Alex Murdaugh’s son approached his legal scion father about “bags of pills” about a month before he and his mother were shot dead on the family’s South Carolina estate, jurors heard in court Friday.
“I am still in [Edisto Beach] because when you get here we have to talk,” Paul Murdaugh said in a tense voicemail to his father on May 6, 2021, seemingly referring to the Edisto Beach home where his mother, Maggie, preferred to live.
“Mom found several bags of pills in your computer bag.”
One month later, on June 7, Paul, 22, and Maggie Murdaugh, 52, were found dead from gunshot wounds in the kennels at the family’s Islandton hunting lodge.
Alex Murdaugh, the scion of a storied southern legal dynasty, is now on trial for the murders.
The transcript of Paul’s brief message, which was shared on Twitter by the Post and Courier reporter Avery G. Wilks, was among several pieces of cell phone evidence presented by the state’s attorneys as the prosecution rested its case before the weekend.
Over four weeks of testimony, prosecutors have portrayed Murdaugh, 54, as an incompetent lawyer with an expensive opioid habit who allegedly killed his wife and son in order to cover up his financial crimes.
Bombshells heard in court as the prosecution painted its case include allegations that the once prominent lawyer spent up to $50,000 per week on drugs, The Daily Beast reported.
The outlet also stated that Maggie Murdaugh’s sister, Marian Proctor, previously testified that Paul Murdaugh was dubbed the “‘little detective’” for keeping tabs on his father’s addiction.
“He was always looking to make sure his dad was behaving,” Proctor said.
While it is not clear if Alex Murdaugh responded to his son’s May 6 message, defense attorney Peter Rudofski revealed on cross-examination that he did send an apology text to his wife the following day.
“I am very sorry that I do this to all of you. I love you,” Barber claimed the message read.
Maggie Murdaugh did not respond.
During his testimony, however, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) agent Peter Rudofski revealed that the Murdaugh matriarch researched different types of pills later in the month.
On May 26, Maggie Murdaugh looked up “white pill 20 on one side rp” and “green gel pill p30,” which were determined by investigators to be oxycodone and chlordiazepoxide, respectively.
The content of Paul Murdaugh’s voicemail also came the day after jurors learned that Alex Murdaugh’s brother reported him for suspicious behavior after a failed roadside shooting.
About two months after Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were killed, Alex Murdaugh told first responders that he had been shot by a random man on a rural road. Though his wounds were minor, he was airlifted for treatment in Savannah, Georgia.
Two days later, Buzzfeed News reported, Randy Murdaugh told police his brother was acting strangely, prompting an investigation that unraveled the legal scion’s plan to have himself killed so that his surviving son, Buster, could receive an insurance payout.
“I knew I was about to lose everything, and I figured he was better off that way than dealing with me,” Alex Murdaugh told investigators in a phone interview that was played in court this week.
“I was in a bad, bad, bad place.”
Murdaugh’s defense team is set to begin their arguments next week.
In a statement to The Post, before proceedings began in January, one expert guessed that Murdaugh’s lawyers would call the man hired for the insurance scheme to the stand.
“Because of the money conveyed to Eddie, he clearly has facts at his disposal that could prove very illuminating in court,” Joe McCulloch said of the alleged phony gunman, Curtis “Cousin Eddie” Smith.
“It’s likely the defense will call him to the stand [but] the prosecution will try to limit his involvement. Judge Newman is going to have his hands full with these horses.”
