Day 18 live updates: Investigators were dubious of Alex Murdaugh’s timeline, interview shows
Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty. He faces life in prison without parole if found guilty. The trial started
How to watch the Murdaugh double murder trial, who to follow from The State,
SLED Special Agent
Defense attorney
Agents conducted a search of Murdaugh’s home at Moselle for clothes, blood, guns and ammunition, Griffin said, which raised questions about why they hadn’t done the same at
“Would you agree that was an opportunity missed?” Griffin asked.
“Probably, yes,” Owen responded.
Defense attorney
Griffin established early skepticism
No weapons were ever discovered between Moselle and
SLED Special Agent
“Did you kill Maggie?” Owen asked Murdaugh directly in a recording played for the jury. “Did you kill Paul, do you know who did?”
At that time, Owen testified, Murdaugh was the “only known suspect” in the murders.
Murdaugh denied both the killings, and asked whether the questions meant he was still considered a suspect.
“I have to look at all of the evidence and the facts presented,” Owen responded in the interview.
He added he hadn’t been able to move Murdaugh out of the investigative circle yet. Earlier in the interview, Owen pointed to issues with the timeline Murdaugh had given investigators, particularly his denial he was at the Moselle kennels that night.
Prior to the
There were also inconsistencies with how long
Mushelle “Shelley” Smith, the caretaker for Murdaugh’s mother, said he’d been there for about 20 minutes.
“It wasn’t just one inconsistency,” Owen testified. “It was several inconsistencies over a period of time that were repeated.”
The jury has returned to the courtroom. SLED Special Agent
Owen was the lead investigator in the murders of Maggie and
In an
Among the discrepancies Owen sought to clarify was why
Murdaugh hadn’t previously told investigators whether he’d gone back into the office aside from earlier that morning.
Owen also raised the issue of Murdaugh telling 911 dispatchers he last saw Maggie and
Murdaugh’s voice was identified in a video
“So you believe I’m giving you an inconsistent answer?” Murdaugh asked during the interview.
“No,” Owen said, “I’m just trying to wrap my head around the timelines.”
As the interview moved on, Murdaugh also asked whether Owen had any knowledge of how many shooters were involved, or whether Maggie and Paul had lived long after they were shot.
Owen said the two were likely killed in “a matter of seconds,” but couldn’t say for certain whether it was one or multiple killers.
The possibility of Murdaugh himself being at the crime also came up, with Owen saying he’d “hate to give any credence to the media” theories proposing Murdaugh as the killer.
Judge
12 noon – Alex said he visited his mother for ‘45 minutes, 1 hour’
During the interview with Owen, Murdaugh said he visited his mother for “45 minutes, an hour” on the night Maggie and
The timeline of Murdaugh’s visit with his mother has been key in the prosecution’s case. Mushelle “Shelley” Smith, the caretaker for Murdaugh’s mother who was working that night, testified last week Murdaugh visited for about 15 to 20 minutes that night.
Just a few days after the murder, during a wake for Alex Murdaugh’s father, Smith said Murdaugh approached her. Unprompted, she said, Murdaugh mentioned how he’d been at the house for around 30 or 40 minutes that night.
Prosecution has suggested Murdaugh lied about the length of the visit to build an alibi.
In the same interview, Murdaugh said he didn’t visit the kennels that night. Eight separate witnesses have identified Murdaugh’s voice in a video
In an
The same day, Murdaugh received word his father’s health was declining and he wouldn’t survive.
Earlier witnesses, including the Murdaughs’ former housekeeper,
Turrubiate-Simpson testified
Jurors are currently viewing an
In the recording, Fleming, Murdaugh and Owen met for an interview. Near the start of the interview, Fleming was angry, as he thought the group was meeting so Murdaugh could hear updates on SLED’s investigation of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s murders.
Owen indicated he also wished to ask more questions to Murdaugh relevant to the investigation.
“Why can’t you give us information first?” Fleming asked. “I’m uncomfortable with you asking him questions as a suspect when I came here with the thought that you were going to be telling him where you were in the investigation, what it is you’ve done, seen, uncovered, whatever. That’s why we came here.”
Owen responded that any murder investigation begins with the person who was closest to the victims or who found the bodies, and he needed to ask more questions, since he hadn’t been able to “get Alex out” of the investigative circle.
Prosecutors are preparing to show SLED’s
The interview has not been shown in court so far. The interview was voluntary, Owen said, and
Owen testified Murdaugh said he wanted to ask investigators questions about their findings during the interview as well.
Much of lead SLED investigator David Owen’s testimony has reestablished facts presented earlier in the trial by numerous law enforcement witnesses.
Owen recounted his original interview with
Owen said Henderson’s presence wasn’t unusual. Attorneys who wish to be present for such interviews are rarely turned away, Owen said.
In the days following Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s deaths, Owen said SLED canvased the area around Moselle for any suspects.
When Owen interviewed
Gibson is a long-time friend of Paul Murdaugh’s who took the witness stand on
Interviewing Murdaugh again as soon as possible became a priority, Owen said, since Murdaugh has denied ever being at the kennels that night.
The defense has undercut SLED’s investigation throughout the trial, attempting to seed doubt in jurors. The first responders’ potential contamination of the crime scene by walking over potential evidence and not properly documenting footwear impressions have been specific points of criticism.
The jury has returned to the courtroom. The state’s first witness today is
Owen was present for several key interviews with
Judge
The tests were ordered after two jurors were excused from duty Monday. The jurors had contracted COVID-19.
Lead prosecutor
The relevant testimony could be given in about an hour, Waters said. Witnesses and recordings of the incident present relevant information for the murder trial because the circumstances are parallel to Murdaugh’s circumstances around
“(The case) is intricate and complex on a scale that I think none of us have ever seen,” Waters said. “(The September shooting) is the same thing that happened on
On the morning of
The state has theorized Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s murders were intended to elicit sympathy from the public and take scrutiny away from Murdaugh’s finances.
“What’s important ... is what the defendant said about” the
Waters suggested Murdaugh lied about the attack to once again drum up public sympathy for himself and his remaining family.
Defense attorney
Judge
“This evidence I find goes beyond motive … but more toward a common scheme or plan, but it does not survive the logical relevancy test,” Newman said, “and it goes more toward showing propensity to commit violent acts, which would cause it not to survive the 403 analysis.”
Jurors will be absent from court until
Murdaugh was shot in the head while allegedly changing a tire on his car and airlifted to Savannah for medical treatment.
Tuesday, prosecutors claimed Murdaugh never intended to die in the scheme but aimed to drum up sympathy as mounting evidence of his alleged white-collar crimes loomed and his personal finances crumbled.
“’Oh my God, the real killers are back,’” lead prosecutor
The defense countered the evidence isn’t relevant to the murder trial, given the incident took place months after Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s
Murdaugh “intended to die” to set his surviving son,
“Unfortunately,
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Jury hears Alex Murdaugh’s final interview with murder investigators
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