Alex Murdaugh jurors visit crime scene as murder trial winds towards its close

Murdaugh, a now disbarred attorney from a prominent South Carolina family who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, maintains he found his wife, Maggie, and his younger son, Paul, dead when he returned to the family estate, called Moselle, after visiting his ailing mother on the night of 7 June.

The defense has also contended that given the trajectory of the gunshot, Murdaugh was too tall to have fired it.

Other parts of the testimony have been bizarre.

The Murdaugh trial has become something akin to a social event in South Carolina, with some public observers driving from across the state in Charleston, or from Savannah in Georgia, to sit in. The Murdaughs had been for close to a century one of the most powerful families in South Carolina, with close ties to the judiciary and law enforcement.

It has been a dressy affair, with officials turning away visitors improperly attired. A woman was refused entry for wearing spaghetti straps on her dress, and again for a too-tight outfit. She was admitted after a third change of clothing.

After the case is handed to jurors following closing arguments, which could begin later on Wednesday, a verdict could come any time. Under South Carolina law, a guilty defendant is not sentenced at a later date: it is delivered there and then, adding to the sense of impending drama.