Alex Murdaugh cries as court plays bodycam footage of family murder’s aftermath

Alex Murdaugh cried during his murder trial Thursday as police bodycam footage was played in court – while the first police officer on the scene testified the disgraced legal scion appeared to have “no tears” when learning of his wife and son’s deaths.

The footage of the double murder’s aftermath, which was not shared with the broader public, was taken by Colleton County’s Sheriff’s Officer Daniel Greene, who was called as a witness.

After arriving at the family’s Islandton, S.C. home, Greene said he saw the bodies of Murdaugh’s wife Maggie and son Paul surrounded by pools of blood.

“They are dead, aren’t they?” Murdaugh, 54, can be heard asking, seeming deeply distraught.

“Yes sir that’s what it looks like,” Greene said in the footage. 

Murdaugh had a shot gun with him at the time, saying he grabbed it after calling 911, according to Greene. The gun was brought into the court as evidence and displayed to the 12 jurors and six alternates.

Greene said Murdaugh was not crying at the murder scene in June 2021, but in court Thursday Murdaugh’s emotions were on full display.

The father was wiping away tears at times, and often looked down in what seemed like an attempt to avoid the footage.

In the immediate aftermath of the murder, Murdaugh told Greene he believed the slayings were related to his son Paul’s boating accident, in which he drunkely drove his boat into a bridge, killing passenger Mallory Beach. 

“This is a long story. My son was in a boat wreck . . . He’s been getting threats. Most of it’s been benign stuff we didn’t take serious, um, you know he’s been getting punched… I know that’s what it is,” Murdaugh says in the body cam footage.

In the footage, the father and husband asks Greene more than once if his family members are dead.

“Is somebody going to check them,” Murdaugh asked.

“Yes sir, they’ve already checked it,” Greene responded.

“They did check em? It’s official that they’re dead?” the father and husband asked

“Yes sir,” the cop said.

If convicted, Murdaugh will face a minimum sentence of 30 years. Prosecutors are not pursuing the death penalty. The trial, which began Monday, is expected to last three weeks.

He also broke down in tears Wednesday as the opening statements in the trial were made.