Day 22: Defense says Alex Murdaugh may take stand, depending on questioning in murder trial

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.

The defense said they expect to rest their case mid- to late-day Friday, with jury deliberation likely to stretch into next week after rebuttal witnesses and closing arguments.

5:18 p.m. — Court adjourned

Micah Sturgis has left the witness stand and Judge Clifton Newman sent the court into recess until 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

The defense did not seek further clarity on Alex Murdaugh’s legal rights, should he take the stand. Earlier this morning, defense attorney Jim Griffin asked if Newman might make clear which lines of questioning would be inadmissible for prosecutors should Murdaugh testify in his own defense.

Newman said while the court wouldn’t make a ruling, he would review Murdaugh’s rights with him if he chose to do so.

4:52 p.m. — Defense suggests Maggie’s phone not thrown from car

During digital forensics expert Micah Sturgis’ testimony, defense attorney Phillip Barber asked how much motion it takes to activate a cellphone screen.

Sturgis confirmed that “very little” movement can cause a phone’s back light to activate, giving a short demonstration of how many phone screens will light up if the user raises it to their face.

Maggie Murdaugh’s phone was found on the side of Moselle Road, about a half-mile from the crime scene. Prosecutors have argued that Alex Murdaugh tossed the phone from his car while traveling to visit his mother’s house on June 7, 2021, the night Maggie and Paul were killed.

But since the phone did not record a “back light on” entry when Murdaugh’s car passed where the phone was recovered, Barber suggested it could not have been thrown from the vehicle.

4:14 p.m. — Cellphone forensics expert testifies

Barbara Mixson’s brief testimony has ended and the defense called Micah Sturgis to the stand.

It’s the defense’s ninth witness and it’s fifth witness to be called Wednesday.

Sturgis is a digital forensics expert currently employed with Barefoot Investigations, a private investigations firm. Sturgis formerly served with the Cleveland County, North Carolina Sheriff’s Office as an investigator.

4:10 p.m. — Housekeeper never saw tarp at Libby’s house

Barbara Mixson, the housekeeper and caretaker for Alex Murdaugh’s mother, Libby, testified she never saw a blue tarp at Libby’s house.

The blue tarp was contentious in the prosecution’s case, as Libby’x night shift nurse, Mushelle “Shelley” Smith, testified she’d seen Murdaugh carry a blue tarp into his mother’s house soon after the murders. Prosecutors suggested it may have been used to hide clothing or the murder weapons.

4 p.m. — Defense calls Murdaugh housekeeper, 8th witness

The defense has called Barbara Mixson, the housekeeper for Alex Murdaugh’s parents, Libby and the late Randolph, to the stand.

Murdaugh, in a 2021 interview with SLED investigators and his defense attorneys after the Labor Day weekend shooting, said Mixson was one of the people allegedly supplying him with pills.

3:45 p.m. — Short break before next witness

Judge Clifton Newman has sent court into a brief recess. Defense witness Kenneth Zercie has left the stand.

Zercie testified that SLED did not follow “standard operating procedure” when photographing footwear impressions and preserving evidence at the scene of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh’s murders.

During cross-examination by prosecutor John Meadors, Meadors repeatedly hit on examinations from SLED experts that said, despite photos taken at the scene preventing them from making a precise match, the impressions at the scene were “consistent” with Maggie and Paul’s footwear patterns.

Zercie agreed that investigators could provide basic pattern matching with the photos available, but lacked more detailed pictures to further confirm whether Maggie and Paul’s shoes were responsible for prints at the murder scene.

2:31 p.m. — Paul’s clothes, sheet covering body not analyzed

Defense witness Kenneth Zercie, who reconstructs crime scenes, said SLED investigators overlooked important aspects of crime scene preservation at the scene of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s deaths.

First responders violated “standard operating procedure,” Zercie said, by not wearing shoe coverings when walking into the crime scene, which defense has argued may have destroyed evidence of suspects besides Alex Murdaugh.

When an absorbent sheet was used to cover Paul’s body, it could have destroyed or removed trace DNA evidence, including hairs, Zercie added.

Zercie testified the sheet would have absorbed water during the rainy weather and Paul’s blood, and should have been analyzed after it was removed from the body.

In reviewing case documents, Zercie said he hadn’t seen any evidence the sheet or Paul’s clothes were kept or analyzed by SLED.

2:20 p.m. — Court resumes

Court has returned from lunch recess. Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian continues examination of Kenneth Zercie, a fingerprint, tire track and footwear impression expert.

Zercie has testified on the correct technique for photographing impressions at a crime scene. Defense attorneys have previously criticized SLED investigators for improperly documenting impressions at Paul and Maggie Murdaugh’s murder scene.

1 p.m. — Court recess, defense takes aim at SLED crime scene photography

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

Kenneth Zercie, an expert witness on fingerprint, tire track and footprint impressions, is still on the stand. He is currently presenting a slideshow explaining proper photographic techniques for impressions found at crime scenes.

During the prosecution’s case, defense attorneys raised concerns about holes in SLED’s investigation of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh’s murders. One of those was how diligently photographers on the scene documented footprint and tire marks.

In earlier testimony, SLED footwear impressions expert Melinda Worley indicated some potential footwear marks escaped the agency’s eye at the crime scene and were only identified as impressions of interest in later photos.

“If I had realized that was footwear on scene, I would have documented it properly,” Worley said.

12:35 p.m. — Defense calls 7th witness

The defense has called Kenneth Zercie to the witness stand.

Zercie is a Connecticut resident, he said, with a background in law enforcement and crime scene reconstruction. He was the state of Connecticut’s director of the division of scientific services, and is now employed with the University of New Haven.

12:27 p.m. — Attorney: Alex’s finances not under threat before murders

Dawes Cooke Jr., who is representing Alex Murdaugh in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Mallory Beach, who died in the 2019 boat crash, said that on June 7, 2021, there was no “existential threat” to Murdaugh or his finances.

Prosecutors have argued part of Murdaugh’s motive to allegedly murder his wife and son was a crumbling financial situation, including mounting debts and his law firm’s discovery he’d been taking money from clients for years.

A hearing was scheduled for June 10, 2021, in which Beach family lawyer Mark Tinsley had filed a motion to compel, ordering Murdaugh to open access to his bank accounts and assets.

However, Cooke later testified he wasn’t aware of Murdaugh’s full financial situation when he became involved in the case.

12:10 p.m. — Defense calls Alex’s attorney to testify

Dawes Cooke Jr., Alex Murdaugh’s attorney in the lawsuit filed after the 2019 boat crash that killed Mallory Beach, is on the stand.

Cooke has fought to unfreeze Murdaugh’s assets following the lawsuit.

12:05 p.m. — Law partner started to ‘doubt everything’ about Alex

Mark Ball said after he and other employees at what is now known as Parker Law Group learned Alex Murdaugh had been stealing money from the firm and its clients, it shook his perception of Murdaugh’s trustworthiness, especially after it was revealed Murdaugh lied to law enforcement about his Sept. 3, 2021, roadside shooting.

“He’s torn down an entire legacy, a law firm. I’ve spent 34 years … in this one place; it’s the only law firm I’ve ever worked at. I put everything in it; it’s the only thing my children have known, my family has known, and it’s gone,” Ball testified. “We had to change the name, we’ve had to do all these things because of his acts on this financial stuff. And when it comes to that, I’m mad as hell, you just don’t know how mad I am.”

“On the other hand,” Ball continued, “I’m not saying that because he’s done that, he’s done what he’s accused of. (But) when you found out about it, it makes you doubt everything, it’s human nature.”

11:47 a.m. — Alex’s law partner didn’t believe roadside shooting story

When Alex Murdaugh’s former law firm colleague Mark Ball heard Murdaugh was shot on a rural Hampton County road just a day after he was fired from the law firm for allegedly stealing funds, Ball testified he knew the story didn’t make sense.

Murdaugh told SLED investigators that day he had been ambushed while changing a tire on the side of the road and was shot in the head on Sept. 3, 2021. He later admitted the story was fabricated.

Ball said he received a phone call from Murdaugh’s defense attorney, Jim Griffin, that day.

“My first response was, ‘Don’t tell me that jackass killed himself,’” Ball said. “Then (Griffin) said, ‘No, somebody shot him,’ and I said, ‘I don’t believe that.’ ... I went straight to the scene, but I didn’t believe it.”

“You didn’t believe it because you have training as a lawyer, right?” lead prosecutor Creighton Waters pressed.

Ball said he wasn’t sure whether to attribute the hunch to “intuition training” or his law practice, but when he arrived with fellow Parker Law Group attorneys Danny Henderson and Ronnie Crosby, Murdaugh’s story made even less sense.

“When we got up to it (Murdaugh’s car), Ronnie said, ‘Look, it doesn’t even have a spare,’” Ball testified.

As they examined the vehicle further, Ball said he could see where Murdaugh used a knife to flatten the tire.

11:05 a.m. — Alex was ‘obnoxious’ cellphone user, ex-law partner says

Alex Murdaugh’s former co-worker, Mark Ball, testified Murduagh was constantly using his phone, even during work meetings.

“He was an obnoxious user of his cellphone,” Ball said. “I would think it would be unusual for Alex to go anywhere without his phone.”

Other witnesses who worked with Murdaugh previously echoed that testimony, noting he would always take calls from his family at any point in the day.

On Tuesday, Murdaugh’s surving son, Buster, testified his father would sometimes leave his phone at the Moselle house if he was working elsewhere on the property.

Murdaugh’s cellphone use was highlighted by prosecution in their opening statement.

Prosecutors argued it was odd Murdaugh would leave his phone anywhere off him for a long time, and there was a roughly three-hour gap in his phone activity on June 7, 2021, that aligned with the state’s theorized time of Paul and Maggie’s deaths.

Murdaugh’s phone activity paused around 6 p.m. that day, cellphone data showed, and started again around 9:06 p.m., when he texted Maggie he was going to visit his mother.

Maggie and Paul’s cellphone activity stopped around 8:50 p.m.

10:40 a.m. — Law partner: ‘Not sure I knew’ Alex Murdaugh

Mark Ball remains on the stand and is currently under cross-examination by lead prosecutor Creighton Waters.

In the back half of defense attorney Jim Griffin’s initial questioning, Ball indicated he and the other partners at Alex Murdaugh’s former firm, now known as Parker Law Group, felt “betrayed” after they learned Murdaugh had allegedly been stealing money from the firm and his clients.

“After Sept. 3 (when Murdaugh resigned), I’m not sure I know that person,” Ball told Griffin.

Waters pounced on that sentiment to open his cross-examination.

“He was pretty good at hiding who he really was, wasn’t he?” Waters asked.

“Obviously,” Ball testified.

Ball testified that he has “no doubt” it was Murdaugh’s voice on the 8:45 p.m. video his son, Paul, took at the Moselle kennels, just before prosecution’s timeline claims Paul and Maggie were killed, around 8:50 p.m.

“Did he deny ever going down to those kennels to his buddy and his law partner of 34 years?” Waters asked.

Ball answered that “at least three times,” Murdaugh told him the last time he saw Paul and Maggie was at dinner that night, after which he took a nap and woke up to go visit his mother.

10:20 a.m. — Jug of Clorox, unmarked truck drew witness’ suspicion

Mark Ball, an attorney with Alex Murdaugh’s former law firm, now called Parker Law Group, testified he took pictures of a truck without a license plate at Moselle the morning after Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were killed.

Ball said he took the photos of the vehicle without knowing who it belonged to, adding it “just seemed odd” to see the unmarked truck, which also had a jug of Clorox in the bed, near the crime scene.

The vehicle was later discovered to belong to the Moselle groundskeeper, C.B. Rowe. Cellphone data presented in the prosecution’s case indicated Rowe was out of town the night the murders took place.

10:05 a.m. — Water around Paul’s body from rain, witness testifies

Parker Law Group attorney Mark Ball said water that pooled around Paul Murdaugh’s body was from the weather that night.

Ball is Alex Murdaugh’s former co-worker at the law firm formerly called PMPED. He arrived at Moselle late on June 7, 2021, after he learned of the murders.

At the start of his testimony, Ball described cars and people “piling in” to the Moselle crime scene, since law enforcement hadn’t blocked off the entrance.

Ball also said the water that pooled around Paul’s body, which prosecutors have suggested came Alex Murdaugh cleaning the crime scene with a hose near the dog kennels, was from the light drizzle that night causing rain to drip from the kennels’ overhang roof and onto the crime scene.

The sight “frankly pissed me off,” Ball said, because it may have contaminated the crime scene and was “disrespectful,” he said, to Paul.

When SLED investigators told Murdaugh’s assembled friends and family to clear off to the Moselle main house, Ball said he was concerned both for their safety and for the potential contamination of further evidence inside the home.

Ball’s testimony is the latest defense effort to discredit the SLED investigation of Paul and Maggie’s killings, which they have repeatedly criticized. On Tuesday, defense attorney Jim Griffin was reprimanded by Judge Clifton Newman for sharing a Washington Post article critical of the investigation on his Twitter account.

9:50 a.m. — Defense calls Alex’s former co-worker

Mark Ball, an attorney with Parker Law Group, has taken the stand.

Parker Law Group is Alex Murdaugh’s former employer, then known as PMPED.

Ball came to Moselle the night Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were killed on June 7, 2021, he testified.

He is the defense’s fifth witness.

9:36 a.m. — Alex Murdaugh considering taking the stand

Before the jury entered the courtroom, defense attorney Jim Griffin said Alex Murdaugh is considering taking the stand.

Griffin said Murdaugh will not take the stand Wednesday, but the defense hopes to have a ruling from Judge Clifton Newman on what topics Murdaugh would be permitted to plead his Fifth Amendment rights.

Griffin suggested Murdaugh may not take the stand if Newman rules that Murdaugh could be asked questions about his alleged financial crimes, which Newman has allowed into the case.

Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters argued that should Murdaugh take the stand, cross-examination would be “wide open.”

“We believe that these financial matters would be well within the scope (of cross-examination),” Waters said.

Newman said, “I am not going to issue an order in advance limiting the scope of cross-examination. Any objectionable matter must be addressed as the evidence is presented and not based on any advanced ruling by the court. ... That (issuing an order) is unheard of, to me.”

Griffin reiterated the defense is only seeking clarity on what Murdaugh could take the Fifth on, not a ruling on what evidence is admissible for questioning on.

9:30 a.m. — Court back in session, 5th defense witness called

Defense attorneys for Alex Murdaugh, a disgraced Hampton-based attorney, will call their fifth witness Wednesday.

On Tuesday, jurors heard from Murdaugh’s oldest son, Buster, 26, who spoke kindly about the family’s close relationship, and his father’s whereabouts hours and days after the murders of his mom, Maggie, and younger brother, Paul.

“My father coached every Little League team I played on,” said Buster, who now lives on Hilton Head Island.

Buster also told the jury that the deaths of Maggie and Paul devastated his father.

“He was heart broken,” Buster said.

The jury also heard from North Carolina-based forensic engineer Mike Sutton, who said it would be “very unlikely” that the 6-foot-4 Murdaugh could have been Maggie’s shooter who left bullet holes in the walls of the dog kennels, where Murdaugh is accused of murdering his wife and son the night of June 7, 2021.

Sutton also testified that if Murdaugh was in the main house on Moselle, he would not have been able to hear the shooting — even if a tree barrier existed as it does now, after Sutton performed a noise-level test.

Prosecutor David Fernandez, with the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, attempted on Tuesday to break down Sutton’s testimony and credibility, continuously trying to remind the jury that Sutton primarily works on car accidents and machine failures, though Sutton said he has conducted studies on bullet trajectories for his work.

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian told Judge Clifton Newman that the defense team will likely rest Friday, meaning prosecutors could put up any rebuttal witnesses by early next week, to be followed by closing arguments and the judge’s charge to the jury.

This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 8:38 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.