Video shows Alex Murdaugh next to bodies of wife and son

Eerie video released Monday shows accused murderer Alex Murdaugh standing just feet from the shot-up bodies of his wife and son — and immediately pointing blame elsewhere for the brutal double slaying.

At one point, the then-powerful South Carolina legal scion asks officers to confirm that both of his relatives are dead.

“Did you check them? They are dead, aren’t they?” Murdaugh says, prompting a cop to respond, “Yes, sir, that’s what it looks like.”

The police body-cam footage — previously only shown in court — initially captures Murdaugh standing with his arms crossed as a responding officer walks up to him next to the gunned-down bodies of his wife, Maggie, 52, and their 22-year-old son Paul in June 2021.

Murdaugh starts out by claiming to Colleton County Sgt. Daniel Greene that he grabbed a loaded shotgun “because of the scene” he found at his estate’s kennels.

“It’s bad,” Murdaugh then said of the crime scene, letting out a sob — although Greene has testified that he “didn’t see any visible tears.”

Just 35 seconds into the exchange, Murdaugh appears to pin the blame for the carnage on his dead son Paul‘s legal problems. Paul was accused of causing a drunken boating crash that killed teen passenger Mallory Beach in 2019.

“This is a long story. My son was in a boat wreck months back — he’s been getting threats,” Murdaugh told Greene, who said he arrived at the scene around 20 minutes after the initial 911 call.

“Most of it’s been benign stuff we didn’t take serious,” Murdaugh said, such as his son “getting punched.”

Still, the lawyer stated firmly: “I know that’s what it is.”

Murdaugh then laid out his own alibi, claiming he’d been away from the house for hours visiting his ailing mom, who had late-stage Alzheimer’s, and his dad, who was hospitalized and later died. 

Murdaugh told the officer he found the bodies of his wife and their eldest son after he first went to the house and tried calling them. 

Jurors at his trial have been told that Murdaugh’s voice was caught on a video his son Paul took at the crime scene shortly before the bloodbath.

Despite later telling cops that he’d seen his son’s brains on the ground next to his body, Murdaugh repeatedly asked the officers to confirm that both his wife and boy were dead.

“Is somebody gonna check ’em?” he asked cops during one exchange. “And it’s official that they’re dead?”

“Yes, sir, that’s what it looks like,” Green again replied — with Murdaugh saying, “Sorry, I’m very sorry” for his emotion before getting distracted when asked for basic details about their names and ages.

Murdaugh stared straight at the bodies, which were blurred out in the video, at one point.

The officers noted other footprints and numerous tire tracks at the scene.

“I came in here, and I left one time, and I came back,” Murdaugh claimed, without elaborating on where he’d gone or for how long.

In the clip, Greene said he only realized that Murdaugh was a member of a long-standing local powerful legal dynasty once the lawyer told him his name halfway through the conversation.

Greene has said at Murdaugh’s trial that the suspect “was upset” at the time, “but I didn’t see any visible tears.”

Colleton County Sheriff’s Capt. Jason Chapman testified that he noticed that, too, but he said Murdaugh did look tormented.

“Not everyone cries. I don’t have an issue with that,” Chapman said.

Prosecutors have suggested that the footage shows Murdaugh eager to direct the officers toward the crash theory as well as possible other clues for them to follow, such as the tire tracks.

Murdaugh’s defense claims that the footage shows the officers failed to properly investigate what their client was saying, as well as potentially ruined evidence by repeatedly walking through the scene.

Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty to the murders, for which he faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted.

The spotlight on his kins’ killings sparked a stunningly fast downfall for the once-prominent lawyer, who has been disbarred and faces about 100 charges related to other crimes.

Those raps involve alleged money-laundering, stealing millions of dollars from clients and his family law firm, tax evasion and even trying to get a man to fatally shoot him so his surviving son could collect a $10 million life-insurance policy. 

Murdaugh was being held in jail without bail on those counts before he was charged with the murders.

Judge Clifton Newman on Monday decided to keep the trial going even after two jurors and a court clerk tested positive for COVID. The remaining 10 jurors and five alternates tested negative and will be checked again Wednesday. 

Monday marked the 13th day of testimony as prosecutors continue to present their case.

With Post wires