Jurors returned to the Colleton County Courthouse on Tuesday morning as prosecutors continued their case against attorney Alex Murdaugh over the double murder of his wife and son at the family’s storied and massive hunting lodge in June 2021.
The 54-year-old disgraced legal scion – disbarred soon after murder allegations and various alleged financial improprieties came to light – is accused of shooting and killing his wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and their youngest son Paul Murdaugh, 22.
On Monday, DNA evidence took center stage as jurors heard from two forensic scientists with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Both sides were able to elicit what appeared to be favorable testimony from each witness.
“Is it fair to say there’s no human blood on the T-shirt?” defense attorney Phillip Barber asked SLED scientist Sarah Zapata, referring to the heavily-contested white T-shirt the defendant was found wearing by law enforcement on the night of the slayings.
“The test that I performed was negative for the presence of human blood,” Zapata said.
Barber also was able to elicit testimony from Zapata that her SLED lab tests were “0 for 74” on finding any kind of blood on Alex Murdaugh’s clothes on the night when Paul Murdaugh had his brain ejected from his skull by a shotgun blast at close range while Maggie Murdaugh was killed with what the state calls an “AR-style” rifle.
Grim and graphic details of the brutal murders were also relayed late Monday afternoon by Dr. Ellen Riemer, who conducted the autopsies on the deceased members of the Murdaugh family.
“… his brain was ejected out of the top of the right side of his head and arrived at autopsy in a separate bucket,” Dr. Riemer performed Paul’s autopsy. #AlexMurdaugh pic.twitter.com/zcXpLZqqOO
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) February 13, 2023
Dr. Riemer now talking about how Maggie could have been bent over after being shot, where she would have placed her hand on her abdomen, where she had been shot. That is how she may have been shot in the wrist, according to Dr. Riemer @LawCrimeNetwork SC v. #AlexMurdaugh
— Angenette Levy (@Angenette5) February 13, 2023
Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian signaled that cross-examination of Riemer will likely be extensive and could go until 7:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday.
Demonstration of the second shot to Paul Murdaugh. Riemer says Paul's head had to be turned a bit, the shot enters his shoulder and travel out the back of his head. #AlexMurdaugh pic.twitter.com/PJR4ArJNLV
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) February 14, 2023
Ultimately, however, cross-examination of the forensic pathologist did not last quite as long as Alex Murdaugh’s defense suggested the day before.
After Riemer was dismissed, the state called a last-minute witness who works for General Motors, as the prosecution is said to have discovered additional evidence they wanted to present from the defendant’s Chevy Suburban. Alex Murdaugh admittedly drove a substantial amount on the night in question. He claims it was to visit his ailing mother; the state seems to be arguing that the trip was to help establish a false alibi.
Rep from GM,. Devin Newell is on the stand. This is a last-minute witness for the state. Over the weekend they became aware of additional data from #AlexMurdaugh's suburban. pic.twitter.com/N107hkXkhp
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) February 14, 2023
Senior Technical Expert for GM, Devin Newell, on the stand. He's testifying to the data discovered over the weekend. GM had initially said they didn't have this data in response to search warrant in Spring 2022. @LawCrimeNetwork SC v. #AlexMurdaugh pic.twitter.com/8Y7NZTA3BH
— Angenette Levy (@Angenette5) February 14, 2023
Short direct talking about spreadsheets. Now cross, Newell says he became aware of this from GM legal staff. He needed to authenticate. @LawCrimeNetwork SC v. #AlexMurdaugh
— Angenette Levy (@Angenette5) February 14, 2023
Jurors also heard from Roger Davis, a maintenance man for Moselle, the Murdaugh family hunting lodge, who took care of the dogs on the property. Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were shot and killed near the dog kennels.
Roger Davis took care of the Murdaugh dogs and kennel. He is the 53rd witness for the state. #AlexMurdaugh pic.twitter.com/Cgm4J1hFAr
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) February 14, 2023
"She was just so laid back. She would talk to you like a normal person," Davis describes Maggie Murdaugh and how she loved the dogs and spent a lot of time with them. #AlexMurdaugh pic.twitter.com/hHPXyG54Jw
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) February 14, 2023
Davis says Alex & Maggie were "lovey dovey".
"I've never seen that man even raise his voice at his wife or kids." He says anything Maggie or the boys wanted, Alex would try and get it for them. #AlexMurdaugh
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) February 14, 2023
Jurors later heard from Marian Proctor, Maggie Murdaugh’s sister.
Marian asked #AlexMurdaugh who could have committed the murders. Alex told her he didn't know but he thought whoever did it had thought about it for a really long time.
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) February 14, 2023
In the end, however, the sister’s testimony may have been something of a wash.
“It was good,” Proctor testified, echoing every other bit of witness testimony about the state of the marriage between the defendant and his wife. “It wasn’t perfect, but Maggie was happy.”
