He was being held in jail without bail on those counts before he was charged with murder. Murdaugh also faces about 100 charges related to other crimes, including money laundering, stealing millions from clients, tax evasion and trying to get a man to fatally shoot him so his surviving son could collect a US$10 million life insurance policy. He said he'd been gone for about an hour to visit his ailing father and mother. Murdaugh told investigators that he found their bodies outside their Colleton County home on June 7, 2021. Murdaugh, 54, faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted of murder in the deaths of Maggie, 52, and their son, Paul, 22. The final group of potential jurors was whittled down Tuesday morning and told to return Wednesday morning for final jury selection. Jury selection continued Tuesday as the court tries to get 900 people down to a pool of more than 100 potential jurors to select the final panel of 12, plus six alternates. The defence said recent scientific advances show ballistics experts can't say with 100% certainty that there are unique markings linking the gun and ammunition. Murdaugh's lawyers also want to prevent an expert from testifying that rifle cartridges found near his wife's body have marks indicating they may have been fired from one of five guns taken from the home. Defence lawyers said the shirt was destroyed before they could test it and there is evidence the expert examining the shirt changed his conclusions under pressure from state agents. When Circuit Judge Clifton Newman hears arguments after the jury is seated, Murdaugh's lawyers also will try to convince him to refuse to admit evidence that authorities said will show blood from his slain younger son spattered on Murdaugh's shirt. Defence attorneys don't want the judge to admit the evidence, contending prosecutors are trying to smear Murdaugh to bolster a weak case. Prosecutors want to present voluminous evidence of Murdaugh's bad behaviour and the numerous other crimes he is charged with to show he killed his wife and son to buy time to prevent his other wrongdoings from being discovered. Before testimony begins in South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh's murder trial, defence lawyers will ask the judge to make a pair of key rulings this week that could strike a massive amount of evidence from the case.
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