The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty

At the defense’s urging, the jurors went to Moselle to see the crime scene, though Bauerlein explains that this plan backfired. The jurors walked around the property, checking areas of the kennels to which the trial referred. Each juror spent time solemnly standing where Paul and Maggie had been shot. They walked to the vacant house and saw reminders of the family that once lived there. Bauerlein shares that everyone who visited Moselle felt the “heaviness” of the crimes in the atmosphere.

Chapter 44 recounts the prosecution and defense’s closing arguments. Waters reiterated that Alex’s deceptive behavior went unchecked for so long that the first sign of threat during the boat case pushed Alex to an extreme act of self-preservation. Waters then stressed Alex’s motives and his deflective behavior during the investigation. He concluded by showing pictures of Maggie and Paul from their lives and from the crime scene, in order to highlight Alex’s brutality.

Judge Newman made the defense choose only one lawyer to give the closing speech. The less experienced Jim Griffin spoke, focusing on the incompleteness of the state’s case. Griffin played the kennel video one last time, claiming that it showed a loving relationship between Alex and his family.