Alex Murdaugh's defense lawyer Jim Griffin grilled ballistics expert Paul Greer Friday on cross-examination.
Greer testified on direct that older shell casings found on the Murdaugh's sprawling hunting estate and near Maggie Murdaugh's slain body had cycled through the same weapon.
But Griffin challenged what he called the "subjective" techniques used in firearms examinations.
"Isn't it true your field of expertise has come under criticism by the scientific community?" asked Griffin in the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina.
"There has been criticism, but again, there’s been research completed to support firearm identifications," Greer replied.
Griffin said that the National Academy of Sciences had issued a report "pretty critical" of the field.
“The process of making that identification is subjective in nature but it’s based on some objective date," Greer told jurors. The examiners look at contours, ridges and peaks under high magnification to see whether two projectiles came from the same weapon.
"You agree your chosen field is part art as much as science?“ Griffin asked.
"Our field is an applied science,” the weapons expert responded.
On cross-examination , ballistics expert Paul Greer conceded that he can't conclude that any of the weapons seized from the Murdaugh family's property killed Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.
Defense lawyer Jim Griffin challenged Greer, an agent with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, on the reliability of the firearm examinations.
He asked whether it was Greer's opinion that "every .300 Blackout manufactured in the world makes unique tool marks when it cycles a bullet and ejects it."
Griffin specifically requested a yes or no answer, but Greer was evasive. "It's hard to say," he said at one point.
The attorney reworded the question at least three times.
"It is my opinion that they had all been cycled by the same weapon," Greer replied after a long pause.
Many spectators described the ballistics testimony as confusing and convoluted.
It would be a major victory for prosecutors if they can persuade the jury that Maggie was murdered with one of the family's weapons.
Ballistics expert Paul Greer testified Friday that older shell casings found on the Moselle property were ejected from the same rifle that discharged the shell casings found around Maggie Murdaugh's body.
“[The shell casings] were loaded into, extracted and ejected from the same firearm as those at the crime scene around Margaret Murdaugh's body,” Greer testified. He stopped short of saying the cartridges were fired by the same weapon.
Investigators collected .300 Blackout shell casings near Moselle's main residence, at the property's firing range and around Maggie's body near the dog kennels.
Prior to the break, Greer explained that when a gun is fired it leaves microscopic markings on cartridges and bullets. These markings can be compared to see whether they were cycled through the same weapon.
Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters has focused on three .300 Blackout rifles owned by the Murdaugh family, two of which are unaccounted for.
He bought his sons a pair of .300 Blackout rifles with thermal scopes for more than $9,000 as Christmas gifts in 2016. But Paul Murdaugh's was either lost or stolen.
Alex Murdaugh replaced Paul's missing .300 Blackout rifle with a stripped-down version in 2018 for $875.
Nearly 30 guns were seized from Murdaugh's gunroom and tested after the murders -- including Buster Murdaugh's .300 Blackout rifle. But Paul's was not among them.
Paul's friend, Will Loving, testified Thursday that he saw the replacement .300 Blackout rifle as recently as late March 2021 at Moselle.
Paul was killed with a shotgun.
{{#rendered}}Weapons expert and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) Agent Paul Greer took the witness stand Friday and displayed a camouflage shotgun from the evidence box in Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial.
"When I compared and examined those two shot shells with each other, I determined that those two shot shells had been fired by the same firearm," Greer said
Paul Murdaugh was fatally shot twice with a shotgun on June 7, 2021, on his family's hunting estate called Moselle in Islandton, South Carolina.
Colleton County authorities found Paul’s body at the entrance of the feedroom attached to the dog kennels on his family’s 1,700-acre hunting property. Investigators found brain matter near his feet as a result of the gunshot wound to his head.
His mother, Maggie Murdaugh, was fatally shot with a rifle nearby.
Nearly 30 guns were seized from Murdaugh's gunroom and tested after the murders. Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters has focused on three .300 Blackout rifles once owned by the Murdaugh family, two of which are unaccounted for.
Fox News' Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.
Alex called 911 and reported that he was shot in the head while changing a tire on Old Salkehatchie Road by a gunman in a passing truck Sept. 4, 2021 — not far from the Moselle crime scene.
Soon after, Alex issued statements announcing that was leaving the family practice and entering rehab for a longstanding opioid addiction.
Alex was actually pushed out of the law firm the day before the shooting after he was accused of stealing millions from clients’ settlements.
Jim Griffin, Alex’s lawyer, said his client sustained a skull fracture and hemorrhaging from the shooting, but SLED described the wound as "superficial."
Alex soon admitted that he hired former client Curtis Edward Smith , known as 'Cousin Eddie" to kill him so his surviving son, Buster, could collect a $10 million life insurance policy.
He and Smith were indicted on fraud and conspiracy charges for the murder-suicide scheme.
In June 2022, he and Smith were hit with new felony charges — including one for the distribution and purchase of the narcotic oxycodone.
The South Carolina Supreme Court yanked Alex’s law license over his "egregious ethical misconduct" – a decision he didn’t contest
Weapons expert and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) Agent Paul Greer took the witness stand Friday and displayed a camouflage shotgun from the evidence box in Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial.
He is expected to testify that a weapon previously fired at Moselle is the same weapon that fired the cartridges collected from scene where Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were murdered.
Nearly 30 guns were seized from Murdaugh's gunroom and tested after the murders. Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters has focused on three .300 Blackout rifles once owned by the Murdaugh family, two of which are unaccounted for.
Prior to a break, Greer explained how a firearms examination could allow investigators to link a fired bullet cartridge to a specific kind of gun.
The trial broke for lunch at about 1:30 p.m. Friday. Greer, a critical witness for the prosecution, is expected back on the stand in the afternoon.
Fox News' Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.
{{#rendered}}The Murdaugh family appeared for the eighth day of arguments in Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial at a Colleton County courtroom on Friday.
Alex Murdaugh is accused of fatally shooting his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, on June 7, 2021, at the family's Islandton hunting estate called Moselle.
Prosecutors say Murdagh was motivated by money and killed his wife and son in an effort to distract from his 99 counts of financial crimes totaling an estimated $9 milklion that he is also currently facing.
Alex Murdaugh's sole surviving son, 26-year-old Buster Murdaugh, arrived to court again Friday with his girlfriend, 26-year-old Brooklynn White.
Alex Murdaugh's sister, Lynn Marie Murdaugh, and brother, John Marvin Murdaugh, were also spotted walking into the Walterboro courthouse on Friday.
Click here to view a gallery of crime scene evidence photos from Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial for the slayings of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and his son, Paul Murdaugh.
Alex Murdaugh is accused of blowing off his son's head with a shotgun and executing his wife with a .300 Blackout rifle near the dog kennels on the family's sprawling hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina.
Agent Paul Greer, of South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, a weapons expert, is currently on the stand on the eighth day of the trial.
He is the prosecution's 27th witness, and is expected to testify that a weapon previously fired at Moselle is the same weapon that fired the cartridges collected from the murder scene.
Nearly 30 guns were seized from Alex's gunroom and tested after the murders. Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters has focused on three .300 Blackout rifles once owned by the Murdaugh family.
Two of those weapons are unaccounted for. The trial broke for lunch at about 1:30 p.m. Friday. Greer, a critical witness for the prosecution, is expected back on the stand in the afternoon.
South Carolina investigators found Maggie Murdaugh’s iPhone about half-a-mile from where they discovered her body on June 7, 2021.
Maggie and her youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, were shot to death that evening on the family’s hunting estate called Moselle in Islandton.
Dylan Hightower, an investigator with the 14th Circuit Court, testified Thursday that he visited the hunting estate on June 8, 2021, and used Find My iPhone to locate Maggie’s phone on Moselle Road. The road is about half a mile from where investigators located her body and Paul’s body near the family’s dog kennels on the 1,700-acre property.
Hightower also downloaded the data on Alex Murdaugh's phone a few days after the slayings. He reviewed Alex Murdaugh's Verizon call records and compared them with data from his cellphone.
On Alex Murdaugh’s physical iPhone, Hightower saw two calls on the day of the double murder, but the Verizon record showed there were 73 calls.
Lt. Britt Dove previously testified that Alex deleted entries in his call log.
Fox News' Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.
{{#rendered}}Four South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) agents were called to the stand in quick succession to testify that they had taken buccal swabs to collect DNA from a list of various people tied to Alex Murdaugh.
Samples were taken from Paul Murdaugh's ex-girlfriend, Morgan Doughty in addition to Miley Altman and Anthony Cook -- all survivors of the 2019 boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach.
Paul Murdaugh crashed his father's boat into a bridge in Beaufort, ejecting Beach into the frigid water. He was criminally charged for the incident.
The family was also facing a wrongful death suit over the collision that threatened to expose Alex's decade-long corruption schemes, according to prosecutors.
Swabs were taken from Alex's brother Randolph "Randy" Murdaugh IV, the Murdaugh groundskeeper CB Rowe and others.
Before the SLED agents testified, SLED agent Thomas Darnell, a fingerprint expert took the stand.
He testified that he swabbed the shotgun that Alex retrieved after finding his slain wife and son's bodies and .300 Blackout rounds found on the property.
The expert said he was unable to find any detailed prints.
Jeanne Seckinger, CFO of the Parker Law Group, testified Thursday about confronting Alex Murdaugh over missing funds 12 hours before the double murder of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.
After a discrepancy arose over $792,000 in missing settlement money, Seckinger questioned Alex in his office June 7, 2021. She had already asked him about these funds several times.
"[Alex] was leaning on a file cabinet outside his office, and he turned to look at me as I came up and said, 'What do you need now?' and gave me a very dirty look," recalled Seckinger, who had known Alex for 40 years. "We went in the office and closed the door, and I told him I had reason to believe he received the funds himself and that I needed proof that he had not."
Settlement payouts are supposed to be sent directly to the firm, not to the attorney, she said.
Alex assured her that the money was there, and he would get her documentation, but he had actually already spent it.
The conversation was interrupted when Alex received a phone call that his father, Randolph Murdaugh III, was in the hospital and dying.
That afternoon, he called Seckinger again to ask how much money was in his 401k account. "He stated that he was working on some financials for the boat accident hearing later in the week,” she said.
That night, Seckinger heard that Maggie and Paul Murdaugh,were shot to death at Moselle.
The double murder halted the firm's inquires into Alex's finances and the boat wreck hearing scheduled later that week was canceled.
But weeks later, the firm did a full accounting that revealed Alex's decade-long scheme to embezzle from the firm and his client.
Parker Law Group was formerly called Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick law firm, which was founded by Alex Murdaugh's great grandfather. The firm was renamed after Alex's alleged crimes tarnished the Murdaugh name.
Jurors were excused for her testimony, which is part of a hearing to determine whether evidence of Alex's financial crimes will be admitted as evidence at his double murder trial.
Richard "Buster" Murdaugh Jr. — the lone surviving son of disgraced South Carolina lawyer and accused killer Alex Murdaugh.
Buster grew up with his younger brother Paul on a sprawling 1,700-acre hunting farm, known as Moselle, in Islandton, South Carolina.
Buster lives with his girlfriend, Brooklynn White, both 26, and their beloved golden retriever, Miller, in a modest one-bedroom condominium in Islandton, South Carolina, near Hilton Head.
It’s unclear when Buster and White began dating — but she accompanied him to the joint funeral of Paul and Maggie, according to a source.
Buster attended University of South Carolina Law School alongside White. He was allegedly kicked out in his second semester for plagiarism, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Alex paid an attorney $60,000 to try to get Buster readmitted, according to FitsNews.
The news site also reported that Buster attended the annual South Carolina Association for Justice convention on Hilton Head in August with his attorney uncle, Randolph "Randy" Murdaugh IV.
Buster was named as a defendant in the Mallory Beach death suit for allegedly letting his brother Paul, who was underage, use his ID to buy alcohol for the doomed boating trip.
He has since settled the suit.
{{#rendered}}John Marvin Murdaugh and his nephew, Buster Murdaugh, have been at Alex Murdaugh's murder trial since opening statements Jan. 25, 2023.
But the pair came in late Friday missing the testimony of the financial witnesses who are testifying in the absence of the jury.
The hearing is determine whether Judge Clifton Newman will allow in evidence of Alex's expansive financial misconduct.
Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters has argued that Alex shot and killed his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and his son, Paul Murdaugh, to prevent these alleged crimes from coming to light.
Alex Murdaugh's alleged financial crimes are address in separate indictments.
During the hearing Thursday, Waters argued that Alex's mindset is critical to proving his motive in the double murders.
A decade of malfeasance and misappropriation that ultimately would result in the charges that it resulted in, as well as the loss of his livelihood and the loss of his law degree, and that’s the real fear that was there," he said.
The family’s longtime nanny and housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, died after falling down a set of stairs at the family's residence in Islandton, South Carolina, Feb. 26, 2018.
Nearly 10 months later, her family filed a wrongful death claim at the urging of Alex Murdaugh.
An attorney representing Gloria Satterfield’s sons later learned that insurance polices had paid out more than $4 million, which Alex and his cronies allegedly pocketed.
In October 2021, Alex was arrested at a Florida drug rehab center and charged with embezzling millions from her sons.
He has remained in jail since.
He agreed to pay back the stolen $4.3 million in a confession of judgment.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division later announced an investigation into Satterfield’s death and plans to exhume her body.
A spokesperson declined to comment on whether the exhumation ever occurred.
Satterfield is one of five mysterious deaths linked to Alex and his family.
Alex is on trial in Walterboro, South Carolina, accused of the double murder of his wife and son June 7, 2021.
Tony Satterfield, the fifth financial witness called outside the earshot of the jury, took the stand Friday at the live-streamed doubl murder trial and said Alex had duped him out of a settlement in his mother's death.
His mother, Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaugh's housekeeper, died in February 2018 after a slip and fall at the main residence of Moselle.
Alex told him and his brother he had insurance and would try to get each of them a $100,000 settlement and sent them one if his best friends, lawyer Cory Fleming, to represent them in the lawsuit.
In June 2021, Tony heard that there had been a $500,000 settlement in his case and called Alex, who he believed was also his lawyer.
"This was around the time of the murders?" asked lead prosecutor Creighton Waters.
"Yes," he replied. Alex told him the lawsuit was making progress, and they'd likely settle by the end of the year.
But a pair of insurance policies had already paid out $500,000 and $3.8 million.
"Did you ever get a cent from Alex Murdaugh?" Waters asked.
"No," he replied. Alex later signed a confession of judgment admitting that he had stolen $4.3 million from the Satterfield brothers.
Tony testified as part of hearing, in the absence of the jury, to determine whether evidence of Alex's financial misconduct will be admitted at the double murder trial.
{{#rendered}}Disgraced former CEO of Palmetto State Bank Russell Laffitte deposited $400,000 into Alex Murdaugh's account on the same day an email was sent to the executive committee asking for a review of the institution's relationship with the once-powerful attorney.
The $400,000 loan deposited Aug. 9, 2021, covered a $347,784 overdraft in Alex's account. Another $350,000 loan went to Chris Wilson so Alex could pay back his law firm for missing funds.
The $750,000 loan was supposedly for renovating the Edisto Beach house.
Laffitte was ousted as CEO after the bank discovered his improper dealings with Alex. He was later convicted of wire and bank fraud in federal court for financial misconducted connect to the disbarred attorney.
Malinowski also testified at Laffitte's federal trial in Charleston. In response to a question from lead prosecutor Creighton Waters, Malinowski said the bank wouldn't have continued loaning him money if the executives had known he was stealing from his law firm and his clients.
On cross-examination, Jim Griffin asked if Alex ever went into default on any loans issued to him by Palmetto State Bank.
"Red Beard and Zero United," replied Malinowski, referring to two properties. Malinowski conceded that Alex continued to periodically make payments on those notes.
Griffin established that the bank had profited off Alex to the tune of more than $4 million in interest payments.
The jury was excused for Malinowski's testimony which is part of a hearing to determine whether evidence Alex's financial misconduct will be admitted at trial.
Palmetto State Bank CEO and President Jan Malinowski took the stand after 9:30 a.m. Friday at Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial.
On Aug. 12, 2021, there was a a meeting about Alex's relationship with the bank.
"As of the day of that memo that was presented to the executive committee, Mr. Murdaugh owed directly or indirectly $4.2 million to the bank," Malinowski said.
Malinowski took over as CEO after the bank's ex-CEO, Russell Laffitte, was ousted for misconduct involving Alex.
Laffitte was later convicted in federal court of bank and wire fraud for, in part, helping Alex steal money from his law firm and clients.
Malinowski is the fourth financial witness to testify at a hearing to determine whether evidence of Alex's sprawling financial crimes will be admitted at his double murder trial.
Alex is charged with 99 financial crimes in separate indictments.
The jury was excused from the courtroom for the testimony of the financial witnesses.
Alex Murdaugh, 54, the once powerful scion of a South Carolina legal dynasty, is on trial for the slayings of his wife and son.
Prosecutors say Alex gunned down 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh and their troubled 22-year-old son, Paul, on June 7, 2021.
The Murdaughs, a prominent Democratic family, wielded enormous judicial and political power for nearly a century.
But the family’s dominance began to wane after Paul was criminally charged for a deadly 2019 boat wreck that triggered a series of lawsuits and threatened to expose his father’s financial schemes.
The accident set in motion a spiral of destruction that has stained the family’s legacy.
Testimony is expected to continue Friday on the eighth day of the disbarred lawyer's trial. He's represented by high-powered South Carolina attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin.
Creighton Waters is the lead prosecutor for the South Carolina Attorney General's Office.
Here's a timeline of Alex Murdaugh's shocking fall from grace.
{{#rendered}}Click here to see more photos form day 7 of Alex Murdaugh's explosive double murder trial in South Carolina, which featured emotional testimony Wednesday from his former best friend.
Chris Wilson and two other witnesses testified after the jury was excused for a hearing to determine whether evidence of Alex Murdaugh's sprawling financial schemes can be introduced at the trial to prove motive.
The disbarred attorney is charged with 99 financial crimes in separate indictments unrelated to the murder of his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and his son, Paul Murdaugh.
Alex appeared distressed and looked down at the defense table as Wilson described their friendship and later the betrayal. After the lawyers worked on a personal injury case together, Alex allegedly duped Wilson into helping him steal from his own law firm.
Prosecutors have argued that Alex was "burning through cash like crazy" and "extremely leveraged."
"When the hounds are at the door, when Hannibal is at the gates for Alex Murdaugh, violence happens," lead prosecutor Creighton Waters said.
Griffin countered that prosecutors "have a whole lot more evidence about financial misconduct than they do about murder."
Attorney Chris Wilson -- Alex Murdaugh's longtime friend -- on the witness stand Thursday described his anger at learning that Murdaugh had lied and stolen from him and his law firm.
The lawyers, who belonged to two different firms, had frequently worked on cases together, and Wilson had always believed that Alex was extremely wealthy.
After the double murders, he learned that Alex had embezzled millions from his own law firm and confronted the family patriarch.
"It knocked me down," Wilson, who appeared distressed, said of learning about the theft.
Wilson testified outside the earshot of jurors at a hearing to determine whether evidence of Alex's expansive financial crimes can be introduced at his double murder trial to prove motive.
On Sept. 4, 2021, Wilson met Alex in person.
"He broke down crying," Wilson testified. Alex then told him he had been addicted to opioids for more than 20 years and had been stealing the money to feed his habit.
"I was so mad. I had loved the guy for so long, and I probably still loved him a little bit, but I was so mad, and I don’t remember how it ended," said Wilson, who was stunned to learn his best friend was a thief and a drug addict. "How did I not know these things or see these things?”
A few hours later, Wilson got a phone call informing him that Alex had been shot in the head.
Alex hadn’t actually tried to kill himself but hired Curtis Smith , known as “Cousin Eddie” to the Murdaugh family, to shoot him in what he claimed was a murder-suicide attempt so his older son would get a $10 million life insurance payout.
Warning: Graphic
Paul Murdaugh, the 22-year-old son of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, was killed with a shotgun on June 7, 2021, on his family’s hunting estate called Moselle in Islandton.
Colleton County authorities found Paul’s body at the entrance of the feedroom attached to the dog kennels on his family’s 1,700-acre hunting estate. Investigators found his brain near his feet as a result of the gunshot wound to his head.
Paul Murdaugh loved the outdoors and hunting at the family’s Moselle estate with his father and brother, Buster, who is now 26 years old.
He was a junior at the University of South Carolina – also his parents’ alma mater – when he died.
Paul was “often found cheering on the Gamecocks with his friends and family,” according to his obituary published by the Peeples-Rhoden Funeral Home. “Paul never met a stranger, and had an abundance of friends,” his obituary states. “He was always eager to lend a helping hand to anyone in need. No one was more loving and genuine than Paul, and because of this, his personality was one-of-a-kind.”
{{#rendered}}Alex Murdaugh’s high school friend and fellow lawyer Chris Wilson on Thursday detailed his once close relationship with the disgraced scion of a powerful legal dynasty in South Carolina’s Lowcountry.
"He was one of my best friends, I thought he was, and I thought he felt the same way about me," Wilson, wearing a pained expression, testified as Alex looked down at the defense table.
When asked if he still feels the same way about Alex, Wilson told prosecutor Creighton Waters, “I don’t know how I feel now.”
Wilson testified after the jury was excused at a hearing to determine whether evidence of Alex's alleged financial crimes can be introduced at his double murder trial to prove motive.
After working a case together and winning two verdicts totaling $5.5 million, Murdaugh asked Wilson to pay him his $792,000 share cut directly to him instead of through his firm so he could put it in annuities. He said he had permission from the firm to do this.
"Did Mr. Murdaugh’s request raise any suspicions for you?" asked Waters.
“No, sir. It was different, but it didn’t raise any red flags or suspicions,” he replied. Alex later told Wilson that he had messed up the fee structure and needed Wilson to pay his share directly to his firm.
Alex wired his friend $600,000. Wilson fronted the remaining $192,000, but Alex never paid him back.
Wilson later learned that Murdaugh had embezzled millions from his own law firm.
When Waters referenced the murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, Wilson began to weep and dabbed his eyes with a tissue.
Maggie Murdaugh, the 52-year-old wife of disgraced South Carolina legal scion Alex Murdaugh, was shot to death with a rifle on June 7, 2021, on her family’s hunting estate called Moselle in Islandton.
Colleton County authorities found Maggie’s body near a single dog house about 30 feet from the dog kennels on the 1,700-acre property.
Maggie attended the University of South Carolina, where she was a member of the Kappa Delta Sorority and met Alex before she graduated in 1991.
She and Alex had two sons, Paul and Buster. Paul was also murdered with a shotgun on the family’s Moselle property on June 7, at the same time as his mother.
“Maggie had a heart of pure generosity, and loved welcoming friends and family into her home on any given occasion,” her obituary published by the Peeples-Rhoden Funeral Home states. “She adored her family, and cherished spending time on the boat with her two sons. She will be remembered as a ‘second mom’ to her sons’ many friends. She made the most out of every situation, and lived each and every day to the fullest.”
Russell Laffitte, the former CEO of a local South Carolina bank, was convicted in November on six financial crimes charges related to disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh's decade-long corruption schemes.
The Laffitte and Murdaugh families rose to South Carolina prominence around the same time in the early 20th century, when the Lafittes founded Palmetto State Bank and the Murdaugh family began a personal injury law firm.
Three generations of the Murdaugh family served as the top prosecutor in the Lowcountry of South Carolina for 86 years.
Laffitte helped Murdaugh steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from six of the former lawyer's clients, according to federal prosecutors.
While the initial indictment did not mention Murdaugh by name, it said Laffitte collected nearly $392,000 in fees for serving as a personal representative for the six clients of a "personal injury attorney at a law firm in Hampton, South Carolina," according to a July press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Carolina.
The clients included two sisters, Alania Spohn and Hannah Plyler, who were injured in a 2005 car accident that killed their mother and brother when they were children.
Laffitte transferred personal loans to himself and Murdaugh from the six conservator accounts, and they used the funds for personal expenses, prosecutors said during his trial last year.
{{#rendered}}Disgraced South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh is currently standing trial for the June 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, on the family's hunting property called Moselle in Islandton, South Carolina — a town of about 70 residents.
Prosecutors say Alex Murdaugh killed his wife and son in an effort to distract from his alleged embezzlement schemes, as he also faces more than 90 indictments related to financial crimes totaling an estimated $9 million.
The disgraced attorney allegedly used a shotgun to blow off his son's head, which was "severed" from his body, near the family's dog kennels on the sprawling, 1,700-acre hunting estate, according to court documents.
A video from 3D imaging company FARO depicts a visual representation of the dog kennel and hangar area of Moselle played in court Wednesday to give jurors a comprehensive view of the crime scene.
Colleton County authorities found Paul Murdaugh's body outside the feedroom next to the dog kennels where he had recorded a video of a chocolate lab just minutes before his death, according to prosecutors.
The body of his mother, Maggie Murdaugh, was found 30-feet away near an old airplane hangar that had been converted into a shed.
Coverage for this event has ended.