WALTERBORO, S.C. — Judge Clifton Newman ruled Wednesday that jurors in the Alex Murdaugh double-murder trial can hear testimony about Murdaugh’s 2021 Labor Day botched roadside suicide attempt, an unexpected reversal of a ruling he issued the same morning.
This ruling, a win for the prosecution, will allow the state to present to the jury still more evidence of Murdaugh’s alleged criminal schemes, this one involving a purported attempt by Murdaugh to have an accomplice, Curtis “Eddie” Smith, kill him so Murdaugh’s son Buster could collect $10 million in insurance proceeds.
But earlier Wednesday at the Colleton County courthouse, Murdaugh’s defense lawyers likely scored points with the jury during a lengthy cross examination of South Carolina Law Enforcement Division special agent David Owen. Owen admitted to flaws in SLED’s investigation, such as not carrying out a search for the death weapons at Murdaugh’s parents’ house on the night Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were killed.
