Alex Murdaugh's only living son, Buster, was spotted for the first time with his girlfriend since his father was handed a double life sentence for killing his mom and brother.
Buster, 26, appeared relaxed, like it was the first time he could breathe after his father's emotionally grueling, six-week trial in Colleton County, South Carolina.
He was even seen breaking a smile while he and his girlfriend walked their dogs shortly after 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Buster's Rolex was a stark contrast to his comfy Saturday morning look of scruffy sweatpants, a t-shirt and an Alabama cap that covered his eye-catching fire-red hair.
His girlfriend wore puffy slippers, a long-sleeve shirt and jean shorts on their morning stroll.
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The couple passed other dog walkers, who didn't say anything to them.
It almost looked like the trial of the year hasn't just wrapped up 24 hours earlier, as Buster tried to settle into a new normal.
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Buster was one more than 70 witnesses who spoke during the trial, where he testified that his father was "broken" after Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were shot to death.
While on the stand, Buster said he knew that his father struggled with a narcotics addiction and had checked into a detox facility in 2018, but he portrayed him as a loving dad and a devoted husband.
Buster told jurors that his father "coached every Little League team I played on," and it was unusual for either of his parents to miss his games.
When he wasn't on the stand, his copper locks made him easy to pick out in the crowd, and he was watched like a hawk throughout the trial as countless people tried to analyze his reactions.
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For the most part, Buster remained buttoned up, able to keep his emotions in check while he was in the public eye.
Behind the scenes, he reportedly broke down behind the courthouse after the jury convicted his father of killing Buster's mom, Maggie, 52, and his younger brother Paul, 22, after three hours of deliberation.
"Buster held up pretty well until the cameras were off him, but then he collapsed," a source, who was at the Colleton County Courthouse, told The New York Post.
"He was crying uncontrollably. The uncles [Alex’s brothers, John Marvin Murdaugh and Randy Murdaugh] finally got him into a car."
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The judge sentenced Alex to two life terms, and he was transported Friday evening to Kirkland Reception and Evaluation Center in Columbia, South Carolina, a maximum-security, level-three facility that houses male offenders, including some of the state's most violent and dangerous inmates.
That's where Alex will be evaluated over the next 45 days before he's transferred to another maximum-security prison to spend the rest of his life.
Alex Murdaugh's sentencing on Friday capped off the sordid and spectacular downfall of the scion of the once-powerful Murdaugh family, as he continued to deny killing his wife and son.
All pretense of innocence was stripped from Murdaugh, who stood before the judge a convicted murderer, donning for the first time a beige prison-issued jumpsuit and wrist and leg shackles.
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One of the jurors told Fox News Digital that the dog kennel video had been a "crucial piece of evidence" as they deliberated the case.
Murdaugh repeatedly told investigators, family members and friends that he hadn't gone to the dog kennels on the night of the murders.
But that story was debunked by one of Paul's April 2022 videos on his phone, which was recorded four minutes before prosecutors say he and his mom were shot to death.
The clip captured the voices of Maggie and Murdaugh in the background talking about their yellow lab Bubba catching a chicken in his mouth, shredding the family patriarch's alibi and forcing him to take the stand to address the lie.
CRUCIAL EVIDENCE
"I think it's incredible timing on Paul’s part," said James, one of the jurors who wished to go by his first name. "I don't think that anyone would have ever known that he was down there if it wasn't for that video. I think that there's a lot of evidence that points towards Alex, but I feel like that does solidify it."
James said that Paul, in a way, helped solve his own murder.
"It says a lot that somebody that couldn't speak, somebody that couldn't be a witness was able to be a witness even after they passed away," he said.
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