Disgraced former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh would constantly ask one of his associates to bring him "envelopes of cash" for an unknown purpose, one employee at his longtime law firm testified at his murder trial, according to The Daily Beast on Monday.
The revelation came during questioning of Nathan Tuten, a former friend of Alex's dead son Paul Murdaugh.
"Tuten said that while working at the firm from 2019 to 2022, Murdaugh would 'very frequently' ask him to cash checks for him at a local bank. Tuten said that when he would return from Palmetto State Bank, with the cash in a bank envelope, he would bring the money directly to Murdaugh in his office," reported Pilar Melendez. "Sometimes, Tuten said, other people would be in Murdaugh’s office — including Yemassee Police Chief Greg Alexander and attorneys Chris Wilson and Cory Fleming. (Fleming has since been criminally charged for his role in a Murdaugh-related financial crime and Wilson testified against Murdaugh, who he said stole almost $200,000 from him. Alexander has admitted he took a loan from Murdaugh in 2021 but insisted there was 'no impropriety.')"
"Prosecutors didn’t ask Tuten any follow-up questions about the possible implications," noted the report. However, lawyers representing Murdaugh sought to rebut this connection, with one attorney asking Tuten, "Are you suggesting he was giving Greg Alexander money?" to which he said he was not "suggesting anything."
Murdaugh, whose family is prominent in the South Carolina Lowcountry, first drew national attention for a bizarre scheme in which he faked his own death to try to arrange a fraudulent insurance payout to his surviving son. He has been charged with the murder of his wife Margaret as well as Paul, who were found shot on the family's sprawling estate. Numerous details have emerged at trial, including that his deceased family members found his drug stash months before the killings.
Prosecutors have argued that Murdaugh had his wife and son killed to cover up his financial crimes. But their case hasn't gone perfectly, with one of their own witnesses, a caretaker for the Murdaugh family's dogs, giving testimony that was more valuable to the defense.
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