Day 18 live updates: Lead SLED investigator for Murdaugh murder trial takes stand, state case nearing end

Feb. 15—WALTERBORO, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh, a once prominent Hampton-based attorney from a well-known politically-connected family, is on trial in the deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul.

Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty. He faces life in prison without parole if found guilty. The trial started Jan. 23 with jury selection, opening arguments and the initial round of witness testimony. For now, the trial is expected to stretch at least through Friday, Feb. 17.

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 Paul Murdaugh were killed.

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 Paul Murdaugh took at the kennels around 8:45 that evening, minutes before his phone activity ended.

11:51 a.m. — Alex: Maggie came home because concerns for Alex, his dad

In an Aug. 11, 2021, interview with SLED lead investigator David Owen, Alex Murdaugh said Maggie Murdaugh came home on June 7, 2021, because she was worried about Alex Murdaugh and his father.

The same day, Murdaugh received word his father's health was declining and he wouldn't survive.

Earlier witnesses, including the Murdaughs' former housekeeper, Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson, testified Maggie Murdaugh went to Moselle at Alex Murdaugh's request that day.

Turrubiate-Simpson testified Maggie Murdaugh didn't seem like she wanted to leave her Edisto Beach home, which she preferred to stay at.

11:47 a.m. — Fleming upset SLED interviewed Alex 'as supsect'

Jurors are currently viewing an Aug. 11, 2021 interview between Alex Murdaugh, his friend a fellow attorney Corey Fleming, and lead SLED investigator David Owen.

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.

11:35 a.m. — Jurors to see critical interview

Prosecutors are preparing to show SLED's Aug. 11, 2021, interview with Alex Murdaugh.

The interview has not been shown in court so far. The interview was voluntary, Owen said, and Corey Fleming, another PMPED lawyer, was present.

Owen testified Murdaugh said he wanted to ask investigators questions about their findings during the interview as well.

11:15 a.m. — SLED canvased area near Moselle for potential killers

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 Alex Murdaugh at the crime scene, conducted in his patrol car. Murdaugh, fellow PMPED law firm attorney Danny Henderson, and another law enforcement official were in the vehicle at the time.

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 Rogan Gibson on June 8, 2021, Gibson said he was "99% sure" he could hear Alex Murdaugh's voice in a video Paul Murdaugh took at the Moselle kennels around 8:45 p.m. the night of his death.

Gibson is a long-time friend of Paul Murdaugh's who took the witness stand on Feb. 1. Gibson was the first of eight witnesses to identify Alex Murdaugh's voice in the video, adding he was "100% sure" now.

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.

10:30 a.m. — Lead SLED investigator testifies

The jury has returned to the courtroom. The state's first witness today is South Carolina Law Enforcement Division special agent David Owen, who oversaw the agency's investigation of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh's murders.

Owen was present for several key interviews with Alex Murdaugh early in the investigation.

9:55 a.m. — All jurors test negative for COVID

Judge Clifton Newman announced the trial's remaining jurors have all tested negative for COVID-19.

The tests were ordered after two jurors were excused from duty Monday. The jurors had contracted COVID-19.

9:45 a.m. — Jury won't hear testimony on Labor Day shooting

Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters opened Wednesday's preliminary hearing arguing testimony related to Alex Murdaugh being shot on Sept. 3, 2021, is admissible.

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 June 7, 2021, Waters argued.

"(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 June 7, 2021."

On the morning of June 7, 2021, Murdaugh was confronted by the CFO of his law firm, Jeanne Seckinger. Seckinger was asking about $792,000 in missing fees from a case Murdaugh worked in January 2021. The law firm was supposed to receive that money, but Murdaugh allegedly took the fees for personal use.

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 Sept. 3 roadside shooting, Waters said, "and that he immediately tells this lie about him being targeted by an unknown assailant."

Waters suggested Murdaugh lied about the attack to once again drum up public sympathy for himself and his remaining family.

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian again countered Murdaugh intended to die in the Sept. 3 shooting.

Judge Clifton Newman ruled that the evidence is "a bridge too far" for the murder trial but might be relevant for the future financial trial.

"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."

9:30 a.m. — Court ponders Labor Day shooting testimony

Jurors will be absent from court until 10:30 a.m. Wednesday as Judge Clifton Newman holds another evidentiary hearing, this time regarding Alex Murdaugh's roadside incident on Sept. 3, 2021.

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 Creighton Waters said. "I believe that's the exact effect the defendant intended."

The defense countered the evidence isn't relevant to the murder trial, given the incident took place months after Maggie and Paul Murdaugh's June 7, 2021, killings.

Murdaugh "intended to die" to set his surviving son, Buster Murdaugh, up with millions in life insurance, defense attorney Dick Harpootlian argued.

"Unfortunately, Eddie Smith (Murdaugh's distant cousin and alleged accomplice), at 4 feet away, couldn't shoot somebody in the head," Harpootlian said.

This story was originally published February 15, 2023, 9:24 AM.

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