February 24, 2023 Alex Murdaugh testifies in murder trial

Disgraced former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is on trial for murder in the deaths of his wife and son, was back on the stand Friday for more cross-examination from the prosecution.

Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two weapons charges in the June 2021 killings of Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh and 22-year-old son Paul Murdaugh at the family’s estate in Islandton, South Carolina.

Here's what happened in court:

Lies to investigators: Prosecutor Creighton Waters continued to press Murdaugh about why he lied to police about where he was on the night of the murders. He first publicly confirmed he was at the kennels that night on Thursday after previously saying he was not at the scene of the killings.

He said various factors contributed to his "paranoid thinking" which led to his decision to lie to police, including his "distrust of SLED," (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division), questions about his relationship with his wife and son, and "the fact that I have a pocket full of pills in my pocket," he said. The prosecution played clips of the police interview.

Alibi: Murdaugh denied that he was trying to manufacture an alibi when asked about the series of phone calls, some of them to Maggie Murdaugh, after she and her son were killed. Waters was asking about what he was doing for a period of about four minutes before he left to go to his mom's house.

“It's an absolute fact that I'm not manufacturing an alibi, as you say," Murdaugh said, and categorized the calls as "very normal."

Connection to boat crash: Waters questioned Murdaugh about the idea a "random vigilante" could be involved in the murder of his wife and son. Murdaugh testified that he believed a fatal boat wreck that Paul Murdaugh was involved in was the reason for the killings. He then clarified that he did not believe anyone involved in the 2019 boat wreck had anything to do with the murders — but suspected it was someone who had heard about what happened.

Pill addiction: Murdaugh said he sometimes took more than 2,000 milligrams of oxycodone per day in the months leading up to the deaths of his wife and son.

According to Murdaugh, he would take “maybe 1,000 milligrams or 1,200 milligrams on a day I didn't take as much or didn't have as much, up to, I mean — there were days, many days, a lot of days, most days were more than that, and many days would be … more than 2,000 milligrams a day.” It is virtually unheard of for a doctor to prescribe a patient more than 100 milligrams of oxycodone a day for even the most severe acute or chronic pain.

The trial will resume at 9:30 a.m. on Monday.

Alex Murdaugh has completed his testimony after about six hours on the stand.

The jury has been released for the weekend. The court will resume on Monday at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Defense attorney Jim Griffin asked Alex Murdaugh under redirect about why his wife's phone was moving around on the night she and their son was murdered.

“Were you walking with Maggie Murdaugh’s phone at the same time?" Griffin said.

“I wasn’t walking with Maggie’s phone anytime that night,” Murdaugh said.

Cell phone data showed Maggie Murdaugh’s iPhone traveled 59 steps between 8:53 p.m. and 8:55 p.m. on June 7, 2021, the night of the murders outside of their home in Islandton, a small community about an hour north of Hilton Head Island.

Court has reconvened after a brief break. 

Alex Murdaugh is still on the stand for redirect by defense attorney Jim Griffin.

Prosecutor Creigton Waters said he has no more questions for Alex Murdaugh.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters questioned Alex Murdaugh about the idea a "random vigilante" could be involved in the murder of his wife and son.

Murdaugh testified that he believed a fatal boat wreck that Paul Murdaugh was involved in was the reason for the killings. He then clarified that he did not believe anyone involved in the 2019 boat wreck had anything to do with the murders — but suspected it was someone who had heard about what happened.

 "What you're telling this jury is that this is a random vigilante," Waters said.

"That's your term," Murdaugh answered.

"So what you're telling this jury is that it's a random vigilante, the 12-year-old, 5'2" people, that just happened to know Paul and Maggie were both at Moselle on June 7, knew they would be at the kennels alone on June 7, knew you would not be there, but only between the times of 8:49 and 9:02. That they show up without a weapon, assuming they'll find weapons and ammunition there, that they commit this crime during that short window and then they travel the exact same route that you do around the same time to Almeda. That is what you're trying to tell this jury," Waters said.

"You got a lot of factors in there, Mr. Waters. All of which I do not agree with, but some of which I do," Murdaugh said.

Some background: Murdaugh’s son Paul was allegedly the driver of the boat that wrecked in February 2019, killing 19-year-old Mallory Beach.

At the time of his death, Paul Murdaugh was facing charges of boating under the influence, causing great bodily harm and causing death. He pleaded not guilty, and court records show the charges were dropped after his death.

Murdaugh previously testified that Paul received "the most vile threats" on social media after the crash.

Defendant Alex Murdaugh is back on the stand after a lunch break on Friday.

Murdaugh, who is accused of killing his wife and son, is facing questions from the prosecution.

The Murdaugh trial is now in recess for lunch. Court will resume at 2:15 p.m. ET.

Prosecutors have been questioning disgraced former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is on trial for murder in the deaths of his wife and son, this morning. It's the second day Murdaugh has testified in his own defense.

Alex Murdaugh pointed to several different things he believed contributed to his decision to lie to law enforcement about where he was the night his wife, Maggie, and son Paul were murdered.

He first admitted to lying to investigators during his first day of testimony Thursday when he said he was not at the scene of the killings.

Being questioned by the prosecution Friday, Murdaugh said his partners at his law firm advised him not to talk to anyone without a lawyer.

"That was just one of the many things that I believe led to that situation, sitting in there, where those paranoid thoughts came to me," Murdaugh said.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters played parts of a video of Murdaugh being interviewed by police in a car on the night of the murders. Murdaugh also said his “distrust of SLED," or the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, was another factor that contributed to his paranoia, in addition to "the fact that I have a pocket full of pills in my pocket," he said.

He also said questions about his relationship with Maggie and Paul made him uneasy.

"All of those factors combined and made me decide to lie," Murdaugh testified.

Some background: Within moments of taking the stand Thursday, Murdaugh acknowledged his voice is heard in a video that appeared to be filmed at the dog kennels where the bodies of his wife and child were found, saying he lied about being at the kennels earlier that evening because of “paranoid thinking” stemming from his drug addiction.

CNN's Dakin Andone, Dianne Gallagher, Randi Kaye and Alta Spells contributed reporting to this post.