Alex Murdaugh’s defense prepares to grill a female forensic pathologist after she tells jurors how his wife and son were brutally executed from three feet away.
dr Ellen Riemer described how Paul’s brain was shot out of the back of his head with a shotgun and that the organ arrived at the morgue “in a separate bucket.”
Maggie was shot five times with an assault rifle and was on all fours when she was hit by the fourth round, Riemer said. The fifth and final shot was fired at point-blank range in the back of her head as she lay face down on the ground.
Murdaugh, 54, wept at the defense table as the court heard the grisly testimony of how his wife, 52, and son, 22, were murdered on June 7, 2021 at their hunting property in South Carolina’s Lowcountry.
His defense is trying to hit back this morning and will likely push their two-shooter theory. They previously told jurors that the direction of the shots and the fact that two guns were fired indicate there was more than one killer.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Ellen Riemer describes Maggie Murdaugh’s gunshot wounds as District Attorney Creighton Waters looks on Monday on day 16 of Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse. Maggie was shot five times with an assault rifle and was on all fours when she was hit by the fourth round, Riemer said. The fifth and final shot was fired at point-blank range in the back of her head as she lay face down on the ground
Maggie’s body was found a few yards to the right of a kennel, while Paul’s lay by the door at the end of the kennel. dr Ellen Riemer described how Paul’s brain was shot out of the back of his head with a shotgun and that the organ arrived at the morgue “in a separate bucket.”
Alex Murdaugh, seated next to Defense Attorney Jim Griffin, gets emotional as the Colleton County Courthouse discusses the horrific injuries Maggie and Paul sustained in the shooting
Prosecutors are still laying out their case as the trial enters its fourth week. They were going to drop their case tomorrow, and then the defense will call their witnesses.
It was reported yesterday that Murdaugh himself could be called to the witness stand in a move legal experts have described as “virtually outrageous”.
Alex’s surviving son Buster, his brother John Marvin and his sister Lynn – who have been visiting the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro most days – are also listed as defense witnesses.
Murdaugh still faces apparent holes in his alibi over the night of the murders.
He claims he left the property that night to visit his mother and the last time he saw Maggie and Paul before they died was when they were all having dinner at the house around 8.15pm.
But video played in court, recorded by Paul in the kennel, shows Murdaugh with his wife and son at the scene at 8:45 p.m. Several witnesses, including close family friends, say they can hear his voice.
The state says Maggie and Paul were shot just after 8:49 p.m.
Riemer yesterday described in vivid detail the serious injuries the couple sustained when graphic images of their bodies were shown to the jury.
The pathologist explained that Paul could have stopped after the first shot from the shotgun to his chest, but that a second shot blew his brain out of the back of his head.
The court said the 22-year-old’s brain was taken to the autopsy in a separate bucket.
Alex Murdaugh wept as the court heard the coroner’s grisly testimony
Riemer indicates where the fourth shot went to Maggie through her left breast and up from the bottom of her jaw into her brain
Riemer demonstrates to prosecutor Creighton Waters the gunshot wounds suffered by Paul Murdaugh
The fact that Paul’s face remained intact shows that he faced his shooter, Riemer said.
She said Maggie’s first two wounds were stained with gunpowder, indicating her shooter was no more than three feet away. The first three rounds were not instantly fatal, hitting her thigh and torso.
The direction of travel shows that Maggie was kneeling on all fours when she was hit by the fourth shot, which went through the left side of her chest and penetrated her brain.
“When it entered the left side of the face, it basically destroyed the brain,” Riemer told jurors.
A final shot was fired at point-blank range to the back of the head as she lay on the ground, the coroner said.
A murder weapon was never found.
The state says Murdaugh killed the couple to distract from his financial crimes. He embezzled millions from his law firm and was facing a lawsuit over his son’s drunk boating accident that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach in February 2019.
On the day Maggie and Paul were murdered, Murdaugh had been confronted with $792,000 he had stolen from the company.
A hearing was due later that week in the boatwreck lawsuit to determine the status of his finances.
Murdaugh told Beach’s family lawyers that he was broke and the court heard him divert funds from the company to his personal accounts to protect the money from the lawsuit.
Murdaugh wept during the coroner’s testimony Monday
Riemer demonstrates Maggie Murdaugh’s gunshot wounds to Attorney Creighton Waters
Buster arrives in court Tuesday with his girlfriend Brooklynn White (pink shirt) and Alex’s sister Lynn behind him
Murdaugh arrives in court Tuesday with his jacket over his handcuffs after exiting the prison van
Maggie recently confided in her housekeeper that they were being sued for $30 million.
The defense theory is that someone else killed Maggie and Paul in revenge for the boat accident.
They argue that their client was a “loving” husband and father who could never have killed his wife and son. They have branded the state’s alleged financial motivation as “ridiculous.”
Murdaugh claims he went to see his mother around 9 p.m. on the night of the murder. The state says Maggie and Paul were killed just after 8:49 p.m. and that video taken by Paul at 8:45 p.m. proves he was at the scene.
Several witnesses, including close family friends, have testified that they can hear Alex, Maggie and Paul’s voices in the footage.
But the alleged killer told investigators he was never inside the kennel.
Murdaugh says the family had dinner together around 8:15 p.m. and that Maggie and Paul went to the kennel while he fell asleep in front of the television.
At 9:06 p.m., his Chevrolet Suburban was started and he visited his mother in Almeda, about 15 minutes away.
Buster Murdaugh and his girlfriend, Brooklynn White, hear testimony including autopsy photos of his mother and brother
The forensic pathologist at MUSC, Dr. Ellen Riemer, demonstrate the gunshot wounds to Maggie
Buster arrives in court wearing a pair of Gucci loafers, accompanied by his girlfriend Brooklynn White (fuchsia blouse) and Alex’s sister Lynn
He claims he was there for around 40 minutes, although this is disputed by his mother’s caregiver, who said he was only in the house 20 minutes.
Murdaugh says he arrived at the hunting grounds to find Maggie and Paul dead in the kennel. He called 911 at 10:07 p.m.
First responders have testified that they did not examine Maggie or Paul because their injuries were so horrific that they were “incompatible with life”. Two shots went into Maggie’s head while Paul’s brain was completely detached from his skull.
The court has previously heard evidence that when police arrived, Murdaugh’s clothes looked so clean that police believed he had recently changed.
Blood tests done on his white T-shirt later came back positive. However, Murdaugh says he touched their bodies to look for signs of life.
Earlier video taken by Paul at 7:56 p.m. that evening shows Murdaugh in a blue shirt, long pants and brown loafers.
Alex Murdaugh is seen at the crime scene of the family’s hunting lodge in Islandton, South Carolina on June 7, 2021. Murdaugh speaks on the phone in the video and tells the officer that his brother is on the line.
PAUL’S BODY: Paul’s body can be seen in front of a door at the Zwinger. The body is blurred
MAGGIE’S BODY: The body of Murdaugh’s wife is blurred in the extreme foreground as he paces near his parked Chevrolet Suburban in a white t-shirt
The family’s housekeeper, Blanca Simpson, testified last week that she never saw the clothes again.
The state intends to drop its case by Wednesday, at which point the defense will begin calling its own witnesses.
The trial takes place at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, a sleepy, rural town 50 miles west of Charleston in a low-lying region of South Carolina over which the Murdaugh family has wielded immense legal and political power.
In fact, in the courtroom where Murdaugh will be tried, a portrait of his late grandfather — legendary longtime 14th Circuit Solicitor Buster Murdaugh Jr. — hung on the wall before it was removed before the trial.
Following the murder trial, Murdaugh faces more than 100 other criminal charges ranging from drug trafficking to allegations that he stole nearly $9 million from clients and other attorneys.
Prosecutors say Murdaugh lured his wife and son to their 1,700-acre hunting lodge and shot them.
The state also claims his life spiraled out of control amid years of opioid addiction and mounting debt.
Murdaugh pleaded not guilty in June, and the blockbuster trial is expected to include wild allegations of dark family secrets, financial ruin and hedonistic excess.
A total of over 220 people were able to testify against Murdaugh in the trial.
Buster, Maggie, Paul and Alex Murdaugh. Buster was staying with his girlfriend near Charlotte at the time of the murders
At the time of Maggie and Paul’s deaths, Murdaugh and his son were facing a civil lawsuit over the boatwreck that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach in February 2019. Murdaugh told officers Paul and Maggie were killed in revenge for the accident
SCHEDULE: NIGHT OF THE KILLS
Alex Murdaugh, 54, is accused of shooting dead his wife Maggie, 52, and younger son Paul, 22, on the night of June 7, 2021 at the family’s hunting property in Islandton, South Carolina.
Here are the key events in the timeline established by the prosecution:
At 7.56pm, Paul sent a Snapchat video to friends showing the 22-year-old driving around the property with his father.
At 8:15 p.m., Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie, came home and the trio had dinner together. Autopsies showed similar stomach contents for Maggie and Paul.
Around 8:30 p.m., Paul’s phone moves in the direction of the kennel.
Then, at 8.44pm, a second video taken by Paul in the kennel – soon to lead to a murder scene – allegedly proves Maggie, Paul and Alex were together.
At 8:49 p.m., prosecutors say Paul’s phone was locked and forever silent, never to text again or make another call.
Between 9pm and 9.30pm, Paul and Maggie were killed – according to the coroner.
At 9:06 p.m., Murdaugh’s car is set on fire.
The alleged killer said he was visiting his mother in Almeda, about 15 minutes’ drive away, who has late-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
At 10:07 p.m., Murdaugh called 911 and claimed he got home to find his wife and son shot.