Alex Murdaugh trial wraps Tuesday with testimony about Maggie Murdaugh's final phone calls
Alex Murdaugh, a former lawyer, assistant prosecutor and scion of a powerful South Carolina legal dynasty, is charged with the double murder of his wife, Maggie, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, on June 7, 2021.
Coverage for this event has ended.
Alex Murdaugh is escorted to a black van after day 5 of his trial ended Tuesday in Walterboro, South Carolina. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
Alex Murdaugh exited the Colleton County Courthouse Tuesday after 5:30 p.m. on the fifth day of his double murder trial.
Alex Murdaugh conferring with his lawyer, Dick Harpootlian Jan. 31, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/ The State/ pool)
Lt. Britt Dove testified Tuesday that Maggie Murdaugh's phone locked for good at 8:49:31 but still recorded data.
Prosecutors previously said in opening statements that she and her son, Paul Murdaugh, were likely already dead at this time.
Maggie's phone recorded 59 final steps at 8:53 p.m. after the phone had locked for good.
"It tells me someone was holding this phone and took steps, and it recorded those steps," the cellphone expert told jurors in response to questioning from Assistant Attorney General John Conrad.
At 9:06:12 the phone changed its orientation from landscape to portrait mode likely because someone was holding it, the cellphone expert told jurors.
Two seconds later, Alex Murdaugh called Maggie's phone -- but she didn't answer. At 9:06:20 p.m., the iPhone's orientation change ended.
At 9:06:51 p.m., Alex called Maggie's phone again. Two minutes, 7 seconds later, Alex texted her phone, “Going to check on M. Be right back."
No more steps were recorded until the next day when investigators found Maggie's iPhone on the side of Moselle Road about half a mile from the family's hunting estate.
"Call me babe," Alex texted his wife at 9:47:23 p.m.
Maggie and Alex Murdaugh posing together on a boat. (Facebook)
Maggie Murdaugh received a group text message from her brother-in-law, John Marvin Murdaugh, at 8:31:00 p.m.
“I plan to go over to visit dad tomorrow afternoon. Does anyone else plan to go?” he asked, referring to he and Alex Murdaugh's father, Randolph Murdaugh III.
The family patriarch and former 14th Circuit solicitor was in the hospital and died three days later on June 10, 2021. The message was read on Maggies phone at 8:31:16 p.m.
Alex's sister responded to the exchange. "I'm in court all next week," she wrote. Maggie's phone records show the text was read at 8:49:27 p.m.
“A text message was received on the phone and the phone was unlocked to read the text message,” Lt. Britt Dove, a cellphone forensics expert, testified. The text was received at 8:31:47 p.m.
It was the last text that was read on her phone. Prosecutor Creighton Waters told jurors in opening statements that Paul and Maggie's devices went dark at about 8:50 p.m.
The text history also shows that Alex sent Maggie a message at 9:08:58 p.m. -- but it was never read.
Alex and Maggie Murdaugh in an undated photo. (Facebook)
Lt. Britt Dove, of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division's computer crimes center, said her last phone call was placed at 7:50 p.m. to a contact named Barbara.
The call lasted 2 minutes, 46 seconds. After prosecutors say she was shot to death just 30 feet from son, Paul Murdaugh, Alex Murdaugh called her five times, Dove testified.
He called Maggie at 9:04:23 p.m., 9:06:14 p.m., 9:06:51 p.m. , 9:45:32 and 10:03:58.
Alex called 911 at 10:06 p.m., hysterical and sobbing, after allegedly finding his son and wife riddled with gunshots.
The disbarred attorney told investigators he had dinner with his family then awoke from a nap and drove to his mom's house in Almeda a little after 9 p.m.
But prosecutors say Paul recorded a video near the dog kennels at 8:44 p.m. that captured Alex's voice contradicting his claim he last saw his son and wife at dinner at the main house.
Spectators pack the gallery at Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial in Walterboro, South Carolina, Jan. 31, 2023. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/ Pool)
The Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, was filled with spectators Tuesday watching the state's much-anticipated trial.
At least a dozen people waited in line to secure a coveted seat in the courtroom at 8 a.m.
Lt. Britt Dove, of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division's computer crimes center, testifies Tuesday at Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial. (Fox News)
Lt. Britt Dove, of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division's computer crimes center, analyzed and extracted data from Alex, Maggie and Paul Murdaugh's cellphones.
Dove, an expert in cellphone forensics, spent a significant amount of time explaining to jurors how cellphones store data and how this data is extracted and interpreted.
He testified that a screenshot of Maggie's call log showed five missed calls from Alex , two missed calls from John Marvin Murdaugh and one from Buster Murdaugh.
This particular photo did not indicate the time or calendar day, but Dove suggested that the image captured her most recent call log after her murder.
He said he processed and downloaded the entire contents of her iPhone using Cellebrite software, which provides the data in an easily digestible format.
“It will pull thousands of pages of information," he said. "It will also give you the configuration of apps and the databases.”
If the entire report from Maggie's phone were printed out, he said it could be as many as 9,000 pages.
Paul and Maggie were gunned down June 7, 2021, near the dog kennels on the family's sprawling hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina.
Nancy Grace reporting live outside the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, Jan. 30, 2023. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
Nancy Grace reports live on the trial of Alex Murdaugh outside the Colleton County Courthouse on Tuesday Walterboro, South Carolina.
The true crime maven has been spotted inside and outside the courtroom this week covering the sensational double murder trial.
Dozens of media organizations have been stationed at the courthouse since jury selection began last Monday.
John Bedingfield, Alex Murdaugh's cousin, testified Tuesday at his double murder trial in South Carolina. (Fox News)
John Bedingfield, the state's 14th witness, testified Tuesday at the Colleton County Courthouse that he sold Alex Murdaugh a pair of .300 Blackout rifles that were gifts for his sons.
"He was excited about getting these for the boys," Bedingfield later said.
Alex purchased a black and tan rifle as Christmas gifts for Buster and Paul Murdaugh for hog hunting Dec. 23, 2016.
The rifles, which cost $9,188, included thermal scopes, so the brothers could hunt at night.
Alex also paid for suppressors to reduce sound, but these were never attached to the weapons, Bedingfield said.
A little over a year later in April 2018, Bedingfield sold a third .300 Blackout rifle for $875 to Alex to replace the tan one Paul had lost.
Alex told him not to add a thermal optic, which costs 1,500 to $1,800 since, Paul couldn't be trusted not to lose it.
Hogs in South Carolina are a tremendous nuisance and do significant damage to property and crops, Bedingfield said.
Bedingfield added that Alex is his cousin. "Our grandmothers were sisters," he said.
Prosecutors have suggested that the weapon Alex allegedly used to kill Maggie is a .300 Blackout rifle.
Investigators could only account for one of the three rifles after the killings.
On cross-examination, Bedingfield said he'd sold a lot of .300 Blackout rifles.
Aerial photo of the dog kennel area at Moselle, the 1,700-acre hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina. (Joshua Boucher/ The State/ pool)
An evidence photo showing the hangar and dog kennels on the Moselle hunting estate where Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and Paul Murdaugh, 22, were fatally shot June 7, 2021.
Alex Murdaugh's family leaving the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, during a lunch break Jan. 31, 2023. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
Alex Murdaugh's brother, John Marvin Murdaugh, his sister Lynn Murdaugh Goette, his son, Buster Murdaugh, and his girlfriend, Brooklynn White, are shown leaving the Colleton County Courthouse Tuesday for the lunch break.
Alex's family members have been in court everyday since the trial began last week to support the fallen patriarch.
The fallen patriarch is being held without bond at the Colleton County Jail for the duration of the trial.
During breaks in the proceeding, he's placed in a holding cell under the courthouse behind a gate of white bars.
The fifth day of the trial resumed Tuesday a little after 2:20 p.m. Alex is accused of gunning down his son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, with a shotgun, and his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, with a rifle near the dog kennels on the family's hunting estate.
There has been extensive testimony about the victims' horrific injuries -- including that Paul's brain exploded from his head and was found near his feet.
Maggie was shot at least four times including once in the back of her head.
A diagram showing where Paul Murdaugh and Maggie Murdaugh were found shot to death. (South Carolina State Attorney's Office)
Alex Murdaugh, hysterical and sobbing , called 911 shortly after 10 p.m. June 7, 2021, to report that he found his wife and son shot to death near the dog kennels on the family’s sprawling 1,700-acre hunting estate in Islandton.
"I need the police and an ambulance immediately," he told the dispatcher. "My wife and child have been shot badly." The first round struck Paul Murdaugh's chest, the second entered his left shoulder, traveling into his neck and brain, which was severed from his body.
"I need the police and an ambulance immediately," he told the dispatcher.
Maggie Murdaugh was lying facedown in the mud about 30 feet away. She had been shot with a rifle at least four times — once execution-style in the back of the head.
The property at 4147 Moselle Road straddles Colleton and Hampton counties and served as Alex’s primary residence.
In Alex’s first statement to a deputy on the scene, he suggested that the boat crash litigation was behind the grisly killings.
"This is a long story. My son was in a boat wreck. He’s been getting threats," Murdaugh can be heard saying in body camera footage to Sgt. Daniel Greene. "I know that’s what it is."
SLED immediately took over the investigation.
U.S. Secret Service Agent John VanHouten testifies Tuesday Jan. 31, 2023, at Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial. (Fox News)
U.S. Secret Service Agent John VanHouten said he received Paul Murdaugh's locked cell phone March 21, 2022, from local investigators after they were unable to open it.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division didn't have the Cellebrite software required to break into a locked iPhone.
“If we don’t have the code, we will attack the device, attack the data on the device to get to the passcode,” he said of the software.
VanHouten first generated a series of numbers associated with the births, deaths and anniversaries of Paul and and his loved ones.
It turned out Paul's four-digit passcode was associated with his date of birth and was relatively easy to crack.
But if VanHouten hadn't been so lucky, it could have taken as many as 68 days to access the phone.
iPhones allow a maximum of 146 unlock attempts per day and a four-digit passcode has 10,000 numeric possibilities, he told jurors.
If the phone had a six-digit passcode, there are 1 million numeric possibilities and it could take the Cellebrite software up to 19 years to unlock the device, he said.
After his brief testimony, the courtroom broke for lunch until 2:15 p.m.
Verizon senior analyst Anthony Knecht testifies as state's 11th witness at Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial in Walterboro, South Carolina. (Fox News.)
Verizon senior analyst Anthony Knecht testified Tuesday about the call logs of Alex, Paul and Maggie Murdaugh and others from June 7, 2021.
The logs should help establish Paul and Maggie's time of death but the testimony was difficult to follow.
Knecht used the last four digits of the phone numbers to describe the calls rather than the names associated with the numbers.
The expert had to convert the time of the calls from UTC to EST on the spot -- a difficult feat, which elicited sympathetic laughter from the courtroom.
On cross-examination, Dick Harpootlian struggled to follow Knecht's explanations.
"Are you losing me, or am I losing you?" Harpootlian asked.
Later in the questioning, Knecht didn't understand Harpootlian's question and asked for clarification.
"It's complicated, I know, even for you," Harpootlian playfully noted.
Screenshots from Rogan Gibson's cellphone showing his texts with Paul and Maggie Murdaugh June 7, 2022. (Joshua Boucher/The State/ pool)
After a brief break, prosecutors called their 11th witness to the stand, Anthony Knecht, a Verizon senior analyst.
He's the custodian of records and will likely testify about call logs for the Murdaughs, Paul Murdaugh's friend Rogan Gibson and groundskeeper C.B. Rowe.
We already learned in earlier testimony that Paul called Gibson at 8:44 p.m. the night of his murder.
Gibson's dog was in the Murdaugh dog kennels, and they were discussing a possible problem with his tail.
Gibson sent Paul a text at 8:49 p.m. “See if you can get a good picture of it," he wrote. "Maryan wants to send it to a girl we know that’s a vet. Tell him to sit and stay and he shouldn’t move around too much.”
But Paul didn't respond.
Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters argued in opening statements that he was likely already dead. Gibson called Paul at 9:10 p.m., 9:29 p.m., 9:42 p.m. and 10:08 p.m.
At 9:58 p.m., he texted Paul, "Yo."
He also sent Maggie a text at 9:34 p.m., "Tell Paul to call me."
Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaugh family's longtime housekeeper and nanny, who died mysterious on their property. (Brice Herndon Funeral Home)
The family’s longtime nanny and housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, died after falling down a set of stairs at the Moselle home Feb. 26, 2018.
Nearly 10 months later, her family filed a wrongful death claim at the urging of Alex.
An attorney representing Satterfield’s sons later learned that insurance policies had paid out more than $4 million, which Alex and his cronies had allegedly pocketed.
In October 2021, Alex was arrested at a Florida drug rehab center and charged with embezzling millions from her sons.
He has remained in jail since.
He agreed to pay back the stolen $4.3 million in a confession of judgment. SLED later announced an investigation into Satterfield’s death and plans to exhume her body.
Alex is on trial in Walterboro, South Carolina, accused of the double murder of his wife and son June 7, 2021.
On redirect, prosecutor Creighton Waters questioned SLED special agent Jeff Croft about the murder probe.
"Was the investigation just focused on Alex Murdaugh?" Waters asked.
"It was absolutely not just focused on Alex Murdaugh,” he replied.
Croft added that he wasn't aggressive in his questioning of Alex on June 10, 2021, because at that stage it was an "information gathering type interview" and not an "interrogation."
Waters also challenged the defense's argument that there were two shooters because of the distance between Paul and Maggie Murdaugh's bodies and the use of a rifle and shotgun to carry out the killings.
"Can people move?” Waters asked.
“People can move, yessir,” Croft replied, suggesting that the shooter simply switched his position.
In earlier testimony, Jim Griffin asked Croft during cross-examination whether investigators searched the home of Alex's mother soon after the murders.
Alex told them he was visiting her when his wife and son were shot.
"I did not," Croft answered. Investigators didn't search Alex's mother's home until September 2021.
Alex Murdaugh Jan. 30, 2023, at his double murder trial in Walterboro, South Carolina, seated between his lawyers Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian. (Andrew J. Whitaker/ The Post and Courier/ pool)
On cross-examination, defense lawyer Jim Griffin challenged SLED special agent Jeffrey Croft on whether Alex Murdaugh actually said "I did him so bad!" in a videotaped interview three days after the double murder.
"Are you 100% confident Alex said 'I did him so bad' rather than 'they did him so bad'?" asked Griffin.
"I am 100% confident in what I heard and I interpreted him as saying," Croft doubled down.
When asked what Croft did in response to the seemingly incriminating statement, he said, "I made a mental note on it."
Griffin pressed Croft on why he didn't follow up with any questions related to the comment in that interview or a subsequent one on Aug. 11. He said they weren't ready to confront him yet.
The agent conceded he never asked Alex to clarify the supposed admission and didn't write it down -- although he was taking written notes during the interview.
Griffin then played the clip from the interview at normal speed then at one-third the normal speed, and Croft said he still heard "I did him so bad!" The slowed down version of the clip was barely audible.
The interview was conducted on June 10 after at least four SLED patrol cars showed up at John Marvin Murdaugh's hunting lodge in Barnwell.
Investigators interviewed Alex Murdaugh, his son, Buster Murdaugh, and his brothers John Marvin and Randy Murdaugh simultaneously.
Croft said Alex was SLED's prime suspect the day after the murders. "We were looking at Alex," he said.
The Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, where Alex Murdaugh is on trial for the murder of his wife, Maggie, and his son, Paul. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
Defense lawyer Jim Griffin grilled SLED special agent Jeff Croft on why Maggie Murdaugh's cellphone wasn't put in a faraday bag.
Normal procedure is to secure a phone in a special bag that prevents tampering with the evidence.
Investigators used Find My iPhone to locate Maggie's cellphone on June 8, 2021, about half a mile from Moselle, the sprawling hunting estate that was Alex Murdaugh's primary residence.
The phone was found in a grassy area on the side of the road and located with the help of Alex's brother John Marvin Murdaugh. Griffin said it was Alex who provided Maggie's passcode to investigators.
"Was Maggie’s phone put in a faraday bag?" asked Griffin.
"No, it was not," Croft replied.
"Did anyone ask or bring up the fact that maybe we should get a faraday bag before we move this phone?" Griffin pressed.
"I did not ask," he answered. Defense lawyers have seized on the handling of the phone to bolster their argument that the murder investigation was often sloppy and shoddy.
SLED special agent Jeff Croft testifies at Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial Jan. 31, 2023. (Fox News)
Jeff Croft, a gun and ammunition expert, returned to the stand Tuesday at Alex Murdaugh's murder trial for cross-examination by defense lawyer Jim Griffin.
Croft testified on direct that he searched the gunroom of Alex's house June 8, 2021 -- one day after Paul Murdaugh, 22, and his mom, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, were shot to death.
"This search was a consent search, this was not a search warrant," Griffin said. "Were there any limitations you're aware of on the scope of the search?"
"No," Croft replied. Although investigators had obtained a search warrant, Alex gave them full permission to search the property.
Croft said he was looking for rifles and shotguns that could fire the rounds located at the scene.
On direct, Croft displayed numerous rifles and shotguns retrieved from Alex's gunroom -- although prosecutors did not identify any of them as the murder weapon.
"Have you ever found the murder weapons to your knowledge?" asked Griffin.
"Not that I'm aware of," he replied.
Alex Murdaugh arriving to the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, for the fifth day of his murder trial. (Mark Sims)
Alex Murdaugh stepped out of a black van a little after 9 a.m. Tuesday, a blazer covering his handcuffs, for the fifth day of his murder trial in Walterboro, South Carolina.
Minutes later, Alex's son Buster Murdaugh, brother John Marvin Murdaugh, sister Lynn Murdaugh Goette and Buster's girlfriend Brooklynn White entered the Colleton County Courthouse. They have been present everyday of the trial.
Alex is accused of gunning down his son, Paul Murdaugh, with a shotgun, and his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, with a rifle June 7, 2021.
SLED special agent Jeff Croft is expected to return to the stand Tuesday morning for cross-examination.
On direct testimony, Croft said that Alex blurted out "I did him so bad!" in an interview recorded three days after the killings.
But there's some disagreement over whether Alex can be heard saying "they" or "I" in the videotaped interview with Croft and SLED special agent David Owens.
The trial is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.
Jurors were shown Monday body camera footage showing SLED agents searching Alex Murdaugh's home the morning after Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were fatally shot.
Agents entered the main residence of the Moselle property, a sprawling hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina.
Alex's former law partners Mark Ball, Ronnie Crosby and Lee Cope were present and captured in the video.
The disbarred lawyer was forced out of the family firm after he was allegedly caught stealing from clients' settlements.
Alex's brother John Marvin Murdaugh and attorney Chris Wilson were also there.
The footage is from special agent Jeffrey Croft, who was on the stand Monday describing the video.
Investigators are shown picking up spent .300 Blackout rounds near an exterior door of the house and perusing a rack with more than 20 weapons in the gunroom.
Buster's .300 Blackout rifle was on the rack. Prosecutors have suggested that a Blackout rifle was used to execute Maggie, and the Murdaughs at one point owned three. Two are missing.
The trial is set to resume Tuesday with cross-examination of Croft.
A group of spectators stand in line to snag a seat in the highly publicized Alex Murdaugh trial Jan. 31, 2023. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
People gathered outside the Colleton County Courthouse in Waltersboro, South Carolina, before 8 a.m. Tuesday to try to secure a seat in the courtroom.
On Monday, the gallery was packed with spectators watching the state's most highly anticipated trial in decades.
It is the fifth day of the trial and SLED special agent Jeff Croft is still on the stand. He's expected to be cross-examined by Alex's lawyers in the morning.
He and another SLED agent, David Owens, interviewed the fallen family patriarch three days after Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were brutally shot to death.
Alex repeated his earlier narrative and said he did not visit the dog kennels before finding his slain son and wife a little after 10 p.m.
But prosecutor Creighton Waters argued in opening statements that Paul recorded a video at the dog kennels at 8:44 p.m. that captured Alex and Maggie's voices, undermining his alibi.
Alex Murdaugh at his murder trial Jan. 27, 2023, in Walterboro, South Carolina. (Joshua Boucher/The State/pool)
Alex Murdaugh is accused of gunning down his son, Paul, and his wife, Maggie, on June 7, 2021, near the dog kennels on their sprawling 1,700-acre hunting estate known as Moselle in Islandton, South Carolina.
Prosecutors say he used a shotgun to blow off his son's head, which was "severed" from his body, according to court papers.
Maggie was shot with a semiautomatic rifle five times — including in the back of the head — and died about 30 yards from her son, according to police and court papers.
Prosecutors have suggested that the family patriarch murdered Paul and Maggie over mounting debts and fear that his decades-long schemes to embezzle money from his clients would be exposed.
Alex has denied involvement. He alleges that he found his wife and son's lifeless bodies and placed a hysterical 911 call to police at 10:06 p.m. He has one surviving son, Richard "Buster" Murdaugh.
One detective who testified in the Alex Murdaugh double-murder trial claimed there was no visible blood on him the night his son and wife were tragically shot and killed in the family's hunting lodge back in 2021.
But Fox Nation host Nancy Grace was quick to note that, although there may not have been enough blood on him visible to the naked eye, further testing revealed otherwise on "Fox & Friends Weekend."
"I see where the defense is headed, because when you look at Alex Murdaugh, the night of the murders, when the SLED South Carolina law enforcement division and other law enforcement got there, it looked like he was wearing a clean shirt, a clean T-shirt, although he was sweating profusely, but there was no sweat on the shirt," Grace told Will Cain on Sunday.
"But then when you take the shirt for testing under a microscope, there appears to be very fine blood spatter, which is invisible to the naked eye, and that's why we do ballistics and blood spatter test," she continued. Murdaugh is accused of killing his wife, Maggie, and his 22-year-old son Paul on June 7, 2021, at the family's "Moselle" estate.
Grace suggested that a Snapchat video that prosecutors mentioned in pre-trial motions could hold the key to the missing moments ahead of Paul's death. The Snapchat video has yet to be made public but is expected to presented by prosecutors at Murdaugh's trial.
From left, Buster Murdaugh, his mother Maggie, his brother Paul and his father Alex. Alex is accused of fatally shooting Maggie and Paul on June 7, 2021. (Facebook)
Alex Murdaugh's youngest son Paul sent his friends a Snapchat video shortly before his murder — and it is a key piece of evidence in the state's case against him, South Carolina prosecutors revealed in a pretrial court filing.
"Amongst other things, critical to the case is a video sent out to several friends at approximately 7:56 p.m. on the night of the murders," wrote Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Creighton Waters in a petition to secure the attendance of a Snapchat witness. "The contents of this video is important to proving the State's case in chief."
It's the first time the video has been mentioned publicly by prosecutors, who have been tightlipped about the evidence they have against the scion of the once-powerful legal dynasty. In the filing, the prosecutor asked Judge Clifton Newman to sign an order requiring a Snapchat representative to testify at the Colleton County trial.
"The witness, Snapchat Inc Custodian of Records, of Santa Monica, California, is a material witness because in a search warrant return, Snapchat provided records belonging to one of the victims in this case," Waters wrote in the petition. "Because this video was provided by Snapchat, a Snapchat custodian is required to testify in person that the video is a true and accurate record kept in the normal course of business activity."
The documents do not indicate what is shown on the Snapchat video.
Richard "Buster" Murdaugh Jr. — the lone surviving son of disgraced South Carolina lawyer and accused killer Alex Murdaugh. Buster grew up with his younger brother Paul on a sprawling 1,700-acre hunting farm, known as Moselle, in Islandton, South Carolina.
Buster lives with his girlfriend, Brooklynn White, both 26, and their beloved golden retriever, Miller, in a modest one-bedroom Hilton Head Island condominium. It’s unclear when Buster and White began dating — but she accompanied him to the joint funeral of Paul and Maggie, according to a source.
Buster attended University of South Carolina Law School alongside White. He was allegedly kicked out in his second semester for plagiarism, the Wall Street Journal reported. Alex paid an attorney $60,000 to try to get Buster readmitted, according to FitsNews.
The news site also reported that Buster attended the annual South Carolina Association for Justice convention on Hilton Head in August with his attorney uncle, Randolph "Randy" Murdaugh IV.
Buster was named as a defendant in the Mallory Beach death suit for allegedly letting his brother Paul, who was underage, use his ID to buy alcohol for the doomed boating trip.
He has since settled the suit.
From left: Buster, Paul, Alex and Maggie Murdaugh pose on a fishing boat.
Alex Murdaugh, 54, the once powerful scion of a South Carolina legal dynasty, is on trial for the slayings of his wife and son.
Prosecutors say Alex gunned down 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh and their troubled 22-year-old son, Paul, on June 7, 2021.
The Murdaughs, a prominent Democratic family, wielded enormous judicial and political power for nearly a century. A comprehensive timeline details the events that contributed to their downfall.
But the family’s dominance began to wane after Paul was criminally charged for a deadly 2019 boat wreck that triggered a series of lawsuits and threatened to expose his father’s financial schemes.
The accident set in motion a spiral of destruction that has stained the family’s legacy.
Chief Barry McRoy, of Colleton County Fire and Rescue, testifies Jan. 26, 2023, at Alex Murdaugh's trial.
Barry McRoy, of Colleton County fire and rescue, testified Jan. 26 that Paul and Maggie Murdaugh had devastating injuries.
"That is the body of Paul, and he is laying facedown at the entrance to the utility room at the kennels," said McRoy, describing a crime scene photo. "You can see there is substantial damage to his head. There’s a lot of blood and there appears to be hisbrain down there by his ankles.”
In another crime scene photo, McRoy described Maggie's injuries after she'd been shot at least four times. "She had a hole in her head to where you could actually see inside of her head,” he said.
During the graphic testimony, Murdaugh bowed his head and rocked back and forth in distress.
McRoy said he didn't bother checking the pulses of Paul and Maggie because their wounds were clearly "incompatible with life."
After prosecutors wrapped up their direct examination of McRoy, Murdaugh removed his reading glasses and wiped his eyes with a tissue.
McRoy said he had met Murdaugh "on a professional basis" before encountering him at the scene of the double murder when he had to do "depositions and such with his law firm."
Eleven seconds of drone footage was released to the public on Friday, one day after it was shown to a South Carolina jury during Alex Murdaugh’s double-murder trial in Colleton County court.
The footage shows the Murdaugh family’s sprawling Moselle estate, where Alex’s wife, 52-year-old Maggie, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, were executed in June 2021.
Murdaugh is accused of gunning down his troubled son and his wife on June 7, 2021, near the dog kennels on their sprawling 1,700-acre hunting estate known as Moselle in Islandton, South Carolina. Prosecutors say he used a shotgun to blow off his son's head, which was "severed" from his body, according to court papers.
Maggie was shot with a semiautomatic rifle five times — including in the back of the head — and died about 30 yards from her son, court papers allege.
Since their deaths, Murdaugh, 54, has been disbarred and disgraced as he has been linked to several other deaths in the community, and an alleged failed attempt to take his own life.
Alex Murdaugh cries as the murder of his wife and son is described by Colleton County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Daniel Greene during testimony on Thursday, Jan. 26. (Joshua Boucher/The State via AP)
Alex Murdaugh broke down in sobs in an an interview with SLED agents three days after his wife, Maggie Murdaugh and his son, Paul Murdaugh, were shot to death.
Special agent David Owens asked Alex about his marriage. "Very good, as good as it could possibly be," he replied.
The only issue they ever fought about was the length they stayed at his in-laws, he said.
“She was a wonderful wife, she was a great mother," he gushed before dissolving into tears. "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.”
The videotaped interview was played for jurors Monday in the Colleton County Courthouse.
Prosecutors say Alex used two different guns to fatally shoot Maggie, 52, and Paul, 22, to prevent his expansive financial crimes from coming to light.
He described his son as a "wonderful" child in the interview but said he was irresponsible, especially with "guns" and "boats."
"He would leave anything anywhere," Alex told the investigators of his son. Alex said he bought each of his sons a .300 Blackout rifle.
Paul lost his rifle and often used his brother Buster Murdaugh's to hunt hogs. Alex said he was pretty sure he had replaced Paul's lost .300 Blackout but couldn't say for sure.
Creighton Waters, lead prosecutor for the South Carolina Attorney's Office, has suggested that a Blackout rifle was used to execute Maggie, and the Murdaughs at one point owned three. Two are missing.
Alex's defense lawyers have argued that their client is innocent and the crime scene indicates there were two shooters, not one.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters asks witness Jeff Croft, a SLED senior special agent, questions about weapons and ammunition collected from Alex Murdaugh's home during Murdaugh's trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse on Monday, Jan. 30. (Joshua Boucher/The State via AP, Pool)
During an interview with investigators June 10, 2021, Alex Murdaugh broke down in tears after he was asked about finding his wife and son shot to death.
“I know you saw a traumatic picture I know it’s not easy, I know it’s hard," an investigator can be heard saying as Alex sobs hysterically.
"It's just so bad, I did him so bad," Murdaugh appears to say through tears.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters paused the video Monday in court and asked the witness, SLED special agent Jeff Croft, what Alex said.
"It's just so bad, I did him so bad," the agent repeated. Alex appeared to mouth from the defense table, "I didn't say that." His attorneys did not object.
SLED investigators did not ask any follow up questions after the puzzling statement.
Earlier in the interview, Croft questioned Alex about his timeline the night of the murders.
"The last time that you saw Paul and Maggie was when you all were eating supper?" the agent asked.
"Yes, sir," Alex replied.
Waters said in opening statements that Paul Murdaugh took a cellphone video at the dog kennels at 8:44 p.m., and Alex and Maggie Murdaugh's voices can be heard on the recording.
Prosecutors have yet to play the critical video in court. The mother and son's phones went dark at about 8:50 p.m.
Alex Murdaugh listens during his double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Thursday, Jan. 26. (Grace Beahm Alford/The Post and Courier via AP)
Alex Murdaugh, 54, is the fallen scion of a local legal dynasty in South Carolina. He is accused in the double slaying of his youngest son Paul, 22, and his wife, Maggie, 52, in June 2021.
Since their murders, he has been disbarred and linked to several mysterious deaths in the community.
He’s also charged in a failed murder-suicide in September, 2021. Prosecutors allege he hired a former client, Curtis Edward Smith, to shoot him so his older son, Buster, would get a $10 million life insurance payout.
State prosecutors suggested that Alex shot his son and wife over mounting debts and fear his decades-long corruption schemes would be exposed.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced in December a fresh indictment accusing Alex of nine counts of tax evasion for failing to report $6,954,639 of illegally earned income between 2011 and 2019.
Alex is being held without bond and his financial assets have been frozen.
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