The trial of Alex Murdaugh, a disgraced South Carolina Attorney, was put on hold after a bomb threat forced the evacuation of people from the courtroom. As soon as authorities received the disturbing message, proceedings were halted, and everyone scampered to safety.
Keep reading for all the details.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division revealed that Colleton County courthouse personnel received the message, which led to an abrupt end in the court proceeding.
However, the trial restarted around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday after authorities gave the all-clear. The content of the message remains unclear.
According to an undisclosed court official, the bomb threat was made to Judge Clifton Newman's chambers, and SLED confirmed investigations are ongoing on the contents of the text in partnership with the Colleton County Sheriff's Office, but they're yet to provide more details beyond that.
As soon as Judge Newman got wind of the threat, he addressed the court by saying.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have to evacuate the building at this time so we’ll be in recess until we discover what’s going on."
As people left the building, Murduagh was escorted out of the premises by police. They then drove away to a secure location.
Videos that emerged from the scene showed people heading for the exit from the Walterboro courthouse right before 1 p.m. as law enforcement officers put a perimeter around the building while they looked into the threat.
The 54-year-old is on trial for the murder of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul, 22, who was discovered dead near the dog house at the family's hunting lodge on June 7, 2021.
Prosecutors played video footage at Alex Murdaugh's trial, which proved that he was indeed present at the scene of the murder moments before it happened.
The fallen lawyer had earlier denied being present at the scene of the murder, and now the video taken by his 22-year-old son Paul minutes before he and his mother got shot near the same dog house proves otherwise.
The prosecutors believe the three voices heard in the background belonged to Paul, Maggie, and Alex, who is now accused of shooting them both moments after the video was taken.
The lawyer began crying as the video played in court for everyone to see.
“The evidence is going to show, that these things every one of us carries around in our pockets, that he was there and he was there just minutes before with Maggie and Paul just before their cellphones go silent forever and ever,” Creighton Waters said, holding up a cell phone.
Prosecutors suggested that following the evidence, Murdaugh may have been trying to come up with an alibi hours after the murder.
The 54-year-old heir to a powerful legal dynasty has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his wife and son at their Colleton County hunting estate.
Paul was shot twice with a shotgun near the dog kennel while Maggie was shot multiple times with an AR-style rifle, and she also received a single, execution-style shot to the back of her head while she lay face down on the ground.
