(NewsNation) — Prosecutors spent four weeks painting Alex Mudaugh as a liar who decided to kill his wife and son to cover up financial crimes and other possible transgressions.
Murdaugh, 54, took the stand to testify on Thursday and Friday, admitting that he had lied previously because of his addiction to opioids, but maintaining that he did not kill his wife Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22.
“I didn’t shoot my wife or my son at any time, ever,” he said. “I would never intentionally do anything to hurt either one of them.”
Prosecutors allege Murdaugh killed his family members to deflect from impending revelations that he had stolen money from his clients for years.
But many questioned if it was smart for Murdaugh to testify.
Criminal defense attorney and former Cook County, Illinois, prosecutor Matt Fakhoury said Murdaugh testifying was a bad idea for several reasons, especially because Fakhoury thinks the defense already had enough of a case for reasonable doubt with issues surrounding the crime scene and contamination issues.
Fakhoury said it even looked like Murdaugh’s attorneys didn’t want their client to testify.
“I think any defense attorney in that situation, especially with all the things that you mentioned — the drug addiction, the financial crimes that he admitted to — wouldn’t want him to take the stand … for credibility purposes,” he said.
Plus, Murdaugh is a trained attorney and Fakhoury said people are usually suspicious of attorneys, noting that lawyers tend to pick their words very carefully and precisely.
“The exchanges that he’s having with the prosecutor over simple questions, he’s not really answering in a straightforward manner,” Fakhoury said, adding that Murdaugh isn’t coming off as very relatable to the jury, either.
“I think ultimately,” he said, “when that (is) coupled with the fact that he admitted to all these other very brazen acts like the lying and the financial crimes and the drug dealing and the drug addictions, I don’t think it’s going to bode well for him.”
Fakhoury said once you lie, you lie, and no one will believe what you say.
“Well, he just basically walked himself into jail on all of those financial crimes,” Jesse Weber, attorney and anchor for “The Law & Crime Network,” said. “It’s an interesting strategy.”
Weber explained that Murdaugh used a strategy that suggested he felt he could directly appeal to jurors’ emotions. He said that Murdaugh might feel that by admitting to all the illegal stuff he’s done, but then saying he is telling the truth, that he didn’t kill his family.
However, Weber did say that while Murdaugh seemed more credible and genuine, the biggest issue for the defendant is that he is labeled a liar.
“I think the jury is going to be a hung jury,” Weber said, meaning he believes the jurors will be unable to agree on a verdict, ultimately leading to a mistrial.
Body language expert Dr. Lillian Glass said the body doesn’t lie. She analyzed Murdaugh’s body language while he was on the stand, and said his gestures did not match what he was saying.
“What’s happening is, he is saying ‘I didn’t do it,’ but yet his head is nodding ‘yes,'” Glass said. “And that is very revealing from a body language point of view, because it happens internally in the brain.”
She called it disturbing.
Plus, Glass said, Murdaugh’s emotional response was very inconsistent, which can make some people question whether he is telling the truth.
Murdaugh may have gone into too much detail during Thursday’s testimony, possibly hurting his case, Glass said. She explained that going into too much minute detail can often signal deception to observers.