Maggie Murdaugh kicked Alex out of home after suspecting he had an affair 15 years ago, sister tells trial

Alex Murdaugh’s past alleged extramarital affair emerged on the seventeenth day of the trial for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

The prosecution sought to have new testimony from Maggie Murdaugh’s sister Marian Proctor — including details about Mr Murdaugh’s affair more than a decade ago and his opioid use — admitted in court on Tuesday. The murder trial is now in its fourth week at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina.

With the jury out of the room, Ms Proctor claimed that although the affair had happened 15 years ago and they were able to work through it, it was still a sore point in Mr Murdaugh and Maggie’s marriage. Ms Proctor went on to say that her sister had brought up the issue around the time of the murders.

“She did not think anyone was still going on, it just bothered her,” Ms Proctor said, also saying that Maggie made her husband leave the house years ago when she first became suspicious.

Mr Murdaugh’s defence attorney Jim Griffin denied the affair and asked the judge to disregard the testimony as inadmissible. Judge Clifton Newman ruled that the state may not question Ms Proctor about the affair, as the allegations took place a long time ago and could confuse jurors who will deliberate whether Mr Murdaugh was the perpetrator in his son and wife’s 2021 murders.

The state also requested that Ms Proctor’s testimony on Mr Murdaugh’s opioid abuse could be heard by the jury.

Mr Griffin said he was “not sure what information” Ms Proctor would share about Mr Murdaugh’s opioid abuse, with Judge Newman noting that the defence had an early witness read a letter about Mr Murdaugh’s being in rehab — meaning that the specific issue and evidence was previously introduced by the defence and could also be discussed by the prosecution with other witnesses.

Ms Proctor said that Maggie’s nickname for Paul was “Little Detective.” The nickname came about because he would always keep an eye out for if his father was behaving and was not abusing opioids.

Paul would reportedly try and find any pain pills Mr Murdaugh had in the house to make sure his father couldn’t take them.

It also transpired that Ms Proctor was informed that Mr Murdaugh had been fired from his law firm for stealing by Mr Griffin, who then objected that his own conversation with the witness is hearsay, causing an eruption of laughter in the courtroom.

Mr Griffin also asked the judge not to allow discussion of Mr Murdaugh’s roadside shooting three months on from the murders as it would “open Pandora’s box.” Mr Murdaugh allegedly conspired to pay a hitman to shoot him dead so that his surviving son Buster would inherit a $10m life insurance windfall.

The now-disbarred attorney initially claimed he was ambushed in a drive-by shooting while changing a tyre on his vehicle, but his story quickly unravelled and he confessed to orchestrating the plot. Mr Murdaugh and his alleged co-conspirator Curtis Smith were arrested and charged over the incident.

The defence argued on Tuesday that Mr Murdaugh admitted to the circumstances of the roadside shooting, while the prosecutors countered by saying Murdaugh lied that day, which proves intent.

Judge Newman ultimately ruled that Ms Proctor can testify about Mr Murdaugh being fired for allegedly stealing money from his law firm and about his opioid problem.

Ms Proctor said she and her husband got a call in September 2021 from a friend who said they were sorry to hear about Alex.

They didn’t know what they were talking about and were told that Mr Murdaugh had been shot.

“I thought whoever had killed Maggie and Paul had now shot Alex. I was horrified that Buster was next,” Ms Proctor said.

In the four weeks of trial so far, the prosecution has argued in court that Mr Murdaugh killed his wife and son to distract from his mounting financial and legal scandals.

Mr Murdaugh has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty last June.

The double murder trial is far from Mr Murdaugh’s only legal problem.

Besides the case, Mr Murdaugh is facing at least 100 other criminal charges over a string of financial fraud allegations.