Murdaugh trial star witness named SC sheriff’s deputy of the year
Dr. Kenneth Kinsey, an Orangeburg sheriff’s deputy who was a linchpin of the state’s case against Alex Murdaugh was awarded a top honor by the South Carolina Sheriffs’ Association this week.
Kinsey, a crime scene expert and the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy, was awarded South Carolina’s Sheriff’s Deputy of the Year on Tuesday.
The life-long law enforcement officer gained online fame following his testimony as an expert witness at Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial. Kinsey’s concise, expert insights about the crime scene wove together many threads of forensic evidence presented by the other witnesses for the state
Among other topics, he testified about the order of the shots fired at the dog kennels, which shots were fatal and what direction they came from.
His testimony was essential in combating the defense’s theory that there must have been two shooters at the kennels the night Murdaugh killed his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, on the family’s property, Moselle, on June 7, 2021.
His ability to simplify a case that was confusing even to experts, as well as his humble and often folksy demeanor charmed viewers of the closely watched trial.
Kinsey has worked as an Orangeburg County sheriff’s deputy is a number of roles for more than two decades. He has also worked as an investigator for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the First Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Kinsey has since parlayed his high profile success at the trial into a private consulting business, Kenny Kinsey & Associates, LLC. The firm offers services including blood pattern analysis, crime scene examination, law enforcement policy review and firearms instruction.
