BREAKING: Jury Returns Verdict In Alex Murdaugh Double Murder Trial

Click pic for link to live streaming coverage of the Murdaugh Trial from the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, SCPhoto: Golden, Kelly

WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - After 28 days in court, former Lowcountry attorney Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife and son at the family’s Colleton County property in 2021.

Murdaugh, 54, was also found guilty of two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

The jury deliberated for just under three hours before reaching the verdict.

Prosecutors used GPS data and recovered cell phone videos to place Murdaugh at the scene of the murders. Without either murder weapon, they relied on that data to prove Murdaugh lied to law enforcement about his whereabouts that night from the very beginning.

Murdaugh himself took the stand in his own defense with a testimony that lasted the majority of two full days. During his testimony, he admitted to lying about not being at the scene on the night of June 7, 2021, insisting he did not murder Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.

In closing arguments, the defense conceded that Murdaugh lied to law enforcement but said law enforcement had botched the investigation from the very beginning leading to Murdaugh being the only suspect.

Attorney Jim Griffin went as far as suggesting investigators lied or misrepresented evidence.

Investigators think Murdaugh had no more than about 17 minutes from the time his wife and son stopped using their cellphones to when he left the property to visit his ailing mother.

“He had 17 minutes. He would have to be a magician to make all that evidence disappear,” Griffin said during closing arguments.

Prosecutors argued that Murdaugh killed his wife and son out of fear that his numerous financial misdeeds would be uncovered and his and his family’s reputation would be ruined.

Prosecutors told jurors that Murdaugh had the motive, means and opportunity to commit the crimes and referenced lies he told to law enforcement as early as the night of the murders showing the jury clips from the first interview conducted by investigator David Owen.

Murdaugh’s sentencing is scheduled for Friday at 9:30 a.m.

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Day 28: Murdaugh defense to present its closing arguments Thursday

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - The day after prosecutors presented their closing arguments in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial, the defense will have its turn to convince a jury their client did not kill his wife and son.

Murdaugh, the disbarred Lowcountry attorney, faces up to 30 years to life in prison if he is convicted of the June 7, 2021, killings of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh at the family’s rural hunting property in the Islandton community.

Jurors started their day on Wednesday morning by touring that property as Judge Clifton Newman and attorneys on both sides looked on. A press pool was allowed to tour the property after jurors cleared the scene.

Once the jury returned to the Colleton County Courthouse, prosecutor Creighton Waters presented the state’s closing arguments. Waters told the jury Murdaugh’s shame of his decades-long financial crime schemes being discovered led him to gun down his wife and son.

“Shame is an extraordinary provocation,” Waters said. “His ego couldn’t stand that and he became a family annihilator.”

Murdaugh’s lies and financial fraud were put back in the jurors’ minds Wednesday as Waters walked them through Murdaugh’s history of stealing from clients and his former law firm. Waters said Murduagh was trying to keep up his successful image and family legacy and how the pressures of the cases surrounding the 2019 Beaufort County boat crash threatened that legacy.

Taking most of the day for closing arguments, Waters told jurors that Murdaugh had the motive, means and opportunity to commit the crimes and referenced lies he told to law enforcement as early as the night of the murders showing the jury clips from the first interview conducted by investigator David Owen.

Waters then pointed out that Murdaugh had lied to the jurors’ faces during his testimony last week when he referenced the factors like his distrust of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division that he said led him to lie to Owen during that interview. Waters played the body camera footage during Murdaugh’s cross-examination last week from Daniel Greene, who was on the scene before SLED arrived, where he told a similar story to him.

“He was lying to you just like he’s lied to everyone close to him,” Waters said. “He’s good at it. He’s good at it.”

Waters argued that no one really knew who Murdaugh was and he would do anything “in a heartbeat” to avoid accountability. That meant lying to law enforcement about being at the kennels the night of the murders and even lying on the stand about the extent of his pill usage to gain sympathy from the jury.

Waters pointed out the autopsy reports that neither Paul nor Maggie Murdaugh had defensive wounds even pointing to Murdaugh’s own testimony that the dogs at the kennels didn’t seem alerted to someone else being there.

“The dogs never heard them around them,” Waters said. “Somebody put the dogs up but put the dogs up in the wrong kennels. Somebody rolled up the hose.”

Things like Murdaugh saying he didn’t take his phone to the kennels with him and the flurry of activity and phone calls after 9:02 p.m. were all a part of Murdaugh attempting to manufacture an alibi, Waters said.

As the state’s closing arguments went most of the day Wednesday the defense will get their opportunity at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

Defense attorney Jim Griffin told the court that he believes the defense’s closing argument will last about two hours. The state will get another chance to prove its case to jurors before they are charged and it’s put into their hands.

Judge Clifton Newman said earlier Wednesday that jurors may deliberate over the weekend if they are not able to agree on a verdict by the end of Friday, assuming that closing arguments and jury instructions are complete by then.

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Day 27: Murdaugh jury to visit Moselle property Wednesday

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-Jury set to visit murder scene Wednesday

-Shooter could have been any height, witness says

-State calls former Hampton County sheriff as witness

WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - The jury in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial will visit the Colleton County property where Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were shot to death.

That visit is set for Wednesday morning. Judge Clifton Newman will accompany jurors but he gave strict instructions that they were not to speak to anyone while they looked at the property.

Attorneys representing the defense and the prosecution will also accompany the jurors just to observe; they will also not be allowed to speak with jurors.

The jurors are set to make the journey to the Moselle Road property first thing Wednesday morning. Newman told the attorneys he hoped to be back at the Colleton County Courthouse by 11 a.m.

At that point, closing statements will begin.

The prosecution rested its case at the end of the day Tuesday after bringing back five witnesses and having one new one return for rebuttal.

Dr. Kenneth Kinsey was the final witness called by prosecutors before they rested their rebuttal case.

Kinsey’s testimony took aim at a couple of defense witnesses that brought differing theories.

Focusing on angles and the theory from Michael Sutton that the shooter had to be between 5 feet, 2 inches, and 5 feet, 4 inches, Kinsey testified that the shooter could have been any size and still fired from the angles and trajectory in Sutton’s report.

Kinsey demonstrated kneeling, bending and changing heights while wielding a dowel rod as a prop to show how the same angle could be achieved at each point.

“In your professional opinion, can you exclude a 6-foot-4 defendant like Alex Murdaugh, or anyone for that matter at that height, from shooting that shotgun at that angle?” Attorney General Alan Wilson said.

“Absolutely not,” Kinsey said.

Kinsey testified the crime scene was likely dynamic and chaotic. He said the shooter and Maggie Murdaugh were both moving.

LIVE: Day 26 - State to call final witnesses in Murdaugh murder trial

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - Prosecutors are expected to call two rebuttal witnesses in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial Tuesday, a day after the defense rested its case.

Murdaugh, the disbarred Lowcountry attorney, is accused in the June 7, 2021, murders of his wife, Maggie; and their son, Paul.

Murdaugh’s brother, John Marvin Murdaugh, took the stand on the defense’s final day, testifying at times through tears.

“He told me it was okay to leave, okay to leave what was left of Paul,” he said. “They would clean it up. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my life.”

Murdaugh’s brother testified about the night of the murders and going to the family’s Moselle Road property the next morning.

He also weighed in on the comment Alex Murdaugh made to South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigators on June 10, 2021. The recording of that comment became a subject debate among witnesses during testimony. At one moment in the recording, Alex Murdaugh made a statement he insists was, “They did him so bad,” but SLED agent SLED Agent John Croft said he heard, “I did him so bad.”

John Marvin Murdaugh said he heard, “They did him so bad” and that his brother had said the same thing that night and has said it since that night.

Looking ahead, lead prosecutor Creighton Waters said he believed the state could get through the witnesses Tuesday. Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian was skeptical about the claim, saying Waters has often underestimated the amount of time needed in the case.

Jurors may also see the property where the killings happened. Before jurors were ushered into the courtroom on Monday morning, Judge Clifton Newman responded to a defense request to allow jurors to see the property in person, saying he would allow a visit. Waters objected, saying the property has changed since the night of the killings.

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian raised concerns about security, claiming that several trespassers showed up at the property over the weekend taking selfies outside the feed room where Paul Murdaugh was killed.

Newman said the area would be secured before jurors would be allowed to see it.

It is not clear when jurors would be taken to the property or how long that might extend the case.

Day 25: Final defense witnesses to begin testimony Monday in Murdaugh trial

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - Alex Murdaugh’s defense team will begin the sixth week of his murder trial with its final witnesses.

The defense plans to call four witnesses to the stand and prosecutors have said they have at least one rebuttal witness they intend to call. That means the defense could rest its case either by Tuesday or Wednesday, attorney Jim Griffin said.

Murdaugh is standing trial for the June 7, 2021, murders of his wife, Maggie; and their youngest son, Paul.

Murdaugh himself took the stand last week and admitted lying to investigators about where he was leading up to the murders as well as stealing millions from clients and colleagues. But he remained adamant that he did not harm his wife or son.

At the end of Murdaugh’s first full day of testimony on Thursday, defense attorney Dick Harpootlian told Judge Clifton Newman that they had brought in two out-of-state experts — a pathologist and a crime scene analyst — to testify.

“They’re not complicated. One is a pathologist whose testimony will last 30, 45 minutes direct, and I don’t believe there’s going to be much cross. And the other is a crime scene analyst testifying not about the whole crime scene, but based on the pathologist’s testimony about what happened in the feed room,” Harpootlian said. “They’re not controversial. They’re not going to opine on who killed who, when and how, just the mechanics of what happened.”

He asked the court to allow him to call them first on Friday, saying the potential cost of lodging them over the weekend could have a huge financial impact.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters objected to that idea, saying he did not want his cross-examination of Murdaugh to be interrupted and Newman agreed.

Harpootlian then raised one further objection about the state’s focus on Murdaugh’s financial crimes during cross-examination.

“I could have sworn this was a murder case,” Harpootlian said. “For two hours now, we haven’t heard the word murder once. I’m not criticizing the strategy. Obviously, denigrating his character, that is what this is about, but really not relevant to the issue of whether—”

Newman cut Harpootlian off at that point.

“Credibility is an issue and as relates to all witnesses in every case,” Newman said.

The state wrapped up its cross-examination of Murdaugh Friday afternoon, leaving the remaining two defense witnesses for Monday morning.

When the defense rests, both sides will present their closing arguments and then the jury will begin deliberations.

The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office charged Murdaugh with a misdemeanor on Friday afternoon. Deputies have not released specifics on the nature of the charge.

He faces 30 years to life if convicted of murder.

LIVE: Day 24 Alex Murdaugh to face 2nd day of cross-examination

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - Disbarred Lowcountry attorney Alex Murdaugh will return to the stand Friday morning to face more questions as he stands trial for murder.

Murdaugh spent most of the day Thursday testifying about finding the bodies of his wife, Maggie, 52; and their son, Paul, 22.

Murdaugh tearfully recalled finding the bodies on the night of June 7, 2021. He admitted his voice was heard on video Paul Murdaugh recorded on his phone minutes before the murders happened, acknowledging that he lied to investigators and to his family.

But he insisted he would never have hurt his wife, who he called “Mags” or his son, who he called “PawPaw.”

During cross-examination, prosecutor Creighton Waters grilled Murdaugh on his alleged financial crimes, with Murdaugh repeatedly acknowledging that he took money that did not belong to him and was wrong for having done so. But Murdaugh was unable to provide details about specific conversations dating back years.

When court adjourned Thursday afternoon, defense attorney Dick Harpootlian asked Judge Clifton Newman to interrupt the state’s cross-examination first thing Friday morning in favor of two additional out-of-state experts they had just brought into town.

Harpootlian asked if those experts could take the stand first or at least early in the day, explaining that keeping them in town over the weekend would have a big financial impact.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters objected, saying that while he had tried to be as accommodating as possible to the defense, he did not want his cross-examination interrupted.

“They took a very long time today,” Waters said, speaking of the defense. “And the state’s entitled to the same consideration without interruption.”

Newman agreed with Waters’ concern, saying he would not interrupt the state’s cross-examination.

Newman cut Harpootlian off at that point.

“Credibility is an issue and as relates to all witnesses in every case,” he said.

Court will reconvene at 9:30 a.m. Friday morning.

LIVE: Day 23: Alex Murdaugh could testify in his own defense as end of case looms

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC/AP) - Alex Murdaugh’s attorneys have called a total of nine witnesses to the stand since Friday afternoon as they try to prove that their client had nothing to do with the deaths of his wife and youngest son and expect to rest their case this week.

But a line of spectators formed early Thursday morning amid speculation that Murdaugh himself may take the stand. The 54-year-old disbarred Lowcountry attorney is charged with the June 7, 2021, murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh at their hunting property in rural Colleton County.

One question raised before Murdaugh might testify is whether the prosecution would be allowed to cross-examine him on nearly 100 alleged financial crimes with which he is also charged. Judge Clifton Newman denied a defense request to block the state from questioning Murdaugh about those other charges. But he later said he’s willing to discuss whether Murdaugh can plead the fifth when asked about them.

The most compelling testimony of the day on Wednesday came from Mudaugh’s former law partner, Mark Ball, who went to the Moselle Road crime scene on the night of the double shooting. Ball’s testimony seemed to bolster both the defense and the state’s arguments. He testified that the crime scene was not secure, claiming anyone was allowed in and out of the property and that Paul Murdaugh’s body was not properly covered in the rain.

“I don’t know who I was supposed to be mad at, but it just infuriated me that this young man had been murdered and there were still his remains there and there was a large blood spot, tissue, out right off of the apron of that area, right outside the feed room that was there. And it’s kind of like walking across the grave and just, it’s one of those things you just don’t do,” he said.

But Ball also testified about hearing Alex Murdaugh’s voice in a video recorded by Paul Murdaugh minutes before the killings at the kennels when Murdaugh repeatedly said he was never at the kennels that night. He also said he didn’t recognize the person Murdaugh was after the alleged financial crimes were uncovered.

For example, Murdaugh told police he wasn’t at his Colleton County home in the hours before the killings, but several witnesses said they heard his voice on video taken from the dog kennels there just minutes before his wife and son were shot. Their bodies were found near the kennels.

When lead prosecutor Creighton Waters asked Ball about his earlier testimony that he did not really know Murdaugh, Ball said, “Obviously, I did not.”

“I mean, had we known the things he was doing, we wouldn’t have been law partners,” he said.

If Murdaugh, 54, were to take the stand, it would allow him to explain some of the evidence prosecutors presented.

Murdaugh also could respond to his sister-in-law’s testimony that he didn’t appear scared in the weeks after the slayings even as other family members were worried that they, too, were potential targets.

Testifying also could come with risks.

Defendants who choose to do so sometimes give jurors evidence of their guilt.

For Murdaugh, he could open himself up to questions about the millions of dollars he allegedly stole from clients and others. Defense attorney Jim Griffin argued Wednesday morning that since this trial was about the murder charges, that should be the topic of questioning Murdaugh faces, not the financial crimes.

However, the state has argued that the financial crimes are relevant because they were a motive for the two killings. They allege Murdaugh committed the murders to delay the pending revelation of the financial crimes to buy himself time to replace missing money.

Murdaugh has maintained from the beginning that he had nothing to do with the killings.

He faces 30 years to life if convicted of murder.

LIVE - Day 22: Murdaugh attorneys expected to wrap their case by week’s end

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - Alex Murdaugh’s attorneys could wrap up their case by the end of the week as they attempt to prove that the disbarred Lowcountry attorney did not kill his wife and youngest son.

During Tuesday’s testimony, the first full day of defense witnesses, Murdaugh’s surviving son, Buster, took the stand. The defense then called a forensic engineer who testified about his findings about the crime scene and a possible gunman.

But court began on Tuesday with word that another juror had been dismissed because of a medical issue.

That leaves 12 jurors and two alternates remaining.

READ RECAP: Alex Murdaugh was ‘destroyed’, ‘heartbroken’ after murders, surviving son says

Buster Murdaugh, 26, said the family was close and spoke to each other every day. While he couldn’t remember the details of most of the phone calls he had with his family on June 7, 2021, the day his mother, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and his younger brother, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh, were gunned down, he did remember a call at 9:10 p.m. that night with his dad who was driving to visit his ailing mother.

The younger Murdaugh said his father sounded “normal” during that call. But he also described a later phone call in which Alex Murdaugh informed Buster of the shooting and then seeing his father when Buster and his girlfriend eventually arrived at the scene hours later.

“His demeanor was destroyed. I mean he was destroyed. He was heartbroken,” Buster Murdaugh said. “I walked in the door and saw him and um, gave him a hug and, just broken down.”

While the state did not offer many questions during his cross-examination, it was a different story for the defense’s second witness, forensic engineer Mike Sutton.

Sutton recreated the crime scene at Moselle, the family’s rural hunting property, determining that it would be near impossible to hear shots fired at the kennels if someone were to be at the main house, even when everything was quiet.

He also estimated the shooter could not be more than 5-feet, 4-inches tall.

When defense attorney Dick Harpootlian asked Sutton about whether Alex Murdaugh could have been the gunman, Sutton testified that he couldn’t be.

Prosecutors, who presented several of its their own experts, questioned Sutton’s credentials and the methods with which he came to his conclusions.

It is still not clear whether the defense will call Alex Murdaugh himself to the stand.

LIVE - Day 21: Defense to continue its case in Murdaugh murder trial

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - After a long weekend, the trial of Alex Murdaugh resumes Tuesday morning as his defense team works to prove he is not guilty of the 2021 murders of his wife and son.

Tuesday marks the start of the fifth week in the Murdaugh trial.

The defense wasted no time calling up two witnesses Friday, but they have a long list or witnesses. Murdaugh’s lawyers haven’t given any indication publicly if the disbarred attorney will take the stand, but his doing so would allow him to explain some of the evidence prosecutors have presented.

The live blog will be added in this space Tuesday morning before 9:30 a.m.

The state rested its case Friday, wrapping up weeks of testimony with a comprehensive timeline of the night of June 7, 2021.

It detailed GPS data from Murdaugh’s vehicle, phone calls, text messages and orientation data, all to attempt to show the movements of Alex, Maggie and Paul Murdaugh that evening.

That testimony from a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agent created a minute-by-minute timeline that showed apparent inconsistencies in Murdaugh’s recollection of events from that night.

For example, Murdaugh told police he wasn’t at the crime scene in the hour before the killings, but several witnesses testified they heard his voice on a video taken at the dog kennels where the murders happened just minutes before the state says his wife and son were shot.

Cell phone and GPS data line up with that testimony.

Meanwhile, the defense has primarily stuck to cross-examining SLED investigators, attempting to poke holes in their investigative efforts or to reveal what defense attorney Jim Griffin called “missed opportunities” in the investigation.

Attorney and legal analyst Mark Peper said Murdaugh’s family will likely take the stand in the coming weeks, including his brothers John Marvin and Randy, his sister Lynn and his surviving son, Buster.

The defense has continuously painted Murdaugh as a family man, hoping to show the jury somebody as family-oriented as Murdaugh couldn’t have possibly committed such crimes.

The trial is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

LIVE - Day 20: Murdaugh defense to cross-examine roadside shooting investigator

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - When the Alex Murdaugh trial resumes Friday morning for its 20th day, the disbarred Lowcountry attorney’s legal team will cross-examine the lead investigator in a September 2021 roadside shooting that injured Murdaugh.

Murdaugh is standing trial for the June 7, 2021, killings of his wife, Maggie; and their youngest son, Paul.

The defense is expected to begin Friday by questioning Ryan Kelly, who interviewed Murdaugh after the shooting.

The jury heard a recording of an interview with Alex Murdaugh on the roadside shooting in Hampton County that occurred on Labor Day weekend 2021, just less than three months after the killings.

In that recording, Murdaugh was heard telling South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Agent Ryan Kelly that he had a sizable life insurance payout worth some $10 million and that in terms of his state of mind, he was “in a very bad place.”

“I thought it would be better for me not to be here anymore,” Murdaugh said in the recording.

Murdaugh’s acknowledgment that he asked a man named Curtis Eddie Smith to fatally shoot him so Murdaugh’s surviving son, Buster, could inherit that insurance payout was something the jury almost didn’t hear.

Judge Clifton Newman ruled Wednesday morning that it would not be admitted because it could not be considered motive in the killings. But after the defense questioned a witness about Smith’s connection to Murdaugh, Newman reversed the decision, saying they had opened the door to have information about the alleged insurance plot heard by jurors.

Also during Thursday’s testimony, Kenneth Kinsey, a crime scene investigator prosecutors hired in late 2022 to examine documentation of the crime scene, Kinsey told the court he believed Paul Murdaugh was shot first with his arms down and that the fatal shot came from a shotgun about two feet away. Maggie Murdaugh, Kinsey said, was shot several times with two possible fatal shots; he said one came from behind and the killed most likely then walked around to shoot her again while she was on the ground.

Smith has not yet been called to the stand, but has previously denied being involved in a plot and said he did not shoot Murdaugh.

Murdaugh defense attorney Dick Harpootlian said after Thursday’s trial that he expects the trial to continue through the beginning of March.

### ADDITIONAL CONTENT ###

‘I was in a very bad place’: Jury hears suicide-for-hire confession during Murdaugh murder trial

By: Live 5's Steven Ardary, Blair Sabol and Melissa Rademaker

Alex Murdaugh told state agents that the man he asked to shoot him on the side of a Hampton County road in September 2021 was not involved in the murders of Murdaugh’s wife and youngest son.

MORE HERE: click for latest

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LIVE: Day 19: State to resume case after judge’s reversal on Murdaugh shooting

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - Prosecutors are nearing the end of their case against Alex Murdaugh, the disbarred Lowcountry attorney charged with the 2021 murders of his wife and son.

Murdaugh, 54, is accused of gunning down 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh and their youngest son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh, at the family’s hunting property in rural Colleton County.

The trial began Wednesday morning with Judge Clifton Newman telling attorneys he would not allow the jury to hear testimony about the Sept. 4, 2021, shooting of Alex Murdaugh along the side of Salkahatchie Road in Hampton County less than three months after the double killing.

Newman said he would not allow the testimony because it was “a bridge too far” and the roadside shooting could not be considered a motive for the murders months earlier.

Murdaugh told investigators he was changing a tire on the side of the road near Varnville when a man pulled off the road and shot him. But investigators eventually charged Murdaugh and a second man, Eddie Curtis Smith, of conspiring to defraud an insurance company. They allege Murdaugh hired Smith to fatally shoot him so that Murdaugh’s survivng son, Buster, would be the beneficiary of Alex Murdaugh’s life insurance policy.

Smith denied shooting Murdaugh.

But by the afternoon, Newman reversed the decision to block testimony on the shooting and alleged suicide-for-hire plot after the defense brought up Smith’s name when asking Lead Investigator David Owen about Alex Murdaugh allegedly paying up to $50,000 a week to Smith for drugs.

In bringing Smith’s name into the trial, Newman said Smith and the alleged insurance plot became fair game.

The state also presented the video of the third interview between law enforcement and Murdaugh in which Owen asks several follow-up questions two months after the murders.

Murdaugh insisted he did not kill his wife or his son and did not know who did.

Owen testified that Murdaugh’s story had major inconsistencies. The defense then called into question the state’s case and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s investigation.

The state is still expected to rest this week and the defense would then present its case. After closing arguments, the jury will begin deliberations.

Thursday’s session, the 19th day of the trial, is set to begin at 9:30 a.m.

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The disbarred Lowcountry attorney is charged in the June 7, 2021, killings of his wife, Maggie; and their youngest son, Paul

LIVE: Day 18 Judge to decide if Murdaugh jury will hear about Labor Day shooting, Murdaugh may take stand before trial ends

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The judge in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial is expected to decide Wednesday morning whether the jury will hear testimony about the shooting that nearly killed the former attorney months after the murders of his wife and son.

Judge Clifton Newman is expected to rule before the jury is ushered into the courtroom for the 18th day of the trial.

The conflict between the prosecution and the defense came up Tuesday while Marian Proctor, the sister of murder victim Maggie Murdaugh testified.

Proctor began to allude to a shooting that happened on Salkahatchie Road near Varnville in Hampton County on Sept. 4, 2021, nearly three months after Alex Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie; and their youngest son, Paul, were gunned down at the family’s hunting property in rural Colleton County. At that point, the judge excused the jury to discuss objections to allowing a mention of the shooting.

Investigators say the shooting was actually a plot that involved Alex Murdaugh hiring someone to fatally shoot him so that his surviving son, Buster, would inherit a death benefit from an insurance policy.

State investigators say Murdaugh, who was indicted in the shooting incident along with Curtis Smith, provided a statement to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division admitting to the scheme.

Smith, meanwhile, denies that he shot Murdaugh.

CNN reported Tuesday night that defense attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin are considering allowing their client to testify on the stand before the trial ends.

The prosecution was expected to rest its case as early as this week, and the defense would then begin presenting its case. The decision to call Murdaugh to the stand to testify was expected to come within the next few days and will likely be a last-minute decision, a source familiar with the defense’s thinking told the network.

Murdaugh, meanwhile, has repeatedly denied having killed his wife and son.

The jury will not report to the courtroom until 10:30 a.m. to give the judge time to rule on the admissibility of testimony related to the alleged insurance fraud shooting.

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LIVE: Day 17: Murdaugh defense to cross-examine forensic pathologist

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - The forensic pathologist who performed autopsies on Alex Murdaugh’s wife and son will face cross-examination Tuesday in the Murdaugh murder trial.

Alex Murdaugh is standing trial for the June 7, 2021, murders of his wife, Maggie; and their youngest son, Paul.

Dr. Ellen Reimer described in detail Monday the injuries the two victims suffered. She has been considered an expert in her field for decades.

Riemer testified that Paul could have survived the first shotgun blast to the chest had he received medical treatment. The second shot to Paul was a severe fatal injury to the head.

A shotgun wound is entering the top of the left shoulder, and let’s say his head is turned like that,” Riemer said. “It’s going to go right through the face, but if his head is turned like that it’s going to spare the face and be able to go behind the face.”

Paul Murdaugh would have had his arms by his side when the first shot was fired and showed no defensive wounds, Riemer said. Pauls’s face had scratches consistent with a forward fall where he was unable to brace himself. The jury was shown autopsy photos of Paul Murdaugh. When Riemer finished her explanation of the photos taken during the autopsy the jury was sent to the jury room for a quick break.

Riemer explained Maggie Murdaugh’s injuries in just as much detail, telling jurors that she had five gunshot wounds from at least four gunshots.

Stippling around Maggie Murdaugh’s wounds indicated the first two shots had been fired from within three feet, Riemer said.

Riemer testified at a shot fired into Maggie Murdaugh’s abdomen while she was standing likely would have caused her to bend over or fall to her hands and knees setting up the first of two fatal shots to the head.

“So this was an exit and we have like a reentrance. So we have a series of defects, so we have an entrance, an exit and then the bullet continued through the left side of the face and lower ear area,” Riemer said. A second shot to the head entered at the top of the head and exited through the shoulder. Both shots to the head would have been instantly fatal, Riemer said.

Riemer noted no signs of defensive wounds on Maggie Murdaugh’s body.

Court was sent to recess for the day before the defense had the chance to cross examine Riemer.

Jurors also heard from two forensics experts from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division about swabs and cuttings taken from the crime scene, Murdaugh’s clothing, his Chevy Suburban and the controversial blue raincoat.

Monday’s proceedings began with Judge Clifton Newman announcing that two jurors had been dismissed after testing positive for COVID-19. Two alternates will take their place, leaving a total of just three alternates left.

Newman rejected suggestions from both prosecutors and the defense to delay the trial a few days until more COVID tests are done, require masks throughout the courtroom or limit the more than 200 people allowed inside to watch the trial each day. But he said jurors agreed to wear masks.

They are next set to be tested for COVID-19 on Wednesday.

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LIVE Day 16: Prosecution expected to rest case in Murdaugh trial this week

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - As the fourth week of the Alex Murdaugh murder trial begins Monday, prosecutors are expected to be approaching the end of their case.

Murdaugh is on trial for the June 7, 2021, murders of his wife, Maggie; and their youngest son, Paul, at the family’s hunting property in rural Colleton County. He is also facing almost 100 separate financial charges the prosecution argues was a motive for the deadly shootings.

Jurors have so far heard dozens of witnesses who have offered wide-ranging, though disjointed, testimony on the crime scene as well as the financial schemes.

Jurors have heard from the investigators who found the bodies of Murdaugh’s wife and son, and technicians who found gunshot residue, cracked open cellphones to get videos and tested dozens of ammunition casings.

They’ve heard from betrayed law firm employees, heartbroken friends of Murdaugh and his family, and a man whose insurance settlement was stolen after his mother, the Murdaughs’ housekeeper, died in a fall at their home.

Much of the week’s testimony focused on whether Murdaugh stole money from his family’s law firm and clients. Prosecutors contend Murdaugh thought he was about to get caught stealing and killed his wife and son to buy time to cover up the money trail.

The office manager from the family law firm said Murdaugh stole millions in fees and client settlements. A law school buddy said Murdaugh took advantage of his trust and left him to pay $192,000 to keep his client trust fund balanced. The son of the Murdaughs’ housekeeper and nanny who died in a fall testified Murdaugh promised to get them a hefty insurance settlement for the death but kept more than $4 million collected for himself.

The defense objected to each witness, saying there was no evidence linking the killings to financial misdeeds.

“This is piling on. This is more trying to prejudice the jury into believing somehow someone who steals a bunch of money in any way whatever would commit a murder,” Murdaugh lawyer Dick Harpootlian said.

This week, the caretaker of Murdaugh’s mother testified about a blue jacket Murdaugh might have held when he visited but then other witnesses testified about financial crimes before the state forensic scientist who tested the jacket for blood and gunshot residue took the stand.

Long, tedious testimony has focused on cellphone data between Paul Murdaugh’s friends.

Some intriguing evidence has been introduced but never explained to jurors, who do not have notebooks to keep track of testimony.

A crime scene technician put into evidence a receipt with a $1,021.10 item from Gucci circled, but it hasn’t been brought up since. An FBI technician gave the times Murdaugh’s SUV was shifted into and out of park the night of the killings without interpretation.

Judge Clifton Newman made a ruling on the financial evidence the state is trying to use to prove motive Monday.

“I find jury entitled to consider whether the apparent desperation of Mr. Murdaugh because of his dire financial situation, threat of being exposed from committing the crimes for which later charged with resulted in commission of alleged crimes,” Newman said.

Murdaugh has adamantly denied killing his wife and son. His lawyers said he was visiting his ailing mother the night of the murders and police wrongly focused on him from the start.

Within weeks of the killings, state agents wanted data from the SUV Alex Murdaugh drove to visit his mother the night of the killings and from Paul Murdaugh’s cellphone.

But both devices were encrypted and impossible to crack in 2021.

Advancements in hacking allowed agents to get into Paul Murdaugh’s iPhone data last year and they found one of the key pieces of evidence so far — a video he took of a dog at the family’s kennels about five minutes before investigators said the killings took place. Several witnesses have said all three Murdaughs can be heard in the video taken near where the bodies were found.

Alex Murdaugh told police both right after the bodies were found and again a few days later he was never at the kennels.

The defense hopes to start its case in middle of next week and had planned a week of testimony but is rethinking that because of the trial’s length.

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LIVE - Day 15: State approaches end of financial witnesses in trial

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Live 5's Patrick Phillips, Steven Ardary and Blair Sabol

WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - Prosecutors in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial are approaching the end of their list of witnesses on financial crimes.

In addition to the murders of his wife and son, the disbarred Lowcountry attorney faces nearly 100 charges ranging from money laundering to stealing millions from clients and the family law firm to tax evasion.

One witness who may soon testify is Curtis Eddie Smith, a close associate of Murdaugh’s, who was charged with Murdaugh in an alleged insurance fraud scheme.

The defense failed in attempts Thursday to challenge witnesses and financial testimony stricken from the record. The defense jumped at any chance to strike a witness, especially one testifying about Alex Murdaugh’s many financial charges.

Questions arose from a GoFundMe account linked to witness Shelley Smith seemingly created by her children “for her bravery.” Smith was a caregiver for Murdaugh’s ailing mother. Smith took the stand earlier this week, testifying that Murdaugh tried to fudge the time of his alibi. She said she saw Murdaugh on the night of the murders at his mother’s house for about 20 minutes.

READ RECAP: Defense tries to toss financial evidence in Murdaugh murder trial

Murdaugh’s lawyers argued that attorney Mark Tinsley, a financial witness, should not be allowed to testify because he made a $1,000 donation to Smith’s fundraising page.

“He made a financial payment to a witness in the middle of the trial that he has a financial interest,” defense attorney Phillip Barber said. “She is under subpoena, she is still under subpoena. He made a $1,000 payment as a reward for her honesty. "

The judge denied this motion, as well as the motion to block Tony Satterfield’s testimony. Satterfield is the son of the late Gloria Satterfield, a longtime Murdaugh housekeeper who died after a trip-and-fall accident in the Murdaugh home.

Key prosecution witness Chris Wilson, an attorney and Murdaugh’s former best friend, also testified about Murdaugh owing him money that he promised to pay back but never did.

SPECIAL SECTION: The Murdaugh Cases

The trial is expected to continue approximately two more weeks before the jury is expected to begin deliberations.

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LIVE - Day 14: Close friend, associate of Murdaugh to testify Thursday

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - One of Alex Murdaugh’s closest friends with whom he worked on some cases is expected to take the stand in Murdaugh’s murder trial.

Murdaugh is charged with the 2021 murders of his wife and youngest son at the family’s Colleton County property.

Attorney Chris Wilson, who gave emotional testimony when asked about Murdaugh’s alleged financial crimes, could testify as early as Thursday. When he testified last week, the jury was not present.

He testified only before Judge Clifton Newman, who was deciding whether to allow the prosecution to introduce details of nearly 100 charges related to financial crimes Murdaugh also faces.

When Wilson returns to the stand, the jury will hear about his connection to the disbarred Lowcountry attorney.

RECAP: Prosecutors use SUV data to add to timeline in Murdaugh trial

The most dramatic development Wednesday was a bomb threat shortly before lunch that cleared the Colleton County Courthouse. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division confirmed that courthouse personnel received the threat. SLED was investigating.

The state continued to call witnesses who were so close to Murdaugh’s alleged financial misdeeds they almost didn’t want to believe it was true.

One of them was Murdaugh’s paralegal, Annette Griswold. Griswold testified she often worked on the more complicated cases and that for months, she sensed something was wrong but hoped that wasn’t the case.

“He's been lying this whole time. He had these funds, he lied to me. That feeling in the back of my mind was correct unfortunately, she said.”

Griswold testified that Murdaugh instructed her to fill out the checks to Forge, a fake account, convincing her that it was a part of Forge Consulting LLC, a legitimate company the law firm Murdaugh worked for used.

Griswold testified she often worked on the more complicated cases. She testified that for months, she sensed something was wrong but hoped that wasn’t the case.

Until, by chance, she found a check she was told never existed.

“A check kind of floated like a feather to the ground and when I bent it over to pick it up, I saw the check and what it said, had on it, and I instantly became very upset. Because it happened to be one of the checks from the Ferris case that ‘didn’t exist,’” Griswold said.

The check she referred to was made out for an amount of money that was supposed to have been shared with Wilson.

Michael Gunn of Forge Consulting told the court he had no idea Murdaugh had that account and that his company used a completely different bank. The company is also considering legal action against Murdaugh, he said.

The defense, meanwhile, continued to play up Murdaugh’s reputation as a caring family man as it cross-examined witnesses. Murdaugh himself has denied having any involvement in the killings.

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BREAKING UPDATE: S.L.E.D. released the following statement after Wednesday's evacuation of the Colleton Courthouse.

“A bomb threat was received by Colleton County courthouse personnel. The building has been evacuated and SLED along with the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the threat. No additional information is available from SLED at this time.”

LIVE: Day 13: Murdaugh jurors hear testimony on murders, financial crimes

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - Authorities are evacuating the Colleton County Courthouse where disbarred Lowcountry attorney Alex Murdaugh is staning trial on two charges of murder.

There is no official word on the reason for the evacuation, which began shortly before 12:30 p.m.

Murdaugh has been charged with the June 7, 2021, killings of his 52-year-old wife, Maggie; and their 22-year-old son, Paul.

As the Alex Murdaugh murder trial resumes Wednesday morning, jurors are hearing about two sets of alleged crimes.

The first is the murders of the disbarred attorney’s wife and son in the family’s rural Colleton County hunting property on June 7, 2021, of which he was charged. The second is a series of financial crimes prosecutors say he had begun committing more than a decade ago.

The jurors will have to decide if they believe Murdaugh committed the murders as they decide whether the financial crimes might have been the motivation in committing them.

Fletcher tells Griffin there's no way to know when the particle on the buckle was transferred there. Says it would stay unless cleaned.

Fletcher reaffirms her conclusions that the residue on Murdaugh was consistent with someone who had handled a firearm.

Fletchers says the collected clothing from Alex Murdaugh was damp. Specifically the shirt and shoes.

Jurors heard evidence Tuesday about what crime scene technicians discovered when they tested a rain jacket found three months after the killings.

A state agent testified gunshot residue was found inside the jacket, likely after someone shot a gun wearing it inside out or wrapped it around a recently fired weapon. Defense attorneys had asked the judge in the case to prevent further testimony about the raincoat after the caretaker for Murdaugh’s ailing mother testified that she she saw him bring a “blue something, looked like a tarp” into his mother’s home nine days after the killings. They say nothing links Murdaugh to the jacket.

Jurors heard from Ronnie Crosby, a law partner with Murdaugh for more than two decades.

Crosby testified for the prosecution that Murdaugh told him and other law partners he was never at the kennels the night of the shootings and later became the third witness to identify Murdaugh’s voice along with his wife and his son on a video from the kennels about five minutes before investigators say they were killed.

Murdaugh took money from legal settlements that was supposed to go to clients by routing it to a fake company that he created and that had a similar name to the company the law firm had intended to send it to, Seckinger said. The real company would have then dispensed the money to the firm’s clients.

Seckinger said she confronted Murdaugh about almost $800,000 in missing law firm fees on the day of the killings. But during the conversation, Murdaugh found out doctors had told his father he would die within days. Seckinger said all the grief ended the investigation into the missing fees until things settled down.

After an extensive investigation, the firm determined that Murdaugh took more than $5 million from clients, and it is in the process of paying them everything they were owed, Seckinger said.

For nearly two hours, Seckinger went over dozens of checks Murdaugh sent to his fake company.

The trial was initially expected to last three weeks, but the Judge Clifton Newman’s decision Monday to allow prosecutors to discuss the financial crimes could double the length of the trial.

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Day 12: Jurors Expected To Begin Hearing Of Murdaugh Financial Crime Accusations

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - Jurors in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial will hear from witnesses about alleged financial crimes the disbarred attorney is accused of committing.

Murdaugh is on trial in Colleton County for the murders of his wife, Maggie; and their youngest son, Paul, on June 7, 2021.

Judge Clifton Newman said Monday the jury is entitled to consider whether Murdaugh’s “apparent desperation” and “dire financial situation” resulted in the killings of his family. Murdaugh faces nearly 100 charges ranging from money laundering, to stealing millions from clients and the family law firm and tax evasion.

Prosecutors have said those witnesses are key to their case in Murdaugh’s double murder trial to show he was worried his alleged crimes were about to be discovered and that Murdaugh killed his family to get sympathy and buy time to cover up the missing money.

Over the past few days, Newman listened to testimony from several witnesses without the jury in the courtroom. That testimony focused on the alleged financial crimes. Those witnesses are expected to be called back to court to testify a second time before the jury.

One focus of Monday’s testimony centered on a blue raincoat. Shelley Smith, who took care of Murdaugh’s mom, testified that she saw Murdaugh at his parents’ home holding what she described as a blue tarp.

Defense attorney Jim Griffin argued against allowing the raincoat into evidence after Smith’s insistence that it was a tarp she saw Murdaugh with. But the state pushed back by bringing up Griffin’s questioning during cross-examination as the defense acknowledged the raincoat’s existence.

When Smith was shown a photo with the jacket balled up in a closet she said that was the item she saw. A blue tarp was also collected from the home. Photos of the tarp show one side of the tarp to be silver, something Smith said she never saw.

Kristin Hall, a former SLED investigator, testified that she had collected gunshot residue tests on the raincoat as well as a white t-shirt, green cargo shorts and a pair of shoes collected from Murdaugh on the night of the killings. She also testified that she had conducted a GSR test on the seatbelt taken from Murdaugh’s Chevy Suburban.

Smith said Murdaugh came to the house on the night of the murders and stayed between 15 and 20 minutes. She said he was wearing a T-shirt, shorts and boat shoes and that she couldn’t see any blood on him or left on the bed when he was next to his mother.

After the funeral for Murdaugh’s father Randolph, who died days after the shootings, Smith said Murdaugh came into the room and told her he was at Almeda for 30 or 40 minutes on the night of the murders.

Murdaugh later mentioned helping her with an upcoming wedding and finding her a new position with the school system where she worked, Smith said.

Testimony will continue Tuesday morning.

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Day 11: Second full week of testimony in Murdaugh trial begins Monday

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - The judge presiding over the Alex Murdaugh murder trial will likely decide this week whether jurors will hear about the financial crime charges Murdaugh faces.

The disbarred Lowcountry attorney is charged in the June 7, 2021, killings of his wife, Maggie; and their youngest son, Paul.

The state has called more than 25 witnesses who have provided more than 100 hours of testimony. But the testimony is far from over.

The jury has not been present in the courtroom for additional testimony focusing on the nearly 100 charges relating to financial crimes ranging from money laundering to stealing millions from clients and the family law firm and tax evasion.

Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman has been listening to that testimony to decide whether he will allow the state to call those witnesses again to testify before the jury.

Prosecutors said the evidence is key to their case. They said Murdaugh killed his wife and son because Murdaugh was confronted earlier in the day about $782,000 in fees that should be in his law firm’s account but could not be found.

Murdaugh planned the killings to gain sympathy and buy time so he could find a way to cover up the missing money as he had numerous times before in the past decade or so, prosecutors said.

Murdaugh’s lawyers said prosecutors are trying to smear Murdaugh with bad behavior not related to the killings to bolster their weak case.

Newman is expected to decide sometime this week whether the jury will be allowed to weigh the financial crime charges as a possible motive in the double killing.

The trial was originally expected to last three weeks, which would mean it would end around this Friday. If, however, Newman decides to allow the financial crimes to be heard, it could extend the length of the trial by a few more weeks.

The judge presiding over the Alex Murdaugh murder trial will likely decide this week whether jurors will hear about the financial crime charges Murdaugh faces.

LIVE: Day 10: Judge hearing more testimony on Murdaugh without jury present

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - The judge presiding over the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial listened to testimony without the jury present for the second day in a row.

Murdaugh is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife, Maggie; and their youngest son, Paul.

But Judge Clifton Newman is hearing testimony about the nearly 100 financial crimes of which Murdaugh is also accused as he decides whether the jury in the murder trial will be allowed to hear those accusations.

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Day 9: Judge to decide whether jury will hear of Murdaugh’s alleged financial crimes

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - The judge overseeing the murder trial of disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh is expected to rule Thursday whether to allow the state to admit evidence of Murdaugh’s alleged financial crimes.

Murdaugh is charged with two counts of murder in the June 7, 2021, shooting deaths of his wife, Maggie, and their youngest son, Paul. But Murdaugh is also facing about 100 charges related to accusations of money laundering, stealing millions from clients and the family law firm, tax evasion and trying to get a man to fatally shoot him so his surviving son could collect a $10 million life insurance policy. He was being held in jail without bail on those counts before he was charged with murder.

Defense attorney Jim Griffin argues that the testimony during cross-examination was not character.

There are many areas for evidence of other crimes to be admitted.

Newman says they would address it as court goes on.

From the beginning, prosecutors have argued that Murdaugh killed his wife and son as a distraction to avoid coming clean about his financial misdeeds.

They believe that one of the pressures was an upcoming hearing in June in a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from the 2019 boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach. Paul Murdaugh was charged in the crash for allegedly operating the boat under the influence when it crashed into a bridge. The hearing for the lawsuit, prosecutors claim, would have exposed Alex Murdaugh’s finances.

One of Paul Murdaugh’s closest friends, Will Loving, was the first witness prosecutors asked about the boat crash, which may open the door for the state to attempt to prove its motive theory.

Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman told the defense he will rule Thursday morning whether he will allow the jury to hear details about Murdaugh’s alleged financial crimes.

Earlier in the day on Wednesday, a state agent meticulously reconstructed activity from his iPhone and the cellphones of his son and wife the night they were killed to try to link the disgraced attorney to the shooting deaths.

The key evidence for prosecutors is a video from the son’s phone of a dog at the kennels near where Murdaugh’s son Paul was killed with a shotgun and wife Maggie was shot several times with a rifle.

The timeline from prosecutors said the video was taken about five minutes before the killings. A friend of Paul Murdaugh testified later Wednesday that he was certain he heard Alex, Paul and Maggie Murdaugh’s voices on the video when he saw it nearly 18 months later and told police the day after the killings he was 99% sure he heard all three during a phone call to his friend at nearly the same time.

In interviews with police, Alex Murdaugh said he was never at the kennels that night.

Later Wednesday, Murdaugh’s defense used that same data to suggest that Murdaugh’s phone and his wife’s phone were not together when her iPhone recorded a final change in orientation between portrait and landscape mode, indicating it may have been tossed on the side of the road about a half-mile from the family’s property.

In his opening statement last week, prosecutor Creighton Waters waved his phone at jurors and said cellphone information would be vital to linking Murdaugh to the killings in a case without much direct evidence.

State Law Enforcement Division Lt. Britt Dove returned to the witness stand Wednesday on the fifth day of testimony. He specializes in retrieving and analyzing cellphone data.

Dove went over a trove of information from the cellphones of Alex Murdaugh, his wife and son. There were phone call logs and texts, steps recorded, apps asking for information, GPS locations, changes when the phone went from vertical portrait mode to horizontal landscape mode and back, and — key to the prosecution’s case — when the camera was activated.

The last time the camera on Paul Murdaugh’s cellphone came on was 8:44:49 p.m., when it took a video for under a minute, Dove said.

Someone appears in the video to be trying to get an image of a wagging dog’s tail. Voices are heard trying to get the dog to stay still and figuring out if it had a chicken or a guinea in its mouth.

The video was meant for Rogan Gibson, the dog’s owner and a close friend of Paul Murdaugh. Gibson testified Wednesday he considered the Murdaughs a second family. Gibson said he was with the family several days after the killings and told Maggie Murdaugh’s mother that the last time he heard her voice, Alex Murdaugh was also there in the kennels. Alex Murdaugh was nearby and didn’t contradict him, Gibson said.

Paul Murdaugh read the final text on his phone at 8:48:59 p.m. and 36 seconds later another text came in that he never read. Maggie Murdaugh’s phone showed she last read a text 28 seconds later, Dove testified.

Alex Murdaugh told police the night of the killings and three days later that he was never at the kennels with his family, instead taking a short nap several hundred yards away before leaving to visit his ailing mother. Computer data from the SUV indicated he started the vehicle at about 9:06 p.m. and drove off.

At nearly the same time, Alex Murdaugh’s phone called his wife’s phone, which indicated its display came on and there was an orientation change. Defense attorney Phillip Barber suggested to Dove that the person who killed Maggie Murdaugh had her phone in their hand and was surprised at the call, throwing it out the window.

Dove said he didn’t have enough information, such as how the phone could have been thrown, to agree or disagree.

There were no more significant changes to Maggie Murdaugh’s phone until it was recovered from the side of the road the next day, Dove said.

But about five minutes after she read the final text, Maggie Murdaugh’s data indicated her cellphone camera turned on for one second. Dove told prosecutors that can happen when an iPhone is trying to detect a face to see if it is the owner wanting to unlock the phone.

The defense suggested a different scenario — that in a panic, she tried to use her phone camera to take a photo of someone.

“And if the perpetrator or perpetrators responded by shooting at her, would that explain why it went off in one second and there was a bunch of orientation changes very shorty thereafter?” Barber asked.

“There’s a lot of possibilities could happen not knowing how a person reacts,” Dove said.

Prosecutors also had Dove read where Maggie Murdaugh texted someone that she was worried about her husband’s health, and after a doctor’s appointment that day, she was heading back to the lodge in Colleton County instead of the family’s house on Edisto Island.

“Alex wants me to come home,” she texted.

Murdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted.

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Day 8: Court convenes Wednesday for 4th day of testimony

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - Testimony in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial is expected to begin Wednesday with a focus on a potential key piece of evidence: a cellphone video recorded by Murdaugh’s son.

Murdaugh, the disbarred Lowcountry attorney, is standing trial for the two killings at the family’s Colleton County hunting property on June 7, 2021.

The video expected to be discussed Wednesday by South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Lt. Britt Dove was made by Paul Murdaugh about four minutes before he stopped using his cellphones, roughly the time investigators believe he and his mother, Maggie Murdaugh, were fatally shot.

In that video, investigators say Alex Murdaugh’s voice can be heard, despite the fact that the told police hours after the killings and repeated in an interview with SLED Senior Special Agent Jeff Croft that he wasn’t at the kennels that night.

The live blog will appear in this space when court convenes Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.

Agent insists Alex Murdaugh suggested he killed his son

For the second day in a row on Tuesday, a portion of testimony focused on an interview of Murdaugh by investigators and a single pronoun.

In a recording of that conversation, which took place three days after the killings, Murdaugh is emotional when he says of Paul, “It was so bad.” But it is what he says next that became a point of contention over since Monday.

Croft testified he was “100% confident” Murdaugh said “I did him so bad.”

But others in the courtroom heard, “They did him so bad.”

If Murdaugh used the word “I,” some might construe that as a confession; if he used the word “they,” it might be interpreted as referring to people Murdaugh told investigators were threatening his son after the 2019 boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach.

Defense attorney Jim Griffin replayed the clip multiple times Tuesday, once even at a slower speed.

“Did you hear ‘they’ then?” Griffin asked.

“No sir, I did not,” Croft said.

Prosecutors haven’t explained why they have emphasized the comment.

“What were the things going through your mind when you heard, or misheard, ‘I did him so bad?’” defense attorney Jim Griffin asked Croft during cross-examination. “I wasn’t a good dad? I spoiled him? Or, I killed him?”

“It was definitely something we needed to follow up on,” Croft said.

The agent said he didn’t ask for clarification that day because he thought it was too early in the investigation to confront Murdaugh and lose his cooperation. Griffin asked about an interview three months later and Croft said the agents didn’t get to asking about that but did ask Murdaugh point-blank if he killed his wife and son.

Griffin asked if it would be up to the jury to decide the truth.

“They get to hear the tape and make their own mind up on what he said, yes sir,” Croft responded.

As with much of the first four days of testimony, there were interesting bits and pieces from prosecutors, often provided without further explanation, such as a $1,021.10 receipt from a Gucci store with an item circled.

The defense used their cross-examination of Croft to try to poke holes in how the investigation unfolded. Croft was asked if he knew why state agents didn’t search Murdaugh’s home in the hours after the killings for dirty clothes, possible blood in drains or other evidence. Croft said he didn’t know what other agents did.

Griffin also asked Croft why agents didn’t search Murdaugh’s mother’s home until September — three months after the killings — even though that was the only place Murdaugh said he went before finding the bodies.

“I know I did not go and I’m not sure what any of the other agents in the investigative circle had done,” Croft said.

Prosecutors then called several witnesses to talk about how they collected data from cellphones belonging to Murdaugh, his son and wife.

Dove, the main witness who reviewed the data only got to Maggie Murdaugh’s cellphone before court ended for the day on Tuesday. Dove went over a trove of information her cellphone kept, from each text and call received to being unplugged at 8:17:51 p.m. on the night of the killings.

Dove detailed for prosecutors a flurry of activity starting at 8:49 p.m. on Maggie Murdaugh’s phone. The orientation changed from portrait to landscape and back several times. The camera turned on for one second, likely her face ID checking to see if she was logging in. Her health app recorded 59 steps — all until 9:06 p.m. when that activity ended.

Prosecutors didn’t have Dove explain in detail what might have happened.

But investigators have said they think the killings happened at roughly 8:50 p.m. Maggie Murdaugh’s cellphone was found the next day, after help from her family, just off the road about a half mile from the family property. Alex Murdaugh left around that time to visit his ailing mother, prosecutors have said.

The trial is expected to continue through next week.

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LIVE BLOG: Day 7: Testimony to resume with questions over Murdaugh statement in interview

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By Patrick Phillips and Steven Ardary

WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - When the Alex Murdaugh murder trial continues Tuesday morning, the defense will cross-examine a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigator.

Murdaugh, a disbarred Lowcountry attorney, is standing trial for the June 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and their youngest son, Paul.

The trial resumedat 9:30 a.m.

During Monday’s testimony, prosecutors spent most of the day examining SLED Special Agent Jeff Croft. Croft testified that during an interview with Murdaugh, video of which was played to the jury, Murdaugh said of Paul, “It was so bad…I did him so bad.”

But some people in the courtroom heard that portion differently, insisting it sounded like Murdaugh said “they did him so bad,” not “I did him so bad.”

Earlier in the day, defense attorneys continued to question the way authorities collected and analyzed evidence in the shooting deaths of Murdaugh’s wife and son, including numerous guns owned by the Murdaugh family now that several are evidence in the case.

Some of those weapons included the same kind that killed the Murdaugh: a .300 Blackout rifle and shotguns, respectively.

The defense began to object as the firearms were introduced, saying prosecutors had not established any relevance to enter them into evidence.

But lead prosecutor Creighton Waters fought back and the court sided with the state.

“It is very important to show the extensiveness of the investigation it was done particularly as it goes to firearms and there were multiple guns that were tested,” he said. “Admitting these guns as evidence and what was tested is very relevant.”

Croft also testified that he found the same brand and type of shell casings around the house that were found around Maggie Murdaugh’s body. In the trash, he said he found an empty box of 12-gauge shotgun ammunition, the same kind used to kill Paul Murdaugh. Croft said he also found a credit card statement, with a circled charge of more than $1,000 at Gucci.

The state has listed more than 200 potential witnesses, but it is not clear how many they intend to call to the stand.

Prosecutors estimated the trial would take about three weeks to complete.

Murdaugh is facing life in prison without parole if convicted of the crimes at hand.

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LIVE: Day 6: Testimony to continue in Alex Murdaugh murder trial Monday

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC/AP) - The trial of former Lowcountry attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is accused of killing his wife and their youngest son in 2021, is set to continue Monday morning.

It will be the third full day of testimony in the trial.

Jury selection took about two-and-a-half days, with opening statements occurring Wednesday afternoon.

Testimony began Thursday morning with some of the first law enforcement officers to arrive at the family’s Mozelle Road property in the Islandton community of rural Colleton County on the night of June 7, 2021, Murdaugh told investigators he returned to the property and discovered the bodies of his wife, Maggie, 52; and their son, Paul, 22.

READ RECAP: Here’s what happened during the first week of the Alex Murdaugh murder trial

Murdaugh’s comments to police about his whereabouts around the time his wife and son were fatally shot may not have been accurate, according to video evidence presented by prosecutors Friday.

In cross examining one of the detectives who interviewed Murdaugh, his lawyer underlined that despite the gory scene of two people killed with powerful weapons at close range, Murdaugh didn’t appear to have any blood on him.

The defense also questioned how evidence was collected at the family’s home, including whether drains were checked for blood.

In his 911 call and the interview played in court, Murdaugh said he didn’t see or communicate with his wife for close to an hour before he left the house to check on his ailing mother.

But in their opening statement and court papers filed before the trial, prosecutors said a video shot by Paul Murdaugh about 20 minutes before his father drove away — according to cellphone data — had the voices of all three of them on it.

Prosecutors said the cellphones of both victims stopped being used about four minutes after the son’s video.

In the interview with Colleton County Sheriff’s Detective Laura Rutland and a state agent, Murdaugh said he checked his son’s pulse but quickly realized he was so badly injured he was probably dead.

Prosecutor John Meadors asked Rutland if she saw blood on Murtaugh’s hands, arms, shirt, shorts or shoes. She said no several times.

“Is the individual you describe as clean from head to toe in this courtroom?” Meadors asked.

“Yes he is,” Rutland said, describing what Murdaugh was wearing.

Murdaugh was wearing a white t-shirt when he arrived at the property and that t-shirt has become a point of contention between the state and Murdaugh’s defense team after the latter has said forensic tests failed to show stains on the shirt were from human blood.

In his cross examination, defense attorney Jim Griffin hinted at a key part of Murdaugh’s defense — if Murtaugh brutally killed his wife, how could he have so effectively cleaned himself up in the less than 20 minutes between the time of the shootings and him leaving to visit his mother?

“In your mind’s eye, that night on June 7, did he look like someone who had just blown his son’s head off, spatter going everywhere?” Griffin asked the detective.

“I can’t say that for sure. A lot of things would come into play to say that. Distance is one of them,” Rutland said.

The interview hours after the killings took place inside a state agent’s vehicle and lasted about 30 minutes. Murdaugh’s personal lawyer sat in the vehicle too.

The investigators questioned him gently and Murdaugh cooperated whenever asked, telling them they could look at anything and talk to anyone. When asked, he cautiously shared the names of people he thought might have reason to kill his son.

At the start of the interview, Murdaugh sobbed as he spoke of seeing the bodies of his wife and son.

“I knew it was really bad,” Murdaugh said, then tried to gather himself for the next 15 seconds. “I could see his brain.”

The investigators asked him about his relationship with his wife and son.

“I’m sure we had little things here and there but we had a wonderful marriage. A wonderful relationship,” Murdaugh said, adding that his relationship with his son was “as good as it could be.”

In court, Murdaugh hung his head during graphic testimony and in parts of the recording when he cried.

Much of the rest of Friday’s testimony involved a state crime scene agent methodically detailing the evidence that was collected, including shotgun pellets and DNA swabs from the scene, clothes and fingernail clippings from the autopsies, and the seat belt from Murdaugh’s vehicle.

In total, the witness list includes more than 200 names, though it’s not clear if all witnesses will be called.

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LIVE NOW: Day 5 2nd day of testimony begins in Murdaugh murder trial

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC/AP) - Testimony continued Friday morning in Colleton County as prominent Lowcountry attorney Alex Murdaugh stands trial for the murders of his wife and youngest son.

Colleton County Sheriff’s Detective Laura Rutland is the first witness of the day.

Rutland said she was called on the night of the murders but was turned around to go to the sheriff’s office to secure a search warrant for the Moselle Road property. She told the court she had to wake a judge to get the warrant signed.

Prosecutors have listed more than 200 potential state witnesses, but it is not clear whether they intend to call everyone to testify on the list.

Throughout testimony on Thursday, bodycam footage from law enforcement officers who responded to the property played in monitors in the courtroom. Visitors in the courtroom did not see the images because monitors were turned away from the gallery. Defense attorneys Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian periodically held a cardboard box lid in front of the monitor at the defense table, shielding their client from having to see the footage.

Still, at several times during the trial Thursday, Murdaugh became emotional as officers described what they saw that night.

Colleton County Sgt. Daniel Greene, the first person to testify in the trial on Thursday, was the first officer to arrive on the scene where Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie; and youngest son, Paul, had been gunned down. Greene said Murdaugh was upset but had no tears in his eyes.

Some footage showed Greene questioning Murdaugh and protecting the crime scene, since the two victims were obviously dead.

Murdaugh’s lawyer questioned Greene at length on what he did at the scene, suggesting that officers disturbed potential evidence by walking around in the dark without flashlights, failing to look for shoe prints or tire tracks, and standing near the bodies after it was established that they had died.

He testified that when he arrived, he saw Murdaugh talking on the phone, standing near where the bodies were found, with a shotgun resting against his truck that Murdaugh said he grabbed for protection.

“He was upset, but I didn’t see any visible tears,” Greene said.

Later Thursday, Colleton County Sheriff’s Capt. Jason Chapman testified that he noticed that too, but he said Murdaugh did look tormented.

“Not everyone cries. I don’t have an issue with that,” Chapman said,

The deputy testified that Murdaugh seemed to settle down and pay attention to parts of the investigation, such as when deputies tried to follow tire marks.

Prosecutors suggested in their questioning that he might be making sure his alibi was sticking. The defense suggested he wanted the killer or killers of his wife and son found and perked up when he thought there might be clues for investigators to follow.

Much of the defense’s cross examination centered on protecting evidence at the crime scene. Harpootlian asked Greene why he didn’t indicate to state crime scene agents about possible tire tracks and footprints. Greene said it wasn’t his job.

Harpootlian asked why another officer went into a feed room behind Paul Murdaugh’s body. Greene said he didn’t know, but that officers were doing their best to protect the evidence.

“Best? To walk in an area where there is blood, where there is brain matter?” Harpootlian said.

Later testimony from other deputies said the officer only went into the room to help lift the sheet on Paul Murdaugh’s body straight up to check if there was a weapon near or under his body. Chapman said he didn’t want to drag the sheet across the body and possibly dislodge evidence.

Murdaugh rocked back and forth with his head down and wiped his eyes as the condition of the bodies was discussed.

Murdaugh appeared to be distraught several other times during graphic testimony, as officers and first responders talked about how his son’s brain was ripped away by the shotgun blast and was found by his feet, and that his wife had a hole in her head big enough to see her skull cavity.

Prosecutors also had the 911 call played in court, during which a deeply upset and agitated Murdaugh told the operator several times that neither his son or wife was breathing and asked for an ambulance to hurry.

Murdaugh also faces about 100 charges related to other crimes, including money laundering, stealing millions from clients and the family law firm, tax evasion and trying to get a man to fatally shoot him so his surviving son could collect a $10 million life insurance policy. He was being held in jail without bail on those counts before he was charged with murder.

A Lowcountry murder mystery leads a series of twists and turns and more than 100 criminal charges. Here's a look at what to expect in the Alex Murdaugh trial.

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LIVE NOW: Day 4: First witnesses to take stand in Murdaugh murder trial

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC/AP) - The Alex Murdaugh murder trial is set to continue Wednesday afternoon with opening statements from the prosecution and defense after 12 jurors and six alternates were selected earlier in the day.

The 54-year-old Murdaugh is accused of killing his wife, Maggie, 52; and their youngest son, Paul, 22; at the family’s rural hunting property in the Islandton community on June 7, 2021. He is charged with two counts of murder and two weapons charges.

Before dismissing for lunch, the state reiterated that they would pursue all four charges against Murdaugh. Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman will go over the specifics of those charges after the break.

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The morning started with 122 potential jurors reporting to the courtroom. Once roll call was completed, Judge Clifton Newman began the process of whittling down the pool to 80 jurors that would make up the final group for jury selection, which began in earnest around 12:40 p.m. with the first juror number called to be selected for service.

The defense would use the first of its strikes on the second juror presented. The remaining selections saw the state use two strikes. The defense would finish the initial selections using two additional strikes.

The selection of the six alternates for the jury would see the prosecution using one strike and the defense using both of its strikes.

The jury was then sworn in and the court was put into recess for a lunch break.

Newman also addressed concerns about graphic photos and video of the victims issuing an order to keep those items under seal.

Newman heard a series of motions on Tuesday afternoon, ultimately deciding to wait until the issues come up at trial to decide whether jurors hear evidence about blood spatter or other crimes Murdaugh is charged with. Prosecutors have argued that the murders were a cover-up for Alex Murdaugh’s financial misdeeds. Previously, the defense has said the state turned over millions of pages of documents during discovery about these financial crimes.

Murdaugh also faces about 100 charges related to other crimes, including money laundering, stealing millions from clients, tax evasion and trying to get a man to fatally shoot him so his surviving son could collect a $10 million life insurance policy. He was being held in jail without bail on those counts before he was charged with murder.

The defense says this motive is completely fabricated.

“His theory is, he knew the jig was up, so he went home, and butchered, blew the head off his son, and butchered his wife,” Murdaugh’s defense attorney Dick Harpootlian said. “There’s not one shred of evidence there were any problems between any of them. There’s texts, pictures, people that were with them the previous weekend at a ball game, video from that day with Paul and he’s having a good time. There is no dispute anywhere that they were the perfect family in terms of their relationships.”

Newman told the attorneys he will decide on a case-by-case basis outside the jury’s presence.

In the blood spatter evidence, Murdaugh’s lawyers said emails turned over to them by prosecutors showed an expert, who analyzed the t-shirt Murdaugh was wearing when he said he found the bodies, initially determined there were no blood spatter stains, only spots that could have happened when Murdaugh checked to see if his son and wife were still alive.

The expert changed his mind several weeks later after state agents flew to his home in Oklahoma, according to the emails cited by Murdaugh’s lawyers. Testing on the shirt used chemicals that made it impossible for any defense expert to do their own testing or even check the original results, the defense said.

The defense agreed to wait and see if prosecutors decide to bring that expert to the stand.

The judge denied a request Tuesday by Murdaugh’s lawyers to prevent an expert from testifying that rifle cartridges found near his wife’s body have marks indicating they may have been fired from the same gun that fired other cartridges found at a shooting range on the property. Prosecutors said a similar model gun remains missing from the Murdaugh home.

The defense said recent scientific advances show ballistics experts can’t say with 100% certainty that there are unique markings linking a gun to a cartridge. Prosecutors said this kind of evidence is allowed in courtrooms all the time. Newman said defense lawyers can question the expert during cross examination.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters asked for a ruing before the jury was seated, likely because he wants to mention the evidence in his opening statement.

Murdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted of murder. He told investigators he found their bodies outside their Colleton County home on June 7, 2021. He said he’d been gone for about an hour to visit his ailing father and mother.

Court papers filed by the defense this week included a crime scene report detailing that Maggie Murdaugh was shot at least four times and appeared to be moving when she was wounded and Paul Murdaugh was shot twice, once with buckshot and once with smaller birdshot. Both were killed by shots to the head.

When asked during a preliminary hearing about what evidence they would produce, prosecutors presented a detailed timeline of how Murdaugh’s wife and son were killed the same day a paralegal at a law firm reported he might be stealing money.

State agents and prosecutors took 13 months to seek murder indictments against Murdaugh. The defense motion was the first indication authorities might have one of the two guns used. No evidence has made public about a possible confession or an eyewitness account.

The trial is expected to last up to three weeks, with prosecutors and defense attorneys providing a list of 255 potential witnesses to the judge.

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