♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, the murdaugh murders. the epic trial of a prominent south carolina lawyer accused of killing his own wife and son. >> did you kill maggie? >> did i kill my wife? no. >> the stunning courtroom revelations. >> he did not appear to be crying. he was upset, but i did not see any visible tears. >> were financial misdeeds behind the crimes? why the defense says this case is far from over. >> they decided that night, he did it. without forensics, without cell phones, without any of that. plus the after after party. a former "saturday nightry to stars. >> children's entertainer jasper

hahn, everybody! >> hey, there, jimmy! >> accusing former cast member horacio sands of an inappropriate relationship when she was underage. >> he would use humor in our conversations to steer things in a sexual way. >> alleging that he sexually assaulted her during one of the show's infamous after after parties. >> do you think it was clear to him that you didn't want to participate? >> 1,000%. (vo) purina one has the inside story on your pet's health. it starts inside the gut... with purina one with microbiome balance. natural prebiotic nutrition promoting gut health and immune support. purina one with microbiome balance.

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♪for joining us. it's the trial that's captivating the nation. alec murdaugh, the heir to the south carolina legal dynasty, charges with the measureds of his wife and son. prosecutors say his motive, to hide years of financial troubles. but his defense team says this case has a long way to go. here's abc's eva pilgrim. >> did you kill paul? >> no, i did not kill paul. >> do you know who did? >> no, sir, i do not know who did. >> reporter: a weeks-long trial all boiling down to that central question. >> do you think i killed maggie? >> i have to go where the evidence and the facts lead. >> reporter: this video of alec murdaugh's interrogation now

released in court. >> so does that mean that i am a suspect? >> reporter: alec murdaugh, a man whose family was known for its wealth and influence, stands accused of murdering his own wife, maggie, and son, paul. >> i think that just growing up in the low country, knowing how important it is to know your roots, the roots have been ripped apart. >> good morning. >> reporter: now the trial hits day 19. with murdaugh in court listening to expert testimony describing the last moments of his son's life. >> that's over 20-something entrances and exits. i believe it would have hurt him. i believe he would have been in pain. >> right now we're watching the prosecution try and wrap up their case. this is a circumstantial case, but there's still obvious physical evidence that they need to tie together. >> reporter: prosecutors have painted a picture of a desperate man, arguing that murdaugh killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and distract authorities from his alleged financial crimes. the case that gripped the low

country of south carolina started back in june 2021 when alec murdaugh called 911. >> county 911, what is your emergency? >> this is alex murdaugh. i need the police and ambulance immediately. my wife and child have been shot badly. >> reporter: wife and son found dead on the murdaugh property. >> did you ever see tears in your interactions with mr. murdaugh? >> he did not appear to be crying. he was upset, but i did not see visible tears. >> reporter: the shooting came on the heels of a series of other tragic and bizarre incidents with alleged ties to the murdaughs. in 2019, his 19-year-old son, paul, was charged with drunkenly crashing their family body, the accident killing malley beech, an incident that people say seemed to haunt murdaugh. >> it seems like it's about the reputation of the family. that the family's being sued for unintentionally murdering or killing this young girl because of this drunk driving incident

on a boat. >> reporter: and weeks after his wife and son were found murdered, another suspicious incident. >> i got a flat tire. and i stopped. and somebody stopped to help me. and when i turned my back, they tried to shoot me. >> reporter: according to authorities, murdaugh sustained a superficial head wound. investigators calling ate botched suicide for hire plot that would have resulted in a multimillion-dollar life insurance payout for murdaugh's only living son, buster. >> as he told law enforcement when he confessed to organizing this crime, because they caught him when he made a phone call from the hospital, he said, i thought my life was over and i wanted this to happen so i could at least leave something to my son, buster. >> reporter: the trial started on january 23rd. murdaugh has maintained his innocence. >> he's being questioned and the questioning is pretty aggressive. they decided that night, he did

it. without forensics, without secel phones, without any of that. >> reporter: murdaugh's lawyer said the law firm was concern the he was estating money and were opening an investigation. >> months upon months of going through all of the files and finding, you know, just -- following the numbers. >> reporter: local lawyer mark tinsley testified that he was suing murdaugh on behalf of malley beech's family and approached him about coming to a settlement in october 2020. >> she says, i'm broke. what are you saying in response? >> there's no way. i mean, like i said, he has a significant gspigot of he's got big cases, he's got lots of cases, he's got generational wealth. >> reporter: tinsley filed a motion to compel murdaugh to turn over access to his many bank accounts the hearing that could have forced him to share his financials was scheduled for

three days after the murders. prosecutors also showed murdaugh continued to have an overwhelming preoccupation with that boat accident, seen in police body camera the night of the murders. >> this is a long story. my son was in a boat wreck. months back. he's been getting threats. i know that's what it is. >> reporter: maggie murdaugh's sister, marian proctor, took the stand. >> he said that his number one goal was clearing paul's name. and i thought that was so strange. because my number one goal was to find out who killed my sister and paul. >> reporter: prosecutors have also worked to undercut murdaugh's alibi, sharing this 58-second video from his son, paul, possibly placing murdaugh at the murder scene minutes before the murders. >> he's got a bird in his mouth.

>> hey, bubba. i that's a guinea. >> come here, bubba. >> you hear three voices. you hear paul, maggie, and a third. and so far, three witnesses have said, that's alex murdaugh. >> reporter: despite that, this trial is far from over. murdaugh's defense is next in line to make their case to the jury. >> the idea that a father would try to kill his family to hide his own financial crimes, as the defense has said, this is trying to force a square peg into a circular hole. and if they can continue that theory and that theme, they might get at least one juror to believe their case. that might avoid a guilty verdict. >> our thanks to eva. coming up, the after after party. a "saturday night live" superfan accusing a former cast member of grooming and sexual assault.

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♪ she was a teenage "saturday night live" superfan with access to the stars and those infamous after after parties. but she says things took a turn when one cast member began plying her with alcohol and making inappropriate sexual advances. here again, abc's eva pilgrim. >> live from new york, it's saturday night! >> i first discovered "saturday night live" when my mom woke me up one night to see the band bush on tv.

♪ then i think there was a sketch or something after that or before that. immediately i thought it was the most magical thing in the world. >> reporter: in the '90s, jane doe, who asked that we not use her name or show her face, became a "saturday night live" superfan. >> i went to "saturday night live" as often as humanly possible. for a teenage girl to do. >> reporter: she says she had dreams of one day being on the iconic sketch show, but her feelings about "snl" were forever changed, she says, because of her relationship with one of its former cast members, horacio sands. >> children's entertainer jasper hahn, everybody. >> hey, there, jimmy! >> i've known this guy for 20 years. i think of him as an old friend. it's very hard to sever that connection in your brain. you're not just realizing that you have an abuser, you're mourning a close friendship. >> reporter: in a lawsuit filed

in 2021 against sands and nbc, which airs "snl" and settled last november, jane claims that sands groomed, molested, and sexually assaulted her when she was a minor. >> my two high school friends had gone to cast parties with me, both said, yes, when the "me too" movement first started, jane, i thought of you, i thought of horacio. >> reporter: jane said she created a fan site around "snl" and its stars. >> people all over the world would send me emails and stuff. it was a very exciting little project that i got to do as a kid. >> reporter: when she was 14, jane says she met one of "snl's" rising stars, jimmy fallon, who often appeared in sketches on the show with horacio sands. ♪ >> reporter: she says she received an email from fallon the next year praising her fan site, which included a message from sands telling her, "you are cool." jane says she cannot locate the

original email but recalls it well. that same year, jane went to her first "snl" show where she met fallon again and, for the first time, horacio sands. >> in hindsight, it was totally inappropriate for him to be gently touching me in certain ways. his hand on the small of my back or letting his fingers linger a little bit longer. he sort of positioned himself as, like, i'm a big brother, you're my little sister! >> reporter: in the summer of 2001, jane says she and sands began talking over aol messenger. the first messages aren't sexual in nature. "it's me, the real deal." "don't tell anybody, promise?" >> how old were you? >> 16. >> how old was he? >> 32. >> reporter: in the lawsuit jane says the conversations became more sexualized over time. >> he would use humor in our conversations to steer things in a sexual way. >> reporter: jane doe was not able to provide any sexually explicit instant messages from

when she was a minor, telling abc news the hard drive she kept them on got refurbished in 2004 which may have deleted them. would you want your mom to see the conversation? >> no, definitely not. >> reporter: in her lawsuit, jane claims things also escalated during the infamous "saturday night live" after parties where she says she was served alcohol while as young as 16. sometimes in the "snl" offices. at those parties, jane doe says she rubbed shoulders with some members of the cast at the time, including tina fey, rachel dratch, tracy morgan, and "snl" creator lorne michaels. these are photos she shared. >> jimmy fallon introduced me lorne michaels by my first and last name and reminded him what my website was. >> reporter: it was the after after parties that start after 4:00 a.m. that have the wildest reputation. horacio sands hosted some of those after after parties during his tenure.

in 2015, he boasted about them on a talk show. >> how did you become assigned the ringleader of that? >> because i had heard about the legendary parties of the '70s. i wanted to kind of bring that back. >> reporter: jane alleges that her lawsuit her relationship with sands shifted at an after after party on may 11th, 2002. she was 17 years old. the first party began at the new york restaurant barollo. she says sands invited her to ride to the party in a limo. >> the cast of "scrubs" was there, we got to talk to some of them. horacio had his arm around me during the whole party. >> reporter: afterwards she says the group relocated to the after after party at a loft downtown. >> that was the tracy party. everyone refers to it as the tracy party. it was categorically different from all of the other parties. >> reporter: sands had talked about that night. >> i stayed -- i think i was the last one to leave. >> reporter: in his memoir, tracy morgan wrote about a party, describing the space as

an illegal strip club where some attendees could drink and engage in sexual acts. a court document alleges that it was the same party jane doe attended. at what point did you realize the night was turning in a direction that you didn't like how it went? >> i had been drinking, he had been plying me with alcohol. within that context, i consented to kissing him and making out with him at first at that party. the second that i saw the cast was coming into the party, i became extremely uncomfortable and froze like a deer in headlights and wanted to stop. and horacio coerced me repeatedly to keep going with him. >> do you think it was clear to him that you didn't want to participate? >> 1,000%. i kept saying to him, like, "i feel weird, can we go somewhere, we should leave, i don't want to be here." you know? >> reporter: in her lawsuit, jane alleges sands groped her breasts in full view of several "snl" cast and crew members.

>> two of them were standing there giggling at this. they were my role models. so for them to have laughed at me -- i immediately internalized it as, i'm doing something wrong. >> reporter: she claims in her lawsuit that the sexual assault continued even after they left the party and that a friend of hers later told her, "i recall horacio once trying with you." >> 20 years later she remembered me saying to her, "i'm so glad i wore pantyhose because it stopped the action from happening." >> reporter: eventually, jane says, she went away to college but says horacio still had an emotional grip on her. >> i have saved journal entries where i talk about, if i can just go 20 days without instant messaging horacio, that would be really healthy for me. >> reporter: in the years following jane says she suffered severe psychological trauma. >> i was hospitalized. i just went into a really, really dark place. >> reporter: for years, jane says sands continually communicated with her. in the lawsuit she alleges in

2019, sands admitted to her that he masturbated during their conversations when she was underage. >> at no point in our many hours of conversations when i was a teenager did he ever tell me that he was jerking off at his computer. >> reporter: later that year, jane says she confronted sands via text message, texts referenced in her lawsuit. >> i was young and i confronted him 1 night, "dude, you groomed me." >> reporter: sands allegedly responds, "i've always felt terrible about that, i didn't know what i was doing, i never intended to groom you, i swear on a stack of improv books i'm a different person." and, "i was a depressed, miserable drunk. after the tracy party, i really tried to fix what i had done." eventually jane says she replies, "masturbating and asking sexual questions and asking for photos isn't friendship, especially without the lawsuit quotes sands

replying, "i wasn't really thinking but i really didn't do that with others, it was an expletive big mistake, i'm very sorry. if you want to me too me, you have every right." >> you don't have dreams of being a comedian anymore? >> no. >> do you feel like in some ways all of this kind of took that from you? >> yeah. i try not to think about that too much. because that can sort of be painful. and i like where i'm at now. i like where my life is at now. >> reporter: horacio sands and nbc settled the lawsuit in november with no admission wrongdoing. a spokesperson for nbc told abc news, "the organization denied jane doe's allegations against the company and asked the court to discuss the case." the parties have since resolved the matter and moved on. sands' lawyers say he continues to deny all allegations. >> what are you hoping that people take away about hearing your story? >> i hope there's more awareness

about grooming and how it happens. even if you're someone who can't come forward with your own case, maybe just hearing this by proxy will give you a little sense of empowerment. >> our thanks to eva. we'll be right back. if your moderate to severe crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms are stopping you in your tracks... choose stelara® from the start... and move toward relief after the first dose... with injections every two months. stelara® may increase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, sores, new skin growths, have had cancer, or if you need a vaccine. pres, a rare, potentially fatal brain condition, may be possible. some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. feel unstoppable. ask your doctor how lasting remission can start with stelara®. janssen can help you explore cost support options.

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to ask for medication to treat covid-19. ♪ finally tonight, a father in prison for the rest of his life after physically, mentally, and moshlly abusing his college daughter's friends. some of them now speaking out with abc news anchor linsey davis in a new episode of "impact on nightline" on hulu. a warning, some of the footage is disturbing. >> at what point did you feel, i

love to leave? >> the violence towards me had really escalated. and it reached a point where i did feel as if, if i stay any longer, i think i might die. it starts to feel like this might be a mortal threat. >> and the complete episode of "impact: under his spell, sarah lawrence dad turned predator" now streaming on hulu. new episodes of "impact on nightline" drop every thursday. that's "nightline." see you back here tomorrow same time. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.