Buster Murdaugh was called to testify in the double homicide case against his father and recalled the moment he learned his mother and brother had been killed.
Buster, 26, took the stand on Tuesday and remained mostly emotionless, until he was asked about the night his mother, Maggie, and brother, Paul, were shot to death.
Buster testified to the jury that his father, Alex Murdaugh, called him on June 7, 2021.
"He said, 'Are you sitting down?'" Buster testified. "He sounded odd, and then he told me that my mom and my brother had been shot."
He testified that he and his girlfriend drove to the family estate from where they were staying, about 200 miles away.
"He was heartbroken," he testified about his father's state when they arrived. "I walked in the door and saw him, gave him a hug."
After noting to jurors that his father was crying and could hardly speak, he added, "He was destroyed."
Alex Murdaugh, 54, has been charged with the murders of his wife and son, as well as additional weapons charges. He has pleaded not guilty.
His son Buster was asked to testify by the defense to assist in the defense’s argument that Alex was a loving father who would not have done what he is charged with.
According to prosecutors, Maggie was shot multiple times, once in the back and several while she was lying down. Paul was shot at close range in the chest and head. They were both pronounced dead at the scene and had been shot with an AR-style rifle.
This is not the beginning, or the end, of the Murdaugh family’s legal troubles. Alex Murdaugh faces dozens of other charges in alleged financial crimes. The now-disbarred attorney faces a lawsuit involving his former housekeeper’s death and an insurance settlement.
The family has also faced a wrongful death lawsuit in the case of Mallory Beach, who died in a boating accident when Paul was allegedly behind the wheel. Buster and Maggie had been dropped from the lawsuit, but as of January, according to WTOC, Alex still faces it.
