On June 7, 2021, Alex Murdaugh, a former attorney, assistant district attorney, and member of a prominent South Carolina legal dynasty, is accused of killing both his wife, Maggie and their son, Paul, who was 22 years old.
A second Paul Murdaugh acquaintance said in court on Wednesday that he could "100%" make out Alex Murdaugh's voice on a recording Paul made the night he and his mother, Maggie, were killed.
Just minutes before he was killed beside the kennels on the family's hunting property named Mossell in Islandton, South Carolina, Paul Murdaugh shot the footage of a dog in one of the family's kennels at 8:44 p.m. on June 7, 2021.
The video was shown three times in the Colleton County courthouse on Wednesday. Will Loving testified that he can "100%" hear Alex's voice in it.
In the video he shot that evening, Paul can be seen playing with Cash, one of his buddy Gibson's chocolate labs, inside a kennel.
Rogan Gibson, another friend of Paul's, stated in court on Wednesday that he could make out the voices of Paul, Maggie, and Alex Murdaugh on the video. The Murdaughs were referred to by him as his "second family."
The testimony of Gibson and Loving casts doubt on Alex Murdaugh's assertions that he was sleeping when Paul and Maggie were killed before he headed to his mother's house. He asserts that he discovered their bodies later, on June 7, 2021, at about 10 p.m.
A witness in the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh stated during his testimony on Wednesday that he can "100%" make out the voice of the disgraced South Carolina attorney in a video that was played in the Colleton County courtroom.
According to cellphone data provided by the prosecution, Paul Murdaugh shot and killed his mother, Maggie Murdaugh, and himself at approximately 8:44 p.m. on June 7, 2021, close to their family's dog kennels in Islandton.
Rogan Gibson, a friend of Paul's, stated in court that he could make out the voices of Paul, Maggie, and Alex Murdaugh on the video. The Murdaughs were referred to by him as his "second family."
Gibson said, "That's accurate," when asked whether he was "100%" certain that the distant male voice in the video's backdrop belonged to the senior Murdaugh.
In the video he shot that evening, Paul can be seen playing with Cash, one of his buddy Gibson's chocolate labs, inside a kennel.
Alex Murdaugh's assertions that he was dozing off just before he went to his mother's house at the time of Paul and Maggie's killings are called into question by the video and Gibson's evidence. He asserts that he discovered their bodies later, on June 7, 2021, at about 10 p.m.
During Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial, a video shot by his deceased son Paul Murdaugh on the evening of his murder in 2021 was shown in court on Wednesday.
On June 7, 2021, Alex Murdaugh is suspected of killing Paul and his wife, Maggie, at dog kennels on their South Carolina property known as Moselle. Alex Murdaugh, however, contends that he was not there at the family's dog kennels that evening and was instead asleep.
The video was recorded around 8:44:47 p.m. on the night of the killings and included three distinct voices, including what seems to be Paul's voice, a female voice, and another male voice, according to the prosecution on Tuesday.
According to the prosecution, the footage shows Alex Murdaugh being there at the location moments before Paul and Maggie were fatally shot. In the video he shot that evening, Paul can be seen playing with Cash, one of his buddy Rogan Gibson's chocolate labs, inside a kennel.
Paul informed Gibson that the dog's tail seemed to be broken. Gibson, who was in contact with Paul the night he was killed, testified that he could make out the voices of Paul, Maggie, and Alex Murdaugh on the video Paul took of Cash.
On June 7, 2021, Colleton County Sgt. Brian Vernadoe went to investigate allegations of killings at the Murdaughs' farm, but he did not notice any blood on Alex Murdaugh's hands, Vernadoe stated on Wednesday.
Although Alex Murdaugh maintains he was napping at the time of the killings before he went to see his mother, he is suspected of murdering and shooting his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, that evening outside the family's dog kennels, using two separate weapons.
Vernadoe stated that he conducted a gun residue examination on Alex Murdaugh's hands following the killings and discovered that they were clean. He said that Murdaugh was helpful at the time.
The sergeant said that when Vernadoe checked Murdaugh's hands that evening, there was no evidence of blood on them either. Murdaugh is a former prosecutor.
Vernadoe described Murdaugh's state that evening as "shaken up." Vernadoe had already testified in one of Alex Murdaugh's trials, as the lawyers highlighted on Tuesday.
During a lunch break in Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial on Tuesday afternoon, Richard "Buster" Murdaugh Jr. and his girlfriend Brooklyn White were spotted exiting a Colleton County courtroom. The sole surviving son of Alex Murdaugh is Buster, age 26.
The sixth day of the trial, in which Alex Murdaugh is charged with killing his wife Maggie, and son Paul on June 7, 2021, was highlighted by Tuesday's proceedings. White, also 26 years old, and Buster Murdaugh reside at Hilton Head, a sleepy South Carolina vacation destination.
Unaware of Buster's name or his awful family circumstances, a neighbor earlier told Fox News Digital, "They're a genuinely kind couple." "They always greet you with a grin."
Buster, who supposedly was expelled from the University of South Carolina Law School in his second semester for plagiarism, attended the same law school as White, according to the Wall Street Journal. According to FitsNews, Alex hired a lawyer for $60,000 to try to get Buster readmitted.
On Wednesday afternoon, defense attorney Phillip Barber kept questioning Lt. Britt Dove of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division's cyber crimes unit.
Based on SLED's findings, Barber stated that at 9:06 p.m. on the night of the killings, Maggie Murdaugh's phone orientation appeared to shift for the final time, while Murdaugh's phone showed that he was still going toward his car and phoning Maggie.
According to Dove's testimony, "it seems the phones were not together being handled by the same individual because they are not recording steps," which means that at 9:06 p.m., "both phones were not simultaneously recording steps."
Alex Murdaugh is accused of killing his wife and son at about 8:50 p.m. at the family's expansive hunting estate's dog kennels.
However, Murdaugh's defense team contends that he was sleeping at the time of the killings and left the house shortly after 9 p.m. to go see his mother, who is located about 20 minutes away.
When he got back, he said that just after 10 p.m., he discovered his son and wife's dead bodies next to the dog kennels on the family's vast hunting estate.
He continually denied going to the dog kennels that evening and making the terrible finding, according to investigators.
However, prosecutors said in their opening arguments that at 8:44 p.m., Paul filmed a smartphone video close to the kennels that showed Alex's voice.
A settlement deal between two Murdaugh family members and a woman murdered in a fatal boat accident in 2019 was accepted by a South Carolina judge earlier this month.
Mallory Beach, 19, lost his life after Paul Murdaugh's father's boat struck a bridge while he was intoxicated. He purchased booze for the outing using his elder brother Buster Murdaugh's identification.
In exchange for tens of thousands of dollars, Beach's family consented to withdraw Maggie Murdaugh's estate and Buster, 26, from the lawsuit.
The lone surviving child of infamous South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh is named Buster. In June 2021, Alex is said to have killed his wife Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22.
The Beach family's lawyer, Mark Brandon Tinsley, said in a statement to Fox News Digital that while they are "pleased" with Judge Daniel Hall's decision, they do not think it was the "optimal choice given the circumstances."
But he added that it was "the sole choice for anybody who had any actual interest." "We also think the decision will help offer some closure to the folks who so urgently deserve it," Tinsley continued.
Lt. Britt Dove of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division's computer crimes unit was cross-examined by defense attorney Phillip Barber. Following the double killing, Dove examined the phones of Paul, Maggie, and Alex Murdaugh. Barber made him read some of Maggie's older writings.
She texted someone at 3:55 p.m., but the lawyer withheld the name of the receiver. "TY, At the doctor, I'm waiting. Alex desires that I return home. At Edisto, I have to leave the door open, but I trust the Mexicans to close and lock it for me.
His father is back in the hospital. The last doctor says there is no cancer. "I have pneumonia." She composed.
Alex and Paul lived at the family's expansive hunting estate known as Moselle near Islandton, South Carolina, while Maggie typically remained at the family's beach property in Edisto.
At 4:06 p.m., she wrote, "I'm frightened for him and Alex and all of us," alluding to Randolph Buster Murdaugh III's failing health. Three days after the double homicide, he passed away.
Dove acknowledged under cross-examination that texts on an iPhone may be read without the device being unlocked or recognizing that they have been read.
He also admitted that following the killings, the steps Alex and Maggie recorded on their iPhones were not in sync. It would be assumed that Alex's movements would correspond if he possessed both iPhones.
On Wednesday, prosecutors presented a jury with a 50-second video that was captured at 8:44:49 on Paul Murdaugh's phone. Lt. Britt Dove of the computer crime center for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division stated, "It's a video I found on Paul Murdaugh's phone."
He's trying to shoot a video of the dog's tail, and it appears as though it's inside of perhaps a kennel area with a fence surrounding it, according to him.
The dog is a black lab. John Conrad, an assistant attorney general, questioned Dove about the audio on the video. In the video, three distinct voices can be heard. "They're so distinct, you can tell," Dove told the jurors.
Alex Murdaugh looked to kowtow and sob as the jury saw the footage. Paul's camera started at 8:44:49 on June 7, 2021, for about 50 seconds, and it stopped at 8:45:47. Dove verified that the footage and the time the iPhone's camera was active matched.
Conrad questioned, "You're telling this jury today that you're positive that's when that video was captured on Paul's phone?" He answered, "Yes, sir."
Paul's phone's GPS data indicated that at the time the video was taken, it was close to a red roof along Moselle Road. Paul attempted to take a photo of the dog's wounded tail so he could show the veterinarian.
According to the prosecution, the video showed Alex and Maggie Murdaugh speaking, putting him near the site of the crime just before the claimed double homicide and disproving his alibi.
He admitted to investigators that on the night his son's head was blasted off with a shotgun and his wife was shot to death with a rifle at around 8:50 p.m., he never went to the dog kennels.
Paul Murdaugh, 22, recommended a movie to a buddy in his final text message before being mercilessly shot dead. He recommended the movie "A Star is Born" to his pal through SMS at 8:48:05. At 8:48 p.m., she replied, "Don't enjoy watching sad movies.
"I need a joyful thing." At 8:48:59 p.m., he read her two texts on his phone, but he did not comment. At 8:49:35, he received another text message from his buddy Rogan Gibson, but he never opened it on his phone.
"Try to get a decent image." Maryann wants to email it to a vet student we know: "Gibson wrote about his dog, who had a tail issue and was housed in one of Paul's kennels." Tell him not to move around too much and to sit still. Gibson texted Maggie, "Tell Paul to call me," around 45 minutes later.
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