Day 19: Murdaugh details Labor Day weekend shooting scheme in SLED interview [The Island Packet (Hilton Head Island, S.C.)]

Feb. 16—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.

4:05 p.m. — Court adjourned

Judge Clifton Newman sent court into recess until 9:30 a.m. Friday.

SLED special agent Ryan Kelly remains on the stand. On Friday, Kelly will be cross-examined by defense attorney Dick Harpootlian

Just before adjournment, Kelly testified that Alex Murdaugh never told investigators Curtis "Eddie" Smith may have been involved in the shootings of his wife and son, and he never mentioned any ongoing threat to his surviving son, Buster, after the Labor Day weekend shooting.

The testimony was part of the prosecution's attempt to undercut the defense theory that Maggie and Paul Murdaugh may have been killed as retaliation from a drug gang Smith was deeply indebted to.

Smith had supplied Murdaugh with opioids for years, Murdaugh told investigators. Murdaugh said he often paid Smith $50,000 to $60,000 at a time.

3:32 p.m. — Alex told investigators attempted suicide plan

In an interview with his own attorneys and SLED investigators, Alex Murdaugh shared details of his assisted suicide plan.

Murdaugh said he asked Curtis "Eddie" Smith — a distant cousin of Murdaugh's who supplied pills to him "for years" for up to "$50,000 or $60,000" — to shoot him on a rural Hampton County road.

Murdaugh pulled over to the side of the road and flattened his own tire with a knife, he said in a phone interview with SLED from a Georgia rehab facility. It was intended to look as though he was changing his tire before being killed, Murdaugh said.

Murdaugh said his son, Buster, was intended to collect his life insurance money, some $10 million to $12 million. The assisted suicide would circumvent the insurance's exception for people who die by suicide.

"I knew I was about to lose everything, and I figured he was better off that way than dealing with me," Murdaugh said.

"(Smith) missed and hit me in the very back of the head," Murdaugh said. "I lost my vision for a little bit."

Smith never asked Murdaugh to reconsider the plan, he said. During the interview, Murdaugh's defense attorney, Dick Harpootlian, asked whether Murdaugh "found that strange."

Murdaugh said he hadn't considered it, since he was focused on "being gone."

3:12 p.m. — Witness: Alex tried to pay hospital staff to use phone

SLED agent Ryan Kelly testified medical staff told investigators Alex Murdaugh tried to pay them to use the hospital phone.

Murdaugh was airlifted to the Savannah hospital after being shot in Hampton County on Sept. 3, 2021. During his stay, visiting family members told SLED investigators that Murdaugh made several phone calls to an unknown number.

Kelly said SLED learned the number belonged to Curtis "Eddie" Smith, a distance cousin of Murdaugh's and his alleged drug dealer.

"We were able to go to his residence the morning of Sept. 7," Kelly said. "A search warrant was obtained and executed on the residence."

Investigators found a "small amount of narcotics" and a "drug reference guide" Smith made himself, Kelly said.

"There were numbers, there were pills, and descriptions of what looked like some kind of sales ledger," Kelly testified.

SLED also found deposits in Smith's bank account that tied back to Murdaugh.

2:55 p.m. — Jury hears 911 call from Labor Day weekend shooting

Prosecutors played a recording of Alex Murdaugh's Sept. 3, 2021, 911 call.

Murdaugh said he was shot on the side of a road in Hampton County. He told the 911 dispatcher he didn't know who shot him. He said he'd pulled over to fix a flat tire when someone stopped to offer assistance.

"(He was) a real nice guy, acting like," Murdaugh told first responders while being treated on the scene.

Murdaugh described his alleged assailant as "nice looking," with close-cropped hair.

Murdaugh's distant cousin and alleged drug supplier, Curtis "Eddie" Smith, later claimed Murdaugh tried to recruit him to an assisted suicide scheme. Smith said he hadn't known what Murdaugh intended when he asked to meet on the road.

2:30 p.m. — State calls repeat witness, SLED agent

Prosecutors have called SLED senior special agent Ryan Kelly to the stand.

Kelly briefly testified on Feb. 13 to introduce DNA swabs he'd taken from Curtis "Eddie" Smith and relatives of Mallory Beach, who died in a 2019 boat crash. Kelly's return to the stand is linked to his role as the lead agent in SLED's investigation of Alex Murdaugh's Sept. 3, 2021, attempted suicide.

Smith was allegedly the gunman, collaborating with Murdaugh to leave Murdaugh's surviving son, Buster, with millions of dollars in life insurance money.

1:05 p.m. — Court in recess

Judge Clifton Newman sent court into recess until 2:15 p.m. for lunch.

Just before breaking for lunch, Newman announced he's designated Juror No. 826 as the foreman. The foreman will deliver the verdict sheet after deliberations.

12:45 p.m. — Defense scrutinizes angle of second shotgun blast

In cross-examination of crime scene expert Kenneth Kinsey, defense attorney Dick Harpootlian questioned the strange angle of the shot that killed Paul Murdaugh.

The second, fatal blast came from about a 135-degree upward angle, Kinsey estimated. The shooter was to the right of the feed room door frame, he said, with Paul moving out of the door.

Demonstrating the angle with a shotgun in hand, Kinsey crouched low to the floor. The sharp angle would likely mean Paul's killer couldn't have been farther than 3 feet away, Kinsey theorized. But Harpootlian said at that range, Paul's wounds from the second shot should have had stippling, or traces of powder left from a gunshot at that range.

Kinsey said he couldn't explain the lack of stippling around the wounds.

The angle would indicate someone either crouched very low to the ground or held the shotgun while crouched over, Harpootlian suggested.

"I can't figure out why people do what they do," Kinsey said after Harpootlian asked why the shooter would hold the weapon that way.

11:35 a.m. — Maggie's calf had tire tread impression

An unidentified impression on the back of Maggie Murdaugh's calf that defense attorneys have raised questions about repeatedly is a tire tread impression, crime scene expert Kenneth Kinsey said.

Kinsey, also the chief deputy of the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office, said the impression is most likely from the tire of an ATV found "in close proximity" to Maggie's body.

Kinsey clarified he saw no evidence Maggie Murdaugh was run over, though.

"At some point in time, Ms. Maggie Murdaugh's calf made contact with that front driver's side tire or one like it," Kinsey said.

11:30 a.m. — Expert: Paul moved toward shooter before fatal shot

Before Paul Murdaugh was shot a second, fatal time, blood spatter expert Kenneth Kinsey said he likely moved toward the shooter.

When Paul was first shot, Kinsey said the shotgun was "somewhere inside the doorway" of the feed room. Paul then moved "real slow" toward the door he was shot from, Kinsey said. Kinsey determined Paul's path based on blood droplets on the feed room floor. The shooter was somewhere outside the doorway and slightly to the right when they fired the second, immediately fatal blast to Paul's left shoulder and head, Kinsey said.

10:45 a.m. — State expert breaks down Murdaugh crime scene

Kenneth Kinsey, Orangeburg County Sheriff's Department chief deputy and a crime scene investigation expert, is testifying on blood patterns found at the kennels on the Murdaugh's Colleton County estate, known as Moselle.

Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters opened his questioning discussing details of Paul Murdaugh's death.

Kinsey said Paul was roughly 5 feet from the feed room door when he was first shot, and the shotgun was at "a bare minimum" somewhere inside the doorway, since the shells were ejected inside the room.

Paul was stationary for a time after the first wound to his chest, Kinsey said. Kinsey explained the circular blood drops around the crime scene prove this, since droplets that fall straight down splatter into a circle.

"These 90-degree (blood) drops here tell me that Paul was standing there for a moment. I can't tell you how long," Kinsey said.

Other blood droplets show Paul apparently moved toward the door, Kinsey said, though "not very fast."

10:20 a.m. — State calls crime scene expert

Kenneth Lee Kinsey, chief deputy with the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Department, has taken the stand.

Kinsey said he specializes in crime scene investigation, particularly violent crime. He's the "No. 2 man" in his department, he said.

9:55 a.m. — Defense reaffirms objection to Labor Day shooting evidence

Without the jury present, defense attorney Jim Griffin reiterated the defense's objection to the jury hearing testimony related to Alex Murdaugh's attempted suicide in September 2021.

Murdaugh was shot on the side of a Hampton County road on Sept. 3, 2021, allegedly by Curtis "Eddie" Smith, Murdaugh's distant cousin and alleged accomplice who's been accused of being the shooter Labor Day weekend. Murdaugh was airlifted to the Savannah hospital after the shooting, and was interviewed by SLED agents.

Griffin objected to the state's introduction of a "panoply" of evidence, including a video of Murdaugh's hospital interview, he said was irrelevant to the crimes Murdaugh is on trial for, the June 7, 2021, murders of his wife and son. The murders of Paul and Maggie took place months earlier in June 2021, therefore evidence of the September 2021 incident shouldn't be considered, he said.

Newman originally ruled Wednesday that the roadside shooting evidence was inadmissible, but reversed course at the end of court Wednesday after he said the defense "opened the door" to the evidence.

In cross-examination of lead SLED investigator David Owen, Griffin asked who else was considered a suspect.

He brought special attention to whether Smith was considered a suspect, or if Owen was aware Smith was deeply indebted to a drug gang. Griffin suggested that debt, and Murdaugh spending $50,000 a week on drugs Smith supplied, might have made Murdaugh's family a target for a retaliatory "drug hit."

Newman decided Smith's involvement in the roadside shooting, and the defense choosing to bring Smith into focus, was what paved the way for admitting evidence related to the Labor Day weekend incident.

"The court ruled that (the roadside shooting) was a bridge too far, then the defense decided to build a road over that bridge," Newman said.

Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters hinted the evidence is primarily intended to show Murdaugh lied to SLED agents about who was involved in the shooting, displaying the ability to lie to law enforcement. Murdaugh didn't first disclose Smith's involvement.

Court has entered recess as legal teams decide how much evidence related to the incident should be admitted.

9:30 a.m. — Court resumes as state nears end of case

Court is back in session Thursday after another eyebrow-raising trial day 24 hours before.

Meanwhile, the state's case, initially expected to wrap up Wednesday, is now expected to be finished by Friday.

Judge Clifton Newman on Wednesday reversed his previous decision to disallow the Labor Day weekend 2021 shooting incident to be introduced to the jury after he said defense attorneys opened the door when attorney Jim Griffin asked a witness about Curtis "Eddie" Smith, a distant cousin of Murdaugh's and alleged accomplice in drug crimes and the shooting of Murdaugh.

Will Smith take the stand? That's the question reporters and the public asked Wednesday, or will prosecutors only use testimony from the law enforcement officers who responded to the Labor Day weekend shooting?

Murdaugh was charged with insurance fraud in the shooting, after charges say he intended to leave his surviving son, Buster, a hefty life insurance policy. Smith was used in order to elude the insurance's suicide exemption, authorities have said.

For most of Wednesday, the jury heard from David Owen, a senior special agent with the S.C. Law Enforcement Division.

Owen, the lead case agent on the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, explained the third and final interview they gave to Murdaugh, asking him whether he killed his wife and son.

"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.

In cross-examination, Owen acknowledged it was an opportunity missed to search Murdaugh's mother's home. Murdaugh has contended he visited his mother, Libby, the night of the murders before coming back to his home and discovering his wife and son's bodies.

Even more interesting, Owen, being pushed on the stand by Griffin about testimony he gave to the Colleton County Grand Jury, acknowledged part of his 2021 testimony that led to Murdaugh's indictment was incorrect.

Days earlier, another SLED agent testified that the white T-shirt agents seized from Murdaugh on June 7, 2021, had no blood on it, though it did have DNA consistent with Maggie and Paul. The shirt had a positive preliminary test result for blood, the agent said, but returned a negative result when SLED used a "confirmatory" test.

Owen said he presented evidence to the grand jury stating an out-of-state expert identified several areas of blood spatter on the white T-shirt. He said he'd never seen SLED's test results showing no blood until November 2022.

"You didn't know then, but you know now that what you told the Colleton County Grand Jury was not correct?" Griffin asked.

"In reference to the shirt, yes," Owen testified.

BEHIND OUR REPORTING

Why did we report on suicide?

Discussion of suicide can be difficult, especially for people who may already be thinking of harming themselves. As a general practice, The State does not report on suicides unless they involve prominent individuals or occur in public places. In the case of this story, we felt the incident warranted fact-based reporting accessible to members of our community.

The State generally does not identify individuals who die by suicide unless it is a public figure.

The State maintains rigorous standards when reporting on public health issues like suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255, or calling or texting 988, or texting HOME to 741741.

This story was originally published February 16, 2023, 9:10 AM.

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