Alex Murdaugh murder trial recap: Jury to hear first full week of testimony

Dailymail.com's coverage of the Alex Murdaugh murder trial has ended for today.

Here's a recap of what happened:

Alex Murdaugh cries in court as bodycam video of the crime scene is shown to jurors

Paul and Maggie Murdaugh’s last texts and calls were revealed

Murdaugh tells police he ‘tried to turn over’ son’s body in interview three days after the murders

Murdaugh had a ‘clean’ shirt despite his claims that he touched the bloody bodies of his wife and son when he found them

Crime scene photos that showed where the bodies were found were released

The double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh has ended for the day.

Court will resume in Colleton County on Tuesday at 9.30am.

The prosecution to continue to present their case with SLED special agent Jeff Croft still on the witness stand.

In an interview played in court on Monday, a hysterical Murdaugh is talking about his slain son Paul when he allegedly tells the SLED investigators 'I did him so bad!'

The investigator is first heard telling him: 'I know you saw a traumatic picture I know it's not easy, I know it's hard.'

'It's just so bad, I did him so bad,' Murdaugh appears to say as he sobs.

The video was paused as the prosecutor asked SLED agent Croft what Murdaugh said.

'It's just so bad, I did him so bad,' the agent repeated.

Murdaugh shakes his head and appeared to mouth from the defense table, 'I didn't say that.'

His attorneys did not object.

Alex Murdaugh, 54, is accused of shooting his wife, Maggie, 52, and younger son Paul, 22, at the family's hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina, on the night of June 7, 2021.

Here are the key events in the timeline laid out by prosecutors:

At 7.56pm, Paul sent a Snapchat video to friends showing the 22-year-old riding around the estate with his father.

At 8.15pm, Murdaugh's wife Maggie arrived home and the trio ate dinner together. Autopsies showed similar stomach contents in Maggie and Paul.

About 8.30pm, Paul's phone starts moving towards the kennels.

Then at 8.44pm, a second video taken by Paul at the kennels - soon to become a murder scene - allegedly proves that Maggie, Paul and Alex were together.

At 8.49pm the prosecution say Paul's phone locked and went silent forever, never to send another text or make another call.

Between 9pm and 9.30pm, Paul and Maggie were killed - according to the coroner.

At 9.06pm, Murdaugh's car is fired up.

The alleged killer said he went to go visit his mother who is in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease.

At 10.07pm, Murdaugh called 911 claiming he had arrived home a to find his wife and son shot dead.

Murdaugh describes son Paul as irresponsible - and left guns and boats all over the state

Alex Murdaugh described his murdered son Paul as having 'many wonderful qualities' but irresponsible.

'He had so many wonderful qualities' but he had ADHD and was irresponsible, he said.

'He rarely finished tasks he started. He had clothes, guns, and even boats left all over the state.'

He added that bought each of his sons a .300 Blackout rifle but Paul lost his and would use his brother Buster's gun to hunt hogs.

Murdaugh said he never reported Paul's missing .300 BLK stolen because he believed it was more likely lost than stolen. 

The agent told Murdaugh that given how remote the property is, the killings were likley dont by someone who knows the family.  

'So you feel like it's intentional? I mean, planned,' Murdaugh asked. 

SLED agent: 'I don't know what to feel right now.'

Alex Murdaugh broke down in sobs in an an interview with SLED agents three days after his wife and son were murdered.

'She was a wonderful wife, she was a great mother,' he said about his wife Maggie.

'She didn't work. She always said it was her job, because she was privileged enough not to work, she was going to make sure she took care of me and the boys. She took care of everything. She did absolutely everything.'

When asked how their relationship was, Murdaugh said: 'Very good. As good as it could possibly be. I mean, you know, we've had our issues. But wonderful.'

He was asked about their biggest arguments:  

Murdaugh: 'We didn't really argue.' The only thing that caused friction between us was that she wanted us to go and see her parents longer than we wanted to stay.

'She'd get ticked off,' he added. 

Murdaugh then begins sobbing hysterically: 'She was a great mother.'

In a video played in court on Monday, Alex Murdaugh recalled his Monday leading up to his wife and son's murders.

Murdaugh had some trouble remembering his day but then told agents that he worked and then said that he was preparing for the boat crash motion which his son Paul is involved in.

Murdaugh said he left the office early that day because Paul was coming home. He had been in Charleston with his friends for the weekend.

Murdaugh spent time with Paul riding around 'looking for hogs' and doing some target practice shooting.

Croft - who is still on the stand - adds that a .300BLK is often used to shoot wild hogs.

He said Paul eventually left and he fell asleep on the couch. He then left to see his mom. When he returned, there was no one at the main house so he drove down to the kennels.

'And you know,' he said.

Murdaugh had said he found Maggie and Paul's bodies and called 911.

In court on Monday, prosecutors played a video of SLED agents interviewing Alex Murdaugh three days after the murders.

Murdaugh was interviewed in a patrol car on the property of John Marvin Murdaugh’s hunting lodge.

As the footage played of Murdaugh talking the agents through his day on the day of the murders, he looked distraught in court.

SLED agent Croft testified on Monday that Maggie Murdaugh's cell phone was found on the side of Moselle Road about a quarter-mile or half-mile away from the crime scene.

The phone, which was found on June 8 - the day after the murders - was in a grassy area on the left side of the road.

A SLED agent was able to obtain the passcode from a family member, according to previous testimony, and then unlocked the phone to verify that the passcode worked.

The phone was then locked, bagged and placed in evidence. 

Court has resumed Monday afternoon with SLED Agent Croft back on the stand.

Croft is being asked to identify various pieces of evidence including shell casings and ammunition that were collected from the Murdaugh property following the June 2021 murders. 

More body cam footage from Agent Croft was shown on Monday that revealed a Gucci receipt and empty boxes of ammo were found in the trash in a shed. 

In the garbage were several empty cases of 12-gauge ammunition and a credit card receipt for Gucci.

The item circled cost $1,021.10, but it was not clear who made the purchase. 

Prosecutors allege the garbage may have been taken from the house to the shed following the murders.

Multiple guns seized from the property where Alex Murdaugh's wife Maggie and son Paul were murdered, were shown in court on Monday.

SLED Croft remained on the stand as prosecutor Creighton Waters had him display the 12-gauge shotguns found in the gunroom the day after the murders.

A 12-gauge Browning shotgun, a 12-gauge pump shotgun and a Benelli shotgun were submitted into evidence. 

There were repeated objections from the defense.

'There's no evidence linking these guns to the crime,' Harpootlian said.

Waters argued that they are showing how the search for weapons was conducted and how the guns were tested thoroughly.

However, Judge Newman sided with the state and overruled the objections.

An assault rifle was identified by SLED special agent Jeff Croft on the stand as the type of gun that was used to kill Alex Murdaugh's wife Maggie. 

Croft secured firearms at the home after the June 7, 2021 murders. 

He found spent .300 Blackout shell casings outside the exterior door of the gun room.

Prosecutors say the casings matched the casings found near Maggie's body.

Croft then found Buster's .300 Blackout rifle in the gun room. He testified that it was the only weapon out of dozens of guns on the property that could .300 Blackout rounds.

He told the court that the gun had a 'thermal scope which can be used for shooting in the dark.'

Prosecutors continued to unbox guns to show jurors that the Murdaughs kept loaded firearms in their gun room.

Evidence photos of the bloody crime scene where Alex Murdaugh’s son Paul and wife Maggie were brutally murdered were released on Monday.

Judge Newman has allowed a photographer to take photos of evidence at the end of each day.

These photos show the area where Paul was shot and a diagram of the scene. It also shows where casings were found and the positioning of Paul and Maggie’s bodies.

Following a 10-min break, court resumed with a new witness on the stand.

Senior Special Agent Jeff Croft of South Carolina Law Enforcement Division revealed Paul and Maggie's last texts and calls from the night of the murders. 

He interviewed Rogan Gibson, Paul Murdaugh's friend, who had phone conversations with Paul, Maggie and Alex Murdaugh the night of the murders.

Screenshots of the calls and texts with the Murdaughs from Gibson's phone were entered into evidence.

June 7 - 8.40pm: Gibson has an incoming call from Paul which lasted for four minutes.

8.44pm: Another call from Paul 

8.49pm : Gibson texted Paul but there was no response.

The text read: 

'See if you can get a good picture of it. Marion wants to send it to a vet. Get him to sit and stay. He shouldn't move around too much.' 

Between 9.10pm and 10.08pm, Gibson tried to call Paul multiple times.

9.34pm: Gibson texted Maggie: 'Tell Paul to call me.' 

9.58pm: Gibson texted Paul again with simply the word: 'Yo.'

There were missed calls from Alex Murdaugh to Gibson at 10.21pm, 10.24pm, 10.25pm, and 10.30pm.

Worley tested the clothes that Paul Murdaugh was wearing that night which revealed that the stains could be blood.

On the stand Monday, she admitted that the same positive tests through the LCV testing could also indicate rust or bleach.

SLED agent Worley gave a graphic testimony during cross-examination on Monday. Worley oversaw evidence collection at the crime scene after Paul and Maggie's murders.

'Wasn't his brain laying at his feet?' Harpootlian asked Worley.

'It was beside his left leg,' she replied.

Harpootlian kept on: 'His brain flew out. There's hair and blood and pieces of skull in the ceiling around him.'

Meanwhile, Alex Murdaugh sobbed at the defense table and rocked back and forth while listening to the testimony. 

Harpootlian asks how SLED agent Worley was able to do comparisons if no proper photos were taken. 

Worley says she was still able to do comparisons 'and they were mostly Paul's shoes'.

Worley admitted it is 'not exactly' following standards.

Harpootlian: 'Is that preservation of the scene that your standards require?'

Worley: 'Not exactly, no.'

Harpootlian: 'Not exactly. Should police be walking through the scene?'

Worley: 'No.'

Harpootlian asked: 'Do we know what other evidence the police may have destroyed?'

She replies that she has no idea.

'That's right. We don't,' Harpootlian said.

Worley admitted on the stand Monday that investigators identified one footprint found inside the dog kennel where Paul had been shot, was made by one of the first responders - and not by either victims.

'One was not from Paul, not from the perpetrator but from an investigator,' Harpootlian said.

'Walking through the scene in the dark increases the chances some trace evidence was disturbed or destroyed.'

Alex Murdaugh appeared to be sobbing in court again on Monday as defense lawyer cross-examined the SLED agent about photos taken of his wife and son's bodies at the crime scene.

The disgraced legal scion could be seen rocking back and forth at the defense table as he took off his glasses and kept his head down. 

He composed himself moments later. 

Alex Murdaugh's defense attorney Harpootlian questioned Worley about the bullet trajectories around the dog house at the crime scene.

He said one explanation for the different angles of bullets into the dog house and quail pen was that there were two shooters.

Harpootlian had Worley draw an diagram of the scene using the shot angles from varying angles that he said could show two shooters.

Harpootlian: 'Doesn't this indicate to you there were two shooters? … Is it a possibility that there were two shooters?'

Worley suggests the shooter could have moved.

Harpootlian: 'One explanation could be that there were two shooters? ... One explanation. Not 'the' explanation.

Worley: 'Not the only one.'

She added that it is one explanation but not the only one.

Paul was killed with a shotgun and Maggie was killed with an automatic rifle.

Harpootlian suggests that one person killed Paul and then a lookout shot Maggie when she surprised them.

Measurements of the crime scene were documented both on the night of the murders and at a separate analysis a month later in July.

A FARO Focus Laser Scanner was used during the second visit to create an accurate rendering of the crime scene complete with measurements.

Alex Murdaugh's son Buster, brother John Marvin, sister Lynn and Buster's girlfriend Brooklynn White sat behind him in the courtroom Monday.

Buster, 26, is among those expected to testify against Murdaugh, as well as Murdaugh's own brothers, John Marvin and Randy Murdaugh.

Buster angrily rejected the suggestion that he is 'supporting his father,' DailyMail.com revealed in November.

Buster has remained tight-lipped as his once illustrious family's fortunes have publicly spiraled since his mother and brother were gunned down at the family's former hunting estate of Moselle, Islandton, on June 7, 2021.

Melinda Worley, the SLED crime scene analyst on the stand now, is being cross-examined by Murdaugh defense attorney Dick Harpootlian.

Harpootlian establishes with Worley that a bloody footprint left at the crime scene was not from Paul or Alex.

Instead the footprint was from one of the deputies or first responders who walked through the crime scene.

'They actually walked into the feed room [of the kennels] where Paul was killed,' the attorney said.

There was a 'bloody footprint caused by one of the officers,' Harpootlian told Worley.

The Alex Murdaugh murder trial has resumed with Judge Clifton Newman back on the bench.

Jurors are now in the courtroom for Day 6 in the disgraced legal scion's trial.

SLED agent Melinda Worley is back on the stand for cross-examination.

Follow along for live updates and watch the live stream.

The  murder trial of Alex Murdaugh is set to resume at 9.30am local time on Monday morning.

Jurors will return to Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, where they are first expected to hear the defense’s cross-examination of SLED special agent Melinda Worley

Worley is an expert in footwear and tire examination.

Murdaugh's defense team have attacked several first responders already over their failure to preserve footprints and tire tracks found at the scene.

Alex Murdaugh arrived at court on Monday hiding his handcuffs under his blazer as his defense prepares to grill the forensics officer who found blood in his car.

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian will launch his cross-examination of Melinda Worley, a forensic scientist, who arrived to find Murdaugh's wife and son lying in pools of blood at the sprawling hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina.

Much of the rest of Friday's testimony involved a state crime scene agent methodically detailing the evidence that was collected, including shotgun pellets and DNA swabs from the scene , clothes and fingernail clippings from the autopsies, and the seat belt from Murdaugh's vehicle.

Here's what has happened in court so far. 

MURDAUGH TELLS COPS ABOUT BOAT ACCIDENT

Murdaugh told 911 about his Paul's boat accident claiming that his son had 'been threatened for months.'

The first cop to arrive said Murdaugh 'immediately started telling' him about the February 2019 accident.

'I know that's what this is,' he said.

At the time of Paul's death, the 22-year-old was facing trial for driving under the influence at the time of the crash, which left a 19-year-old woman dead.

The defense theory is that somebody killed Maggie and Paul Murdaugh as revenge for the accident.

Prosecutors claim Murdaugh deliberately made the comments to divert suspicion away from himself.

MURDAUGH DID NOT CRY

The first responders so far have all agreed that Murdaugh was not crying.

Although he appeared and sounded upset, police officers and firemen have stated that there were no tears in the attorney's eyes.

Murdaugh's demeanour will play a central role in the case. Prosecutor Creighton Waters told jurors on the opening day to watch the body worn footage 'closely.'

'Watch those closely. Watch his expressions. Listen to what he's saying and what he's not saying,' Waters said.

Murdaugh sounded lucid throughout his dealings with officers that night, even greeting one by saying: 'How ya doin?'

The defense has argued that Murdaugh was distraught after the killings and had just an hour before the killings been having a 'bonding experience' with his son.

NO BLOOD ON HIS WHITE T-SHIRT

Murdaugh had no visible blood on his white t-shirt, first responders have told the court.

Police described seeing pools of blood under the bodies of Maggie and Paul.

His defense attorney, Dick Harpootlian, described to jurors how Paul's head 'literally exploded ... like a watermelon.'

Murdaugh earlier told 911 he had checked his wife and son's pulses - but when cops arrived they saw no blood on him.

The prosecution has also drawn jurors attention to significant volumes of water pooled around the deceased despite it not having rained yet that night.

GRUESOME GUN WOUNDS OF MAGGIE AND PAUL

Horrifying body cam footage of the 'butchered' bodies of Maggie and Paul has been played to jurors.

The 12 men and women have covered their mouths at times while Murdaugh has hunched forward to weep.

Fire chief Barry McRoy told the court that when he arrived Paul's 'brains were down by his ankles' and that he checked neither victim because 'both had injuries that were incompatible with life.'

The defense argue that given the brutality of these execution-style killings, it is simply 'not believable' that Murdaugh - a 'loving' husband and father - could have carried them out.

FOOTPRINTS AND TIRE TRACKS 'NOT PRESERVED'

Murdaugh's defense team have attacked several first responders already over their failure to preserve footprints and tire tracks found at the scene.

Sgt. Daniel Greene even noted there were multiple tire tracks in the wet grass which were incompatible with the number of vehicles at the property.

He said he did not inform SLED (state law enforcement) about the evidence because it was 'not part of my job description'.

Harpootlian tore into Greene for failing to take photographs and put anything on his feet to preserve the blood and brains spattered on the ground.

He later ripped another officer for the same reason, telling him: 'You don't know what you're doing.'

Despite his failure to preserve evidence, Greene told the attorney he was 'not aware' of any evidence being destroyed or contaminated.

MURDAUGH'S CELL PHONE DATA

In the body-worn footage, Murdaugh is heard telling the first cop on the scene that he head been visiting his mother with late stage Alzheimer's.

He said Maggie and Paul had been at the kennels when he left, but they were not back home when he came back.

But Waters told jurors that data from 'cell phones are going to show otherwise.'

The prosecutor stressed that phone records will be critical in the case and the jury will hear that the Murdaughs were 'prolific' cell phone users.

Murdaugh, 54, is standing trial on two counts of murder in the shootings of his wife and son at their Colleton County home and hunting lodge on June 7, 2021.

His wife, Maggie, 52, was shot several times with a rifle and son Paul, 22, was shot twice with a shotgun near kennels on the property.

He faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted.

Murdaugh also faces about 100 charges related to other crimes, including money laundering , stealing millions from clients and the family law firm , tax evasion and trying to get a man to fatally shoot him so his surviving son could collect a $10 million life insurance policy.

He was being held in jail without bail on those counts before he was charged with murder.

Since the killings, Murdaugh's life has seen a stunningly fast downfall. His family dominated the legal system in tiny neighboring Hampton County for generations, both as prosecutors and private attorneys known for getting life-changing settlements for accidents and negligence cases

The trial of embattled legal scion Alex Murdaugh is set to resume at 9.30am local time on Monday morning in Walterboro, South Carolina.

Jurors will return to Colleton County Courthouse for the third full day of testimony in the high-profile case.

The trial is expected to last around three weeks.