Welcome back to our ongoing coverage 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.
This is day seventeen … and it is scheduled to commence with Murdaugh’s lead attorney, Dick Harpootlian, cross-examining forensic pathologist Ellen Riemer of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). During direct examination by lead prosecutor Creighton Waters yesterday, Riemer offered chilling testimony – graphically detailing the fatal wounds sustained by the two victims in this case.
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, S.C. on June 7, 2021. He pleaded not guilty to those charges and is currently standing trial in Walterboro – part of the Lowcountry region of the Palmetto State which the Murdaugh family ruled like a fiefdom for more than a century.
Three generations of Murdaughs served as S.C. fourteenth circuit solicitor from 1920-2006, and Alex Murdaugh himself was a badge-carrying assistant solicitor at the time of the killings.
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This week’s proceedings got off to an inauspicious start when S.C. circuit court judge Clifton Newman announced two jurors had been excused from the trial after testing positive for Covid-19. These jurors were replaced with alternates, but the possibility (likelihood?) of a Covid outbreak has many concerned these proceedings could end in a mistrial.
Meanwhile, trial watchers were stunned by reports from two journalists on Monday afternoon indicating that Murdaugh was planning to take the stand in this trial. These reports cited sources “close to the defense,” however our news outlet has been unable to confirm this information with our own defense sources.
In fact, one indicated the reports were “bullsh*t” and that Murdaugh’s potential testimony would be a “game-time decision.”
For yesterday’s live 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 perceptions of Murdaugh’s guilt or innocence related to the murders of his two alleged victims have evolved over the course of the trial.
As of late yesterday, 89 percent of respondents believed Murdaugh was guilty of killing is wife compared to four percent who said he was not guilty and six percent who said they were unsure. Those percentages were identical to the responses received when our audience was asked about whether they.believed Murdaugh killed his son.
Here are today’s polls …
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QUESTION ONE …
Based on the information you have now, is Alex Murdaugh 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 guilty or not guilty of the murder of Paul Murdaugh?
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THE FEED …
3:28 p.m. EST – Waters tells the court that due to circumstances outside their control there are no further witnesses available. They will resume at 9:30 a.m. EST on Wednesday.
3:27 p.m. EST – Griffin asks Proctor if he was shown a blue raincoat by SLED. He states he was shown a picture of the raincoat and did not recognize it. No further questions from the defense or the State.
3:25 p.m. EST – Waters plays the 8:44 p.m. video taken on Paul’s phone on June 7, 2021 for Proctor in court. Proctor states with certainty that the voices on the phone are those of Paul, Maggie, and Alex Murdaugh. The State has no further questions and Jim Griffin has begun cross-examination for the defense.
3:23 p.m. EST – The State calls Bart Proctor to the stand. Bart is Marion’s husband. Bart and Marion have been married for 37 years. Waters asks Proctor in the aftermath of the homicides of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, he was privy to some of the conversations that his wife had.
4:22 p.m. EST – Marion states when the story told about what initially happened in the roadside shooting turned out to be untrue, her perception changed. No further questions from the State or the defense.
4:20 p.m. EST – When additional information regarding the roadside shooting came out, her concern for Alex diminished. Maggie’s nickname for Paul was little detective because she felt like he was always looking to make sure his dad was behaving. Paul’s concern was prescription pain pills. Marion says that Maggie had expressed concern to her over time about Murdaugh’s usage of prescription pills. She is not sure how long it was going on, but claims it had been “some time.” Marion said that if there were pills in the house that his dad was taking, Paul was determined to find them. Marion states that did happen on occasion.
4:16 p.m. EST – The jury is being brought back in. Waters continues his questioning of Marion Proctor and asks what happened in September of 2021 to change her assessment. She repeats the story she told Judge Newman in camera. She explains they wanted more information so they called Jim Griffin who told her Murdaugh had been shot in the head and had been fired for stealing. Her first concern was that Murdaugh was dead and she was afraid she had lost another family member. Marion says that they were still on high alert, worried for Buster, but that information started coming out of which they had no idea. She states the roadside shooting was an event in itself.
4:14 p.m. EST – Judge Newman states Marion Proctor can testify regarding her concerns in September 2021, but not to the infidelity. Judge Newman states she is not testifying to the actual incident, but to why her concerns changed.
3:44 p.m. EST – Judge Newman called for a 15 minute recess.
3:37 p.m. EST – Judge Newman asks Waters to continue his questioning in camera. The court reporter is reading back Waters’ last line of questioning. Judge Newman asks Marion what changed in September. She states that they received a phone call stating they were so sorry to hear about her brother-in-law. She had no clue what had happened and was horrified that Buster was next. Marion says they made a phone call to Buster, Buster said his dad had been shot but he was okay and on his way to the hospital. She further says at some point they spoke with Jim Griffin who told her that Murdaugh had been shot and that he had also been fired from the law firm for stealing money. Waters tells the court that since this was brought up in cross-examination, he believes it is fair game.
3:32 p.m. EST – Creighton Waters is conducting re-direct. When September of 2021 is brought up, the defense objects. The jury is sent to the jury room. Jim Griffin says the State has not admitted the roadside shooting in yet and they object under 403(b) and further states her testimony would be hearsay. Waters says that since Griffin asked about September 2021, he opened the door to the line of questioning. Waters states there is a logical connection between the roadside shooting and what happened on June 7, 2021.
3:29 p.m. EST – Marion says that the boys and their friends were always welcome at their homes and that Maggie loved having them all around. After consulting with Murdaugh, Griffin asks her to tell the court what she believed Murdaugh’s relationship with Paul was like. She describes it as good stating that they loved all the same things. “They love to hunt, they love to fish. They love to work the land.”
3:27 p.m. EST – Marion tells the court that until September of 2021, they were in fear because they thought the murders were retribution for the boat crash. When asked about Murdaugh carrying a gun for protection, she says he always carried a gun. When asked about Bubba the dog, Marion says he was a handful, but that Alex could handle him. The dogs were not allowed in the house at Moselle because of allergies, but they were allowed on the porch. Marion did not know there was an electric fence around the property.
3:25 p.m. EST – When asked if Maggie was adamant about clearing Paul’s name after the boat accident, Marion responds, “sort of.” She states she isn’t critical of Murdaugh wanting to clear Paul’s name after the murders, but she thought it being a priority was very odd.
3:23 p.m. EST – Marion testifies that Murdaugh and his son, Buster stayed at her parent’s home in Summerville after the funerals. She confirms that he never spent another night at Moselle.
3:20 p.m. EST – Marion confirms that Maggie preferred to stay at Edisto in the summer, but that Alex often stayed at Moselle because of its proximity to his office. She did not think it was unusual for Murdaugh to ask Maggie to come home and that is why she encouraged her to go. She did not know at the time why Paul was going to be there, but states she knows now.
3:18 p.m. EST – Marion admits that now that she knows Mr. Randolph was in the hospital in Savannah, it didn’t seem quite as odd that Maggie didn’t go to Almeda with Murdaugh on June 7, 2021.
3:15 p.m. EST – Marion tells the court that the weekend before June 7, 2021, Maggie had attended a USC baseball game with Buster and his girlfriend, Brooklyn. Marion says that Maggie went to visit Murdaugh’s parents a lot, but didn’t feel like she needed to go every day. She explains that Maggie had put Mr. Randolph on a “no salt” diet and the whole family was taking turns cooking meals for them.
3:12 p.m. EST – Marion testifies that Maggie and Alex were at every sporting event for the boys and states Murdaugh was often coaching their teams. The weekend of May 21, 2021, the family was together in Kiawah for a baby shower for Marion’s daughter. A photo taken from that shower is entered into evidence. This was the last time she saw Maggie in person.
3:09 p.m. EST – Griffin asks Marion about the Murdaugh’s relationship. She testifies that Murdaugh was very close to her parents and was very kind to their father, Terry Branstetter. Marion testifies that they have a vacation home in the Florida Keys and they often vacationed together there.
3:07 p.m. EST – Marion testifies that they were afraid after the boat crash. She felt like Alex and Buster needed protection, but that Murdaugh didn’t seem afraid. She states Maggie loved her dogs and would often go down to the kennels. Despite not being a hunter, Maggie seemed okay with buying the guns for the boys. Marion said it concerned her that they were buying such dangerous weapons for the boys, but that she knows nothing about guns. Waters has no further questions. Jim Griffin has begun his cross-examination.
3:04 p.m. EST – Marion states Murdaugh told her mother that the family had dinner and he took a nap. Murdaugh often took naps after dinner so this didn’t surprise her. She states she was surprised that Maggie didn’t go to Almeda with Alex to visit his parents because that was the whole reason she was there. Marion says that after the murders, Murdaugh’s main concern was to clear Paul’s name in the boat case. She thought this was so strange because her number one goal was to find out who killed her sister and Paul. She didn’t understand how he could have thought about anything else.
3:01 p.m. EST – Marion testifies they were at Moselle every day until the funeral. She states she saw Alex Murdaugh and they hugged and cried together. Marion says she didn’t talk to Murdaugh a lot because he was so busy, but she asked him if Maggie had suffered. Murdaugh assured him he did not. She asked if Paul suffered and Murdaugh said he did not. When she asked whom Murdaugh thought had done it, Murdaugh said he didn’t know, but whoever did it had thought about it for a long time.
2:57 p.m. EST – Marion recalls the conversation with Maggie was around 4:00 p.m. on June 7, 2021. She states she was watching a movie with her husband when Bart got a text from Randy Murdaugh on his cell phone asking him to call him back. When Bart told Marion, she couldn’t believe it. They gathered their things and went to tell her parents in Summerville, South Carolina in person. Marion says her mom went into shock and they went to Moselle the next morning.
2:55 p.m. EST – Marion states that Maggie called her on June 7, 2021 and told her that she was at Edisto overseeing work on the house. Marion says Maggie said that Alex wanted her to come home that night and Marion encouraged her to do so knowing how close Murdaugh was to his father. Marion was under the impression the family would be going to Murdaugh’s parent’s home in Almeda. When asked if she encouraged Maggie to go to Moselle, Marion says, “I did” and begins crying. The guilt she feels is palpable.
2:53 p.m. EST – Marion describes the boat crash as a “devastating blow” to the family. Marion said the Hampton community had turned against her. She testifies that people would call Paul names and inappropriate things were said to him. She claims this is part of the reason Maggie preferred to stay at Edisto. Marion states that after they sold the Hampton house, Maggie was looking in the Hilton Head/Bluffton area for property. Maggie found one house that she loved and she called Marion and their parents to come look at it. Marion says that Maggie really thought they might make an offer on the house, but Alex told her the timing wasn’t right with the boat case going on.
2:51 p.m. EST – Marion tells the court that Maggie and Alex had a house in Hampton as well as a beach house in Edisto. She can’t recall how long they had the Edisto house but said it was around 15 years. Marion said the Moselle house had a great set up though it wasn’t Maggie’s favorite place to be. Maggie preferred the beach house in Edisto.
2:50 p.m. EST – Marion testifies that Maggie’s checkbook was often on the floor of the car and she didn’t balance it. Marion states Ms. Libby – Alex’s mother – has Alzheimer’s disease and has been declining for years. She needs full-time care now and her condition was similar in June of 2021. Marion says in June of 2021, Mr. Randolph was very ill. She said he had a lot of health issues and she thought his days were coming close to an end. Marion says that in June of 2021, it was clear Mr. Randolph’s condition was terminal.
2:48 p.m. EST – Marion says Maggie was mostly a stay-at-home mom and was very active in the boys’ school. She says Paul was a sweet boy and was misrepresented in the media. He had a kind side to him, always wanting to help. She loved him a lot. Marion says Maggie was not at all involved in the family finances. They had a comfortable life and Maggie was very happy. Marion says it wasn’t a lavish life, but comfortable. Money was never an issue for Maggie “that she knew about.”
2:46 p.m. EST – Maggie was a big University of South Carolina fan and Marion was a Clemson fan. Everyone chuckles in the courtroom. Marion says her three daughters loved their Aunt Maggie.
2:44 p.m. EST – Marion says they weren’t always close due to their age difference, but that when they got older, they grew closer. She describes Maggie as sweet and says Buster and Paul were her world. Maggie loved their parents and they joked how they would grow old together and take care of them. Maggie was a girl, but grew to love hunting with the boys. They joked how Maggie would be in a deer stand making too much noise turning the pages of “Southern Living” magazine.
2:42 p.m. EST – The State has called Marion Proctor to the stand. Marion is Maggie Murdaugh’s sister. She looks just like Maggie. Marion states they grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina. Maggie was Marion’s only sibling and there was 5 years difference between them.
2:40 p.m. EST – The State has asked Burney if he has ever sold a house and how long it took to sell the house. Burney states it took months. When asked if it would have taken time for Murdaugh to sell real estate to obtain money, Burney responds, “I imagine so.” Burney confirms his primary job was to track where the money went to and states a significant portion of funds went to paying $4 million of interest to Palmetto State Bank.
2:37 p.m. EST – Burney states that approximately $500,000 of the $792,000 was given to Curtis Eddie Smith. No further questions from the defense. Re-direct has begun.
2:33 p.m. EST – Burney tells Griffin that he didn’t look at Murdaugh’s interest in PMPED or his interest in Redbeard or 0 United LLCs. He also states he did not review Murdaugh’s 401k or retirement accounts.
2:30 p.m. EST – Burney states he reviewed any account under Murdaugh’s name at Palmetto State Bank and Bank of America. He states he considered Murdaugh’s monthly income when reviewing the accounts. Burney’s testimony in this trial is primarily related to the $792,000 fees from the Farris case.
2:27 p.m. EST – Court has resumed. Carson Burney has taken the stand for cross-examination by Jim Griffin from the defense.
1:01 p.m. EST – Court will resume at 2:15 after a lunch break.
1:00 p.m. EST – Burney states that on June 7, 2021, Richard Alexander Murdoch did not have $792,000 available to return to Chris Wilson, $500,000 to give to the sons of Gloria Satterfield, or $10 million for a possible settlement in the boat crash case. The State has completed direct examination.
12:57 p.m. EST – Burney testifies that when checks were deposited into the fake forge account, typically they were transferred out or withdrawn in cash. If they were transferred out they would typically go to his personal banking account ending in 6779.
12:55 p.m. EST – Burney tells the court a large portion of the money received in the Farris case went to checks to associates of Alex Murdaugh and the remainder of the funds were credit card payments. He testifies these funds were exhausted by May 25, 2021.
12:53 p.m. EST – Burney is asked about the $792,000 Murdaugh received from the Farris fees. It was distributed by three different checks all from the Wilson Law Group. The dates the checks were deposited were March 10, 2021 March, 23rd 2021 and April 20, 2021. The first check was $192,000, the second $375,000 and the third was $225,000. All had a check date of March 10, 2021.
12:46 p.m. EST – Burney explains the first in, first out method he utilizes for analysis.
12:44 p.m. EST – Burney has completed tracing analysis on all of the money allegedly stolen by Murdaugh. Jim Griffin has no objections to qualifying Burney as an expert but renews his objection based on 403(b).
12:41 p.m. EST – No further questions for Mr. Davis. The State calls Carson Burney to the stand. Burney is forensic accountant with the State Grand Jury.
12:38 p.m. EST – Davis testifies that one of the dogs eventually killed the rooster. He also states that Alex was a hunter. There were issues in the feed room because the seal wasn’t correct. It was causing rot in the feed room. Davis states if Maggie was at the kennels at night, she would have put the dog beds in their kennels.
12:37 p.m. EST – Davis hadn’t seen the .300 Blackout for a few months. He describes Bubba as rambunctious and says Bubba would listen to both Murdaugh and himself. Davis testifies that Maggie would occasionally ride her bike or take a golf cart down to the kennels. She sometimes walked. When Murdaugh got a rooster, it would caw and taunt the dogs. That’s when the dogs started chasing the chickens. Jim Griffin has no further questions. The State is on re-direct.
12:34 p.m. EST – When a dog got “hung up” in the kennel and had to be “put down”, Davis states Murdaugh was unable to do it and asked Davis to take care of it. Davis lives a mile and a half from Moselle and testifies he did not hear any gunshots on June 7, 2021 when he was at his home.
12:32 p.m. EST – Jim Griffin asks Davis what the term “lovey-dovey” means to him. He says he never heard Murdaugh raise his voice to his wife or sons. He states anything the boys wanted or needed, they got. He said Murdaugh’s relationship with Paul was good and they hunted a lot. He didn’t see Buster as much.
12:30 p.m. EST – Jim Griffin is effectively arguing against the State’s narrative that Murdaugh used the hose to clean himself off.
12:23 p.m. EST – The defense has begun cross-examination of Roger Dale Davis, Jr. Jim Griffin plays the video from Paul’s phone and asks Davis to identify the dog. He says that Cash should have been in kennel 5 close to the hose. He points out that in the video, the hose was down and the ground was wet. Indicating that before the murders occurred, the hose had been taken down.
12:22 p.m. EST – Davis identifies the voices on the 8:44 p.m. at Paul, Maggie, and Alex. He states in the four years he worked at Moselle, he never saw a gun left in the feed room.
12:17 p.m. EST – Davis looks at an image of the kennels and is asked where water typically puddles. The image was taken the night of June 7, 2021 and says that is not where water typically puddles at Moselle. He states that Maggie preferred to have Grady in the kennel next to the feed room and was particular about where she placed the dogs.
12:13 p.m. EST – Davis says that Grady was in kennel 1, Bubba was in kennel 2, and Maggie was in kennel 3. Kennel 4 was open and Rogan Gibson’s dog, Cash, was in kennel 5. He states Dahlia was in kennel 10, Armadillo was in kennel 8, and Taffy Toes in kennel 7.
12:09 p.m. EST – Davis states he worked every day leading up to the murders including June 7, 2021. He testifies that he arrived at Moselle around 7:00 a.m. He fed the dogs and the chickens then washed the pens out. He states nothing was out of place. He returned to the pens before 4:00 p.m. because he remembers leaving at 4:30 p.m. When he left, no one else was at Moselle and nothing was out of place. Davis testifies that he fed Grady, Bubba and Maggie because they eat twice a day. He said he dumped the dogs’ water out and gave them fresh water.
12:05 p.m. EST – Davis states that when he was done at the kennels, he had a certain way he put the hose back up. He would stretch the hose out back to the feed room then cut the valve off to release the pressure. He would roll it up slowly. He did it so particularly because the hose would kink up and cause the hose to have splits in it. He testifies that someone used the hose after he did because in the image he was shown, the hose is twisted and the nozzle is too far up.
12:01 p.m. EST – Davis says Maggie would often times take the dogs out of the kennels while she was home and return them there to sleep at night. Davis is identifying images and diagrams of the kennel. They have been admitted to evidence without objection.
12:00 p.m. EST – Davis describes Paul Murdaugh as wild but a hard worker around Moselle. He states Alex Murdaugh was always very particular. Davis is asked if Murdaugh was easy to get ahold of and he replies, “No.” Davis says that Paul usually drove his white F-150 truck to the kennel from the house and Maggie drove her Range Rover until she got her black Mercedes.
11:58 a.m. EST – Davis describes Maggie Murdaugh as laid back and said she would talk to him like a normal person. Davis says that Maggie spent time with the dogs “all the time.” Maggie would ask Davis to put the dogs in the air conditioned ice house if it was really hot outside.
11:55 a.m. EST – Davis is a native of Hampton, South Carolina and has been a construction worker his entire life. Davis says that he worked at Moselle for about four years cleaning the kennels for the Murdaugh family. He cleaned the kennels twice a day at 7:00 a.m. and around 3:00-4:00 p.m. He states he would wash the kennels out and testifies that Grady and Bubba had two dog beds. When he washed the kennels, he would put the beds on top of the dog box. When he was done, he would lay them back on the ground. In the summer months, he waited until the afternoon to lay the beds back.
11:53 a.m. EST – The State calls Roger Dale Davis to the stand.
11:52 a.m. EST – Newell states the information is time stamped and uploaded to a server at GM.
11:47 a.m. EST – Newell testifies regarding the data that is contained in the systems. He states a search warrant sent to GM and confirms the VIN number on the search warrant. He states that GM’s senior staff reached out to him and asked him to come down and authenticate the records from Murdaugh’s Suburban.
11:44 a.m. EST – The State calls Devan Newell to the stand. Newell is a Senior Technical Expert in advanced driver systems for General Motors.
11:42 a.m. EST – Court has resumed. Judge Newman has asked for the jury to be brought in.
11:13 a.m. EST – Court is in recess for a 15 minute break.
11:10 a.m. EST – Harpootlian asks if there are instances where Dr. Riemer utilizes crime scene photos to help her with her autopsies and determination of cause and manner of death. She responds, “looking at the crime scene photos is really, you know, not something that I do to help me come to a conclusion.” She states she relies on what she sees on the body and makes her conclusions based on the body.
11:08 a.m. EST – Dr. Riemer confirms no wadding was found in Paul Murdaugh’s head wound. No further questions from the State.
11:04 a.m. EST – When asked if she believed Paul Murdaugh’s wounds were the result of suicide, Riemer responds, “I do not believe that he was at all consistent with the suicidal want to a reasonable degree.”
11:01 a.m. EST – Dick Harpootlian has completed his cross examination. Creighton Waters asks Dr. Riemer to clarify her responsibilities. Dr. Riemer tells Waters, “I examine the body and I come to a conclusion based on reasonable medical certainty based on my education and experience.” She clarifies for the court that her job is not to look at crime scene photos or conduct crime scene investigations.
10:50 a.m. EST – Dr. Riemer with what will likely be the quote of the day, “Well, I would say that people can disagree but that doesn’t mean that doesn’t change the truth.”
10:45 a.m. EST – Dr. Riemer confidently and politely dismissing Dick Harpootlian’s theory about gas from the gun that shot Paul Murdaugh. Riemer states that “beveling is not really too reliable when we have so much destruction of the head, but if you’re if you’re asking me if that could have been a contact shotgun wound to the top of the head with a kind of curved entrance, I would expect to see soot.”
10:40 a.m. EST – Dr. Riemer explains to Dick Harpootlian why the entrance wound to the chest is larger than the entrance wound to Paul’s face.
10:35 a.m. EST – Dr. Riemer confirms that she did not really see crime scene photos until recently. As a medical examiner, this is not unusual.
10:31 a.m. EST – Harpootlian asks if it is possible that gas from the shotgun would have entered Paul’s head from 4 feet away and been destructive. She states that shotgun wounds to the head cause massive destruction and a lot of that is from gas filled up.
10:23 a.m. EST – Harpootlian pulls out a book that Dr. Riemer agrees is a highly respected book on gunshot wounds. She identifies page 228 in the book showing the sequence of a shotgun shell being fired.
10:13 a.m. EST – Dr. Riemer states that she recovered 13 pellets, but did not recover all of them. She did not separate the buck shot pellets from the bird shot pellets.
10:09 a.m. EST – Dr. Riemer testifies that the fact that Paul’s face was intact is indicative of his face being turned. The pellets would have done a lot of damage to his face if it had not been turned.
10:01 a.m. EST – Harpootlian points out the width of the feed room in which Paul was shot.
9:58 a.m. EST – Harpootlian asks if it is possible that footprints in the feed room could be from Paul Murdaugh stepping in his own blood. Dr. Riemer says that is certainly possible.
9:55 a.m. EST – Harpootlian moves on to question Dr. Riemer about Paul’s injuries. Dr. Riemer confirms that she believes that the first shot was to his chest. She explains that Paul’s arms were by his side and she knows this because of bruising by the exit wound indicating close proximity between the entrance and exit wounds.
9:51 a.m. EST – Riemer tells Harpootlian that a reasonable explanation would be that Maggie was moving when she was shot. She also confirms that the stippling is from the distance of the barrel of the gun and not the shooter. Harpootlian asks why she testified that the first shot caused so much pain.
9:45 a.m. EST – Harpootlian asks Dr. Riemer if she was shown photographs of the back of Maggie Murdaugh’s calf that were taken at the scene. Dr. Riemer states she was not. Dr. Riemer states she doesn’t recall noting a bruise on the back of Maggie’s leg in her autopsy report and is reviewing her notes. Upon reviewing her notes, she does not see where she noted a bruise on Maggie’s left leg. Harpootlian asks if there was a bruise on her right leg and Dr. Riemer states she did not observe one during the autopsy.
9:41 a.m. EST – Court is in session. Dr. Ellen Riemer has resumed her place on the stand for cross-examination by Dick Harpootlian.
9:35 a.m. EST – Welcome back! Court should resume shortly.
7:23 a.m. EST – In case you missed our recap from yesterday’s testimony …
6:05 a.m. EST – In case you haven’t seen them yet, the June 7, 2021 timelines prepared by Florida-based true crime aficionado Brandi Churchwell are pretty amazing. We included some early versions of these documents in yesterday’s feed, but here are the latest versions. Also, stay tuned this morning for an interview with Brandi …
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8 comments
Dick is trying to push a “suicide theory”. Ridiculous.
I feel so bad for Alex having to listen to these graphic details of the wounds suffered by Paul and Maggie. Of course, he wouldn’t have to if he didn’t shoot them in cold blood. So, there’s that…. #guiltyasthedayislong
“12:30 p.m. EST – Jim Griffin is effectively arguing against the State’s narrative that Murdaugh used the hose to clean himself off.”
How so? The fact that the hose was in use before Murdaugh murdered his wife and son doesn’t mean Murdaugh didn’t use it as well.
As guilty as I think he is, I don’t think the prosecution is providing an airtight case. It’s too easy to poke holes and explain things away. The closest they have to a smoking gun is the video showing he was right there just minutes before they died.
I’m not there in the courtroom, but based on your summaries, the prosecution is providing very confusing info to the jury via testimony and leaving it to them to figure out what to make of it, instead of answering, “What’s your point?”
Is there any way to provide that timeline doc to the prosecution and have them give it to the jury?
It’s going to be awful if we all have to watch this guy get away with it.
The “crime scene photos” show the hose back on the hanger neat but not “Roger Dale” neat – who rehung the hose? Perhaps it’s “Elick” neat?!?
I can’t understand why Alex checked for a pulse on Paul when his brain was at his feet. I just don’t believe he did that.
There was a one hour period of time in which someone would have to enter that isolated property, commit the murders, take the weapons and be gone. The probability that the murders occurred during that rare window of time is absurd. No one really knew AM – he is a monster and very capable of something so horrible.
As we know, honest and fair justice in Hampton, S. Carolina is null to zero. Sadly the corruption among attorneys overshadows the work of good attorneys whom many of them want to do a clean job.
In this case, we learned that abuse and corruption carried from generations in the juridicial system had to stop at some point.