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| - | <br> | + | has broken out over whether 's ruinous financial crimes can be heard by jurors, with prosecutors arguing they motivated the murders of his wife and son.<br>The prosecution say the disgraced attorney's life was spiraling out of control and that on the day of the murders he had been confronted over stealing $792,000 from his legal firm.<br>The state argues Murdaugh shot his wife Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22, at their hunting lodge in Islandton, South Carolina, on June 7, 2021, to divert attention away from the decade of malfeasance that was gathering 'like a perfect storm.'<br>Murdaugh - a chronic opioid addict - would go on to arrange for a hitman to shoot him in the head three months later in a botched life insurance fraud scheme.<br>The jury was dismissed as the sensational allegations were heard by Judge Clifton Newman with the defense adamant that there is 'no logical connection' between the evidence and the deaths of Maggie and Paul.<br>But Prosecutor Creighton Waters argued: 'When the hounds are at the door, when Hannibal's at the gate for Alex Murdaugh, violence happens.'<br> Prosecutor Creighton Waters argued: 'When the hounds are at the door, when Hannibal's at the gate for Alex Murdaugh, violence happens.' The state argues Murdaugh shot his wife Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22, at their hunting lodge in Islandton, South Carolina, on June 7, 2021, to divert attention away from the decade of malfeasance that was gathering 'like a perfect storm.' <br> Maggie and Paul Murdaugh (left) were murdered in June 2021.<br><br>He denies the killings. Their oldest son, Buster, is shown, right<br>He told the judge the evidence was essential for jurors to understand the defendant was 'out of options and out of time.' <br>Waters said: 'He was burning through cash like crazy.<br>He was out of options. The $792,000 was gone in no time at all. He had been living in a velocity of money that is really quite stunning.<br>'And he constantly needed to achieve more money to avoid the reckoning that was coming.<br>'The evidence will show on that particular date, June 7, 2021, when he's being asked about these fees, the financial condition is not there.<br><br>He's extremely leveraged in the debt that he has.<br>'And he's forced to do these things to stay ahead.'<br>He argued that evidence about Murdaugh paying a hitman to shoot him in the head 12 weeks after the killings of his wife and son was relevant because there was a 'symmetry' between the two acts of violence which centered around money.<br>But defense attorney Jim Griffin said: 'Your honor there is no logical connection and it does not lead to evidence of motive.' <br>'There is no financial gain, there is nothing to be gained ...<br><br>it is all just a theory, there are no facts,' he told the judge.<br>He rubbished the idea that killing his wife and son would help Murdaugh 'get out from scrutiny.' <br>The judge was forced to exclude the jury as the state called to the witness stand Jeanne Seckinger, who was CFO at Murdaugh's firm Peters Murdaugh Parker Eltzroth and Detrick (PMPED), at the time of the killings.<br>She recounted how on the day of the murders she had confronted Murdaugh about the missing $792,000. <br>'He was leaning on a file cabinet outside his office,' Seckinger told the court.<br><br>'He looked at me and said "what do you want now?" and gave me a very dirty look, not a look I had ever got from him before.'<br>Seckinger said she told him they better step into his office and she proceeded to tell him how she had reason to believe he had received the funds owed to the law firm for the case.<br> Murdaugh's defense attorney Dick Harpootlian. The defense what the evidence tossed but the prosecution say it is vital the jury understand the broader picture of chaos in Murdaugh's life<br>The CFO explained that in their line of work all fees went directly to the legal firm - if not, 'that would be stealing.'<br>Seckinger said that Murdaugh assured her that the money was there and that he could get it - he then went on to discuss his ailing father, the family patriarch Randolph III, and the conversation between the pair continued 'as friends.'<br>Later that day, prosecutors allege Murdaugh killed his wife and son.<br>Seckinger said that, as a result, her inquiries to Murdaugh about the missing funds ceased immediately. <br>'Alex was [https://Www.Blogher.com/?s=distressed distressed] and upset and nobody wanted to harass him about it,' she told the court. <br>In addition, an upcoming hearing in the civil lawsuit Murdaugh and his son were facing over a fatal boat crash was cancelled.<br><br>[https://Www.houzz.com/photos/query/Paul%20crashed Paul crashed] his father's boat while under the influence of alcohol, killing 19-year-old Mallory Beach in February 2019. <br>However, Seckinger said partners at PMPED continued discussions about the missing funds behind closed doors.<br>Indeed, PMPED uncovered a series of thefts from 2011 to 2012 Murdaugh perpetrated against the Badger family after their mother, Donna, was killed in a crash with a UPS truck.<br><br>She said Murdaugh stole $1.3m in addition to the $1.2m he took in legal fees. <br>It was decided on September 2, 2021, that Murdaugh's brother Randy and firm partner Lee Cope would meet with him privately to confront him.<br>Murduagh is said to have admitted the theft, and resigned on the spot. <br>This was 12 weeks after the murders of Maggie and Paul.<br>Two days later, news broke that Murdaugh had been shot.<br> 10.20pm: Alex called 911 at 10.07pm, claiming he'd just returned home from visiting his elderly mother to find his wife and son dead, their bodies covered in blood.<br><br>He was wearing a pristine white t-shirt and shorts<br> Murdaugh weeps inside a detective's car during his second police interview on June 10 - three days after the killing<br> Seckinger said she was out on a boat with her family when someone from the emergency services informed her that Murdaugh had been shot in the head on the side of Old Salkehatchie Road in Hampton, and he was being flown by helicopter to the hospital in Savannah. <br>Her immediate reaction was fear.<br><br>'Was this retaliation? Was he involved in something bigger that was going to get more of us in trouble?' She told the court.<br>The court did not hear more evidence of that shooting - but it is a matter of public record that the legal heir has admitted that he arranged to have a hitman shoot him in a botched life [https://life-in-slidell-la.weebly.com/ insurance agent yuba city] scam.<br>Medical records released by his legal team in October 2021 in a bid to boost his credibility confirmed that he claimed he had paid his cousin Edward Smith to shoot him on the side of the road.<br> He wanted it to look like a drive-by shooting so that Buster, his surviving son, would receive a payout on his life insurance policy.<br><div class="art-ins mol-factbox news floatRHS" data-version="2" id="mol-25c43710-a30a-11ed-b218-ddc09e373cd5" website row in Murdaugh trial over if financial crimes are admissible |
