The United States has been avidly following for two weeks the trial of Alex Murdaugh,
a powerful lawyer
from the south of the country accused of
having killed his wife and son
, a true chronicle of the surprising fall from grace of a public figure.
As in an Agatha Christie novel, members of high society, domestic workers and deceived friends parade across the dais, under the watchful eye of
cameras that broadcast live
hearings throughout the United States.
On Wednesday, proceedings were suspended for two hours due to a bomb alert, the origin of which remains a mystery.
Alex Murdaugh, the accused of the crimes (AP).
As discussions resumed, the focus was once again on the defendant, a stocky 54-year-old redheaded man who denies any responsibility for the shooting death of his wife
Maggie, 52, and their youngest son Paul, 22
, in 2021 in his own home in the southern state of South Carolina.
Coming from a long line of highly influential local judges and prosecutors, the man knows the world of the courts well.
For his trial, he also
had to take down his grandfather's painting of
him, who sat for a long time in court in Walterboro, a city in Colleton County, in that state.
This wealthy family
fascinates news channels, which repeatedly broadcast a very glamorous photo of the Murdaugh couple with their two children (she in a fur coat, the men in black tuxedos), as well as aerial images of their huge estate, christened " Moselle", in which the men liked to
hunt wild hogs.
On June 7, 2021, this decked-out veteran became the central protagonist at a crime scene.
FBI agent Dwight Falkofske testifying at the trial (AP).
The murderers
Shortly after 10 p.m., Alex Murdaugh complainingly called emergency services and explained that he had discovered the lifeless bodies of Maggie and Paul near the kennel area.
The individual told investigators that he made the macabre discovery just after visiting his mother, a senile woman
unable to corroborate his statements.
In turn, the elderly woman's caretaker confirmed that he had spent "twenty minutes" by her side that night, but reported worrying pressure in the following days.
In a confrontation, he said that "he told me he stayed 30 to 40 minutes" and the next day offered to finance "my wedding party," said a visibly uncomfortable Mushell Smith.
The public is eagerly following the trial and there are no seats left in the Court (AP).
This discrepancy is significant because, according to the prosecution, the murders occurred around 9:45 p.m., when the victims had stopped answering their phones.
However, a minute earlier, Paul was talking to a friend about an injured puppy.
To show him the animal,
he had recorded a video
that he did not have time to send.
Investigators have recovered it: we hear Paul, his mother and a male voice.
For the prosecutors and several witnesses, without a doubt,
it is Alex Murdaugh.
Alex Murdaugh (left) speaking with one of his lawyers (AP).
Never could a father who, in everyone's opinion, had a "loving relationship" with his wife and children, have committed such a "ghastly" murder, his lawyer Richard Harpootlian replied, pointing out the absence "of material evidence."
The dark side of the lawyer
But according to information released by the Prosecutor's Office, Alex Murdaugh had a dark side: to maintain his lifestyle and an
addiction to opiates
, he had spent years
stealing crazy sums of money
from his law firm, from his clients, from his relatives... . and was close to being unmasked.
First, because his son Paul
killed one of his friends
while drunk driving a boat in 2019. With the lawsuit underway, the court sought to know the state of the father's finances to find out if he could pay possible damages.
Then, because the financial director of his law firm had detected anomalies in his files.
The morning of the murder
she had asked him for an explanation.
The crime weapon is shown during the trial (AP).
And finally, because he would have
embezzled millions of dollars
paid by an insurance company to the relatives of his housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, who
died after a fall
on the stairs of "Moselle".
From the stand during the court case, his son Michael Satterfield, a frail young man wearing a T-shirt, explained that he, too, had held Alex Murdaugh to account in June 2021.
Planned suicide?
For prosecutors, the cornered father developed a desperate ploy to divert attention.
With suicidal intent.
Two months after the murders,
he was found with a bleeding head
on a road.
Investigation quickly revealed that he had asked a former client to kill him so his eldest son, Buster, would
receive $10 million
in life insurance.
But his accomplice did not.
Alex Murdaugh may be sentenced to death if found guilty (AP).
This insurance scam, as well as the hundreds of frauds uncovered since the murders, will come to trial later.
Before that, the jury will have to give its verdict.
Alex Murdaugh
faces the death penalty.
Without waiting, various podcasts and documentaries sprang up.
"The Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal" will premiere February 22 on
Netflix
in the United States.
And Hulu is preparing an adaptation.
AFP Agency.
look also
An island appeared out of nowhere with strange life forms
look also
Sex, drugs and rock: the 20 most famous groupies in history
look also
A grandmother returned $15,000 she found and got a surprise
GML
