WALTERBORO, S.C. — As the first week of the long-awaited double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh wrapped up Friday, a jury of eight women and four men, the state of South Carolina and the nation have borne witness to an evolving courtroom drama and disquieting disclosures from the witness stand.
The trial begins again Monday morning in the 202-year-old Colleton County courthouse in Walterboro, where dozens of local, state and national news media, bloggers and book writers have converged. Members of the public from the surrounding area, as well as from North Carolina, Georgia and other states, were in the audience, which grew as the week went on. The trial is also reaching a real-time nationwide audience through Court TV.
In the first two days of testimony, the prosecution has launched a fact-based frontal assault in order to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Murdaugh was capable of committing the double murder. The defense has waged a vigorous counteroffensive, undercutting some claims made by prosecution witnesses.
