Jurors returned to the Colleton County Courthouse on Wednesday morning as the defense continued their case in the trial against attorney Alex Murdaugh over the double murder of his wife and son at the family's storied and massive hunting lodge in June 2021.
The 54-year-old disgraced legal scion – disbarred soon after murder allegations and various alleged financial improprieties came to light – is accused of shooting and killing his wife, Margaret "Maggie" Murdaugh, 52, and their youngest son Paul Murdaugh, 22.
The state rested their case late last week – taking slightly longer than expected – with surprise, last-minute-allowed testimony about the defendant's admittedly botched 2021 suicide attempt.
During that effort, part of an admitted insurance fraud scheme, Alex Murdaugh suffered what law enforcement termed a "superficial" injury to his head. Jurors heard the 911 call about that incident and both sides hashed it out over the particulars.
On Tuesday, as jurors were excused from service on Monday as the court system in South Carolina was closed for the President's Day holiday, the defendant's oldest and only surviving son, Buster Murdaugh, 26, wore a white button-down shirt and a dark blazer as he took the stand for the defense.
After a brief bit of levity because the witness could not remember his father's birthday, late in the morning things turned somber as defense attorney Jim Griffin asked him about the moment he learned that his mother and younger brother had been shot and killed.
On Tuesday afternoon, forensic engineer Mike Sutton took the stand for the defense. He theorized that Alex Murdaugh is simply too tall to have been the shooter – noting that the defendant is 76 inches tall while his calculations suggested the shooter was likely between 62 and 64 inches tall.
Prosecutors, during cross-examination, sought to question both Sutton's various calculations and the basis of his expertise.
The defense began with their fifth witness on Wednesday morning.
But first, surprise news was made during a hearing out of jurors' earshot as the defense indicated Alex Murdaugh himself would testify.
WILL ALEX TESTIFY?
Griffin: We have been discussing with #AlexMurdaugh about his right to testify…..
Griffin says they are concerned about the scope of cross-exam as to the financial crimes. pic.twitter.com/IfWMRq4Ewy— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) February 22, 2023
The defense's prevailing concern, however, expressed by attorney Jim Griffin, was the extent to which the defendant might be cross-examined on financial crimes allegations if he takes the stand. The defense is seeking a ruling on the matter and would rather have it by the end of the day but would need it at the latest by Thursday.
It is considered a rarity in the U.S. legal system for criminal defendants to take the stand and testify.
In the afternoon, the defense called Kenneth Zercie, the onetime director of the Connecticut Division of Scientific Services, the state forensics lab, who now works with the University of New Haven.
Harpootlian wraps up his direct examination of Zercie by getting his opinion that SLED's investigation at the crime scene was inadequate. Now cross-exam by Meadors. #AlexMurdaugh pic.twitter.com/GQGI65nJAV
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) February 22, 2023
Zercie is considered an expert on fingerprints, tire tracks and footprints. The upshot of his testimony was that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division conducted poor examination and preservation of the crime scene at Moselle.
After lunch, Zercie said first responders violated "standard operating procedure" when they traipsed through the crime scene without special shoe coverings – and may have destroyed crucial evidence. This line of inquiry, solicited by defense attorney Dick Harpootlian, harkened back to the defense's opening statement about the way investigators treated the crime scene in the initial hours after the murders were reported.
Zercie also said a sheet used to cover Paul Murdaugh's body could have destroyed or removed trace DNA evidence.
The defense's eight witness was Barbara Mixson, the housekeep for the defendant's ailing mother. During her brief testimony, she disputed the state's "blue tarp" theory.
SEE ALSO: Week One Roundup: Testimony Reveals Lurid Details in the Shotgun Execution Slayings of Murdaugh Family
Mixson says she worked Monday and Tuesday, relieving Shelley Smith. And on Wednesday, too. "I've never seen a blue tarp" laying out in the house @LawCrimeNetwork
— Angenette Levy (@Angenette5) February 22, 2023
Libby Murdaugh's night shift nurse, Mushelle "Shelley" Smith, previously testified she saw the defendant carry something that looked like a blue tarp into his mother's home shortly after the slayings. Prosecutors have suggested that Alex Murdaugh may have used that tarp-like item, possibly a blue jacket or raincoat, to conceal evidence.
