WALTERBORO, S.C. (WSAV) — Several witnesses took the stand Thursday during the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh.
On Wednesday, the prosecution led with an explosive opening statement saying Alex Murdaugh shot his son Paul by the dog kennels on their Moselle property and then shot his wife, Maggie with a separate weapon. The defense countered by saying Alex Murdaugh was a good husband and father who had just recently spent time with both Paul and Maggie prior to their deaths.
The prosecution and defense argued their cases and new evidence was revealed, including phone records and a raincoat containing gunshot residue.
Thursday’s proceedings began with the 911 call made by Alex Murdaugh on the night of the murders.
A total of six witnesses were called. Of those witnesses were some of the first responders who initially arrived on the scene. Both witnesses described Alex Murdaugh as “distraught” on that night.
The trial resumes Friday morning.
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ALEX MURDAUGH MURDER TRIAL LIVE BLOG:
9:30 a.m. – Alex Murdaugh arrives at the Colleton County courthouse for the fourth day of the trial. Buster Murdaugh also is present at the courthouse.
9:39 a.m. – Judge Clifton Newman enters the courtroom.
9:43 a.m. – The jury files into the courtroom and is seated. Judge Newman greets them and reminds them to not discuss any parts of the trial with anyone or follow it on the news. He asks if anyone has done either, to which no one has.
9:47 a.m. – Attorney Creighton Waters, the prosecution, calls Sgt. Daniel Greene of the Colleton County Sheriff’s Department to the stand. He is sworn in and takes the stand.
9:50 a.m. – Sgt. Greene is asked to recount the night of June 7, 2021. Green testifies about being the first to respond to the scene on Moselle Road.
Murdaugh can be seen crying during Sgt. Greene’s testimony.
10:00 a.m. – Prosecution shows an image on the screen. Greene identifies the image as the shotgun that Alex Murdaugh had on the night of the murders.
10:06 a.m. – Footage from the body cam worn by Sgt. Greene is shown to the court.
10:08 a.m. – Greene said that Paul was lying in a pool of blood and there was a significant amount of water around him. Greene said that he did not think the water could have been caused by rain.
10:14 a.m. – Alex Murdaugh can be heard in the footage telling Greene that his son (Paul) had been involved in a boat crash (Mallory Beach) and could have been targeted.
“My son was in a boat wreck a while back, getting threatened, he was getting punched and stuff, I know that’s what this is,” Murdaugh says in the footage.
Murdaugh also mentions he can show timestamps on his phone of where he was at the time of the murders in the footage.
10:17 a.m. – Sgt. Greene testifies he never saw Murdaugh shed a tear at the scene.
Murdaugh can be heard in body cam footage saying ‘They are dead, aren’t they?’ to which Greene responds, ‘Yes sir, that’s what it looks like.’
10:35 a.m. – Greene can be heard on video establishing a crime scene. Attorney Creighton Waters asks him to identify other deputies on scene.
11:02 a.m. – Greene tells the prosecution that he turned off his body cam after his supervisor gave him permission to do so after he confirmed he would not be speaking with Murdaugh any further or handling additional evidence.
11:03 a.m. – Prosecution stops questioning Greene. A break is issued by Newman and cross-examination is set to begin after the break.
11:25 a.m. – Cross-examination begins with Attorney Dick Harpootlian questioning Sgt. Greene about the amount of water in the dog pen at the scene of the murders.
11:32 a.m. – Defense asks if Sgt. Greene took any photos or notified SLED of the tire tracks or footprints that were mentioned in the body cam footage. Sgt. Greene denies taking any photos of the scene as this was not “part of his job description.”
11:45 a.m. – Harpootlian experiences multiple technical difficulties.
11:53 a.m. – The defense asks Sgt. Greene about his ability to preserve the scene before investigators arrived at the scene.
Harpootlian then played the body cam video that showed investigators standing inside the feed room. Greene acknowledged that they were all standing in the crime scene.
Harpootlian said evidence could’ve been destroyed that night because the crime scene was not properly preserved.
12:02 p.m. – Prosecution returns to question Greene about cross-examination.
12:07 p.m. – Greene confirms that Murdaugh offered up the theory that someone could have killed Paul in retaliation to the boating incident that left Mallory Beach dead. Greene claims he did not ask Murdaugh about it prior to him bringing it up.
12:10 p.m. – Colleton County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Chad McDowell takes the witness stand to be questioned by the prosecution. McDowell, a K-9 handler, says he was raised in Colleton County.
McDowell said he was working the night shift with his dog, Evo and arrived on the scene of the murders on June 7, 2021.
12:22 p.m. – McDowell asks for crime scene tape to mark a shell casing that was on the ground. McDowell said the casing was a 300 Blackout.
12:31 p.m. – McDowell said he turned on his flashlight as he entered the feed room making sure he did not disturb any evidence. McDowell claims he did not step on any blood or make any bloody footprints.
12:42 p.m. – McDowell tells the defense that he was marking evidence without being asked to and could have disturbed something. Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian asks: “Should you have been walking around?”
12:51 p.m. – McDowell said Murdaugh was never treated as a suspect while he was on the scene. McDowell completes his questioning.
12:53 p.m. – Judge Newman dismisses the jury for a lunch break until 2:15 p.m.
2:23 p.m. – Tinesh Bryson-Smith, with the Hampton County Emergency Services, takes the witness stand.
2:33 p.m. – Angella Stallings, who oversees the 911 center at the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office, takes the witness stand.
The 911 call from the night of June 7 was played.
2:48 p.m. – The fifth witness, Barry McRoy, the Colleton County Fire Chief takes the stand.
Chief McRoy responded to the Moselle property during the night of Paul and Maggie’s murder.
03:00 p.m. – The defense begins to question Chief McRoy. McRoy said that he knew Murdaugh professionally after having worked with his law firm in the past. He said that Murdaugh appeared distraught the night of the murders.
Chief McRoy is the one who suggested that the tire tracks found at the scene should be preserved.
3:10 p.m. – Another witness, Jason Walker Chapman with the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office, is a 26-year-old law enforcement veteran who took the stand next. He has testified as an expert witness in other trials.
Chapman said the sheriff had told him that SLED would need to get involved because the crime involved the well-known Murdaugh family. He said that working with SLED is common for the Sheriff’s Office.
Chapman emphasized the importance of protecting the integrity of the scene.
Chapman said there was no observation of blood on Alex Murdaugh during the night of the murders. Murdaugh said he did touch the bodies to see if they were breathing.
Chapman sympathized with Alex Murdaugh wanting to arm himself before police arrived saying that anyone would be scared in that situation.
4:00 p.m. – Court is in recess.
4:00 p.m. update:
4:20 p.m. – Court is back in session.
Chapman describes some drone images taken from the scene.
4:48 p.m. – The defense begins to question Chapman. They mention the tire tracks found at the scene. Chapman said that Greene never alerted him to possible evidence that needed to be preserved.
Although Chapman expressed the importance of the integrity of the scene earlier, Harpootlian questioned Chapman about the integrity of the scene. He reiterated that SLED was the primary agency involved.
A suspect had not been identified on June 7, according to Chapman. He was asked if the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office had issued a statement say there was not threat to the public, but Chapman was not aware of any statement being made.
5:00 p.m. update:
5:30 p.m. – The jury has been dismissed until tomorrow morning.
6:00 p.m. update:
