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

Lawyers for Alex Murdaugh have publicly claimed, since his arrest, that the disbarred lawyer has been battling addiction to prescription opioids for about two decades.

The trial has heard more details about these alleged addiction issues, including a claim last week that he spent $50,000 (£41,600) a week on drugs.

Attorney Jim Griffin said that Murdaugh purchased drugs from his cousin, Curtis "Eddie" Smith. Smith is accused of shooting Murdaugh in the head in a failed hitman-for-hire plot allegedly orchestrated by Murdaugh himself, so that his other son, Buster, could collect an insurance policy.

Buster testified on Tuesday that he "knew a little bit" about his dad's drug habit and "thought he had handled it" when he checked into rehab in 2018.

He said Alex was always "apologetic and sorry" when confronted about his drug use, adding that Maggie and Paul had done so in the past.

Lawyer Jim Griffin has asked Murdaugh to recall what happened in the days before his wife and son were found dead.

He recaps:

• Friday 4 June - He tells jurors his dad was in hospital in Savannah, Georgia, and he went to visit him Friday afternoon and spent the night
• Saturday 5 June - Murdaugh says he had plans with his son, Buster, and his girlfriend, Brooklyn. He and his wife met them in Columbia, South Carolina, to go to a regional baseball tournament where they tailgated. Murdaugh says they had a "fun time" before going to a restaurant and later to a hotel
• Sunday 6 June - There was another baseball game, Murdaugh tells the court adding he and his wife then went to Moselle, South Carolina
• Monday 7 June - Murdaugh recalls this as being a work day and talks about a time after dinner where Maggie asks him to go to the kennels - which he decides not to do as he had just showered. He details at length why he needed a shower

Chelsea Bailey
BBC News, Washington

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

We're hearing now from Alex Murdaugh - with his defence team asking him questions that allow him to expand on his version of events.

Next, he'll be questioned by the prosecution.

Throughout the trial, the state has tried to poke holes in Alex’s alibi by placing him at the scene of the murders minutes before Paul and Maggie were killed.

Alex has vehemently denied that he saw Paul and Maggie after dinner on 7 June, and insisted instead that he was taking a nap.

But state prosecutors produced a video from Paul Murdaugh’s phone that was taken moments before investigators say he and Maggie were killed.

In the video, prosecutors say you can hear Alex talking in the background. They also called multiple witnesses to the stand who confirmed they believed the voice was Alex’s.

Alex’s lawyers have so far denied that Alex was at the kennels, but they concede that even if he was, his mere presence does not mean guilt.

Murdaugh says his wife went to see a doctor in the city of Charleston and then had to visit their Edisto Beach house on the day of the murders.

“I always, always asked Maggie to come back home and stay with me,” he says.

That afternoon, he says, he met up with his son to discuss the sunflowers in the field that had been sprayed by their groundsman and how they had to be replanted.

He tearfully recalls riding around the property spending time with Paul and visiting the dove field, the duck pond, the cabin on Moselle Road, and the workshop near the kennels.

Holly Honderich
BBC News, Washington

Image source, Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool

Sitting in the Walterboro courthouse, just a few rows behind his father, is Buster Murdaugh, Alex Murdaugh’s surviving son.

Buster, 25, has been a constant presence at court, appearing in support of his father.

He’s sat through weeks of graphic testimony, detailing the brutal murders of his mother and brother, mostly staring straight ahead, revealing little emotion.

He testified this week for the defence, describing Alex as a present and loving father who was “destroyed” by the murders.

But Buster has also been the subject of a little courtroom drama.

He got in hot water with courtroom officials after passing his father a John Grisham novel, which was deemed contraband, and for apparently flipping off lawyer Mark Tinsley, who testified against Alex Murdaugh.

Image source, Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool

A visibly emotional Murdaugh is now recalling memories of his son Paul, repeatedly referring to him as "Paul Paul".

"We couldn't have been any closer," he says.

"Working on the property was his passion."

Following on, Murdaugh says that once he lied he continued to lie.

He's asked why he did this.

"What a tangled web we weave," he replies.

"Once I told a lie, I told my family, I had to keep lying."

Murdaugh is now apologising for lying about his whereabouts on the night of the murders.

He starts listing people he wishes to apologise to, including his son, Buster, and his grandmother.

"I would never intentionally do anything to hurt either one of them," he says.

Murdaugh has lied in a manner that has been easy to disprove so the defence appears to be trying to give him a chance to clear things up before prosecutors cross-examine him.

Image source, Joshua Boucher/The State/Pool

The questions turn to Murdaugh's whereabouts on the night of the murders.

On the stand he admits he lied to an officer because of his addiction to opioids.

He says: "As my addiction evolved over time I would get in these situations or circumstances where I would be paranoid."

Murdaugh says he had paranoid thoughts after finding his wife and son dead.

"On 7 June I wasn't thinking clearly. And I lied about being down there.

"I am so sorry that I did."

He insists he was not the one who murdered them.

Defence lawyers begin with direct questions asking if Murdaugh shot and killed his wife and son on 7 June 2021.

"I did not," he replies, to each question.

"I did not shoot my wife or my son, anytime ever," Murdaugh says.

He is bobbing nervously in his seat and looks close to tears.

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

Alex Murdaugh has just taken the stand to testify in his own defence.

His lawyer, state Senator Dick Harpootlian, is posing the first questions, then Murdaugh will be cross-examined by prosecutors.

The judge has denied repeated defence motions to limit the scope of questioning, so prosecutors will be able to question him in regard to his alleged financial crimes.

We're back and so are the jury.

Alex Murdaugh has taken his seat as we await his testimony.

You can watch live by clicking the play button at the top of the page.

Holly Honderich
BBC News, Washington

Each morning, at around six, the crowd starts to gather, a loose line forming outside the Colleton County Courthouse, for the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh.

Murdaugh, scion of a legal dynasty, has pleaded not guilty in the fatal shootings of his wife and son.

The trial in Walterboro, South Carolina - which has ended its third week - is just one piece of his stunning downfall, which features accusations of corruption and a faked assassination attempt.

The case has captivated the state, and drawn in true-crime tourists from across the country.

• You can read more about US murder trial obsessing true crime tourists

The courtroom in Colleton County is taking a short break.

We expect Alex Murdaugh to take the stand upon his return.

Image source, Getty Images

The murder trial is set against the backdrop of South Carolina’s sprawling lowcountry, a rural area where oak trees are dripping with Spanish moss and the coastal waterways lead to the Atlantic Ocean.

If you enjoy hunting, oyster roasts, or sipping tea on a wrap around porch, then Hampton County is the place for you.

In a lot of ways, Hampton County seems like it’s frozen in time.

It’s a sleepy southern town where generations of the same families have grown up together - and it was once a place where the last name Murdaugh could get you really far.

Perhaps that’s why these murders - and the air of mystery surrounding Alex Murdaugh himself - has rocked this charming southern village to its core.

Chelsea Bailey
BBC News, Washington

Image source, Facebook/ Maggie Murdaugh

According to Alex Murdaugh, 7 June 2021 was a normal night for the family. Paul, Maggie and Alex had dinner together and afterward, Alex told investigators that he took a nap.

When he woke up to an empty house, Alex told investigators he tried to contact his wife and son but they didn’t answer. He then left the property to go visit his mother, who was suffering from dementia, at her home.

Alex said after he returned to the family’s sprawling hunting lodge, he decided to look for Paul and Maggie at the dog kennels. It was there, he said, that he discovered both Paul and Maggie had been brutally shot and killed. He called 911.

Alex has pleaded not guilty. He has maintained that he believes his wife and son were murdered because of his son's involvement in a 2019 boat crash that killed teenarger Mallory Beach.

But first, we're hearing from a Murdaugh family friend.

Nolan Tuten says he has known Alex Murdaugh "pretty much his entire life" and would speak to his son Paul every day.

You can stream the trial live at the top of the page.

Image source, Reuters

Alex Murdaugh comes from a powerful legal dynasty in South Carolina that stretches back generations.

For 86 years, a member of the Murdaugh family has served as the solicitor (think attorney general) of the 14th Judicial Circuit in Hampton County.

Alex was a prominent and respected lawyer in the town, but that began to unravel in 2021.

In June, his wife Maggie and son Paul were shot dead on the family's sprawling property.

Later that year, Alex Murdaugh’s law firm announced, external that he had resigned, citing "misappropriated funds".

Hours later, Murdaugh called 911 saying that he had been shot in the head while changing a flat tire by the side of the road.

Murdaugh later told investigators that he had set up the shooting so that his surviving son, Buster, could collect his life insurance police. He also admitted to struggling with an opioid addiction and entered into rehab.

In the months that followed, Alex had his law license suspended and was charged with felony insurance fraud. He also faced separate financial fraud charges, stemming from allegations that he stole millions in legal settlements from clients.

Then, in 2022 July, he was charged with killing his wife and son.

Image source, Reuters

If you’re just joining us, settle in and buckle up because this trial is full of twists and turns.

Alex Murdaugh is on trial for the 7 June 2021 killing of his wife, Maggie, 52, and his son, Paul, 22, at the family’s hunting lodge. He has pleaded not guilty.

The defence says Paul and Maggie’s murders are connected to a 2019 boat crash that killed a local 19-year-old woman named Mallory Beach.

At the time of his death, Paul was facing three felony charges stemming from the accident.

He was allegedly underage and intoxicated when he crashed his family boat into a bridge, killing Beach and injuring several other passengers.

Paul and his mother were killed days before the wrongful death hearing was scheduled to begin.

But state prosecutors have argued that Alex Murdaugh murdered his wife and son to cover up alleged financial crimes that he had committed. More on those later.