Alex Murdaugh Cries in Court When Body Cam Footage Shows Victims, But Cop Says No 'Visible Tears' at Time

Alex Murdaugh reportedly wiped away tears in a South Carolina courtroom yesterday when footage from a responding officer's body camera showing his slain wife and son was shown during his murder trial on Thursday.

However, that responding officer testified that Murdaugh didn't cry at the crime scene at the time.

The officer said Murdaugh didn't seem upset and there were no "visible tears," CNN reports.

At the time of the 2021 murders, Murdaugh also claimed his son, Paul, had been receiving threats due to a boat wreck he'd been involved with two years earlier. The crash had killed Mallory Beach, a 19-year-old friend of Paul's.

"This is a long story. My son was in a boat wreck months back, he's been getting threats, most of them benign stuff we didn't take serious," Murdaugh reportedly said in the body cam footage.

On the 911 call Murdaugh placed to report his family dead, he can be heard saying of his deceased son, "I can tell he's shot in the head, and he's shot really bad," per CNN.

The trial of Murdaugh, a once-prominent South Carolina attorney, began on Jan. 25. He's accused of fatally shooting his wife, Maggie, as well as Paul.

In court Wednesday, Prosecutor Creighton Waters told jurors cellphone evidence will play a crucial part in the trial — and will allegedly ultimately prove that Murdaugh, 54, was present at the scene of the murders.

Waters claimed Paul Murdaugh sent a cellphone video to a friend at 8:44:55 on the evening of June 7, 2021. That video, taken near the dog kennels on the family's 1,100-acre hunting ranch, picked up the voices of Paul, Maggie and Alex Murdaugh. Three minutes later, Paul Murdaugh's cell phone was locked and wasn't used again that night.

According to Waters, this video clip is important because Alex Murdaugh had previously denied being near the kennels — which appears to be directly contradicted by the video.

Prosecutors claim Alex Murdaugh killed his wife and son at approximately 8:49 p.m., mere minutes after the video was taken. Then, they say, he called his wife's phone after her death to try to create an alibi.

The defense, for their part, says the prosecution's timeline is incorrect, and that Paul and Maggie were shot sometime after Alex Murdaugh had departed the scene.

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Murdaugh claims he left his house at approximately 9 p.m. to see his mother, who was sick. When he returned to the home around 10 p.m., he called 911 and told the dispatcher that he'd discovered his wife and son's bodies.

Paul was shot in the chest and head with a shotgun at close range. Maggie was shot multiple times, including one shot in the back and additional shots while she was on the ground. She was shot with 300 Blackout ammo from an AR-style rifle. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

The murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh have shaken the community of Islandton, South Carolina, where the Murdaughs were part of a longtime legal dynasty.

Alex Murdaugh is currently facing two counts of murder and two weapons charges in this trial. He has pleaded not guilty.

Even if Murdaugh is acquitted, he faces additional legal woes, including dozens of charges for alleged financial crimes, such as misappropriating money from his law firm, defrauding clients of funds, and computer crimes. Authorities allege he also defrauded the family of his former housekeeper out of a $4.5 million insurance settlement after she died in a mysterious slip-and-fall accident at his home. A trial for those charges will be held at a later date.

During the defense opening statements, attorney Dick Harpootlian said that the prosecution was incorrect, and that Murdaugh was a "loving husband and doting father" who would never kill his family.

The trial is expected to last for at least three weeks.