Alex Murdaugh's Brother Doesn't Know What to Think

Alex Murdaugh's older brother isn't convinced that the South Carolina lawyer really killed his wife and son. "The not knowing is the worst thing," Randy Murdaugh tells the New York Times following his brother's conviction. He says Alex's arrest for murder last July left him questioning whether he ever truly knew his brother who, like Randy, worked as a partner at the family law firm. He's now convinced Alex is a serial liar and thief—but not that he's a killer. He just can't picture the seemingly protective husband and father fatally shooting 52-year-old Maggie and 22-year-old Paul. But "he knows more than what he's saying," Randy tells the Times. "He's not telling the truth, in my opinion, about everything there."

The interview, the first from a Murdaugh family member since the murder convictions were announced Thursday, challenges a Friday statement from defense lawyer Jim Griffin, who claimed the family came away from the six-week trial "more convinced that he did not do this, and they are steadfastly in his camp and support him." Alex's surviving son, Buster, and younger brother, John Marvin, testified for the defense at trial. Together with Alex's sister Lynne, they were a constant "show of support" for the accused killer, per the Independent. Randy did not testify and, though he attended court, was not a constant presence. He says he hasn't spoken to Alex in almost a year.

In a 2021 interview, Randy told Good Morning America that "there's no possible way he could have anything to do with this." He now tells the Times he found it suspicious that Alex wasn't very interested in identifying his wife and son's killer. "I spent considerable time, day after day for weeks on end, calling people [for leads]," says Randy. Alex, who made no such inquiries, would only say that whoever was responsible had "thought about it for a long time." Still, "I hoped that after the trial, because there’s nothing more that can be presented, that I'd stop thinking about this," he says. "But so far, that has not been the case." (Jurors were certainly convinced, returning guilty verdicts in just three hours.)