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Welcome back to our live feed from the double homicide trial at the center of the ‘Murdaugh Murders’ crime and corruption saga in Walterboro, South Carolina.
Today is day number seven of the trial – which will begin with Alex Murdaugh’s attorney Jim Griffin cross-examining special agent Jeff Croft of the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
Croft spent most of Monday on the stand for the state as lead prosecutor Creighton Waters led him through the introduction of additional “foundational” evidence – or evidence which future witnesses will weave into a narrative for the jury.
Today, it is the defense’s turn to poke holes in Croft’s testimony … which it did very effectively on Monday via attorney Dick Harpootlian’s aggressive cross-examination of SLED forensic analyst Melinda Worley.
After Croft finishes taking the stand, SLED special agent Katie McCallister to expected testify – although the order of witnesses could be changed up given how long Croft’s direct examination took yesterday.
After Harpootlian’s cross-examination, additional evidence and testimony will be introduced in the state’s case against Murdaugh – who stands accused of killing his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and youngest son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh on his family’s hunting property in Colleton County on June 7, 2021.
For yesterday’s daily feed, click here.
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THE POLLS …
At the opening gavel of each day of the trial, we will launch two new polls asking readers to weigh in on 1) whether they think Alex Murdaugh is guilty or not guilty of murdering his late wife, Maggie Murdaugh and, 2) whether they think he is guilty or not guilty of murdering his late son, Paul Murdaugh.
The goal of our daily polls is to track how perception of Murdaugh’s guilt or innocence related to the murders of his two alleged victims changes over the course of the trial.
Here are today’s polls …
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QUESTION ONE …
Based on the information you have now, is Alex Murdaugh is guilty or not guilty of the murder of Maggie Murdaugh?
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QUESTION TWO …
Based on the information you have now, is Alex Murdaugh is guilty or not guilty of the murder of Paul Murdaugh?
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LIVE FEED …
5:25 p.m. EST – Dove testifies his understanding is the phone was collected on June 8, 2021. Court has adjourned for the day and will resume at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.
5:20 p.m. EST – Dove is testifying about the health data activity report he produced on Maggie Murdaugh’s phone on June 7, 2021. Dove says the steps are not always 100% accurate.
- 59 steps were recorded between 8:53:15 p.m. and 8:55:32 p.m. (Dove previously testified that at this time someone appeared to be manipulating this phone.)
- 43 steps were recorded between 8:30:40 p.m. and 8:33:28 p.m.
- 38 steps were recorded between 8:17:41 p.m. and 8:18:29 p.m. (Maggie’s phone was unplugged at 8:17:15 p.m.)
5:05 p.m. EST – Dove is testifying regarding device events on Maggie’s phone. (Note: In his testimony, Dove states that orientation changes on the phone are most likely caused by a human.)
- 8:17:15 p.m. Maggie’s phone was unplugged from a charging source.
- 8:30:23 p.m. Maggie was running Poshmark on her phone.
- 8:31:47 p.m. Group text message arrives from John Marvin Murdaugh inquiring about visiting his ailing father. Maggie reads the text within seconds but does not respond. A follow-up message from Alex Murdaugh’s sister, Lynn Goettee, is sent within a minute but Maggie Murdaugh does not read it immediately.
- 8:49:20 p.m. Maggie’s phone display was on – meaning her phone lit up. A notification could cause this.
- 8:49:26 p.m. An sms or text message was processing on Maggie’s phone.
- 8:49:26 p.m. Maggie’s phone locks.
- 8:49:26 p.m. Maggie’s phone unlocks.
- 8:49:27 p.m. Text received from Lynn Goattee is read.
- 8:49:31 p.m. Maggie’s phone locked. The phone was not unlocked again until June 8, 2021 at 1:10:35 p.m.
- 8:53:08 p.m. Maggie’s phone display is off.
- 8:53:15 p.m. – 8:55:32 p.m. – Maggie’s phone recorded an estimated 59 steps (Dove previously testified that at this time someone appeared to be manipulating the phone).
- 8:53:44 p.m. Maggie’s display comes on and there is an orientation change from landscape to portrait.
- 8:54:40 p.m. Start time of orientation change to landscape.
- 8:54:44 p.m. End time of orientation change from landscape.
- 8:54:34 p.m. The camera starts on the phone. It is on and recording for one second. Dove states it appears the phone is being moved and the camera is being activated in the background to attempt to unlock it with biometric facial recognition. But after 8:49:31 p.m. the phone never unlocks again. There is no data that suggests what the camera was looking at during this time.
- 8:55:32 p.m. End time for portrait orientation change. Dove states it appears the phone is being held in someone’s hand at that time.
- 9:00:00 p.m. Activity sensor data on phone shows steps and distance traveled. A separate report shows more granular data on steps. The data would be a range between 9:00 to 10:00 p.m.
- 9:04:23 p.m. An unanswered phone call from Alex Murdaugh’s phone to Maggie’s phone is documented.
- 9:06:12 p.m. Start time of an orientation change from landscape to portrait.
- 9:06:14 p.m. Another unanswered phone call from Alex Murdaugh’s phone to Maggie’s phone is documented.
- 9:06:20 p.m. End time for all orientation changes cease on Maggie’s phone.
- 9:06:51 p.m. Another unanswered phone call from Alex Murdaugh’s phone to Maggie’s phone is documented.
- 9:07:00 p.m. Display on Maggie’s phone comes on and off.
- 9:08:58 p.m. Incoming text message from Alex to Maggie, “Going to check on M. Be right back.” This text was never read. Dove calculates the time to be 2 minutes and 7 seconds between call from Alex and text from Alex.
- 9:31:44 p.m. End time of display off. For 22 minutes nothing happens on Maggie’s phone. At this time, display comes on and off a number of times. Screen coming on and off doesn’t tell the investigators much.
- 9:34:14 p.m. – An unread text message comes from Rogan Gibson, “Tell Paul to call me.”
- 9:47:23 p.m. – Unread text message from Alex that reads, “Call me babe.”
- Dove testifies that no one actively used that phone after that unread text message at 9:47:23 p.m. on June 7, 2021.
5:02 p.m. EST – The State is asking Dove about texts received on Maggie’s phone to Alex. According to Dove, a text received from Alex at 9:08:58 was unread.
4:58 p.m. EST – Dove testifies that Maggie received a text from Rogan Gibson on June 7, 2021 at 9:34:14 p.m. This text went unread. He also says that he cannot tell you who read a particular text on a phone. In order for someone to make a call on a phone, one would need to know the passcode to unlock the phone or unlock it with biometrics using facial recognition.
4:55 p.m. EST – Another text was sent in this thread sent by Lynn Goettee that read, “I’m in court all week.” This text was read at 8:49:27 p.m. This is the last text message marked as read on Maggie’s phone.
4:49 p.m. EST – Dove is now testifying about Maggie’s text messages. A group text message was received on Maggie’s phone on June 7, 2021 at 8:31:00 p.m. between John Marvin, Alex, Christy, Lynn, Alan, Liz and one number with no name associated with it. This will be sealed to protect the phone numbers of those on this group text. This text message is shown as read at 8:31:16 p.m. Text was from John Marvin Murdaugh and read, “I plan to go over and visit dad tomorrow afternoon. Is anyone else planning to go?”
4:45 p.m. EST – Dove testifies about a completed call made before the call to Barbara to someone named Maryann.
4:40 p.m. EST – Dove is detailing missed calls made from Alex Murdaugh’s phone to Maggie’s phone on
June 7, 2021. NOTE: Alex called 9-1-1 at 10:07:58 p.m.
- Incoming missed call at 10:03:58 p.m. from Alex
- Incoming missed call at 9:45:32 p.m. from Alex
- Incoming missed call at 9:06:51 p.m. from Alex
- Incoming missed call at 9:06:14 p.m. from Alex
- Incoming missed call at 9:04:23 p.m. from Alex
4:33 p.m. EST – Court has resumed after a brief recess. Britt Dove has taken the stand again. They are reviewing the details of Maggie Murdaugh’s call log. Dove states a call was made by Maggie to a woman named Barbara at 7:50 p.m. on June 7, 2021. This call lasted 2 minutes and 46 seconds. This was the last phone call made to or from Maggie’s phone.
3:58 p.m. EST – The State has admitted SMS, text, and MSM messages from Maggie’s phone. To the left of most of the messages is a dot which indicates they have not been read or opened. Dove explains a full file system extraction was conducted on Maggie’s iPhone.
3:55 p.m. EST – The State has admitted Maggie Murdaugh’s call log into evidence with no objections. Dove explains the red entries are calls that were received but not answers. Maggie’s phone recorded five missed calls from Alex, a missed call from Buster, and two missed calls from John Marvin Murdaugh.
3:53 p.m. EST – The State is asking Dove about the notifications on Maggie’s iPhone. He is explaining how the location services on her apps was set up.
3:50 p.m. EST – Dove identifies a photo of Maggie Murdaugh’s iPhone and it is admitted into evidence. This photo is of Maggie’s iPhone settings. Dove states the phone was powered on when he received it and in airplane mode.
3:27 p.m. EST – Dove is going through his training. It is EXTENSIVE. He has been qualified as an expert in cell phone forensics by Judge Newman with no objections. Comment from Latoya on our livestream, “?if this guy has kids — his kids HATE him.”
3:24 p.m. EST – Dove explains that you cannot remove a hard drive from a cell phone. Information must be extracted from a cell phone onto a hard drive.
3:20 p.m. EST – SLED Lt. Britt Dove has been called to the stand by the State. Dove is an expert in digital forensics with experience in child pornography investigations. He is the supervisor over computer crimes at the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
3:18 p.m. EST – Bedingfield tells Griffin that wild hogs are a property nuisance and it is common in the lowcountry to own these types of weapons to hunt them.
3:15 p.m. EST – Jim Griffin has begun cross examination of John Bedingfield for the defense.
3:02 p.m. EST – When asked by SLED Agent Jeff Croft asked Bedingfield for the records on the weapons, Bedingfield testified that he only provided the information on the first two .300 Blackouts. The paperwork for the third .300 Blackout was provided later after Bedingfield completed an audit. The 4473 paperwork for the third Blackout is missing. It is the only weapon in many years that was missing paperwork.
3:00 p.m. EST – In April of 2018, Alex Murdaugh approached Bedingfield to build another .300 Blackout for Paul as he had lost his first one. The third weapon did not have an optic on it as Paul had already lost one gun and Alex didn’t want to pay for it. When the weapon was ready, Alex was unavailable and Maggie Murdaugh picked up the weapon. She paid by check for the weapon after completing the 4473 background check.
2:57 p.m. EST – An image of Bedingfield delivering the guns to Alex Murdaugh at his office is admitted into evidence. A suppressor requires additional paperwork and it is common for a legal trust to be set up. Alex Murdaugh never received the suppressors as he did not complete the paperwork. Bedingfield still has them in his possession.
2:55 p.m. EST – Thermal scopes were put on the guns because with permits, it is legal to night hunt pigs in South Carolina.
2:52 p.m. EST – Bedingfield states he is related to Alex Murdaugh. Their grandmothers are sisters. Around Christmas of 2016, Alex Murdaugh approached Bedingfield to purchase a couple of guns for the boys to hunt pigs with. He steered him towards the .300 blackouts as they are more effective for shooting pigs. The .300 blackouts were chosen for their ability to shoot subsonic ammo. They had discussed suppressers for the same guns. A suppressor is a silencer and a subsonic round is most efficient in a suppressor.
2:46 p.m. EST – Every firearm that comes in to him it gets logged into a log and when it gets sold, it is logged out after the completion of a 4473 federal background check.
2:43 p.m. EST – Bedingfield is a Barnwell resident. He has been with the DNR for 28 years. He is a class one officer with a federal firearms license to sell and manufacture firearms. This is a side business for him.
2:41 p.m. EST – The State has called John Bedingfield to the stand.
3:38 p.m. EST – The motion to exclude the testimony is denied by Judge Newman. The objection is noted for the record. The jury is being brought into the court room.
2:31 p.m. EST – Court is back in session. There is debate ongoing about the order of witnesses testifying following the chain of custody on Paul’s iPhone. Creighton Waters came prepared with case law on chain of custody. Judge Newman asks if the cell phone is fungible or non-fungible. Harpootlian notes there are no serial numbers or IME numbers on the exhibits. The exhibit simply says “Paul’s cell phone.”
12:56 p.m. EST – Recess until 2:15 p.m. EST.
12:55 p.m. EST – Witness testifies a number associated with Paul’s DOB was successful in unlocking the phone and a full file extraction was made and placed on a hard drive. VanHouten testifies the phone was returned to Lt. Dove in 3/22. State inquires about Faraday bags. He states powering the phone down can keep the phone from being damaged among other ways.
12:48 p.m. EST – State calls John VanHouten, of the USSS. Witness testifies that on 3/21/2022 he examined a locked phone (Paul’s) and was asked to unlock as SLED did not have the tool at that time to unlock. Celebrite Premium is a way to get into locked phones. It uses software to brute force the device. Attempt was made and was successful. A four digit code may require 4K attempts to unlock, 146 per day – a security protocol from the maker.
12:42 p.m. EST – Cross by Philip Barber. Witness testifies the phone was powered off when received but charged when he received it. Could not answer if the phone was dead.
12:39 p.m. EST – State calls Paul McManigle, Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, US secret service assigned to cyber fraud task force…his is digital forensic analyst. State inquires about records from 7/21, electronic extractions from a cell phone of Alex Murdaugh. McManigle testifies he was asked to redact potential attorney-client privileged communication from that phone. Call logs were not redacted. Witness refers to a chain of custody file he signed on 7.9.2021 relating to a locked phone. Witness testifies it was Paul’s phone and he was unable to unlock it.
12:28 p.m. EST – Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian cross-examines Knecht. Harpootlian points out items on the spreadsheet for clarification. Knecht testifies that 7:50pm was the last outgoing call of Maggie. Later calls all went to voicemail, per Knecht. Texts are in the file as well, testifies witness.
12:12 p.m. EST – Knecht testifies that multiple calls to Maggie’s cell went unanswered on the night of 6/7/21 and that outgoing calls from Alex’s cell were made to Maggie’s phone.
11:59 a.m. EST – Knecht testifies that information from phones is recorded via EXCEL spreadsheet, containing date and time of calls transpired, specific cell towers that target numbers used, direction of calls (incoming/outgoing), how long the calls lasted, etc.
11:47 a.m. EST – State calls Anthony Knecht, employee of Verizon. Knecht states that Alex’s, Paul’s, Maggie’s, CB Rowe’s, Marty Cook’s, Rogan Gibson’s and Buster’s phone records were turned over to law enforcement by Verizon, in CD form…evidence for each admitted.
11:25 a.m. EST – Break for 10
11:10 a.m. EST – Crosby states the SOP is that evidence is packaged and turned over to the lab and that chain of custody is provided. Waters presents exhibit 145, Crosby states it was recovered from a box in the gun room at Moselle. Crosby describes a Winchester 12 gauge shell, unfired. Crosby identifies another exhibit as a Winchester 12 gauge shell. Waters presents a third exhibit that Crosby identifies as an unfired shot shell from a box in the gun room. Several more pieces of ammunition evidence presented and identified by Crosby.
11:00 a.m. EST – Crosby testifies the investigation wasn’t just focused on Alex Murdaugh. He states that the early interviews were information gathering and not interrogations. Crosby states that at the June 10th interview was not aggressive in any way.
10:52 a.m. EST – Waters on re-direct. Croft expounds of different rounds of ammunition, Blackout 300, 308 and 223. Croft states he’s never been involved in a murder investigation where they ammunition used was Blackout 300. Crosby testifies he found weapons with mixed loads of ammunition. Crosby testifies that stipling is a powder burn pattern due to a close range shot.
10:47 a.m. EST – Regarding the third interview of Alex in August, Griffin states SLED told the Branstetters that Alex was a suspect. Maggie’s family described their observations of the relationship of Maggie and Paul. Griffin states Maggie had been warned her family was at risk regarding the boating accident. Griffin questions Crosby on names that were given to investigators, Crosby states he never interviewed those mentioned.
10:39 a.m. EST – Audio being played of Alex’s statement. Croft testifies that he hears “I”, not “they”. Griffin requests it be played at 1/3 speed. Waters objects. Overruled. Audio played for jury. Croft states he does not hear “they”.
10: 37 a.m. EST – Griffin asks Croft why he didn’t question Alex regarding that statement. Croft testifies that it was something they needed to follow up on at a later time. Croft does not recall if he wrote down that statement.
10:35 a.m. EST – Griffin points to Croft’s testimony yesterday stating Alex said “I did him so bad.” Croft states that he is confident that was what he heard. Griffin states investigators never followed up on that statement, surprisingly. Griffin asks if Croft thought that was some sort of confession, Croft responds it was something they were going to follow up on.
10:31 a.m. EST – Regarding the June 10th interview between Alex and SLED agents, Griffin points out the large law enforcement presence that arrived at the property of John Marvin Murdaugh. Griffin mentions the buckle swabs given to all present.
10:18 a.m. EST – Griffin questioning Croft regarding the circle around Alex being tightened in the early days of the investigation.
10:14 a.m. EST – Croft testifies he avoids media in investigations. He doesn’t recall any press release being put out by SLED on 6/08/2021. Griffin questions Croft whether they went to Almeda on the 8th. Croft responds in the negative. Croft testifies he did not go to Almeda to search for any evidence on the morning of the 8th.
10:10 a.m. EST – Griffin questions Croft regarding the recovery of Maggie’s phone and why it wasn’t placed in a Faraday Bag, a tool to secure the evidence from tampering. Croft testifies Maggie’s phone was not placed in a Faraday Bag.
10:05 a.m. EST – Griffin asks Croft if the shooter would be on the left side of the numbers he is showing him on the crime scene diagram. He cannot say for certain but knows that a normal .300 ejects slightly to the right.
10:02 a.m. EST – Croft states he did not find anything unusual about the number of guns in the Murdaugh home. He testifies that the ejection of the casing from the. 300 Blackout weapon was to the right and slightly back. He states this weapon is a semi-automatic and the trigger must be pulled for each shot.
9:59 a.m. EST – Griffin asks Croft if he is aware that the shot that killed Paul Murdaugh was steel shot 12-gauge. This shot is primarily used for “duck load”.
9:55 a.m. EST – Croft testifies that to his knowledge, no weapons located at Moselle were loaded with alternating bird shot and buck shot.
9:49 a.m. EST – After an overruled objection by Creighton Waters, Croft testifies that to his knowledge neither of the murder weapons have been located.
9:41 a.m. EST – Croft testifies that there were no limitations on the scope of the search warrant obtained for the Moselle property.
9:38 a.m. EST – Dick Harpootlian is thanking the court personnel including the Clerk of Court, Rebecca Hill. Creighton Waters echoes this statement. The jury is being brought into court and Jeff Croft is taking the stand for cross-examination by defense attorney Jim Griffin.
8:55 a.m. EST – Good Morning! Will Folks is heading into court this morning! I’ll be updating the live feed today! Looking forward to another interesting day as SLED Special Agent Jeff Croft takes the stand again… Our livestream will be embedded above shortly.- Jenn Wood
8:45 a.m. EST – In case you missed our recap of yesterday’s developments …
8:41 a.m. EST – South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson will be back in court today with his team as day seven of these proceedings is set to begin. As we reported yesterday, Wilson made his first appearance in court on Monday after not attending any of last week’s proceedings – or any pre-trial hearings.
8:29 a.m. EST – One thing I have to ask as it relates to the video footage released yesterday from the 6/8/2021 S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) search of the Moselle “gun room.” What on earth were so many lawyers from Alex Murdaugh’s former law firm doing there? Seriously … that place was a friggin’ PMPED convention. I understand Murdaugh’s right to have one of his attorneys there, but that was a major red flag for me (Will Folks).
7:20 a.m. EST – Morning social update …
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9 comments
Send it to the jury now, it’s going to be hung anyway. You heard it here first.
Sadly, you are probably right. But, if the judicial system doesn’t get him, Karma will. He’s a sad and sloppy sack of sh**. I just want to ask him, “Did you at least say ‘i’m sorry’ as you gunned them down?!”
Griffin and Harpo are doing a great job obfuscating but it’s all “…sound and fury, signifying nothing…”. They may well get to a hung jury, but Ol’Elick is guilty. All of the discussion about angles yesterday was meaningless, it did nothing to prove there were two shooters and might have made SLED look bad but at best it was grasping at straws. Will, you need to listen to the interview again, I heard “I” but more importantly, a believable witness to the conversation heard “I”.
There is no rational reason for him to have killed his wife and son, but sociopaths don’t need “rational” reasons to do things.
Who is Crosby vs Croft? Spell check issues or was another witness introduced.
Who is speaking for the prosecution please? also what is the full name of the Verizon Rep testifying?
Phone argument is stupid – the State can call everyone in the chain if need be, this case would probably last until June. Just Ol’Pooty Poot passing gas…
Harpo looks unprepared and incable during his cross of the verizon rep
He is not getting out of jail anyway hung jury or not because of all of the other charges.
Still agog at the initial interview in 5he patrol car… I’m only an amateur detective, but… “Oh, is that a clean T-shirt mr. murduck?” or “Have you washed your hands recently?” would have been Coptalk 101…