The defense in the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh objected ahead of testimony to one of the prosecution’s witnesses Thursday after it was revealed he had donated to a GoFundMe campaign set up by the children of Murdaugh’s mother’s caregiver “for her bravery” following her testimony.
Mark Tinsley, the lawyer who filed the wrongful death lawsuit against Alex Murdaugh and others for the death of Mallory Beach, 19, 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 set up by Mushell Smith’s children.
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 lawyer and the scion of a well-connected legal family who stands accused of murdering his wife and son in 2021 faced a $10 million lawsuit, most of which he was on the hook to pay for out of pocket, according to Tinsley’s testimony.
Tinsley took the stand late Thursday and said that Murdaugh had a Progressive policy for the boat that would pay $500,000, a small dent into the $10 million he sought from Murdaugh. Tinsley said he was told Murdaugh’s defense said he’d only be able to cobble together $1 million but that he was ultimately broke.
“I didn’t believe it at all,” Tinsley said. “There’s no way.”
Tinsley said that given Murdaugh’s steady flow of cases in Hampton County, real estate holdings and generational wealth, he found it hard to believe that he was broke.
Six young people, including Paul Murdaugh, were on a boat owned by Alex Murdaugh when it slammed into a piling below a bridge near Parris Island in Beaufort County in 2019. Paul Murdaugh was believed to have been driving, according to police records, although there was initial confusion over who was at the helm.
Beach was reportedly sitting on her boyfriend’s lap when she was ejected. Tinsley filed the wrongful…
Read the full article here
