Alex Murdaugh Jury Shown GRUESOME New Crime Scene Photos Showing Aftermath Of The Bloody Attack On His Wife & Son
Jan. 30 2023, Published 6:30 p.m. ET
New crime scene photos were shown to the jury in the double homicide trial for South Carolina father Alex Murdaugh. The previously unreleased photos showed the gruesome murder of Alex's wife Maggie Murdaugh and the prominent family's youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Crime scene photos were previously released to show the layout of the Murdaugh family's 1,700-acre hunting ranch, known as "Moselle," where the double murder was committed.
The jury viewed the bloody set of new photos and weapons allegedly seized from Alex's gun room as the former attorney's defense team attempted to argue the theory that a second suspect was responsible for the fatal gunshot wounds of his wife and child.
The crime scene photos gave new meaning to the depth of cruelty unleashed on Maggie and Paul, who were caught off guard when they were brutally killed.
Alex, 54, was accused of gunning down his wife and son at the family's Low Country ranch in Islandton, South Carolina, on June 7, 2021.
Paul, 22, was said to be annihilated by a shotgun blast to his head. Photos of his lifeless body featured blood splatter and brain matter that reached the ceiling.
Alex's wife, Maggie, 52, was fatally shot multiple times with an assault-style rifle. Images from where she fell showed a large pool of blood that appeared to fill a divot in the ground.
The fresh set of images from the heinous attack further painted a picture of the prosecution's claim that the father enacted a desperate and sinister plan to kill his family to allegedly distract from financial crimes he had been accused of.
While the prosecution planned for the photos to hammer home the lengths Alex was allegedly willing to resort to taking the heat off of himself, the suspect's defense team alleged the pics proved that two gunmen were responsible for the hits.
According to the Daily Mail, defense attorney Dick Harpootlian alleged that the distances from where the fatal gunshots were fired suggested that a second shooter was present on the property that fateful June night.
A photo near Paul's body featured several shotgun shell casings nearby. The casings left behind, however, belonged to two different brands of 12-gauge ammunition.
Similar discrepancies were found in photos of Maggie's body.
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Rifle rounds were found in a photo taken several yards away from where Maggie was killed.
"There's no evidence linking these guns to the crime," argued Harpootlian, however, a witness was called to testify on evidence collected at the crime scene.
A senior state law enforcement agent, Jeff Croft, took the witness stand to discuss the discharged ammunition found at the crime scene and the alleged murder weapons.
Croft displayed an AR-15 style weapon and shotgun shell casings that belonged to Alex's extensive weapons collection — which was also photographed and shown to the jury.
While the murder weapon(s) have yet to be recovered by investigators, the shell casings from Alex's collection were said to correspond with those found at the crime scene.
Croft claimed that the Sellier & Bellot .300 AAC BLK ammunition that was used to fire two fatal shots into Maggie's head was also owned by her husband.
The agent further testified that two different styles of shotgun shells — Federal and Winchester brands — were also found at home, allegedly in Alex's possession, allegedly matching the two brands of ammunition used against his son.
The deaths of Maggie and Paul have dug up past mysterious deaths and allegations of criminal activity associated with the family in a bizarre series of events.