Alex Murdaugh trial - live: Disgraced lawyer accused of stealing $4m payout from housekeeper death case

Alex Murdaugh was accused of stealing a $4m settlement from his late housekeeper’s family at his murder trial on Friday.

Tony Satterfield, son of Gloria Satterfield, testified in Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Friday where Mr Murdaugh is currently on trial for the June 2021 murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

Satterfield worked as the Murdaughs’ housekeeper and nanny for more than 20 years, before she died in a mysterious trip and fall at the family home.

Her son was a witness in a portion of the trial without the jury present to determine if Mr Murdaugh’s financial crimes can be included as evidence to establish a motive for the murders. The court has also heard on the subject from his former best friend, a bank CEO, and the CFO of his former law firm.

In addition to murder, Mr Murdaugh is facing around 100 charges for stealing almost $8.5m from clients at his former firm.

Friday also saw extensive testimony from a firearms specialist who determined from spent shell casings found on the property and at the crime scene that a gun owned by the family was used in the murder of Maggie.

Alex Murdaugh murder trial

• Murdaugh accused of stealing $4m payout from housekeeper’s family

• Alex Murdaugh’s best friend breaks down over attorney’s financial crimes

• Law firm CFO recalls Alex Murdaugh ‘dirty look’ as she confronted him over missing money on day of murders

• Snapchat shows Alex Murdaugh in different clothing one hour before murders

• Two friends ‘100%’ certain of Murdaugh’s voice in video minutes before murders

16:05 , Oliver O'Connell

In redirect, the prosecution asks what the upshot would have been if the boat crash hearing had gone ahead on 10 June had the murders not occurred.

Mr Tinsley replies that it would have leed to “the discovery of everything he’s done” in relation to the theft of money from his law firm and clients.

15:58 , Oliver O'Connell

Defence attorney Phillip Barber spars with Mr Tinsley over the details of his case against Mr Murdaugh.

He was pressuring Mr Murdaugh to hand over details of his finances with the threat of a hearing for a motion to compel him to do so.

Mr Barber argues that it would have been premature for Mr Murdaugh to hand over financial records.

Mr Tinsley testifies that he “knew he had money” and pushed so hard for the financial records because Mr Murdaugh didn’t want him to have them.

It was this pressure that Mr Tinsley hoped would force Mr Murdaugh to settle.

15:35 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Tinsley testifies that the murders of Maggie and Paul made him question whether continuing to sue Mr Murdaugh over the boat crash was still viable.

“Pretty quickly, I recognized that the case against Alex, if he were in fact the victim of some vigilante, would be over.”

If Mr Murdaugh is seen as the victim, then the sympathy toward him would drastically reduce the chances that a jury would have ordered him to pay compensation to the Beach family.

Prosecutors have been pushing the theory that Mr Murdaugh killed his wife and son in order to portray himself as a “victim of an unspeakable tragedy” and that this then distracted any investigation into his finances that would have exposed his crimes.

Having laid out the nature of Mr Murdaugh’s financial crimes, how they were uncovered, and why this is germane to the murder case, the prosecution finishes questioning Mr Tinsley, its seventh in-camera witness.

Defence is now cross-examining him.

15:10 , Oliver O'Connell

In late 2020, Mr Tinsley said he was told that Mr Murdaugh was broke, but he could cobble together about $1m as a settlement to the Beach family.

He says that the amount was not enough for his clients, but also did not believe he was broke given how much money he was making from his settlement cases and his generational wealth.

Mr Tinsley says that his push to uncover Mr Murdaugh’s finances and secure a huge payout from him for the Beach family was met with a lot of pushback in the legal community.

He wanted details of the Murdaugh bank accounts.

“I wanted the accounts because I knew the only way he could be broke is if money had been hidden.”

15:05 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Tinsley’s testimony is important to the prosecution case in that there was a hearing scheduled over Paul’s role in the boat crash in the days after he was murdered.

As part of the boat crash case, Alex’s finances would potentially be laid bare, exposing his crimes.

Mr Tinsley explains that Mr Murdaugh had some insurance coverage available to pay out to the boat crash victims, but also he also demanded a substantial amount to be paid by Murdaugh to the Beach family.

“The Beach family stood on the causeway for eight days while their daughter’s body was in the water.”

When Mallory’s mother went to the scene of the boat crash, with her daughter still missing, she was told she couldn’t approach it, but a few minutes saw Alex Murdaugh and his wife pull up and be waved through.

Mr Tinsley testifies that Mr Murdaugh approached him at a work function and tried to intimidate him to make him back off from the case.

New Witness: Mark Tinsley

14:45 , Oliver O'Connell

The first witness of the week is Mark Tinsley, a lawyer representing the family of Mallory Beach, who sued the Murdaughs after the 2019 boat crash in which she died.

Paul Murdaugh was criminally charged with drunkenly driving the boat as it crashed.

Mr Tinsley’s testimony is being heard in camera — without the jury present — ahead of Judge Clifton Newman’s decision as to whether Alex Murdaugh’s financial crimes are relevant to the murder case.

Watch the trial LIVE

Why Alex Murdaugh’s financial crimes are important to murder trial:

14:15 , Rachel Sharp

Separate from his murder trial, Alex Murdaugh is currently facing a slew of around 100 charges from multiple indictments for embezzling millions of dollars from clients at his law firm PMPED.

In total, he is accused of stealing almost $8.5m from clients in fraud schemes dating back around a decade to 2011.

The attorney, who has since been disbarred, represented the clients in wrongful death lawsuits before allegedly pocketing the settlement money for himself.

Prosecutors are arguing that Mr Murdaugh’s alleged financial crimes are key to proving the motive in his murder case, claiming that he killed Maggie and Paul to hide his other crimes and scandals which were catching up with him.

At the time of the murders, Mr Murdaugh’s law firm PMPED was closing in on his alleged multi-million-dollar fraud scheme with a colleague confronting him about it on the morning of the killings.

His finances were also coming under intense scrutiny in a lawsuit brought by the family of Mallory Beach – a 19-year-old woman who died in a 2019 crash in the Murdaugh family boat.

Paul was allegedly drunk driving the boat at the time and crashed it, throwing Beach overboard. Her body washed ashore a week later. Paul was charged with multiple felonies over the boat wreck and was facing 25 years in prison at the time of his murder.

A hearing for the boat crash lawsuit was scheduled to take place days after the murders. It was postponed following Maggie and Paul’s murders.

Meanwhile, the defence is asking the judge to throw evidence of Mr Murdaugh’s alleged financial crimes out of the murder trial.

Judge Newman said he would hear testimony about the alleged financial crimes in the absence of the jury to determine what evidence – if any – will be allowed.

What to expect today as third week of testimony gets under way

14:00 , Rachel Sharp

The third week of testimony is expected to get under way soon in Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina.

Alex Murdaugh’s trial will resume at 9.30am ET on Monday morning.

However the jury has been instructed to return at 11.30am as the judge will continue to hear evidence about Mr Murdaugh’s alleged financial crimes – in order to determine what evidence can be presented to the jury.

RECAP: What happened in court on Friday?

13:45 , Rachel Sharp

In court on 3 February, Alex Murdaugh was accused of stealing a $4m settlement from his late housekeeper’s family, where prosecutors also raised questions about her mystery death.

Gloria Satterfield worked as the Murdaugh family’s housekeeper and nanny for more than 20 years, before she died in a mysterious trip and fall at the family home in 2018.

Her son Tony Satterfield told the court how Mr Murdaugh allegedly swindled almost $4m in a wrongful death lawsuit payout from the family in the aftermath of her death.

In June 2021 – the same month that Maggie and Paul were shot dead – there were reports in the media about a settlement and Mr Satterfield said he chased Mr Murdaugh about the progress of the case.

Unbeknown to him, Mr Murdaugh had already allegedly received payouts and pocketed them for himself.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters also hinted at the ongoing uncertainty about the nature of her death.

“Was she able to say how she fell?” he asked.

“No she was not,” Mr Satterfied replied.

At the time, Satterfield’s death was regarded as an accidental fall – however her death certificate cited her manner of death as “natural”. In September 2021, SLED announced that it was reopening an investigation into her death and, in early 2022, officials announced plans to exhume her body.

Jan Malinowski, the vice president of Palmetto State Bank, also testified without the jury present that Mr Murdaugh owed $4.2m in loans to the bank in the summer of 2021.

Mr Malinowski is successor to Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Laffitte who was convicted in November of a slew of financial fraud crimes connected to Mr Murdaugh.

He told the court how the bank’s board of directors began asking questions about Mr Murdaugh’s finances with the bank around July 2021.

In early August, they held a board meeting where it was discussed. At that time, Mr Murdaugh’s account was overdrawn by $346,000. Mr Laffitte suddenly made a $400,000 transfer to the account.

The court heard how this was part of an undocumented $750,000 loan to Mr Murdaugh.

Mr Laffitte was convicted over this loan at his trial. Mr Murdaugh – who was named as a co-conspirator in Mr Laffitte’s crimes – had his trial postponed until after the murder trial.

Another of Mr Murdaugh’s alleged co-conspirators also cropped up in the trial for the first time during testimony from forensic accountant Carson Burney.

Mr Burney testified that he had analysed Mr Murdaugh’s bank accounts, finding the money flowing to an account fraudulently called Forge Consulting – in fact Mr Murdaugh’s account.

Other payments were sent to Curtis Edward Smith – the man who allegedly conspired with Mr Murdaugh in the botched hitman plot.

During testimony with the jury present, the court heard testimony from SLED fingerprint examiner Thomas Darnell.

Mr Darnell testified that he tested guns, ammunition and Paul’s cellphone for prints but did not find any. He said that this is not unusual as prints are usually left by moisture.

Key revelations from the Murdaugh trial so far

13:30 , Rachel Sharp

Legal dynasty heir Alex Murdaugh is currently on trial in a South Carolina courtroom for the brutal double murder of his wife and adult son.

Maggie, 52, and Paul, 22, were both shot dead at the family’s sprawling 1,700-acre property in Islandton, South Carolina, on the night of 7 June 2021.

Mr Murdaugh, 54, claimed that he returned home from visiting his elderly mother to find the victims’ bodies at the dog kennels on the land.

No arrests were made for more than a year, until – in July 2022 – Mr Murdaugh was charged with their murders.

Prosecutors allege that Mr Murdaugh killed his wife and son to distract from the growing number of scandals and crimes swirling around him.

It’s a dramatic saga that now includes murder, a botched hitman plot, multi-million-dollar fraud schemes and a series of unexplained deaths.

The now-disbarred attorney denies the allegations and has pleaded not guilty.

Mr Murdaugh’s trial got underway at Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro on 23 January.

Here are the key revelations from the trial so far:

‘Confession’, bloody scene and ‘clean’ shirt: Key moments from Alex Murdaugh trial

Murdaugh accused of stealing $4m insurance payout from housekeeper’s family

13:00 , Rachel Sharp

Alex Murdaugh was accused of stealing a $4m settlement from his late housekeeper’s family at his murder trial on Friday, where prosecutors also raised questions about her mystery death.

Tony Satterfield, the son of Gloria Satterfield, took the witness stand in Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Friday where Mr Murdaugh is currently on trial for the June 2021 murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

Satterfield worked as the Murdaugh family’s housekeeper and nanny for more than 20 years, before she died in a mysterious trip and fall at the family home.

Rachel Sharp explains what happened next.

Son of Alex Murdaugh’s housekeeper testifies that he stole $4m payout from family

PICTURED: Maggie’s phone where it was found abandoned on Moselle Road

12:30 , Rachel Sharp

Maggie’s phone was not found with her body on 7 June 2021.

Instead, authorities tracked down her cellphone to the side of Moselle Road – with investigators believing the killer tossed the phone from a moving car.

Here are photos of the phone where it was discovered.

Murdaugh’s best friend of 40 years breaks down in tears on witness stand

12:00 , Rachel Sharp

Alex Murdaugh’s former best friend of 40 years broke down in tears in court as he described the moment that he learned the disgraced attorney had stolen millions of dollars from his law firm clients – and $192,000 from himself.

Chris Wilson choked up with emotion as he said the betrayal “knocked me down” and revealed that “I don’t know how to think any more” about the man he had known and “loved” for most of his life.

Read on:

Alex Murdaugh’s friend breaks down describing murder suspect’s financial crimes

Law firm CFO recalls Murdaugh’s ‘dirty look’ as she confronted him over missing money

11:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Murdaugh’s former law firm partner has recalled how he gave her a “dirty look” when she confronted him over missing payments worth a staggering $792,000 on the day that his wife and son were murdered.

Jeanne Seckinger, the chief financial officer at Mr Murdaugh’s former law firm PMPED, testified in Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Thursday at his trial for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

She told the court how she discovered the 54-year-old now-disbarred attorney was misappropriating millions of dollars from his legal clients – by moving money into a fake business and into his own personal accounts.

Rachel Sharp has the story.

Alex Murdaugh confronted by law firm over missing $792,000 hours before murders

Two friends ‘100%’ certain Alex Murdaugh voice heard on video minutes before murders

10:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Two friends of Paul Murdaugh have testified that they are “100 per cent sure” that it is Alex Murdaugh’s voice in a video recorded just minutes before the brutal double murder of his son and wife Maggie – in a dramatic moment that ripped open the disgraced legal scion’s alibi.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Alex Murdaugh heard in son’s video minutes before murders, two friends testify

09:30 , Oliver O'Connell

On the surface, Alex Murdaugh had it all.

He was a high-powered attorney who ran both his own law firm and worked in the local prosecutor’s office.

He was the son of a powerful legal dynasty that dominated the local South Carolina community for almost a century.

And he was a family man who lived with his wife and two adult sons on their sprawling country estate.

But over the last 19 months, Mr Murdaugh has experienced a spectacular fall from grace, culminating in what has been described as the “trial of the century” now taking place in a courtroom in Walterboro, South Carolina.

Alex Murdaugh trial: Story of the legal scion’s spectacular fall from grace

Defence casts doubt on theory Murdaugh took Maggie’s phone

07:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Under cross-examination, the defence cast doubt on the theory that it could have been Mr Murdaugh who threw Maggie’s phone along the side of Moselle Road.

Lt Dove admitted that cellphone data suggested Maggie and Mr Murdaugh’s phones were not in the same place at the same time at 9.06pm as the step data did not match.

This was important because 9.06pm is when the final orientation change – or movement – was recorded on Maggie’s phone.

Lt Dove testified that this movement could have been as it was being thrown from a vehicle to where it was discovered the next day, with the defence contending that Mr Murdaugh was at the family property walking with his cellphone at that time.

However, under redirect, prosecutors cast doubt on the defence’s timeframe for when the phone was tossed down Moselle Lane, as Lt Dove testified that an orientation change can only take place when the phone screen is on.

The SLED agent testified that the screen on Maggie’s phone was off between 9.07pm and 9.31pm so if the phone was thrown from a car during that time, there would have been no orientation change recorded.

Calls Murdaugh made to wife on night of murders ‘deleted’

05:30 , Oliver O'Connell

In dramatic courtroom testimony, jurors heard that calls Mr Murdaugh made to his wife on the night of the murders were mysteriously later “deleted” from his call log.

In court on Tuesday, Lt Dove testified that Mr Murdaugh had called Maggie five times between 9.04pm and 10.03pm on the night of 7 June 2021 after he had allegedly killed her and Paul. None of the calls were answered.

But, according to the call log on his cellphone, Mr Murdaugh did not place or receive any calls between 4.35pm on 4 June and 10.25pm on 7 June.

Lt Dove, who processed the three cellphones belonging to Mr Murdaugh, Maggie and Paul, testified that the trove of phone calls Mr Murdaugh made to his wife’s cellphone after he allegedly shot the victims dead was missing from his call log.

The only explanation for the missing data is that the call logs were manually and intentionally deleted by someone between the 7 June 2021 murders and his phone being seized by authorities in September 2021, he said.

Murder timeframe narrowed down to eight-second window

03:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Prosecutors claim that Paul was shot dead first at around 8.50pm, followed by Maggie – with cellphone data being used to narrow down the murders to a precise eight-second window.

SLED Lt. Britt Dove testified that Paul’s last phone activity was at 8.48.59pm and Maggie’s was at 8.49.27pm.

Eight seconds later at 8.49.35pm, Paul received a text message but it went unread. Neither Maggie nor Paul used their phones after that time.

Alex Murdaugh called and texted his wife’s home multiple times over the next hour.

Snapchat shows Alex Murdaugh in different clothing one hour before murders

01:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Jurors were shown a Snapchat video Paul sent to Mr Loving less than one hour before he and Maggie were murdered.

The video, sent at 7.56pm on 7 June 2021, shows Alex Murdaugh on the grounds of the family estate.

In the footage, Mr Murdaugh, 54, is seen dressed in trousers, loafers and a blue button-down shirt – clothing that does not match what he is seen wearing in police bodycam footage in the aftermath of the murders.

In the bodycam footage, shown in court last week, the disgraced attorney is dressed in a white short-sleeved t-shirt and shorts.

Questions had already raised about this outfit as multiple law enforcement officials have testified that Mr Murdaugh and his clothing were “clean from head to toe” – despite his claims he had touched the bloody bodies of his wife and son.

It is not yet clear if investigators ever located or seized the second outfit Mr Murdaugh is seen wearing in the Snapchat video and jurors are yet to hear an explanation from the defence.

Less than one hour on from the 7.56pm Snapchat, Paul and Maggie were shot dead at around 8.50pm.

Witnesses say voice in murder scene video is Alex Murdaugh

Sunday 5 February 2023 23:30 , Oliver O'Connell

In a dramatic day on 1 February, jurors were shown cellphone footage taken by Paul at the dog kennels just minutes before he and Maggie were shot dead which casts doubts on Mr Murdaugh’s alibi.

Off-camera, three voices are heard – Paul, Maggie and a man prosecutors say is Mr Murdaugh.

In dramatic testimony, two friends of Paul with close ties to the family told jurors that they are “100 per cent sure” that the voice belongs to Mr Murdaugh.

Cellphone data shows that the video was recorded for 58 seconds from 8.44.49pm to 8.45.47pm – less than five minutes before the murders. The disbarred attorney has claimed he was napping at the family home at that time.

Rogan Gibson, who had known Paul since they were young and described the Murdaughs as his “second family”, testified that he was “100 per cent sure” Mr Murdaugh is the voice in the footage. A second friend Will Loving echoed this.

As the footage was played in court, Mr Murdaugh appeared to rock his head up and down and cry.

Someone was holding and moving with Maggie’s cellphone after murder

Sunday 5 February 2023 21:30 , Oliver O'Connell

SLED Lt. Britt Dove, who works in the computer crimes centre, testified that he processed the three cellphones.

Based on the cellphone data, he said that the last text Maggie read was a message from her sister-in-law Lynn Murdaugh in a group chat which she read at 8.49pm.

After 8.49pm, she didn’t open or respond to messages or calls from several people including her husband, oldest son Buster and Mr Murdaugh’s brother John Marvin Murdaugh.

Jurors also heard how the cellphone data shows Maggie’s phone orientation changed from portrait to landscape at 8.54pm and then again at 9.06pm, indicating that it was in someone’s hands. One minute later, at 9.07pm the screen went on and off as though someone tried – but failed – to unlock it.

Health app data was also presented to jurors, showing that Maggie’s cellphone recorded 59 steps in two minutes after 8.53pm – after prosecutors allege Maggie and Paul were already dead.

“It tells me someone was holding this phone and took steps, and it recorded those steps,” said Lt Dove.

Maggie’s phone was locked between 8.49pm on 7 June 2021 and 1.10pm the following day when it was found dumped by the side of a road around a quarter of a mile from the Murdaugh property.

Paul’s cellphone was also initially locked after the murders, until US Secret Service Digital Forensic Examiner Jonathan VanHouten testified that he managed to unlock when he successfully tried Paul’s birthday as his passcode.

Murdaugh’s chilling text message to wife after murders revealed

Sunday 5 February 2023 19:30 , Oliver O'Connell

On Alex Murdaugh’s chilling final text to his wife moments after he allegedly killed her and their son was revealed in court during his murder trial on Tuesday.

Jurors were shown data from the cellphones of Maggie, Paul and Mr Murdaugh on the night of the murders.

Prosecutors say that Mr Murdaugh shot Paul first at 8.50pm and Maggie after.

Almost immediately after, cellphone data shows Mr Murdaugh made several calls to Maggie and other family members.

Mr Murdaugh first called Maggie at 9.04pm – minutes after he allegedly shot her dead – and the call went to voicemail.

He then texted her phone at 9.08pm, claiming he was going to visit his mother: “Going to check on M. Be right back.” The text was never read.

In total, Mr Murdaugh called his wife five times between 9.04pm and 10.03pm after allegedly killing her. None of the calls were answered.

His last text message to his wife came at 9.47pm, writing: “Call me babe.”

As well as calling Maggie, Mr Murdaugh’s cellphone records show he also made several calls to other numbers in the hour between the time prosecutors say the murder took place and he called 911. Prosecutors allege that Mr Murdaugh was seeking to build an alibi for that night.

Minutes after the final call, Mr Murdaugh called 911 at 10.07pm claiming to have found Maggie and Paul’s bodies.

Murdaugh’s cousin testifies he sold him guns – matching one used to kill Maggie

Sunday 5 February 2023 17:30 , Oliver O'Connell

On 31 January, Mr Murdaugh’s cousin John Bedingfield testified against him, revealing how the 54-year-old bought several firearms from him in the years prior to the murders – ones that match the type used to kill Maggie.

Mr Bedingfield, who works for the Department of Natural Resources but has a side business making and selling firearms under a federal licence, told the court that Mr Murdaugh approached him before Christmas 2016 wanting to buy both Paul and his surviving son rifles as presents.

He purchased two subsonic 300 BlackOut rifles – one black, one tan colour – for $9,188 so his sons could hunt hogs, he testified.

Two years later in April 2018, he said that Mr Murdaugh bought a third rifle from him for $875 because he said that Paul had lost his other one.

Doubts cast on preservation of crime scene

Sunday 5 February 2023 15:30 , Oliver O'Connell

During much of his cross-examination of SLED Special Agent Worley, Mr Harpootlian sought to pick holes in the evidence gathered from the bloody crime scene.

He raised doubts about a mark or potential footprint spotted on Maggie’s calf on the night of the murders.

While Mr Harpootlian suggested it was a “footwear impression”, Agent Worley said she “couldn’t say” that was what the mark was but that it “could be”.

The mark was not examined on the scene and no impression of the imprint was taken, she testified.

She also confirmed that a bloody footprint found in the feeding room was later determined to be that of a law enforcement officer – something that supported the defence’s line of questioning that some evidence was not preserved correctly and was even “destroyed”.

“Do you know what other evidence they may have destroyed?” asked Mr Harpootlian.

“I have no idea,” the agent said, to which he responded: “That’s right you don’t.”

Victims’ last texts and calls revealed

Sunday 5 February 2023 13:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Jurors learned about the final text messages and phone calls made by Paul and Maggie before their brutal murders.

On the night of 7 June 2021, Paul placed a call on his cellphone to friend Rogan Gibson at 8.40pm, lasting four minutes, followed by a second call at 8.44pm. The second was the last incoming communication Mr Gibson received from Paul’s cellphone.

Five minutes later, at 8.49pm, Mr Gibson sent Paul a text message: “See if you can get a good picture of it. Marion wants to send it to a girl we know that’s a vet. Get him to sit and stay. He shouldn’t move around too much.”

The message – believed to be about a dog Paul was taking care of for him – went unanswered.

From that point onward, neither Paul nor his mother Maggie responded to any messages or calls on their cellphones.

Prosecutors said in opening statements that Paul was shot dead first at 8.50pm and Maggie minutes later. Their cellphones had no activity from 8.49pm onward.

After sending the text message at 8.49pm and receiving no response from his friend, Mr Gibson sent a follow-up text at 9.58pm, which simply read: “Yo.”

Mr Gibson also tried calling Paul multiple times at 9.10pm, 9.29pm, 9.42pm, 9.57pm and 10.08pm.

Getting no response from his friend, jurors heard that he also texted Paul’s mother Maggie at 9.34pm, saying: “Tell Paul to call me.”

Shortly after, Mr Gibson had four missed calls from Alex Murdaugh at 10.21pm, 10.24pm, 10.25pm and 10.30pm.

Defence’s two shooters’ theory

Sunday 5 February 2023 11:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Murdaugh’s legal team sought to push its theory that there could have been two shooters separately responsible for killing the mother and son.

Jurors were shown photos and diagrams of the crime scene from both the night of the murders and more than one month later on 16 July, with defence attorney Dick Harpootlian honing in on two bullet projectiles in particular – one that travelled through the dog house and one through the quail pen.

Under cross-examination of SLED special agent Melinda Worley, Mr Harpootlian pushed the idea that, because the bullet projectiles were shot at different angles, it was a “reasonable” possibility that there was two killers.

“One reasonable explanation is there are two people there: one with a shotgun, one with an AR. Could someone have been a lookout, they went there to kill Paul and Maggie surprised them?” Mr Harpootlian pressed.

Agent Worley admitted that the theory is “possible” but said that it is only one “one explanation” as to what may have taken place that fateful night. She added that the angles could also be explained as one single shooter moving around.

Guns and ammo at Murdaugh home match crime scene

Sunday 5 February 2023 09:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Bodycam footage released by the court on 30 January revealed a huge stash of firearms inside the Murdaugh family home in the days after the murders.

SLED Special Agent Jeff Croft told jurors how he seized firearms and ammunition from the Murdaugh home – including weapons and ammo that matched the type of gun and bullets used to kill Maggie and Paul.

A .300 Blackout semiautomatic rifle, 12-gauge Browning shotgun, Benelli shotgun and 12-gauge pump shotgun which were seized from the family home were all brought into the courtroom and shown to jurors.

The agent testified that several empty boxes of ammunition were also found during searches of the Murdaugh home on 8 June and 13 June.

Inside the .300 Blackout rifle was Sellier & Bellot .300 AAC BLK ammo – the same type of ammo that was used to kill Maggie.

Also seized as evidence was a credit card receipt for an $1,021.10 item from Gucci – the item had been circled.

On 31 January, Agent Croft also testified that ammunition – steel shot ammo specifically Winchester DryLok – matching the fatal shot fired through Paul’s brain had been located on the Murdaugh family property.

Two separate guns – a rifle and a shotgun – were used to kill Maggie and Paul. They have never been found.

Speculation over whether Murdaugh accidentally confessed

Sunday 5 February 2023 07:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Audio from Alex Murdaugh’s second interview with law enforcement was played in court on 30 January, revealing that the disgraced legal dynasty heir may have unwittingly slipped up and confessed to the murders of his wife and son.

“I did him so bad,” a sobbing Mr Murdaugh appeared to say about his son in a police interview on 10 June 2021.

SLED Special Agent Jeff Croft was asked by prosecutor Creighton Waters to clarify what he heard Mr Murdaugh saying.

“It’s just so bad. I did him so bad,” he responded.

While prosecutors sought to suggest that the 54-year-old father and husband slipped up during the police interview, Mr Murdaugh was seen shaking his head and appearing to mouth “I did not say that” to his attorneys in court.

However, the audio of the interview has also raised doubts, being somewhat unclear as to whether Mr Murdaugh says “I” or “they”, with some inside and outside court believing he actually says: “They did him so bad.”

During cross-examination on Tuesday, Mr Griffin grilled Agent Croft as to why – if Mr Murdaugh’s statement raised alarm bells – he didn’t follow up on it.

The special agent testified that he “made a mental note” about Mr Murdaugh’s comment but said it was early in the investigation when officials were in more of an “information gathering” stage.

The audio was played again in court – twice in real time and once at one-third speed.

When asked by Mr Griffin if he heard “they” not “I” when the recording was slowed down, Agent Croft testified that he still heard “I”.

Murdaugh tells wild story about Black Panthers

Sunday 5 February 2023 05:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Murdaugh recounted a wild story about a farmhand claiming to “kill radical Black Panthers” when he was interviewed by law enforcement on the night of the double murder of his wife and son.

In footage of the interview, Mr Murdaugh says he can’t think of anyone “overly suspicious” who could be responsible for the murders but suggests law enforcement speak to a farmhand he had recently hired to work at the 1,700-acre estate.

Mr Murdaugh claims that the man had told Paul a “really weird” story just one week before the murders.

“He told Paul a story the other day of how when he was in high school he got in a fight with some Black guys and an FBI undercover team observed him fighting those guys,” he says. “And they put him on an undercover team with three Navy Seals and their job was to kill radical Black Panthers.”

He adds: “Paul was so taken aback by it that he recorded it on his phone”.

Mr Murdaugh tells the officers that Paul had “been working with him a lot” and the story was “really weird”.

However, he adds that he doesn’t believe the man could be behind the murders, saying that it’s “such a stupid” that he was “embarrassed” to even bring it up.

911 call played at trial

Sunday 5 February 2023 03:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The unredacted 911 call placed by Mr Murdaugh on the night of the murders was played at the trial.

In the dramatic audio, Mr Murdaugh cries and sobs down the phone as he tells the dispatcher “it’s bad” and “my wife and child have been shot badly”.

He also the dispatcher about the 2019 boat crash involving Paul, saying that the 22-year-old had been getting threats “for months and months and months”.

The attorney then says he is going back to his house to get a gun “just in case”. When officers arrived on the scene, Mr Murdaugh had a shotgun which he handed over.

Bodycam shows Murdaugh’s ‘clean’ shirt after claiming to touch bloody bodies

Sunday 5 February 2023 01:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Bodycam footage from the night of the murders revealed Mr Murdaugh wearing a “clean” white shirt after he claimed he touched his wife and son’s bloodied bodies on finding them shot dead.

In the footage, Mr Murdaugh is dressed in a white T-shirt and dark shorts with no obvious signs of blood.

During courtroom testimony, multiple law enforcement officials described how Mr Murdaugh was “clean” and did not appear to have any blood on him when they arrived on the scene of the murders.

Yet, according to the 911 call made by Mr Murdaugh and bodycam footage from his first police interview on the night of the murders, Mr Murdaugh claims he touched his wife and son’s bodies when he found them by the kennels.

In the interview footage, he is heard telling law enforcement twice that he “tried to turn over” his son’s bloodied body and that he had checked him and his wife for pulses.

“I could see his brain ... I ran over to Maggie, actually I think I tried to turn Paul over first... um... you know, I tried to turn him over, I dunno, I figured it out,” he is heard saying.

Mr Murdaugh said that his son’s cellphone fell from his pocket when he tried to move him and that he handled it briefly.

“His cell phone popped out of his pocket, I started trying to do something with it but I put it back down really quickly, and then I went to my wife,” he says.

Detective Laura Rutland of Colleton County Sheriff’s Office contradicted his version of events as she said that Mr Murdaugh was “clean from head to toe” with no signs of blood on his body, shirt, shorts or shoes.

She said she didn’t say where he checked for a pulse but, in a gripping reenactment, agreed that if Mr Murdaugh had touched pulse points on Paul’s neck or wrists he would have been covered in blood.

As jurors have previously heard, the crime scene was especially violent and bloody, with Paul’s brain shot out of his skull and both he and Maggie lying in pools of their own blood.

Suspect shed ‘no tears’ after finding wife and son’s bodies

Saturday 4 February 2023 23:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Colleton County Sheriff’s Office Sgt Daniel Greene testified that Mr Murdaugh appeared to shed “no tears” after he claimed to have found his wife and son’s bodies.

Sgt Greene told the court that Mr Murdaugh seemed “upset” and repeatedly asked if his wife and son were dead but did not appear to have any physical tears in his eyes.

“Did you ever see any physical tears?” the prosecutor asked.

“I did not,” the officer said.

As bodycam footage from the night of the murders was played in court, Mr Murdaugh was seen breaking down in tears.

Murdaugh ‘immediately’ told police murders were tied to 2019 boat crash

Saturday 4 February 2023 21:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Murdaugh “immediately” suggested that his wife and son had been murdered because of a 2019 fatal boat crash as soon as the first law enforcement officer arrived on the scene of the grisly slayings, bodycam footage played in court revealed.

In the footage, taken from the bodyworn camera of Colleton County Sheriff’s Sgt Daniel Greene when he was the first officer to respond to the scene, Mr Murdaugh says he believes the murders are connected to the boating incident.

“This is a long story. My son was in a boat wreck,” Mr Murdaugh says. “I know that’s what this is.”

At the time of Paul’s death, he was awaiting trial over the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach.

Paul was allegedly drunk driving a boat of his friends including Beach in 2019 when it crashed and they were thrown overboard. The rest of the group survived but Beach’s body washed up days later.

Paul was charged with boating under the influence and faced up to 25 years in prison.

Mr Murdaugh is also heard mentioning the boat crash in the 911 call alerting law enforcement to the scene and in his first interview with law enforcement on the night of the murders.

Defence details horrorific injuries of victims in opening statement

Saturday 4 February 2023 19:30 , Oliver O'Connell

In the defence’s opening statement, Mr Murdaugh was seen breaking down in tears as his attorney Dick Harpootlian described the fatal shot which killed his son Paul, saying it “exploded his brain, like a watermelon”.

Mr Murdaugh then arrived home and found his son’s brains by his feet, he said.

Mr Harpootlian insisted Mr Murdaugh is an innocent man, saying that jurors will see a Snapchat of him and Paul happily spending father-and-son time together less than two hours before the murders.

“Paul, the apple of his eye. You are going to see a video from the night of the murders of Paul and Alex riding around looking at trees they planted, a Snapchat sent to other people. They were laughing, having a good time,” he said.

He also argued that cellphone records from that night are “incomplete” and that Maggie’s phone was thrown on the side of a road half a mile from the family estate at the same time that Mr Murdaugh was at the property.

The suspect would “have to be Houdini to be in both places”, he said.

Prosecutor’s opening statement reveals Snapchat video will be key to trial

Saturday 4 February 2023 17:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Opening arguments kicked off the trial on 25 January, with the prosecution telling jurors that cellphone records and a Snapchat video taken by Paul minutes before he died are “critical” in proving Mr Murdaugh’s guilt.

Attorney Creighton Waters gave a timeline for the murders, saying that Paul was shot at the dog kennels first at 8.50pm and Maggie minutes later.

Cellphone records allegedly place Mr Murdaugh at the dog kennels minutes earlier – when the suspect had “told everyone he was never there”.

Mr Waters also described a video Paul made at the kennels minutes before his murder as he was filming a dog to send to a friend. According to the prosecution, three voices – Paul, Maggie and Mr Murdaugh – can be heard.

Other evidence the prosecution promised to show jurors included gunshot residue found in both Mr Murdaugh’s car, on him and on a raincoat that he allegedly left at his parents’ home a week after the murders.

The trial’s dramatic revelations to date

Saturday 4 February 2023 15:30 , Oliver O'Connell

It’s a dramatic saga that now includes murder, a botched hitman plot, multi-million-dollar fraud schemes, and a series of unexplained deaths.

Now-disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh denies the allegations and has pleaded not guilty.

The trial got underway at Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina on 23 January.

Here are the key revelations from the trial so far:

‘Confession’, bloody scene and ‘clean’ shirt: Key moments from Alex Murdaugh trial

Recap: The story of Alex Murdaugh’s spectacular fall from grace

Saturday 4 February 2023 13:30 , Oliver O'Connell

On the surface, Alex Murdaugh had it all.

He was a high-powered attorney who ran both his own law firm and worked in the local prosecutor’s office.

He was the son of a powerful legal dynasty that dominated the local South Carolina community for almost a century.

And he was a family man who lived with his wife and two adult sons on their sprawling country estate.

But over the last 19 months, Mr Murdaugh has experienced a spectacular fall from grace, culminating in what has been described as the “trial of the century” now taking place in a courtroom in Walterboro, South Carolina.

Alex Murdaugh trial: Story of the legal scion’s spectacular fall from grace

A timeline of murders, financial fraud, unexplained deaths and arrest

Saturday 4 February 2023 11:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Disgraced legal dynasty heir Alex Murdaugh is currently on trial in a South Carolina courthouse for the murders of his wife and son.

Mr Murdaugh, 54, is accused of shooting Paul, 22, twice with a shotgun and Maggie, 52, five times with a rifle on the family’s sprawling hunting lodge in Islandton on 7 June 2021.

He was arrested more than a year later in July 2022 and charged with their murders.

In the 19 months since the brutal double murders propelled the Murdaughs onto national headlines, a series of other scandals, allegations and alleged crimes have also come to light.

Here’s a timeline of the key moments in the case:

When was Alex Murdaugh arrested? A timeline of murders and fraud

Who is Alex Murdaugh?

Saturday 4 February 2023 09:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Who is the man now on trial for the murders of his wife and son while also facing more than 100 other criminal charges over an alleged white collar fraud spree and a botched hitman plot?

Rachel Sharp reports.

Who is Alex Murdaugh? The legal scion on trial for the murders of his wife and son

Two friends ‘100%’ certain of Murdaugh’s voice in video minutes before murders

Saturday 4 February 2023 07:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Two friends of Paul Murdaugh have testified that they are “100 per cent sure” that it is Alex Murdaugh’s voice in a video recorded just minutes before the brutal double murder of his son and wife Maggie – in a dramatic moment that ripped open the disgraced legal scion’s alibi.

Alex Murdaugh heard in son’s video minutes before murders, two friends testify

Damning Snapchat video shows Murdaugh wearing different clothes before murders

Saturday 4 February 2023 05:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A damning Snapchat video has captured Alex Murdaugh wearing an entirely different set of clothes just one hour before he is accused of murdering his wife and son in a brutal and bloody double homicide.

During his high-profile murder trial on Wednesday, jurors at Colleton County Courthouse in South Carolina were shown a Snapchat video taken by Mr Murdaugh’s son Paul at 7.56pm on the night of 7 June 2021.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Snapchat video shows Alex Murdaugh in different clothes an hour before murders

Law firm CFO recalls Murdaugh’s ‘dirty look’ as she confronted him over missing money

Saturday 4 February 2023 03:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Murdaugh’s former law firm partner has recalled how he gave her a “dirty look” when she confronted him over missing payments worth a staggering $792,000 on the day that his wife and son were murdered.

Jeanne Seckinger, the chief financial officer at Mr Murdaugh’s former law firm PMPED, testified in Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Thursday at his trial for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

She told the court how she discovered the 54-year-old now-disbarred attorney was misappropriating millions of dollars from his legal clients – by moving money into a fake business and into his own personal accounts.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Alex Murdaugh confronted by law firm over missing $792,000 hours before murders

Murdaugh’s best friend of 40 years breaks down in tears on witness stand

Saturday 4 February 2023 01:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Murdaugh’s former best friend of 40 years broke down in tears in court as he described the moment that he learned the disgraced attorney had stolen millions of dollars from his law firm clients – and $192,000 from himself.

Chris Wilson choked up with emotion as he said the betrayal “knocked me down” and revealed that “I don’t know how to think any more” about the man he had known and “loved” for most of his life.

Read on:

Alex Murdaugh’s friend breaks down describing murder suspect’s financial crimes

Murdaugh accused of stealing $4m payout from housekeeper’s family

Friday 3 February 2023 23:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Murdaugh was accused of stealing a $4m settlement from his late housekeeper’s family at his murder trial on Friday, where prosecutors also raised questions about her mystery death.

Tony Satterfield, the son of Gloria Satterfield, took the witness stand in Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Friday where Mr Murdaugh is currently on trial for the June 2021 murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

Satterfield worked as the Murdaugh family’s housekeeper and nanny for more than 20 years, before she died in a mysterious trip and fall at the family home.

Rachel Sharp watched today’s testimony.

Son of Alex Murdaugh’s housekeeper testifies that he stole $4m payout from family

Court adjourns

Friday 3 February 2023 22:32 , Oliver O'Connell

With Mr Greer’s extensive testimony complete, Judge Newman adjourns the court for the weekend.

The jury has been instructed to return at 11.30am on Monday morning.

Ahead of that on Monday, Judge Newman will hear more evidence regarding the financial crimes and whether they can be exhibited to the jury, as the prosecution would like, to construct what they believe is the motive for the murders.

Friday 3 February 2023 22:23 , Oliver O'Connell

On redirect, the prosecution asks a general question about the study of firearms markings, and Mr Greer explains it has been around in its current form since the early 1900s.

It is widely accepted as a form of evidence in criminal investigations.

Friday 3 February 2023 22:18 , Oliver O'Connell

In closing, Mr Griffin asks if he is 100 per cent certain the shell casings found near Maggie’s body were fired from the same gun as the older shell casings that were collected elsewhere on the property.

Mr Greer will not say he is 100 per cent sure, but says that is his conclusion.

Friday 3 February 2023 22:10 , Oliver O'Connell

Defence attorney Jim Griffin finally gets to the main criticism of this evidence— that the National Academy of Sciences believes that there are no objective criteria for the study and comparison of tool marks on ammunition and that it is all subjective based on the interpretation of the person doing the analysis.

He characterises the study of these markings as part art and part science.

Mr Greer calls it an applied science. Pushed, he says the art portion is about using lighting to be able to see the markings more clearly.

Friday 3 February 2023 21:49 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Griffin asks if Mr Greer can identify the year of manufacture of the gun that marked the cartridges (two of the Murdaugh AR-15 style rifles were purchased in 2016, one in 2018).

He says he cannot.

This came after an exchange in which Mr Griffin kept pressing for a yes or no answer as to whether every Blackout rifle in the world would make unique markings on a cartridge.

Mr Greer said he could not answer without an explanation.

Friday 3 February 2023 21:29 , Oliver O'Connell

In questioning Mr Greer, Mr Griffin establishes that the black .300 Blackout rifle owned by Buster Murdaugh was malfunctioning when he tested it, and the gun would not automatically reload.

This means that after each shot the shooter would have to manually reload it and it could not fire rapidly. This likely precludes it from being the weapon that killed Maggie.

Friday 3 February 2023 21:18 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Greer is asked whether the shotgun Mr Murdaugh had at the scene when police arrived on the night of 7 June 2021 was the weapon used to fire the shells found by Paul’s body.

He reiterates that his results were inconclusive. Mr Griffin pushes him to explain what that means.

“It could've been fired by that shotgun, and it could've been fired by another shotgun with similar characteristics.”

Court resumes

Friday 3 February 2023 21:12 , Oliver O'Connell

Court resumes after a short break and the jury is back in.

Cross-examination of Paul Greer, SLED’s firearms specialist, begins and is led by defence attorney Jim Griffin.

Friday 3 February 2023 21:01 , Oliver O'Connell

Direct examination concludes with Mr Greer testifying that the shotgun shells found near Paul’s body were the same make as unfired shotgun shells found at the Moselle Road property.

Before cross-examination begins, the court goes on break.

Friday 3 February 2023 20:53 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Greer then compared .300BLK cartridge cases found around the Moselle Road estate.

Markings on those the cases found around the property, including the older ones found tarnished outside the gun room, matched the shells found near Maggie’s body.

Mr Greer testifies that the shells were all fired by the same weapon that had been on the property for some time and had been used in three different locations including at the crime scene.

Bullets retrieved from the crime scene also matched those owned by the family.

Friday 3 February 2023 20:40 , Oliver O'Connell

In his analysis of the shots that killed Paul — a 12 gauge buckshot and a 12 gauge steel waterfowl shot — both were fired by the same make and model of shotgun.

Mr Greer says he then examined the unfired 12-gauge shotgun shell that was in the weapon Mr Murdaugh had with him at the scene on the night of the murders (which he told the 911 operator he fetched fearing for his safety).

The unfired shell matched the buckshot that was found with Paul’s body.

Three of the shotguns found at the property did not fire those shells. The shotgun that Mr Murdaugh has was tested but the results were inconclusive.

Friday 3 February 2023 20:35 , Oliver O'Connell

In explaining what they are looking for during these tests, Mr Greer talks about the aforementioned “tool marks” — marks found on a cartridge after being fired.

These can be caused by the firing pin, ejector mechanism, extractor mechanism, and when inside the chamber of the gun. These all leave unique marks on ammunition that show that it was in that firearm at some point — even if not fired (because of the loading/extraction mechanism).

Friday 3 February 2023 20:32 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Greer is asked about the methodology for determining if a particular firearm was used to fire a particular ammunition cartridge.

He explains that the lab test fires ammunition to create a sample that can then be compared to the evidence from the crime scene.

Both Mr Greer and another analyst will independently review the results and report on their own conclusions. They will then compare results and if they reach the same conclusion, an administrative review by superiors is conducted.

Friday 3 February 2023 20:08 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Greer identifies additional firearms, magazines, cartridges, and shellshots.

He confirms that he examined them as part of his investigation.

Court resumes after lunch break

Friday 3 February 2023 19:55 , Oliver O'Connell

The jury has been brought back into the courtroom and the questioning of Paul Greer, SLED’s firearms specialist, by the state continues.

He identifies:

Three bullet fragments and seven pieces of lead recovered during Maggie’s autopsy.

Shot wadding found in Paul’s jaw during his autopsy.

One birdshot pellet found in Paul’s clothing.

Murdaugh accused of stealing $4m payout from housekeeper’s family as mystery death probed

Friday 3 February 2023 19:32 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Murdaugh was accused of stealing a $4m settlement from his late housekeeper’s family at his murder trial on Friday, where prosecutors also raised questions about her mystery death.

Tony Satterfield, the son of Gloria Satterield, took the witness stand in Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Friday where Mr Murdaugh is currently on trial for the June 2021 murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

Satterfield worked as the Murdaugh family’s housekeeper and nanny for more than 20 years, before she died in a mysterious trip and fall at the family home.

Rachel Sharp reports on what was said this morning in court.

Son of Alex Murdaugh’s housekeeper testifies that he stole $4m payout from family

Murdaugh’s best friend of 40 years breaks down in tears in witness box

Friday 3 February 2023 19:10 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Murdaugh’s former best friend of 40 years broke down in tears in court as he described the moment that he learned the disgraced attorney had stolen millions of dollars from his law firm clients – and $192,000 from himself.

Chris Wilson choked up with emotion as he said the betrayal “knocked me down” and revealed that “I don’t know how to think any more” about the man he had known and “loved” for most of his life.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Alex Murdaugh’s friend breaks down describing murder suspect’s financial crimes

Watch: Tony Satterfield testifies Murdaugh hid settlement money from him

Friday 3 February 2023 18:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Friday 3 February 2023 18:31 , Oliver O'Connell

Court breaks for lunch and will resume at 2.45pm.

Friday 3 February 2023 18:31 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Greer also identifies 24 birdshot pellets from a shotgun shell found inside the feed room outside of which Paul was murdered.

A fired bullet found in dog bedding at the scene is also shown, as well as bullet jacket fragments, a small piece of lead found at the scene, and another retrieved from Maggie’s body.

A further 48 birdshot pellets recovered from Paul’s head and shoulder are also introduced into evidence, alongside plastic shotshell fragments from his shoulder and chest.

Friday 3 February 2023 18:22 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Greer was given a number of pieces of evidence to analyse connected to the Murdaugh murders.

He reviews a number of .300BLK cartridges from the crime scene near Maggie’s body and shotgun shells from around Paul’s body.

Mr Greer then examines a semi-automatic 12-gauge shotgun with a camo finish that Alex Murdaugh had at the scene on the night of the murders. It was found with 12 gauge buckshot and 16 gauge shot for small game.

Friday 3 February 2023 18:08 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Greer gave pretrial testimony and will talk about “tool marks” the specific markings left on fired ammunition to determine which specific gun it was fired from.

As the murder weapons have never been found, it is likely that Mr Greer is going to match the cartridges found at the scene with those found elsewhere on the property. As we have already heard in previous testimony, fired ammunition was found elsewhere.

Paul’s friend Will Loving testified earlier in the week that they had been fitting a red-dot optic to a .300BLK AR-15-style rife just over two months before the murders outside the gunroom and had tested it. Cartridges were found by the steps to the gun room.

New Witness: Paul Greer, SLED

Friday 3 February 2023 17:47 , Oliver O'Connell

The next witness is Paul Greer, a forensic firearms specialist at SLED.

His testimony is important to the prosecution case that Maggie was killed with a firearm owned by the family — specifically one of the .300 Blackout rifles that had been fired on the property before.

New Witness: Jomar Albayalde, SLED

Friday 3 February 2023 17:30 , Oliver O'Connell

No, really, it’s another DNA swab witness.

Agent Jomar Albayalde of SLED collected swabs from Randy Murdaugh (Alex Murdaugh’s older brother), and two people called H Torres and son A Gonzalez.

It is not clear who they are.

There are no further questions and the court takes a brief break before the next witness appears for what Attorney Creighton Waters promises is lengthy testimony.

New Witness: Chandler Horney, SLED

Friday 3 February 2023 17:26 , Oliver O'Connell

Another DNA swab witness. SLED Agent Chandler Horney oversaw the collection of DNA samples from Morgan Doughty and Miley Altman, both survivors of the 2019 boat crash.

No questions.

New Witness: Lawrence Wiggins, formerly of SLED

Friday 3 February 2023 17:22 , Oliver O'Connell

The next witness is Lawrence Wiggins formerly of SLED who also collected DNA swabs.

He collected swabs from Roger Davis and Anthony Cook which are submitted into evidence before he is also allowed to step down.

New Witness: Blake Johnson, SLED

Friday 3 February 2023 17:18 , Oliver O'Connell

The next witness for the prosecution is Blake Johnson of the investigative services division of SLED.

He collected DNA swabs as part of the investigation into the murders, specifically from groundkeeper CB Rowe and Paul Murdaugh’s friend Connor Cook.

He identifies the samples and then is allowed to step down.

Friday 3 February 2023 17:06 , Oliver O'Connell

In cross-examination, Mr Darnell explains again why it is difficult to get prints off a brass shell given the number of factors that would clean off a fingerprint, which he explains are very fragile being 98 per cent moisture.

He adds that brass is otherwise conducive to fingerprints if left undisturbed.

Friday 3 February 2023 17:01 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Darnell also examined and tested several other shotguns and rifles from the Moselle Road property but nothing was found that could be identified.

Additional 30-round magazine from .300BLK rifle and an unfired cartridge also tested and swabbed for DNA.

No further questions from the prosecution.

Friday 3 February 2023 16:54 , Oliver O'Connell

Paul Murdaugh’s cellphone was also swabbed for DNA and tested for fingerprints.

There was evidence of fingerprints on the phone, but not with enough detail or clarity to make an identification.

Friday 3 February 2023 16:52 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Darnell explains the process of analysing fingerprints.

He examined a number of items of evidence for the case. The first he is asked to discuss is the cartridge cases found at the crime scene.

No fingerprints were found on the cases but he says this is normal due to factors such as heat etc to which cartridges are exposed.

No fingerprints were found on the shotgun shells either, for the same reason.

No fingerprints were found on the shotgun. There was additional swabbing of the weapon for DNA as well as the shotshells.

New Witness: Thomas Darnell, fingerprint examiner, SLED

Friday 3 February 2023 16:43 , Oliver O'Connell

The next witness of the day is John Darnell, a fingerprint examiner for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), who is qualified as an expert witness for the state.