5 key takeaways from Week 4 of Alex Murdaugh’s double-murder trial you may have missed

After four weeks of testimony, the prosecution has rested its case against former Lowcountry lawyer Alex Murdaugh in the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul.

New evidence revealed Paul Murdaugh wanted to confront Alex Murdaugh about his drug abuse, and new GPS data from Murdaugh’s vehicle the night of the killings severely undercut his alibi. New testimony on Murdaugh’s relationship with his drug supplier and distant cousin, Curtis Edward Smith, added further intrigue to the case.

But the defense scored its own wins, including one that targeted SLED’s competence, revealing a major internal communication failure during its investigation of the June 7, 2021, killings.

At 4 p.m. Friday, after nearly four weeks of testimony, the State rested.

Here are five key takeaways from Week 4:

State grand jury received bad information on ‘bloody’ shirt

On Thursday, jurors finally received testimony from David Owen, a senior special agent with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the lead investigator in the murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh.

Prosecutors used Owen’s testimony to introduce a critical Aug. 11, 2021, interview in which Murdaugh is recorded misleading investigators about how long he visited his mother on the night of the murders.

But the defense landed its own blow during cross-examination when Owen testified information he presented to the state grand jury that indicted Murdaugh was incorrect.

Owen said that in presenting evidence to the grand jury in 2021, he said a blood spatter expert had identified several areas of blood stains on the white T-shirt investigators seized from Alex Murdaugh on June 7, 2021.

Earlier testimony from SLED forensic scientists revealed the stains on the shirt returned negative results from confirmatory tests for human blood.

Owen said he didn’t see the results of those tests until November 2022.

“You didn’t know then, but you know now that what you told the Colleton County Grand Jury was not correct?” defense attorney Jim Griffin asked.

“In reference to the shirt, yes,” Owen testified.

Owen also agreed SLED “probably” missed an opportunity when Griffin asked why investigators didn’t search Alex Murdaugh’s mother’s home the night of the killings, since they were aware Murdaugh had been there that evening.

Details on suicide attempt, Eddie Smith revealed

After initially ruling testimony on Alex Murdaugh’s Sept. 3, 2021, roadside shooting was inadmissible, Judge Clifton Newman reversed his decision at the end of court Wednesday.

Newman said defense attorney Griffin “opened the door” to the testimony by asking lead investigator Owen about Curtis Edward Smith’s debt to a drug gang called the Cowboys.

In an interview with SLED investigators from a rehab facility in Atlanta, Murdaugh admitted Smith was his drug dealer and that he’d asked Smith to shoot him on a rural Hampton County road as part of an attempted suicide and insurance fraud scheme.

The $10 million to $12 million in life insurance was intended for his surviving son, Buster, Murdaugh said.

“I knew I was about to lose everything, and I figured he (Buster) was better off that way than dealing with me,” Murdaugh said. “(Smith) missed and hit me in the very back of the head ... I lost my vision for a little bit.”

The testimony helped prosecutors debunk a theory posed by Griffin, who suggested Maggie and Paul Murdaugh may have been killed in a retaliatory “drug hit” because of Smith’s huge debt to the Cowboys gang.

The testimony was particularly relevant, lead prosecutor Creighton Waters said, since it highlighted Murdaugh was willing and able to lie to SLED investigators.

Initially, Murdaugh didn’t come clean about the identity of his “attacker,” instead telling police it was a “nice-looking” person with short-cropped hair who’d seemingly stopped to help him with a flat tire. Murdaugh later admitted he’d flattened the tire himself before waiting for Smith to shoot him.

Alex gave different answers about his alibi

Before SLED agents interviewed Murdaugh on Aug. 11, 2021, he’d given several different answers about the visit to his mother’s house the night of June 7, 2021.

Murdaugh claims to have been at his mother’s Almeda home when Maggie and Paul were killed. On the night of the murders, he said he was only there “a little while.” Later, he told investigators he was there around 30 to 45 minutes.

In the August 2021 interview with Owen, Murdaugh told him he visited his mother for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

He never told investigators he was there for around 20 minutes, which is what his mother’s caretaker that night, Mushelle “Shelley” Smith, testified before the jury on Feb. 6.

On Feb. 17, SLED investigator Peter Rudofski presented a full timeline of June 7, 2021. That document included location data from Murdaugh’s vehicle.

According to the data, he arrived at his mother’s home at 9:22:39 p.m. and left at 9:43:18 p.m. — just over 20 minutes.

DNA evidence compelling, but inconclusive

The state and defense both played into DNA evidence that, on its own, does little to make either side’s case.

SLED forensic scientist Rachel Nguyen said confirmatory testing of a swab taken from Alex Murdaugh’s Chevy Suburban steering wheel revealed the presence of human blood. She wasn’t able to confirm who the blood belong to, however.

The defense, meanwhile, highlighted the presence of DNA from an “unknown, unrelated male” under Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails the night of the murders.

SLED analyst Sarah Zapata said the DNA amounts were too small to form a profile, and identification was impossible. The three alleles, she continued, was such a small amount it could have been picked up from any number of objects throughout the day.

Notably, Maggie Murdaugh had been at the nail salon that day. Zapata said something or someone from the salon, or even a door knob, could have deposited the DNA.

Paul wanted to confront Alex about drug abuse

During the last minutes of state witness testimony, prosecutors revealed a never-before-seen voicemail transcript from Paul Murdaugh to his father.

Alex Murdaugh admitted in SLED interviews he’d been abusing opioids for years, and on May 6, 2021 — a month before his death — Paul intended to confront his father about Alex’s drug use.

“I am still in EB (Edisto Beach) because when you get here we have to talk,” the voicemail transcript read. “Mom found several bags of pills in your computer bag.”

On May 6, 2021, and days later on May 26, 2021, Maggie Murdaugh’s phone showed Google searches attempting to identify several of the pills she and Paul uncovered.

On May 7, 2021, Alex Murdaugh sent Maggie Murdaugh a message to which she didn’t respond.

“I am very sorry that I do this to all of you,” Alex Murdaugh said. “I love you.”

Marian Proctor, Maggie Murdaugh’s sister, said Paul had earned the nickname “Little Detective” after making a habit of discovering pills around the house that Alex Murdaugh wasn’t supposed to be using.

This story was originally published February 18, 2023 at 6:00 AM.

Blake Douglas

The Island Packet

Blake is the Hilton Head Island reporter for the Island Packet. A Tulsa, Oklahoma native, Blake has written for his hometown Tulsa World, as well as the Charlotte Observer. He graduated in May 2022 from the University of Oklahoma with a journalism degree.