Jurors returned to court on Wednesday morning as prosecutors continued to present their case against Alex Murdaugh over the brutal shooting murders of his wife and son in early June 2021.
The 54-year-old disgraced legal scion – disbarred as the murder allegations and myriad 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 Tuesday, jurors heard the defense cross-examine a key prosecution witness who previously implicated the defendant in something of a would-be confession. Earlier this week, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Agent Jeff Croft testified about what he saw – and captured with his body-worn camera – in the days immediately following the gruesome slayings at the family’s 1,770-acre hunting lodge known to Colleton County locals as Moselle.
Croft previously told lead prosecutor Creighton Waters about an interview with the defendant about his deceased family members on June 10, 2021. In that interview, the SLED agent said, Alex Murdaugh sobbed and said: “I did him so bad” in reference to his deceased son.
Croft’s understanding, expressed to the jury, has led to some confusion as the audio is not clear – many listeners hear the word “they” instead of “I” on the recording. On Tuesday morning, defense attorney Jim Griffin sharply took issue with how Croft interpreted that audio – at one point slowing it down to 1/3 speed in court.
But the SLED agent stuck to his testimony. Griffin then quizzed him as to how Alex Murdaugh’s alleged confession was treated by law enforcement at the time he said the disputed, somewhat garbled, words. In the end, as it turned out, SLED never followed up with the defendant on what he meant by that utterance.
Testimony ended on Tuesday afternoon with SLED Agent Brett Dove educating the court about how cell phones work and the evidentiary necessities for their use in a criminal investigation. All that effort was in service of granular data the state claims was obtained from Maggie Murdaugh’s iPhone.
More info on Maggie’s phone activity:
8:17 pm – Phone was unplugged from a charger.
8:30:23 pm – https://t.co/4aq181X8Rt website running in the background
8:49:20 pm – Display on
8:49:26 pm – phone unlocked
8:49:27 pm – group text from John “read”
8:49:31 pm – device locked— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) January 31, 2023
INTERESTING: Maggie’s phone:
8:54:40 orientation change to landscape
8:54:44 orientation change from landscape
8:54:54 camera starts for one second. In the Verizon witness’ opinion this is indicative of the phone attempting to recognize a face to unlock it. It doesn’t unlock. pic.twitter.com/RpQd0LhHtt— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) January 31, 2023
During opening statements, defense attorney Dick Harpootlian pre-rubbished the state’s expansive suite of cell phone evidence as “incomplete” and unreliable.
[image via screengrab/Law&Crime Network]
