Alex Murdaugh cried at his murder trial but appeared dry-eyed at the crime scene after his family was killed, sheriff's sergeant testifies

• Alex Murdaugh broke down in tears during his murder trial as witnesses described the crime scene.
• The first officer to arrive at the crime scene testified that Murdaugh was upset, but wasn't crying.

Alex Murdaugh broke down in tears during his murder trial on Thursday while listening to the 911 call he made and watching crime scene footage showing the aftermath of his wife and son's deaths.

But Murdaugh — once a high-profile South Carolina lawyer charged with killing his family — was dry-eyed at the June 2021 crime scene, the first officer to arrive on the scene testified.

"He was upset, but I didn't see any visible tears," Colleton County Sgt. Daniel Greene told the court in Waterboro, South Carolina.

Jurors watched body camera footage of the interaction and saw crime scene photos.

Chief Barry McRoy of Colleton County Fire and Rescue described the body of Paul Murdaugh in one of the photos.

"That is the body of Paul, and he is laying facedown at the entrance to the utility room at the kennels," said McRoy. "You can see there is substantial damage to his head. There's a lot of blood and there appears to be his brain down there by his foot."

Murdaugh, 54, is on trial facing murder charges in connection to the June 2021 killings of his wife, Maggie, and one of his sons, Paul.

Prosecutors brought two murder charges against Murdaugh in July 2022, alleging that he shot and killed both his wife and son.

Prosecutors have also charged Murdaugh with 99 counts of fraud, alleging that he defrauded investors and then claimed a stranger killed his family to garner sympathy. Murdaught has pleaded not guilty to the accusations.