Holly Honderich
BBC News, Washington

Image source, Grace Beahm Alford/The Post and Courier/Pool

Alex Murdaugh's murder trial has at points felt like a white collar crime case - the prosecution has spent days and dozens of witnesses going over his alleged financial wrongdoing, years of embezzlement, fraud and theft.

On the stand now, Murdaugh mentions these crimes. He talks about a meeting he had with his law firm's chief financial officer Jeanne Seckinger, who confronted Murdaugh about missing money on 7 June, hours before Paul and Maggie were killed.

The prosecution has argued that this meeting added to Murdaugh's growing fear that his crimes would be exposed, a fear that pushed him to commit murder.

Murdaugh testifies now that the meeting with Seckinger caused "some level of concern because she was asking me about money that I was not supposed to have".

But "it was not a very big concern", he says.

Alex Murdaugh's defence team has more questions.

You can stream his testimony live at the top of the page.

The trial is back in session after a lunch break.

Alex Murdaugh will take the stand for more questions from his lawyer.

Cross-examination is expected to begin this afternoon, and could stretch into tomorrow - closing out the fifth week of trial.

Image source, Getty Images

Netflix recently released a docuseries called the Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.

The first part of the three-part series focuses on the boat crash that killed Mallory Beach in 2019. Friends who were on the boat - which officials say was driven by Paul Murdaugh - recount their stories to the streaming service.

In the doc, Paul's former girlfriend Morgan Doughty alleges that he was abusive towards her. She claims he punched and kicked her and tried to choke her. The two met and started dating in high school.

Housekeeper Gloria Satterfield's death is also examined in the series. She died in 2018 on the Murdaugh estate. Authorities exhumed her body last year as part of their investigations into Alex Murdaugh.

Holly Honderich
BBC News, Washington

Image source, Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool

On the stand, Alex Murdaugh mentioned a 2019 boat wreck involving his son, Paul.

He spoke about an accident in February 2019, when the Murdaugh family boat rammed into the Archers Creek Bridge, throwing all three of the six passengers - including his son, Paul - into the water. One of them, 19-year-old Mallory Beach died. Her body was found days later in a marsh miles away.

All of the surviving passengers except for Paul would later testify that he had been driving drunk at the time of impact. A blood test would find the 19-year-old Murdaugh’s blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit.

But according to witnesses from the night - including authorities, hospital staff and the other survivors - Alex Murdaugh told the teenagers to stay quiet about who was driving.

One passenger, Connor Cook, said in a deposition he was told “to keep my mouth shut”.

In court today, Murdaugh addressed those claims: "There was so much talk about how I fixed witnesses and structured the investigation, things that were totally false," he said.

At the time of his murder, Paul was facing three counts related to the crash, including boating under the influence resulting in death.

Prosecutors are expected to begin Alex Murdaugh's cross-examination later today. Here's a roundup of what he has said on the stand so far:

• At the top of his testimony, he said: "I did not shoot my wife or my son anytime ever"
• He said that nobody could have been "any closer" than he was with his son
• He confirmed he lied to investigators about his whereabouts on the night Maggie and Paul were killed
• He apologised for the lies but attributed them to a lengthy opioid addiction he said caused him to have "paranoid thoughts"
• He described his evening the night of the murders, including visiting his mother's house and not wanting to go to the dog kennels - aspects of the alibi his team sought to flesh out
• He recounted the moments after he discovered Maggie and Paul's bodies, when he made a 911 call and searched the area for a murder weapon
• He implied that his wife and son's deaths were related to threats Paul had received; Paul crashed a boat while drunk in 2019, leading to the death of a friend
• He called it a "mistake" that he had gone back to the house and, against the guidance of the 911 dispatcher, grabbed a gun by the time police arrived
• He admitted his hands were bloodied after checking his wife and son for a pulse, which could explain why blood was found on the steering wheel of his car
• He said he knew he was the main suspect and so insisted state investigators find GPS data to prove "I couldn't have done this"
• He walked through the events that occurred in the days after the murders

• Before breaking for lunch, the defence questioned Murdaugh about where he was staying and about the clothes he was wearing on the day of the murders

Prior to the break, Alex Murdaugh detailed his whereabouts in the days following the murders. He insisted he was always with his son, Buster.

He also said the house was full of family and friends who were there to support him.

• 7 June - Paul and Maggie Murdaugh are shot and killed.

• 10 June - Alex is interviewed by SLED agents about the murders. Later his father, Randolph dies.
• 11 June - Alex says he buried his wife and son.

• 13 June - Alex says he buried his father
• 16 June - Alex denies taking a blue tarp or a rain coat into his parents house in Almeda. "I certainly don't remember it and it certainly wasn't any time around my dad's funeral or the week's following." This is key to the state's case, as they have suggested that Alex may have removed evidence from the property in Moselle.

Court will resume in just over an hour.

Chelsea Bailey
BBC News, Washington

For the last few hours, Murdaugh's lawyers have walked him through an incredibly detailed timeline of the events leading up to and following 7 June 2021, when his wife and son were both shot and killed.

They defence are trying to paint a picture of a loving father and husband who would never murder his wife and son. But Alex also admitted to lying to investigators.

Murdaugh has, at times, been overcome with grief while describing his last evening with his wife and son. He has vehemently denied killing them.

"I did not shoot my wife or my son, anytime ever", he said.

State prosecutors will have an opportunity to cross examine Murdaugh about the night of the murders.

They will likely press him more forecefully about inconsistencies in his testimony to investigators.

The judge has also agreed to allow questions of alleged financial crimes that Murdaugh has committed.

Image source, Court TV

Murdaugh insists that investigators had complete access to his home in the days following the murders.

"Whatever they wanted, they were welcome to it", he said.

"We made the house available for them to come in."

Murdaugh says he frequently asked investigators to retrieve GPS data from his car and phone to confirm his alibi.

"At that point in time, I knew since I was the person who found Paul Paul and Mags, that I was a suspect."

"I knew that it was very important for me to get that."

"There's no question in there that it would demonstrate that I couldn't have done this."

Defence lawyer Jim Griffin continues questioning Alex Murdaugh who is in the stand.

He speaks a bit about where they went the night his wife and son were shot. He said they ended up in Almeda, at his parents house.

He said he drove over with his other son, Buster, and Buster's girlfriend.

The defence is back and questioning Murdaugh. They appear to be trying to establish why blood and gun residue would be present inside his car, including a drop of blood that was found on his steering wheel.

Murdaugh has said if there is fresh blood in the car, "I put it there," alluding to how he got blood on his hand while checking his wife and son for a pulse. But he has again denied shooting his wife and son.

"There's no way that I had high velocity blood spatter on me," Murdaugh said, which the prosecution alleges. "I was nowhere near Paul and Maggie when they got shot."

Image source, FACEBOOK/MAGGIE MURDAUGH

Everyone has sat back down in court and the judge is in his seat.

He has called the jury in and Alex Murdaugh is back on the stand.

Murdaugh is accused of murdering his wife and son. He has pleaded not guilty.

Stream live at the top of the page.

The judge has called a 10 minute recess so we'll be back up and running shortly.

Stay with us, and if you're needing a catch up scroll down the page to see what Alex Murdaugh has said in his own defence. He is trying to make the case that he did not murder his wife and son.

Image source, CourtTV

Murdaugh's defence is continuing to talk him through the 911 call step by step.

He is told in the call by the dispatcher not to touch the bodies of his wife and son so that it doesn't jeopordise any evidence.

But Murdaugh says he touched both of the bodies before he went back into the house.

The defence has played audio of Alex Murdaugh's 911 call, where he can be heard saying "Paul Paul, I should've known." He claims he was saying he should have known this could happen due to the death threats.

Murdaugh said his son had received numerous "over the top" death threats that the family did not take seriously.

"Paul got the most vile threats on social media, you couldn't believe it," he said. "It was so over the top that truthfully we didn't think anything about it."

So, why was his son receiving death threats?

At the time of his murder, Paul was facing charges in connection to the death of Mallory Beach in 2019.

Paul Murdaugh was allegedly underage, intoxicated and driving the Murdaugh family's boat when it crashed into a bridge killing 19-year-old.

The defence claim Paul and Maggie were murdered in response to the incident.

Image source, Court TV

Warning: Contains graphic details.

Through tears, Murdaugh is recounting the moment when he discovered his wife and son dead on the ground and called 911.

"I could see his brain lying on the sidewalk," he says of his son, Paul.

An audio recording of the 911 call is also being played in court.

Prosecutors have claimed Murdaugh did not have time to check on the two victims, but he alleges he was checking on them while on the phone.

"If you listen to that call, one of the first things she asked me was if they shot themselves," he recalls.

“I knew, knew there was no way. I knew they didn’t shoot themselves."

Murdaugh says he did not do anything other than make the 911 call, but was trying to find a flashlight in order to locate a gun.

"I was trying to find a gun," he says, adding that he never found one. Prosecutors have claimed gun residue was found in Murdaugh's car.

Attorney Jim Griffin asks him to explain why he is heard saying "I should've known" during the call. Murdaugh says Paul had received death threats.

Murdaugh said on the night of 7 June 2021 he woke up from a nap on the couch and decided to go and see his mother. During this time his son and wife were shot on his property.

Murdaugh's mother was dealing with Alzheimer's.

"My mom," he tells jurors. "She was a shell of her old self."

"She wasn't healthy."

He said his wife didn't join him on this particular visit because "Maggie didn't like to go and just visit my mom."

Murdaugh is giving the court insight into the unique and elite life his family lived.

He describes taking a golf cart down from the house to the dog kennels, where his wife and son were murdered. The family's vast estate sits on 1,700-acre hunting grounds.

He talks in detail about hunting guinea fowl on the property and about preventing the dog, Bubba, from eating their pet chicken.

The jury is also shown images of his mother's house, in nearby Almeda, where Murdaugh claims he was on the night of the murders. He shares how she spent most of her time in the breakfast room.

Alex was a prominent lawyer in South Carolina who came from a family of respected lawyers. That all began to unravel in 2021 after the murders of his wife and son.