Alex Murdaugh’s surviving son testifies for defense at murder trial

Now to some very emotional testimony in the murder trial of Alex Murdoch in South Carolina. The disgraced attorney's surviving son, his name is Buster, took the stand as a witness for the defense yesterday. Murdoch has pleaded not guilty in the shooting deaths of his wife Maggie and his other son Paul. Nikki Batiste is at the trial. Nikki, good morning to you. Gail, good morning. Buster, Murdoch has been in court every day since the trial began.

Yesterday he took the stand and testified for about two hours. He remained composed except when he was asked about the moment he learned of his mother and brother's deaths. He asked me if I was sitting down and I was like, yeah, and then he sounded odd and then he told me that my mom and brother had been shot. Buster Murdoch held back tears Tuesday as he talked about the moment his father, Alec Murdoch, called him with devastating news. It was a few hours after Alec says he found Maggie and Paul Murdoch shot to death. Buster says he then rushed to his father's side. What was his demeanor? His demeanor was, I mean, he was destroyed.

His heart broken. I walked in the door and saw him and gave him a hug and just broke it down. The 26-year-old described a tight-knit family that communicated constantly by phone. About a week before the murders, the family had gathered for a birthday celebration for Alec, whom Buster described as a devoted dad. Was there ever any violence in the family? No, sir. Buster did say he wasn't aware of the severity of his father's opioid addiction. He did a few kind of like at home just self-detox a couple times.

And you know, thought, you know, once he did that, that, you know, get off of him. But that was kind of my general knowledge about it all. You thought he had beat it? That's right, yes, sir. The prosecution has argued that Alec Murdoch murdered his wife and son in an attempted distract from his alleged financial crimes that were about to be uncovered. You had no knowledge of your dad's financial difficulties at all, did you? No, sir. The defense also called a forensic engineer to the stand who suggested the shooter was someone much shorter than Alec Murdoch. The prosecutors questioned the expert's credentials.

The defense says it plans to arrest its case on Friday, which means the jury would likely begin deliberations next week. Nate? Nicky, thank you so much.

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