alex Murdaugh faces around 99 charges, all related to his alleged financial crimes. These will be adjudicated in a separate trial. Waters said:

“The evidence that you’ve heard shows that the defendant became so addicted and so dependent on the velocity of money that the millions of dollars in legal fees that he was receiving was not enough and so he started to steal.”

Prosecutors revealed that he was more stressed in the spring of 2021. The CFO of his law firm testified against him and mentioned that she had confronted Alex Murdaugh regarding the missing funds of the company on June 7, 2021. Furthermore, Paul’s trial for the death of Mallory Beach could also unearth and shed light on his alleged financial crimes. Waters continued:

“The pressures on this man were unbearable and they were reaching a crescendo the day his wife and son were murdered by him.”

The jury eventually deliberated for a few hours before coming to the verdict that Alex was guilty of killing Maggie and Paul in June 2021.