The defense in the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial objected before testimony from one of the prosecution’s witnesses Thursday after it was revealed that he had donated to a GoFundMe campaign set up by the children of the mother’s caregiver. Murdaugh “for his bravery” after his testimony.
Mark Tinsley, the attorney who filed the wrongful-death lawsuit against Alex Murdaugh and others in the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach in a 2019 boating accident involving Murdaugh’s son, Paul, donated $1,000 to the campaign. Tinsley’s name is no longer visible on the GoFundMe campaign created by the children of Mushell Smith.
Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman decided to allow the testimony as planned, saying it would be good information to bring up in cross-examination.
Murdaugh, a once-powerful South Carolina attorney and scion of a well-connected legal family who is accused of murdering his wife and son in 2021, faced a $10 million lawsuit, most of which he was required to pay out of his pocket. pocket. , according to Tinsley’s testimony.
Tinsley took the stand Thursday night and said Murdaugh had a progressive policy on the boat that would pay out $500,000, a small dent in the $10 million he was seeking from Murdaugh. Tinsley said she was told Murdaugh’s defense said she could only come up with $1 million, but he was ultimately broke.
“I didn’t believe it at all,” Tinsley said. “There is no way.”
Tinsley said given Murdaugh’s steady stream of cases in Hampton County, real estate holdings and generational wealth, he found it hard to believe he was broke.
Six youths, including Paul Murdaugh, were on a boat owned by Alex Murdaugh when it crashed into a piling under a bridge near Parris Island in Beaufort County in 2019. Paul Murdaugh was believed to be driving, according to police records, though there was no initial confusion about who was in command.
Beach was reportedly sitting on her boyfriend’s lap when she was thrown out. Tinsley filed the wrongful death lawsuit in March 2019 on behalf of the Beach family against Alex Murdaugh and others. Some of the other named defendants have already reached an agreement.
Paul Murdaugh also faced three felony counts of boating under the influence of alcohol and was held on a $50,000 personal admission bond at the time of his death. As a matter of protocol, those charges were dropped after his death.
Alex Murdaugh, 54, is accused of fatally shooting his wife, Margaret, 52, and their youngest son, Paul, 22, on the night of June 7, 2021, in a case that garnered national attention.
The saga began as an unsolved double homicide but eventually escalated into broader allegations of financial fraud, a hitman plot and drug addiction, and revived questions about other deaths allegedly linked to the Murdaughs.
Since last week, the prosecution and defense have clashed over whether the jury should be allowed to hear testimony about Murdaugh’s alleged financial misdeeds. Newman ruled this week that he would allow it because he speaks of an alleged motive: Prosecutors charge that Murdaugh killed his wife and son while facing increasing pressure from financial scrutiny to win sympathy and halt investigations by his law firm into the lack of money.
The trial, which began on January 23, was temporarily halted Wednesday afternoon when a bomb threat was called at the Colleton County courthouse, forcing an evacuation of the building.
The jury also heard testimony Thursday from attorney Chris Wilson, who said he had known Alex Murdaugh for decades and considered him one of his best friends. He had no idea that Alex Murdaugh was stealing his clients.
Tony Satterfield, the son of the Murdaughs’ former housekeeper who died from injuries sustained in a fall at their home, testified that Murdaugh had received a settlement of more than $4 million, but the family never received any of it. that money. Additionally, Palmetto State Bank CEO Jan Malinowski testified that Alex Murdaugh’s accounts were frequently overdrawn in 2021, including in August of that year when $347,000 was overdrawn.
Tinsley will return to the stand on Friday.
