Alex Murdaugh murder trial to hear from first responders on Day Four

Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial has heard from the first officer on the scene on Day Four after the legal scion wept in court while hearing gruesome details of his wife and son’s brutal killings – and his only surviving son shot him daggers.

The disgraced attorney, 54, is accused of shooting his wife, Maggie, 52, and younger son Paul, 22, at their sprawling hunting property in Islandton, a rural corner of South Carolina’s Lowcountry, on the night of June 7, 2021. 

The prosecution’s first witness Sgt. Daniel Green told jurors that when he arrived on the scene he saw Maggie and Paul lying in pools of blood, as well as brain matter.

Green said that as he approached Murdaugh his ‘immediate reaction was to start telling me about his son – about a boating accident.’

At the time of his death, Paul Murdaugh was facing trial for driving a boat under the influence of alcohol which crashed, killing a 19-year-old woman. 

A recording of Murdaugh was played to the court, he is heard telling Green through sobs: ‘He’s been getting threats most of it’s been benign stuff – we didn’t take serious.

‘He’s been getting punched. I know that’s what it is about.’ 

Murdaugh wept as the body-worn footage was played, bobbing back and forth and biting his lip. 

Green told the court that he had not asked Murdaugh about any boating accident.

Murdaugh is heard asking the cop, whether he had checked his wife and son. 

‘Did you check them?’ Murdaugh says. 

The cop replies, telling him that paramedics are on their way.

‘What are they doing? Can they hurry?’ Murdaugh asks. 

Green told the court that Murdaugh had a camo shotgun that he took and secured in his vehicle, adding that because the defendant was ‘upset and anxious’ he thought it was the best course of action.

The shotgun – which Green held aloft to present to the court – was later given to investigators. 

Green stated that he did not unload or modify the weapon before turning it over.  

Murdaugh smiled as he arrived at court Thursday wearing a white shirt and with his blazer draped over his wrists – concealing the handcuffs binding them – as sheriffs escorted him inside. 

Prosecutor Creighton Waters yesterday told jurors the body-worn footage and recordings of Murdaugh from the night will play a key role in the trial.

‘Watch those closely. Watch his expressions. Listen to what he’s saying and what he’s not saying,’ the prosecutor said.

Murdaugh wept during yesterday’s opening as jurors heard how he first blasted Paul with buckshot before picking up an AR-15-style rifle to shoot his wife Maggie twice in the head. 

The defendant’s own attorney seized on the evidence of the brutality of these ‘executions’ to claim it was simply ‘not believable’ his client carried them out.

Murdaugh’s only surviving son Buster, 25 – who is set to testify against his father – sat behind him as the horrifying evidence was laid out, staring into his back.

Buster arrived at court Thursday with his girlfriend Brooklynn White.

Alex’s brother John Marvin – who is also set to testify against him – also arrived this morning.

Murdaugh allegedly called John Marvin the night of the murders, and used that call as part of his alibi. 

Murdaugh’s attorneys are yet to submit an alibi to jury, but in November they filed papers with the court claiming he was visiting his elderly mother at the time of the murders.

His Alzheimers’-stricken mother, 83, is now reportedly on her deathbed and is not on either side’s witness list.

During Day Four, the state’s first witness Sgt Green described being out on road patrol when dispatchers told him to rush to the Murdaugh estate, known as Moselle. 

He was told the male caller had told 911 ‘he had found his wife and son shot.’

Green added that he was driving fast, ‘lights were on, sirens were on.’

He stated when he arrived on the scene he could see Murdaugh at the end of the driveway.

‘As I was approaching towards [Murdaugh] I could see the male lying on the ground to my left, and the female victim to my right.

‘There was a large deal of blood that had pooled around his body, same for the female victim, also a lot of blood pooled around the body.’

He added that there was ‘a large amount of blood, as well as brain matter.’

Green said that Murdaugh’s ‘immediate reaction was to start telling me about his son – about a boating accident.’

The sergeant stated that he had not asked Murdaugh anything about a boating accident.

At the time of his death, Paul Murdaugh was facing trial for driving a boat under the influence of alcohol which crashed, killing a 19-year-old woman.

The trial is taking place at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, a sleepy, rural town 50 miles west of Charleston in a low-lying region of South Carolina over which the Murdaugh family has wielded immense judicial and political power.

Indeed, in the courtroom where Murdaugh faces judgment a portrait of his late grandfather – legendary longtime 14th Circuit Solicitor Buster Murdaugh Jr. – had hung on the wall before it was removed ahead of the trial.

Prosecutor Waters described how Murdaugh shot Paul in the feed room of their hunting property at around 8.50pm – first with buckshot in the chest and shoulder, then a second shot to head, causing catastrophic damage.

He said moments later Murdaugh picked up an AR-15 style rifle loaded with with .300 Blackout ammunition, shot his wife Maggie twice in the lower body, then twice in the head, killing her.

Waters added that the victims never saw it coming.

‘They were shot at close range and they did not have defensive wounds,’ Waters told jurors.

Murdaugh claims he was not there and at the family’s dog kennels when the murders happened.

But Waters said data from ‘cell phones are going to show otherwise.’

The prosecutor stressed that phone records will be critical in the case and the jury will hear that the Murdaughs were ‘prolific’ cell phone users.

Waters added that bodycam footage and audio records of statements from the night of the murders will play a key role in the trial. 

‘Watch those closely. Watch his expressions. Listen to what he’s saying and what he’s not saying,’ the prosecutor said.

Waters said Maggie was killed by a ‘family weapon’. He cited evidence from a ballistics expert who said .300 Blackout casings found throughout the property have matching tool mark patterns. The prosecutor said that a Blackout rifle owned by the family has never been located. 

Waters added that a raincoat with gunshot residue was found at Murdaugh’s mother’s home following the killings. He also said the residue was discovered on the seat belt of his car. 

Waters concluded the opening by telling jurors they were assessing a complicated case and there would be a long trial ahead, but that once the ‘puzzle pieces’ start coming together – the ‘building storm’ will lead them to the inescapable conclusion that Murdaugh killed his wife and son.

‘(Alex) was the storm, the storm was coming for them, just like the storms are coming here right now, and the storm arrived on June 7, 2021. They died as a result,’ the prosecutor said.

In his defense, Harpootlian said that Murdaugh’s son Paul was the ‘apple of his eye’ and dismissed the prosecutor’s claims as conjecture.

He described a Snapchat video taken by Paul an hour before the killings showing the father and son.

‘They’re laughing, they’re having a good time,’ Harpootlian said.

Harpootlian said the shot that hit Paul in chest also struck his arm, indicating that he may have been holding his arms up when he was killed.

Harpootlian said that prosecutors were merely speculating when they said there were no defensive wounds.

He described how ‘the gasses from that [second] shot literally exploded his head, like a watermelon hit with a sledgehammer.’

‘All that was left was the front of his face, everything else was gone. His brain exploded out of his head. It hit the ceiling in the shed and dropped to his feet. Horrific. Horrible. Butchering,’ Harpootlian said.

‘So to find Alex Murdaugh guilty of murdering his son you have to accept that within an hour of having an extraordinarily bonding… you can see it in the Snapchat – that he executes him in a brutal fashion. Not believable.’

He then went on to describe how there were no defensive wounds on Maggie because she was shot while running away – contrary to the prosecutor’s claims she was caught unawares when she was killed.

‘Who was Maggie running from?’, Harpootlian asked.

The defense lawyer said his client was hysterical and inconsolable when he called 911 after finding Maggie and Paul.

Harpootlian said Murdaugh was so ‘traumatized’ after finding the pair that he loaded wrong-sized shells into a shotgun while fearing their killer was still ‘out there.’

He argued it was implausible that Murdaugh used two weapons to kill Maggie and Paul, saying it as much more likely the murders were carried out by two people.

Harpootlian also questioned why no bloody clothes had been found, giving the gruesome way and close-range nature of the shootings.

‘Where are the bloody clothes?’ he asked.

Harpootlian concluded: ‘He didn’t do it.’ 

Following the opening statements by both legal teams, Judge Clifton Newman adjourned the case to 9.30am Thursday when jurors will see body-worn camera video. 

Murdaugh is being tried by a jury of four white men, six white women and two black women.

Deciding against the death penalty, state prosecutors are seeking a sentence of life in prison without parole. 

Prosecutors have said Murdaugh killed his wife and child to generate sympathy and distract from his financial crimes, an alleged motive that Murdaugh’s lawyers have argued doesn’t make sense.

But he has adamantly insisted from the moment he found the bodies of his wife and youngest son shot multiple times that he was not the killer. 

Following the murder trial, Murdaugh will have to face more than 100 additional criminal charges, ranging from drug trafficking to allegations that he stole nearly $9 million from clients and other attorneys. 

Prosecutors say Murdaugh lured his wife and son to their 1,700-acre hunting lodge and shot them dead.

The court also claims that his life was spiraling out of control amid years of opioid addiction and ballooning debts.

Murdaugh pleaded not guilty in June, and the blockbuster trial is expected to include wild allegations of dark family secrets, financial ruin and hedonistic excess.  

In total, over 220 people could testify against Murdaugh in the trial, it was revealed Tuesday.