Lead investigators in Alex Murdaugh case break their silence – and reveal the moment they cracked that the legal scion had executed his wife and son

The lead investigators in Alex Murdaugh’s double murder case have revealed the moment they knew the legal scion had murdered his wife and son.

Investigators Brett Dove and David Owen broke their silence for the first time since the trial of the prominent South Carolina attorney in March. Dateline NBCin an episode airing tonight at 9 p.m., about the discovery of video evidence proving he lied about being at the scene of the crime.

The evidence in question was a final cellphone video recorded by Murdaugh’s son Paul on the night of the murders, in which a voice believed to be the patriarch could be heard at a time when he claimed he was not at the scene.

“I listened to it three or four times just to make sure I heard it, because I didn’t believe it,” Dove said, while Owen described the moment as “really exciting.”

“I can prove that Alex lied to me,” he added, agreeing that this was the smoking gun that “blew the case wide open.”

Murdaugh was convicted on March 2 of killing Paul and his wife Maggie by the kennels of their South Carolina hunting lodge in June 2021. He is now serving life without parole and is appealing his sentence.

Lead investigators in the Murdaugh case Brett Dove (left) and David Owen (right) revealed the moment they were able to place the killer at the scene of the crime

Alex Murdaugh (right) was found guilty of executing Maggie (left) and Paul (center) near the dog kennels of their hunting lodge, and then lying about his whereabouts at the time

Murdaugh initially claimed in a panicked 911 call that he discovered Maggie and Paul’s bodies after returning home from visiting his mother, who suffered from dementia.

Placing him at the crime scene became a crucial aspect of the case for prosecutors, as the state said both Maggie and Paul were shot shortly after 8:49 p.m., when their “phones locked forever” within seconds of each other.

Murdaugh had denied ever going to the kennels after he and his family had dinner together, and did not find their bodies until shortly after 10 p.m. when he returned from his mother’s home.

But Paul’s video would later put him on the spot, when his best friend Rogan Gibson — for whom the video was shot because it involved his dog — testified in court that he was “100 percent sure” it was Murdaugh’s voice was in the infamous clip.

In never-before-seen footage, police released their first interview with Gibson early in the investigation, in which he gave the first indication that Murdaugh lied about his whereabouts the night of the murders.

In the interview, conducted informally in a van, Gibson said he was bringing his chocolate lab dog aboard the kennels when he received a call from Paul just two hours before the murders.

“Paul called me at 8:44 p.m.,” he said, noting that — as in Paul’s last cell phone video — he heard other people in the background believed to be Alex and Maggie Murdaugh.

“I heard Mrs. Maggie and thought it was Mr. Alex in the background,” he said. “I can’t swear it was Mr. Alex, but I believe it was Mr. Alex.”

The kennels where the murders took place: Maggie’s body was found a few yards to the right of a doghouse, while Paul’s lay near the doorway at the end of the kennels

When asked how well he knew Murdaugh to recognize his voice, Gibson said he was like “a third son to him.”

“I’m 99 percent sure it was Mr. Alex who spoke to me, or spoke to them while I was on the phone (with Paul),” he said at the time, later testifying that he was “100 percent sure” .

In his recent interview with NBC Dateline, Owen said the early interview immediately raised red flags about Murdaugh.

“I was like, ‘Wait a minute, that was after they had dinner, when Alex told me he was staying in the house while Maggie went to the kennels,'” the investigator said.

Asked why he would believe Gibson’s story over Murdaugh’s, Owen added, “The information he gave us was unsolicited. No one made him say that.”

The trial of Murdaugh has been called the “trial of the century” in South Carolina, which also included shocking interview footage of Murdaugh appearing to “confess” to the murders, and a disastrous appearance on the stand where he testified in his own defense.

The killer is now appealing his conviction and last month filed a motion for a new trial over claims of jury tampering.

His attorneys filed a charges hearing against Colleton County Court Clerk Rebecca Hill, who was accused of improperly advising jurors to ignore his testimony and pressuring them to reach a quick verdict.

“If these facts are proven, the court must grant a new trial,” the motion reads.

Murdaugh won a victory in the South Carolina Supreme Court on October 17 after it granted a motion to pause his conviction appeal while seeking a new trial on jury tampering claims.

Alex Murdaugh broke down in tears as the prosecutor ended his explosive grilling with evidence that the alleged double murderer lied to police about his alibi

Buster, Paul, Maggie and Alex Murdaugh are pictured in a photo presented to jurors during the trial in Colleton County District Court on Tuesday, February 14

However, Murdaugh’s bid for freedom will be decided by a different judge than the one who convicted him, as Judge Clifton Newman recused himself from all post-trial hearings this week.

His lawyers called on Newman to resign after giving a controversial TV interview, having previously tried to block the judge from hearing Murdaugh’s request for a new trial.

The lawyers also wanted the Supreme Court to dismiss Newman from an upcoming case in which Murdaugh is being prosecuted for a series of alleged financial crimes that prosecutors say he committed as his life spiraled out of control before the killings.

In an interview with NBC News a month after the trial, Newman said he “felt sorry” for Murdaugh and believed that “if he had the chance to do it again, he would never do it.”

He also said he wasn’t surprised that he was being targeted during the blockbuster trial.

“You know, a high-profile lawyer. Death of a woman. Death of a child. Accusations of stealing millions of dollars from customers. Allegations from a lawyer who was addicted to drugs,” Newman said. “It had all the ingredients for something of great public interest.”