The 8:44 p.m. video on Paul Murdaugh's phone that cracked Alex's alibi
He called at 10:07 p.m.
On June 7, 2021, Alex Murdaugh told emergency dispatchers in Colleton County, South Carolina, that he had found the bodies of his wife, Maggie, and their son, Paul, at the family’s hunting property, Moselle.
He said he had not been at Moselle when the murders occurred.
He said he had been at his mother’s house.
Then investigators looked at Paul’s phone.
They found a video.
It was recorded at 8:44 p.m. that night.
It captured Alex’s voice at the dog kennels, near where the bodies were found.
The video directly contradicted his alibi.
It became a pivotal piece of evidence.
What else was on that video?
What did he say?
What did he see?
The record does not describe the video’s content beyond Alex’s voice.
That detail remains unestablished.
But the timestamp was enough.
Not because a phone video proves everything.
Because it places a man where he said he was not.
The kennels sat close to the bodies.
The voice on the recording was his.
He was there at 8:44 p.m.
He told investigators he was not there at all.
The contradiction did not resolve itself.
It waited.
THE 911 CALL
The call came at 10:07 p.m.
Emergency dispatchers in Colleton County received it from Alex Murdaugh.
He reported that he had found the bodies of his wife and son.
What else he said on that call is not in the record.
The dispatchers sent deputies to Moselle, the family's hunting property.
Responding deputies found Maggie Murdaugh shot multiple times with a rifle.
They found Paul Murdaugh shot twice with a shotgun.
Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division took over the investigation within hours.
SLED arrived while the deputies were still on the property.
The Murdaugh name carried weight in the Lowcountry.
It was a legal dynasty, with generations of prosecutors and attorneys.
The family had connections to law enforcement and the judiciary.
That made the scene at Moselle more than a double homicide.
It made it a public event.
The national attention came quickly.
A prominent lawyer, a dead wife, a dead son.
The details would keep coming.
The rifle was never found.
The shotgun was never found.
The investigation had begun, but the questions were already stacking.
THE ALIBI CRACKS
Early on, Alex Murdaugh told investigators he had been at his mother's house at the time of the killings.
He said he had not been at Moselle.
Investigators found a video on Paul's phone, recorded at 8:44 p.m. that night.
The video captured Alex's voice at the dog kennels near where the bodies were found.
It contradicted his alibi.
It became a pivotal piece of evidence.
Forensic analysis showed Maggie was shot with a rifle.
Paul was shot with a shotgun.
The murder weapons were never recovered.
Investigators noted a financial motive.
Alex's law firm was investigating missing funds.
He faced potential exposure from a 2019 boat crash involving Paul.
The exact nature of the financial motive is not detailed in the record.
The boat crash's role is also not detailed in the record.
That would require evidence.
In September 2021, Alex was implicated in a scheme to stage his own shooting.
Prosecutors alleged it was for a life insurance payout for his surviving son.
That incident led to additional charges.
The defense argued the state's case was circumstantial.
They said Alex was a grieving husband and father.
The video sat on a dead man's phone.
It placed the accused at the kennels at 8:44 p.m.
The bodies were found hours later.
The rifle was never found.
The shotgun was never found.
The alibi was cracking.
THE TRIAL
The trial opened on January 23, 2023, in Colleton County.
Judge Clifton Newman presided.
The prosecution called more than 75 witnesses over several weeks.
Forensic experts testified.
Family members testified.
The defense called fewer witnesses.
Alex Murdaugh took the stand in his own defense.
He maintained his innocence.
He denied involvement in the murders.
The defense argued the state's case was circumstantial.
They painted him as a grieving husband and father.
The specific arguments made by the defense during the trial are not detailed in the record.
The jury heard about the 8:44 p.m. video.
They heard about the missing weapons.
The rifle was never found.
The shotgun was never found.
On March 2, 2023, the jury began deliberating.
They deliberated for less than three hours.
They returned a verdict on all four counts.
Guilty.
Two counts of murder.
Two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
Judge Newman sentenced him to two consecutive life sentences.
Without the possibility of parole.
The gavel came down.
The courtroom was silent.
It was not a theory anymore.
It was a verdict.
AND THE STORY STILL ISN'T OVER
Alex Murdaugh is serving two consecutive life sentences at the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
His defense team has filed appeals, alleging jury tampering by a court clerk.
The record does not establish the status of that allegation.
As of the latest reports, the appeals have not succeeded.
That is where the legal case sits. Not closed. Not resolved.
In a separate matter, he pleaded guilty in 2023 to federal charges of financial fraud and money laundering.
He admitted to stealing millions from clients and his law firm.
The courtroom was silent for the verdict. It is still silent on the rest.
Buster Murdaugh has remained largely out of the public eye.
He has occasionally spoken publicly about his father's conviction.
The law firm that bore the family name, Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth, and Detrick, severed ties with Alex.
The family's legal legacy was dismantled piece by piece.
Documentaries, podcasts, and books have been made about the case.
They are numerous. They are widely watched. They are not part of the official record.
The 8:44 p.m. video remains on Paul's phone, a documented fact.
The murder weapons were never recovered.
The appeals continue. The questions linger.
The story is not over. It is just waiting.
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