South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh took the stand in a dramatic testimony yesterday to deny any guilt in the murder charges brought against him for gunning down his wife, Maggie, 52, and son, Paul, 22. During two hours of cross-examination in the high-profile trial, Murdaugh admitted to lying about his whereabouts on the night of the killings but maintained his innocence.

The trial, which has been under intense media scrutiny given the accused’s status as the scion of an influential legal family in the low-lying region of the state, also revealed Murdaugh’s financial crimes during the questioning. The prosecutor brought these up in effort to establish Murdaugh’s dishonesty.

Murdaugh revealed that he had been in a drug-induced paranoia during his first interview with the police, leading him to initially lie about his whereabouts during the prosecutor