Prosecutors played footage from the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh on Wednesday that could compromise the South Carolina man’s longstanding claim that he was not at the scene where his wife and son were killed.
A video taken by Murdaugh’s 22-year-old son, Paul, shows him and his mother, Maggie, minutes before they were killed near the family’s dog kennel, said Lt. David Burton Doe of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s Computer Crimes Unit. Three voices are heard before, CNN reported..
The video clip is just under a minute long and starts at 8:44 p.m. on June 7, 2021, Du said, adding that he believes Paul tried to videotape one of the dog’s tails. had been, as he was texting. A friend who was worried about his condition.
While Dove couldn’t identify the speakers, he said, “You can tell they’re different voices.”
Prosecutors believe one of the voices was Paul’s, the other Maggie’s and the third Alex Murdaugh, who is accused of shooting and killing them both moments after making the video. went
Murdaugh – again – breaks down in tears as the video clip plays.
South Carolina Chief Prosecutor Creighton Waters teased the video evidence in opening statements in the case last week. He claimed Murdaugh and the victim’s phone records contained “significant evidence” that could place him at the scene of the murder – and suggested that in the hours that followed he tried to come up with an alibi. I was doing.
Murdaugh has denied ever being near the dog kennels, where the bodies were found, on the night of the murders.
“The evidence is going to show, that these things each one of us carries in his pocket, that he [Alex] was there and he was there with Maggie and Paul just a few minutes before their cell phones went silent forever.” Waters said picking up the cell phone.
The disgraced 54-year-old heir to a powerful legal family has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, Maggie, 52, and troubled son, Paul, at their Colleton County hunting estate.
Paul was shot twice with a shotgun near the dog kennels while Maggie was shot multiple times with an AR-style rifle and a single, execution-style bullet to the back of her head as she She was falling face down on the ground.
On Tuesday, authorities testified that cell phone records showed Paul spoke on the phone with his friend Rogan Gibson for four minutes about a dog that was later abandoned at the family’s kennels and 8 Around :49 a text message asked for a picture of his tail. the evening
When Gibson didn’t hear back from Paul, he texted Maggie Murdaugh at 9:34 p.m. to “tell Paul to call me,” SLED Special Agent Jeff Craft testified. Twenty-four minutes later, she texted Paul “Yu” and tried to call him five times with no response.
“He was with the two victims at the scene of the murder and more than four minutes later … Paul’s phone went off forever. He never reads another text, never sends another text, never answers calls.” Waters said in his opening statements.
On Maggie’s phone, records show she received a group text message from Alex’s sister about her father’s ill health around 8:49 p.m., which she left unread. It was the last text his phone would receive before it locked.
Alex texts Maggie at 9:07, which is never read. At 9:47 Alex texted, “Call me baby.”
Doe testified Tuesday that after Maggie’s phone went silent, her phone turned around around 8:53 p.m., waking the screen to activate its Face ID security feature — which Suggests that someone other than Maggie picked up the phone because it didn’t unlock.
The phone also recorded 59 steps between 8:53 and 8:59 p.m., Du said.
Maggie’s phone changed direction again at 9:06 p.m., indicating that it was in someone’s hands. Two seconds later, the phone gets an incoming call from Murdaugh — who tried to call Magee three times between 9:04 and 9:06 a.m., records show. He also called her twice at 9:47 and 10:03 p.m.
Alex got in his car to visit his ailing mother — who was suffering from late-stage Alzheimer’s — around 9:06 p.m., and texted Maggie that he’d be right back. He returned to the property at 10:01 p.m. when he said he discovered their bodies, calling 911 at 10:06 p.m., prosecutors said.
Murdaugh said the last time he saw his wife and son was when they had dinner together around 8:15 p.m. He claims he was asleep on the couch when they were killed and that he Refused to ever be near dog kennels at night.
Murdaugh’s attorneys suggested in their opening statement that “it is more likely” there were two shooters — neither of whom was Murdaugh — which would explain the two separate guns used. He did not say what would be the motive for such a killing.
While Murdaugh has maintained his innocence since his indictment last summer, prosecutors allege he shot his family to cover up his extensive financial crimes.
Separately, he is facing 99 separate counts of financial fraud and trying to have a man shoot him so his surviving son, Buster, 26, can collect a $10 million life insurance policy. . The matter will be dealt with later in the trial.
If convicted of killing his wife and son, Alex Murdaugh could face at least 30 years in prison.
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