Alex Murdaugh hit with new charge as legal experts slam 'horrible' defense strategy

Accused killer Alex Murdaugh is facing a new misdemeanor charge while his murder trial for the death of his wife and son continues to grip the nation, according to a South Carolina TV station.

Details of the charge were not immediately available, but deputies received an arrest warrant for a misdemeanor on Thursday, court records obtained by WCBD-TV Channel 2 indicate.

The documents were served the same day Murdaugh — who's on trial in the alleged killing of his wife, Maggie Mudaugh, and son Paul in 2021 — took the stand in his own defense.

He admitted that he had previously lied to law enforcement about his whereabouts on the night his wife and son were fatally shot at the family’s plush hunting lodge in Islandton, South Carolina. He also told Colleton County jurors he was a drug addict who stole millions of dollars from his law firm’s clients for over a decade. In addition, Murdaugh contradicted his elder son's testimony, which appeared to implicate himself in the killings.

His decision to take the stand has been blasted by a number of criminal defense attorneys, who warned the tactic is always risky.

He "likely believed if the jury heard his story from his own voice, it would give his timeline some credibility, and he believed he would be able to convince a jury that he loved his family so much that he could never have committed the act,” Rachel Fiset, co-founder of Los Angeles-based Zweiback, Fiset & Zalduendo, told Law&Crime.

As an attorney himself, Murdaugh "must have weighed all of the criminal peril he could put himself in from his other pending criminal charges because he knew he would be asked about his other crimes," she added. "His attorneys had asked to narrow the scope of his cross-examination, and the judge denied that request ... [so] this was a horrible move.”