‘Bubba solved the case’: dog Murdo now lives with a witness in court

This is a new twist on the old axiom: a dog is prosecutorial best friend.

Bubba, an exuberant yellow Labrador Retriever, was not among more than 75 witnesses and nearly 800 pieces of evidence in a six-week trial in the murder of disgraced South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdo.

But the presence of a dog at the crime scene was pivotal in the conviction of the now disbarred lawyer who was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Friday for the murder of his wife Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22, in June 2021. .

“Does Bubba have a sixth sense?” Attorney John Meadors asked the jury, alleging that the dog prompted Alex to report his whereabouts. “Thank God for Bubba.”

Since the deaths of Maggie and Paul, Bubba is reported to be living with Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson, Murdo’s former housekeeper who was herself a witness during the trial.

A longtime observer of the Murdo family who oversaw the trial also noted that Bubba, said to be Maggie’s favorite of the family’s four dogs, ended up drowning the defendant.

“Bubba solved the case,” a source told The Post on Thursday. “Laboratories are very loyal. They love their owners and Maggie was Bubba’s owner.”

Alex Murdo received two life sentences for the murder of his wife and son.

Murdo, 54, told authorities on the night of the murder that he was not near the dog kennel at the family’s rural hunting lodge where Maggie and Paul were found shot to death, she with a rifle and he with a shotgun.

But prosecutors have unearthed an explosive Snapchat video in which the South Carolina scion is apparently placed in the family’s Islandton hunting lodge, revealing his voice as one of three distinctly audible in the 50-second clip. The rest belonged to Paul and Maggie.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters called the video “essential evidence” in opening statements in late January.

In his sensational testimony, Murdo later admitted that he had joined his wife and son at a kennel where he was heard snatching a chicken from Bubba.

– Come here, Bubba! Murdo’s voice says. – Come here, Bubba!

Murdo admitted to previously lying to authorities about the kennel connection, blaming his opioid addiction for creating distrust in the police.

With additional reporting by Dana Kennedy