Thread by @AveryGWilks

I've saved @postandcourier front pages since the day we reported Alex Murdaugh was about to be indicted on murder charges in the slayings of his wife and son.

Here's how the first draft of history in this case appeared to our readers in Charleston and beyond.

#AlexMurdaugh

1. 7/13/22: State investigators meet with Murdaugh's family to inform them he will be charged with murder in the June 2021 slayings of Maggie and Paul.

2. 7/15/22: Our story on Murdaugh's indictment

1. Murdaugh pleads not guilty

2. I teamed up with @kaileycota to break down the Murdaugh family's history of pursuing the death penalty and the chances he could face that brand of justice himself.

1-4: The Murdaugh case is mired in pretrial bickering, with Murdaugh's defense team accusing the S.C. Attorney General's Office of "trial by ambush" to bolster their allegedly weak murder case.

1. Our piece on what we learned from Alex Murdaugh's jailhouse tapes before he went silent.

2-4: Murdaugh's defense team continues to seek discovery and tries to shift blame for the murders to alleged Murdaugh accomplice Curtis "Cousin Eddie" Smith.

Late 2022: Now we get to the big stuff.

1. Murdaugh's legal team submits his formal alibi.

2. Prosecutors offer their theory of AM's motive for the slayings.

3. The state's supposed high-impact blood spatter evidence is in huge trouble (and would later be abandoned).

My pre-trial profile of lead prosecutor Creighton Waters, which you can read here: postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

A few days before Christmas, the S.C. Attorney General's Office announces it won't seek the death penalty in this case.

My profile of Alex Murdaugh's defense attorneys, which you can read here: postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

1-2: Our previews on the trial itself and the challenge of jury selection.

3. The proceedings begin with jury selection and elephant ears.

The next posts will be our daily and Sunday stories from the trial itself.

Trial continues into February

Early February. We get deep into Alex Murdaugh's alleged financial crimes.

Mid-February. A bomb threat and COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the trial. We learn more about Alex Murdaugh's financial schemes and how he used his reputation and the trust he enjoyed to pull them off.

Mid-February continued: We get back to learning more about evidence on the 6/7/21 slayings, as well as AM's behavior afterward.

The state rests its case. The defense begins calling witnesses, including Murdaugh's surviving son, Buster.

Their most obvious challenge is overcoming the lie AM told about his alibi on 6/7/21.

Alex Murdaugh takes the witness stand in his own defense.

He tries to explain why he lied about his whereabouts on the night his wife and son were killed. He offers a new version of the events that evening.

Then prosecutor Waters cross-examines him for two days. It's brutal.

The sixth and final week of Murdaugh's trial.

His lawyers call his younger brother, John Marvin, to the stand to testify in his defense. They also present expert witnesses to try to poke holes in the state's forensic evidence and theory of the case.

1. Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters delivers his closing argument, urging the jury to vindicate Maggie and Paul.

2. The jury deliberates less than 3 hours before finding Alex Murdaugh guilty

3. Judge Clifton Newman sentences AM to life in prison. AM's attorneys vow to appeal

Finally, our Sunday front page story today on what we learned about the night of 6/7/21 over the course of this trial, and how some mysteries of the case still endure postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…