Before being killed Alex Murdaugh’s son sent a Snapchat to friends the message is critical to the case

As Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial nears, more information regarding his family’s dying moments is being made public.

For allegedly murdering his wife Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22, in 2021, the discredited lawyer, 64, was charged with two charges of murder and two counts of possessing a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Creighton Waters disclosed that Paul sent a Snapchat video “to multiple pals” at 7:56 p.m. on the evening he and his mother were killed in new court filings filed on Wednesday and acquired by Fox News Digital.

Waters labelled the film as “essential to the case,” adding in court records that “the contents of this video is important to demonstrating the State’s case in chief” despite the fact that he did not specify what the clip included.

According to the motion, he requested Snapchat testify at the trial, which will start on Monday and is slated to last three weeks.

A Snapchat representative must show up at the trial until after their testimony “or the matter is disposed of,” according to court documents, which Judge Clifton Newman signed.

People contacted Waters for comment, but they did not receive a response right away.

According to ABC News 4, the court also issued a subpoena to Google for details pertaining to the location information of devices at the time of the killings in further court documents from Waters.

Everything You Need to Know About the Murdaugh Family Killings, Including the Specifics of Alex’s Charges
According to Google’s response, the indicated devices weren’t present at the Murdaughs’ house when the crime was committed, the news source added.

PEOPLE asked Snapchat and Google for comments, but neither company responded right away.

When contacted by PEOPLE, Alex’s attorneys declined to comment.

On June 7, 2021, Alex allegedly contacted his wife Maggie and asked her to meet him at their 1,770-acre home in the South Carolina village of Islandton.

According to a law enforcement source involved in the investigation, Alex allegedly told Maggie that she needed to visit his 81-year-old father, Randolph Murdaugh III, before he passed away due to declining health.

According to a number of reports, Maggie and Alex were having marital difficulties and that she was sleeping at the family’s beach house on Edisto Island, which is about an hour away from the family’s estate.

Maggie first suggested that they meet at the hospital rather than the family home, the law enforcement source previously told PEOPLE. She ultimately agreed to meet at the property and made plans to drive herself and Alex to the hospital.

Also Read : The Best Movies on Netflix Right Now – May 2018

According to the law enforcement source, Maggie allegedly texted a friend as she was on her way home to complain that her husband’s actions felt “fishy.” Maggie allegedly wrote to her buddy, “He’s up to something.”

Want to stay up to date on crime news? For information on interesting unsolved cases, ongoing trial coverage, and breaking crime news, subscribe to PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter.

Maggie arrived at the site, left her car running, and went to the estate’s dog kennels where her son Paul was photographing a dog he was keeping watch over for a friend.

What transpired next is unknown, but Maggie and Paul were shot and killed not far from the dog kennels. According to officials, Paul’s body was discovered “half in and half out” of the dog kennels.

Paul received close-range shots from a shotgun to the head and chest. Maggie received many gunshot wounds, including one to the back and more while she was on the ground. She had been shot with an AR-style rifle with 300 Blackout ammunition. At the scene, both of them were declared dead.