maggie and paul murdaugh were killed just a few days before it was supposed to take place. ing, prosecutors allege that if the release of murdaugh's financial records were granted that hearing, it would've led to his misdeeds becoming exposed and would've resulted in personal, legal and financial ruin for murdaugh. >> he is still trying to prevent who we really is from coming out. what he does do is kill his wife and son, who were liabilities in this case. and immediately, it stops everything. >> murdaugh's defense team pushed back on the alleged motive in court. -- (inaudible) still motive, you're not a source with knowledge of the investigation told me blood spatter was found on alex murdaugh's clothing. which could prove he was in close proximity to at least one of the victims when they were shot. that same source also toward me, a video phoned on paul murdaugh's cell phone contains audio of alex murdaugh talking with his family at the scene around the time the slayings occurred. well before his call to 9-1-1. at 10:07 p.m.. prosecutors say maggie and paul were killed bet

the same source also telling me that there is video which contains audio on paul murdaugh's cell phoneugh, you hear him speaking to those family members, at the crime scene, much earlier in the night than when he had called 911. so, prosecutors say that they were murdered between 8:30 and 10:06 p.m. on june 27th, 2021. in terms of the offline, at 8:44 is when that video is on paul murdaugh's phone. he leaves the property for some reason, and at 10:07, jim, he returns. and that's when he makes that 911 call. >> it is such a twisted and complicated story. and you mentioned hearing that was scheduled to take place just days after they were murdered. now, which case did that involve? >> that was related to a boat crash from 2019, and in that boat crash, a young woman named mallory beach was killed. paul murdoch, the son of alex murdaugh, who was shot and killed, was the driver allegedly of that boat, and he was also allegedly drunk. he had been charged with driving under the influence and causing her death. and he was awaiting trial at the time of his murder. now, the beach family had also

neither one of them is moving. >> reporter: murdaugh's wife maggie and son paul were shot to death atce arrived, prosecutors say murdaugh allegedly misleading investigators, indicating he thought the murders were tied to the boat case. but prosecutors allege murdaugh killed them to gain sympathy and shift the focus away from his alleged financial wrongdoings. mrdaugh's defense team casting doubt on that argument saying, the state's theory that murdaugh murdered his wife and son in cold blood to distract the law firm from investigating financial improprieties is illogical, implausible and unsupported by evidence. >> there's no evidence that alex murdaugh would have got any financial benefit from murdering paul and maggie. >> reporter: he pleaded not guilty and is accused of stealing almost $9 million from his clients and law firm and faces nearly 100 charges. >> the day of reckoning was upon him and he was out of cards to play after he's been playing every cashed he could for ten years. >> reporter: and murdaugh's defense team says that allowing this evidence into court would mislead t

. >> reporter: murdaugh is charged with shooting his wife maggie and son paul in the summer in 2021 atnot guilty, his attorneys say he had nothing to gain from the murders. >> there's no elements of alex murdaugh -- the financial benefit of murdering paul and maggie. no evidence of life insurance. no evidence that maggie or paul knew of any alleged financial m proprieties. >> reporter: and this case is expected to go to trial in just weeks. the murdaugh trial is on the schedule to start in january. george? >>> let's bring in our chief legal analyst dan abrams, and dan, we see the defense spending a lot of time trying to pull out a motive from prosecutors. >> the motive is kind of weird, right? it's an odd kind of motive. this idea that the motive is that he wants to get sympathy and distract attention from his other -- up until this point we thought that maybe one of the family members knew something, right, maybe they found out about his financial shenanigans. that's why he had to kill them. the defense attorney saying right there there's no evidence, so the motive is one almost of th

. >> reporter: prosecutors accuse murdaugh of allegedly shooting his wife maggie and 22-year-old son paul2021 at the family's hunting lodge. murdaugh has pleaded not guilty. his attorneys say he had nothing to gain from the murders. another key piece of potential evidence, bloodstains on a white t-shirt allegedly worn by murdaugh on the night he found the bodies of his wife and son. defense attorneys alleging the forensic lab damaged the shirt during testing giving conflicting reports about whether or not there was human blood spattered on it. >> if the prosecution can show that there was blood spatter on the shirt that he was wearing, that's incredibly damning evidence. >> and murdaugh's trial is just weeks away. that is expected to get under way in january. >>> let's turn now and get another check of the weather, danielle breezy out there in nashville. severe storms moving into several parts of the country. >> reporter: i want to start you off with the snow video from snow valley in southern california. take a look at this. i think this guy was shredding the gnar. i think that's how you

murdaugh. they said the financial crimes are intertwines with a double murder of his wife and son paul, who youhere. tell us how one has to do anything to do with the other. in case you're wondering, they want to know when you look at the totality of those accusations, it happened at exact time when he was about to be uncovered, when there was a wrongful death lawsuit filed against his family for the death of a young woman who was on a boat with his son back in 2019. his finances were about to be exposed. his firm was coming at him about where money went. they're saying the state, this exact time, his wife and his son are murdered. that is what we believe is the financial -- he was using this as a distraction to take away from his financial problems. >> that's kind of hard to understand. so they're basically saying it was a coincidence? >> absolutely is hard to understand. this is a guy who according to his own associates, people who know him who don't feel fondly toward him, they say it is hard to believe he might murder his wife and son. he seemed to love them. what the state is saying right