|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
It’s day thirteen of the double homicide trial of disbarred South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh – the man at the center of the ‘Murdaugh Murders’ crime and corruption saga.
Murdaugh 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, South Carolina on June 7, 2021. He pleaded not guilty and is currently standing trial in Walterboro, S.C. – part of the five-county Lowcountry region of the Palmetto State his family once ran like a fiefdom.
After receiving a favorable ruling on Monday from S.C. circuit court judge Clifton Newman regarding the admissibility of evidence in this case, lead prosecutor Creighton Waters plowed into detailed information about Murdaugh’s myriad alleged financial crimes – which is central to the state’s theory of motive.
The witness he chose to lay the groundwork for this narrative? Jeanne Seckinger, the chief financial officer at Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, P.A. (PMPED) – the firm where Murdaugh practiced law for more than two decades. Seckinger spent nearly four hours on the witness stand walking jurors through the various ways Murdaugh allegedly fleeced clients out of nearly $10 million. Perhaps more importantly, she testified to confronting Murdaugh about his alleged theft on the afternoon of the murders – telling jurors he glared at her with “a look I had not seen before.”
***
After hearing from Seckinger and Murdaugh’s former law partner Ronnie Crosby, the state called special agent Megan Fletcher of the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) – the lead investigative agency in all of the Murdaugh-related cases. Fletcher testified as to finding “significant” amounts of gunshot residue on a blue rain jacket allegedly placed by Murdaugh in a closet at his parents’ home in Almeda, S.C. several days after the murders.
Testimony picks up again today as the state seeks to weave the narrative of Murdaugh’s alleged financial misdeeds with forensic evidence it insists implicates the 54-year-old Hampton, S.C. native in the savage slayings of his family members.
To view yesterday’s live feed, click here …
***
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.
As of yesterday, 89 percent of respondents believe Murdaugh is guilty of killing is wife. Similarly, 89 percent believe he is guilty of killing his son.
Here are today’s polls …
***
QUESTION ONE
Based on the information you have now, is Alex Murdaugh is guilty or not guilty of the murder of Maggie Murdaugh?
***
QUESTION TWO
Based on the information you have now, is Alex Murdaugh is guilty or not guilty of the murder of Paul Murdaugh?
***
THE FEED …
6:03 p.m. EST – A quick update on the abrupt ending to today’s proceedings. Sources close to the court told us S.C. circuit court judge Clifton Newman pulled the plug early because it would have taken too long to download the original black box data from Alex Murdaugh’s Chevy Suburban. Falkofske apparently wasn’t comfortable testifying to a version of the file provided to him by defense attorney Phil Barber.
5:29 p.m. EST – When court resumes at 9:30 a.m. EST, defense attorney Phil Barber will begin his cross examination of FBI vehicle data analyst, Dwight Falkofske.
5:00 p.m. EST – A statement issued by the “real Forge” in the aftermath of the testimony of its principal, Michael Gunn.
4:35 p.m. EST – Court has adjourned for the day and will resume tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. Stay tuned to FITSNews for more!
4:20 p.m. EST – A brief break is called while they pull the correct documents for Falkofske to review.
4:16 p.m. EST – At 10:13:39 p.m. the vehicle goes out of park. No message is present for when the vehicle went back into park. Falkofske identifies a print out of the device connection information obtained from the vehicle.
4:12 p.m. EST – At 10:04:49 p.m. it goes out of park. At 10:05:55 p.m. the vehicle goes back into park. At 10:11:45 p.m. the vehicle goes out of park. At 10:12:48 p.m. the vehicle goes back into park.
4:09 p.m. EST – On June 7, 2021 at 9:44:54 p.m. the vehicle is taken out of park. At 10:00:36 p.m. the vehicle is put back into park. At 10:01:17 the vehicle goes out of park. At 10:01:29 p.m. the vehicle goes back into park. At 10:01:30 the vehicle goes out of park and at 10:01:43 p.m. it goes back into park.
4:05 p.m. EST – At 9:43:05 p.m. on June 7, 2021, the vehicle was taken out of park and at 9:43:59 p.m. the vehicle is put back into park. There is approximately 21 minutes between the vehicle being put into park at 9:22:45 p.m. and the vehicle being taken out of park at 9:43:05 p.m.
3:58 p.m. EST – Falkofske says that the vehicle was put back into park at 9:22:45 p.m. on June 7, 2021. This is roughly 16 minutes from when the vehicle was taken out of park. (Consistent with the drive time from Moselle to Murdaugh’s parent’s home in Almeda.)
3:55 p.m. EST – At 9:06:44 p.m. on June 7, 2021, the Suburban vehicle system was continuing its power up process. At 9:06:49 p.m. on June 7, 2021, Falkofske states the car was turned on and running. At 9:06:50 p.m. the vehicle was taken out of park.
3:46 p.m. EST – At 6:23:57 p.m. on June 7, 2021, the Suburban was taken out of park. At 9:03:44 p.m. on June 7, 2021, the Suburban completed a boot up sequence. At 9:04:18 p.m. on June 7, 2021, it appears the system was being shut down and then was stopped and started back up.
3:40 p.m. EST – A condensed version of data obtained from the vehicle for June 7, 2021 shows a key indicator identified the vehicle was moving.
3:37 p.m. EST – Falkofske identifies two calls taken from the call log. One at 10:06:14 p.m. and another 4 seconds later. Both calls were to 9-1-1.
3:30 p.m. EST – They looked for additional event data from the vehicle including when the car was moving and when the doors opened and closed. Falkofske explains the vehicle explores voluminous amounts of data from the logs. To test this, they obtained an identical vehicle and tested it on that vehicle.
3:27 p.m. EST – Falkofske explains it took a year to unlock the data from the Chevy Suburban. They obtained call logs from the infotainment center using the Bluetooth connectivity system. They found some call logs on the infotainment center including call data from June 7, 2021.
3:23 p.m. EST – Falkofske explains how automotive data extraction differs from cellular data extraction. Examining Murdaugh’s Chevy Suburban was the first time they ran into a data encryption system on a vehicle.
3:21 p.m. EST – The State moves to enter Mr. Falkofske as an automotive forensic expert with no objections.
3:16 p.m. EST – Dwight Falkofske has been called to the stand by the State. He is a member of an FBI unit that extracts data from devices. His speciality is extracting data from automotive systems. Falkofske has a B.S. in electrical engineering. He pulls out his C.V. to list the extensive training he has completed with the FBI.
3:12 p.m. EST – Both items were marked for ID only by the court. The State has nothing further. No questions by the defense.
3:09 p.m. EST – Agent Hudak removed an infotainment center and OnStar from Murdaugh’s vehicle. The software he has does not support Murdaugh’s vehicle model.
3:07 p.m. EST – Court has resumed. Judge Newman has asked that the jury be brought into the courtroom. Questioning of Agent Hudak by the State has resumed.
2:30 p.m. EST – Our report on the bomb threat …
12:40 p.m. EST – Confirmed: A bomb threat was called into the Colleton County courthouse. No idea as to the time the threat was called in, but the evacuation of the building began at around 12:23 p.m. EST.
12:23 p.m. EST – The State calls Brian Hudak to the stand. Hudak is a Special Agent with SLED who specializes in computer crimes. Judge Newman has sent the jury to the jury room for a recess. Court is being evacuated for an apparent bomb threat. We are working to confirm.
12:19 p.m. EST – Jim Griffin has begun cross examination of Michael Gunn. Gunn confirms the annual South Carolina Trial Lawyers convention was a family event and tells Griffin that his impression was that Murdaugh was a family man. Gunn states at Maggie and Paul’s funerals that Murdaugh was a “broken man” and very upset. The defense has completed cross and the State has no further questions.
12:17 p.m. EST – The only two companies under the Forge Consulting umbrella are Advocacy Trust and Advocacy Wealth Management. He testifies there are no subsidiaries just named “Forge”. He states he never told Murdaugh he could use the name Forge.
12:15 p.m. EST – Gunn states he did attend the funeral of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh. At the wake, Murdaugh told him how much Maggie had loved Gunn and his wife. He saw Murdaugh later that summer in Hilton Head at the SC Trial Lawyers Convention with his brother, John Marvin Murdaugh.
12:12 p.m. EST – In September 2021, Gunn received a phone call from Lee Cope asking him to check to see if he had files on a list of names. Gunn told Cope that when he checked, none of them were clients.
12:10 p.m. EST – Gunn testifies that whenever he is contacted about a potential client, even for just a phone call, a file is created. After the boat crash, he states he had general conversations with Murdaugh about structuring fees but nothing specific.
12:05 p.m. EST – Gunn states he has known Murdaugh for approximately 20 years. His first impression of Murdaugh was that he was very jovial and friendly.
12:01 p.m. EST – When asked if attorney fees can be structured, he says they can be and the taxes would be deferred. Gunn identifies Murdaugh for the court.
11:58 a.m. EST – Gunn tells the court about structured settlements and annuities. Annuities are funded by the insurance company who is paying the claim or the defendant themselves. The only way the funds would go to Forge Consulting is if the check was made out to them and they would forward directly to the insurance company. Describing them as a “mail carrier” in that instance.
11:56 a.m. EST – The State has called Michael Gunn to the stand. This is the second time Gunn has testified, but the first time in front of the jury. Gunn explains that he is one of the principals of Forge Consulting and what they do.
11:54 a.m. EST – Waters asks Griswold to confirm that before September 3, 2021, Murdaugh still had his job and his law license. She confirms. She also states that people, including her, trusted Murdaugh. When asked if Murdaugh was a prominent lawyer, she replies, “yes, sir.” Waters has nothing further. Griswold has left the stand.
11:52 a.m. EST – Griswold tells Griffin that despite her concern that she would lose her job over reporting the Farris case to the firm, she did not and that Murdaugh lost his job. She is now reading a text Murdaugh sent to her and Kristi Jarrell while he was in rehab apologizing to her regarding his actions. Griffin has completed questioning. Waters is redirect.
11:50 a.m. EST – To her knowledge, Griswold does not believe that Murdaugh spent another night at Moselle after the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.
11:46 a.m. EST – Griswold confirms that after Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were murdered, Murdaugh was under a media spotlight and there were news cameras outside the law firm office. She describes his demeanor as grieving and very humbled. She said he would come into the office in the morning and checked in on her and Kristi Jarrell a lot.
11:43 a.m. EST – Griffin asks if Maggie and the boys accompanied Murdaugh on work trips and Griswold says they did. She also confirms that Murdaugh was close to Maggie’s parents.
11:38 a.m. EST – Griswold confirms any time she needed time off it was approved by Murdaugh. She tells Griffin that Murdaugh encouraged her to put family first. When asked if Murdaugh was a good person to work for, she said it was hit or miss. She said Murdaugh did try to schedule his appointments around his family commitments. She said if something was on the calendar that was for the boys, Murdaugh honored it. She got to know Maggie Murdaugh while she worked for Alex.
11:37 a.m. EST – Cross examination of Griswold by Jim Griffin for the defense has begun.
11:35 a.m. EST – Waters is playing the Snapchat video for Griswold. She confirms with 100% certainty that the voices in the video are Paul, Maggie and Alex Murdaugh.
11:30 a.m. EST – Court has resumed after a break. Judge Newman has ruled to allow the text messages into evidence.
11:00 a.m. EST – Jim Griffin objects to a text message between Annette Griswald and Kristi Jarrell while Murdaugh was in rehab. Judge Newman has sent the jury to the jury room while the attorneys argue the evidence.
10:58 a.m. EST – On September 2, 2021, she went into Murdaugh’s office and when she picked up the file, a check floated out. She told Seckinger what she found and brought the check to her. Seckinger told Griswold that she had ran a report and one of the partners was planning on calling Michael Gunn. She testifies that Murdaugh was fired the next day and there has been months upon months of the firm going through all of the files.
10:56 a.m. EST – Griswold says that after the boat crash there was backlash saying it’s a small community. She says Mallory Beach’s father was her first cousin and some of them didn’t like the idea that she was working for the firm.
10:52 a.m. EST – Griswold says she left at 5:15 p.m. on June 7, 2021 and Murdaugh was still at the office. She woke up in the middle of the night and had a ton of texts and voicemails. She had a voicemail from Randy Murdaugh who was crying and asked her to call him. When she called, Randy told her about Paul and Maggie’s murders. She says she was very worried about the Murdaugh family. She tells Waters the firm was tight knit and there were two reactions from employees of the firm. They were scared that someone was targeting employees at the firm and that they were in “mama bear” mode trying to protect Alex and Randy Murdaugh. When asked if she was concerned about the Farris fees in the aftermath of the murders, she replied, “What Farris fees?” She didn’t think about them again until September of 2021.
10:51 a.m. EST – When asked about June 7, 2021, Griswold tells Waters that Murdaugh came into the office around lunchtime. She states that she saw Jeanne Seckinger and that Seckinger planned to speak with Murdaugh about the Farris case. She told Seckinger when Murdaugh arrived so Seckinger could speak to him.
10:49 a.m. EST – Griswold texted Wilson’s secretary with her concerns explaining how stressed out she was about the situation. Griswold’s daughter told her that she should get her resume together because once she turned it in, she would probably be fired.
10:45 a.m. EST – Griswold and Seckinger decided to have Seckinger send her an email to forward to Wilson’s secretary about what she needed. When she responded on June 2, 2021, Wilson’s secretary said it didn’t involve her and she would forward to Chris Wilson.
10:42 a.m. EST – When she asked Murdaugh, he told her that Wilson’s secretary was wrong and the money was in trust. Then she says he kind of shooed her out of the office implying he didn’t have time for this. Griswold said when she was talking to Wilson’s secretary again, she could tell that suddenly Wilson’s secretary realized something was wrong. She emailed Jeanne Seckinger and asked to meet with her. When she met with Seckinger, she said Seckinger was instantly on high alert. She testifies that they were still hoping it was a misunderstanding but they both had a nagging feeling. She left the documents with Seckinger to handle.
10:40 a.m. EST – She asked Murdaugh if he remembered where they were at and he told her, “No. I didn’t get those checks.” She contacted Wilson’s secretary who told her the funds were not in trust and that she thought it was odd that the checks had been made directly to Murdaugh. Griswold said she knew it wasn’t right because the checks should have been made out to PMPED.
10:35 a.m. EST – Griswold tells Waters that she expected to receive four checks, two fee checks and two expense reimbursement checks. In May of 2021, she received a package in the mail containing a cover letter and two expense reimbursement checks. She emailed Wilson’s secretary asking about the fee checks. Wilson’s secretary told her that those were distributed in March at the disbursement. She laughed with Wilson’s secretary about giving them to Murdaugh thinking that he lost them.
10:32 a.m. EST – Waters asks Griswold if the defendant had a case going on around that time involving Mack trucks. She confirms that the case went to bench trial in January 2021 and the judge issued a verdict in favor of their clients. She confirms that Chris Wilson’s office would be disbursing fees and that she sent the PMPED costs Murdaugh who then sent by email to Chris Wilson’s office.
10:30 a.m. EST – The Thomas Moore case was particularly unusual because it was a worker’s compensation case and the funds couldn’t be disbursed yet. When she asked Murdaugh, she states he told her he had gotten permission to put give the money to Forge to draw interest since it would be sitting there for a year.
10:28 a.m. EST – Waters asks Griswold if there was any reason she couldn’t prepare the disbursement sheets herself causing Kristi Jarrell to prepare them. She says no and it put up a “yellow flag” for her. She says it’s easy to miss something if you are drafting a disbursement on another person’s file and it concerned her. She believes now that Murdaugh was using Griswold being out of the office as an opportunity to push these things through. He used the end of the day chaos to avoid people questioning him.
10:26 a.m. EST – Griswold tells Waters that at the end of January 2021, Nicole called her again while she was at the eye doctor with her mother and said that she had another disbursement like the one on December 15, 2020 requesting the attorney fees be sent to Forge. The case was the Thomas Moore case. She states this time it was all the funds in the settlement including client fees being sent to the “fake” Forge.
10:22 p.m. EST – On December 15, 2020, she got a phone call from Nicole at accounts payable at PMPED. She told Griswold that Murdaugh had given her a disbursement sheet and she didn’t understand it. Griswold said that Kristi Jerrell had submitted the disbursement sheet which she thought it was unusual. She said a line on it said that attorney fees should be sent to Forge which was unusual. When she discussed it with Nicole and Murdaugh after, they explained that they were structuring the attorney fees to collect interest and that it made sense to her at the time. The case she is discussing is the Hershberger case.
10:20 a.m. EST – Griswold would offer to mail the checks to Michael Gunn, but Murdaugh would always say he would hand deliver them. Since he was disorganized, she would always make notes in the file that Murdaugh was hand delivering the checks.
10:16 a.m. EST – Griswold tells Waters that Murdaugh was very protective about who went in his office. She confirms that over the years Murdaugh told her to issue checks to Forge. She would put it on the disbursement sheet as “Forge Consulting” and he would say, “No, it’s not Forge Consulting. If I wanted it to be Forge Consulting, I would have told you Forge Consulting. I want it to be Forge.” When she questioned him, she states he explained it by saying, “Think of it like Forge Consulting is the large company and Forge is kind of under the umbrella under it.”
10:14 a.m. EST – Griswold testifies that after the boat crash, Murdaugh’s demeanor changed. She states he was more distant and even in the office, he was absent. She said he was rarely there and when he was the door to his office was always closed. It got worse in early 2021 stating that it was very tense. She says that you could tell the boat crash was weighing on him, and she said you could tell his “a** was on his shoulders.” He wasn’t himself anymore.
10:10 a.m. EST – She states Murdaugh was extremely intelligent regarding law. He did not keep normal hours and she referred to him as the “Tasmanian devil” because he would come in and shout everyone’s name. Griswold states that when cases were settled, she would begin working on disbursement sheets looking for liens and any payments that needed to be made. Once she completed that, Murdaugh would sign off on it and it would go to accounts payable.
10:08 a.m. EST – Questioning of Megan Fletcher is complete. The State calls Annette Griswold. Griswold was Murdaugh’s paralegal at PMPED. She grew up in Hampton, South Carolina and lived in Charlotte, North Carolina for 20 years. She returned to Hampton to help care for her ill father. After her father died, about 12 years ago, she was hired to be Murdaugh’s paralegal. She served in this role for over 9 years. The other secretary who worked with her was Kristi Jarrell. She was assigned to handling larger cases while Kristi did more of the day to day work and smaller files.
10:05 a.m. EST – Fletcher tells Meadors that the 38 particles found on the inside of the rain jacket could be caused by carrying a weapon that was recently fired. She says it was unusual because the GSR was on the inside of the garment.
10:02 a.m. EST – Nothing further from the defense. John Meadors is conducting the re-direct.
9:59 a.m. EST – After a conversation with Agent Neal from SLED, it was decided not to test the tarp for GSR as it was folded in a tub and the rain jacket was balled up in a closet. She is unsure what happened to the blue tarp after it was presented to her lab. She does not know if any other analysis was done on the jacket such as fingerprint lifts.
9:55 a.m. EST – Fletcher testifies that 38 particles of GSR found on the rain coat is significant, but cannot confirm that 3 particles on a shirt is an insignificant amount. She states 3 particles is about average.
9:52 a.m. EST – Griffin asks Fletcher if it could be possible that Mr. Randolph could have thrown the rain coat on top of his shotgun, “Boo whoop” and the gun hadn’t been cleaned in years, it would be more likely to get GSR on anything that went on top of it. She agrees that the transfer would be more likely.
9:49 a.m. EST – Fletcher testifies that there is no way to know when the GSR got on the jacket and agrees that there is no way to know how it got on the jacket.
9:44 a.m. EST – Fletcher testifies that when she analyzed the evidence, she was unaware Murdaugh was holding a firearm in his hands when she examined the evidence. She states that she learned this fact on June 9, 2021 from Agent Owen from SLED and told him that the amount of residue on Murdaugh’s clothing would be consistent to transfer from the firearm.
9:41 a.m. EST – Fletcher tells Griffin she was not aware the clothes she lifted GSR from were wet until Agent Jamie Hall had opened the bag. She was also unaware that it was raining at Moselle that night.
9:37 a.m. EST – Court has resumed and the jury has been seated. Jim Griffin has begun cross examination of Megan Fletcher. Griffin has asked Fletcher if gunshot residue is biodegradable. Fletcher confirms it is not. Studies have shown that within 60 feet of a gun being shot, there can be GSR. Beyond 60 feet has not been studied.
9:06 a.m. EST – For those of you following the Stephen Smith saga …
9:00 a.m. EST – Eric Bland agrees. …
8:40 a.m. EST – Confirmed. Alex Murdaugh’s longtime friend and alleged drug dealer/ check casher Curtis “Eddie” Smith is NOT testifying today in Walterboro, S.C.
8:33 a.m. EST – Big buzz at the courthouse today about the possible testimony of Curtis “Eddie” Smith. As of this writing, however, Smith has not – I repeat, not – been transferred from the Lexington County detention center.
Here is our recent story on what Smith is expected to say on the witness stand in the event he is called …
8:14 a.m. EST – The FITSNews crew has arrived on-site outside of the Colleton County courthouse and Dylan Nolan, Jenn Wood and I ready to kick off day thirteen of this trial. Since several of our readers have asked, I’ll try and give a quick tour of our “command center” later today. Like all of our coverage, we couldn’t do anything without the support of our readers and subscribers. So thank you!
7:44 a.m. EST – Interesting response. Clearly not everyone was impressed with Seckinger’s testimony …
7:30 a.m. EST – A possible leadoff witness for today? Alex Murdaugh’s former paralegal at PMPED, Annette Griswold. The good news for prosecutors is that Jeanne Seckinger – the chief financial officer at Murdaugh’s law firm – covered so much ground for the state that future witnesses will only need to fill in certain holes in the narrative. Prosecutors could not have hoped for a better witness to lay the foundation for the financial crimes component of this case than Seckinger.
6:22 a.m. EST – Prosecutors have been keeping their list of witnesses very close to the vest throughout this trial. Yesterday, a potential blueprint for their future management of this trial emerged, though. During the first part of the day, the state called witnesses who detailed Murdaugh’s financial crimes. For their last witness, they pivoted to forensic evidence which they insist links Murdaugh to the murders. Will that become a pattern today?
***
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to proactively address? We have an open microphone policy here at FITSNews! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
10 comments
Just read Murdaugh, She Wrote (available on Amazon). Very very interesting read and nice shout outs to Fitsnews!!! I have become overly obsessed with this story and keep re-watching the documentaries to see what I missed, subtle hints. However, there is no subtly in the delusion of Jim Griffin on the HBOMax documentary. He should stick to ambulance chasing.
Do you think this bomb threat was purposeful? Possibly Murdaugh family influence?
Absolutely. Scare the jurors. Make them think someone is after him. He knows his goose is cooked. Scare tactics. Someone needs to check on Ms. MuShelle. Also scares anymore witnesses (possibly).
Dylan,
Old buildings can be retrofitted with badge readers to secure access.
Beautiful day, sources say some Yankee snowbird reporter had a tee time.
Your breaking up.
911 call was from the car????
Just listened to the discussion there were 2 911 calls. The reason there are 2 calls is because the first call was a misdial. The call was made to 9111 (3 ones)
On the television show Dr. Phil shows video of Murdock in squad car, why does Murdock say the phone popped out of son pocket…son is dead…the phone popped out of pocket after he shot him. Then he says he was trying to do something with phone but put it back down. Makes no sense.
I want to personally thank Wil, Mandy and all of the FitsNews staff. They out researched national news and none of this would have happened without their diligence.