Alex Murdaugh’s defense attorney has claimed two shooters murdered his wife and son as he grilled a forensics officer over why first responders trampled bloody footprints at the crime scene.
Dick Harpootlian launched a blistering cross-examination of Melinda Worley on Friday morning, suggesting that footprints and the distance between shots showed there were two killers.
Murdaugh, 54, is accused of shooting his wife, Maggie, 52, and younger son Paul, 22, at the property on June 7, 2021, in a bid to gain sympathy and distract attention away from financial crimes at his law firm.
The defense theory is that somebody killed Paul and Maggie in revenge for a boating accident that left 19-year-old Mallory Beach dead in February, 2019. At the time of his death, Paul was facing trial for driving under the influence in the fatal crash.
Harpootlian suggested to Worley that the shotgun shots that killed Paul, and the rounds from an AR that killed Maggie, were fired by two shooters. Jurors have heard that in addition to the two weapons, two different brands of 12-gauge shotgun shells were recovered by cops.
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Alex Murdaugh arrived at court on Day Six of his double-murder trial hiding his handcuffs under his blazer at the at the Colleton County Court in Walterboro South Carolina on Monday
Buster Murdaugh, Alex’s sole surviving son, arrives at court Monday with Alex’s brother John Marvin, sister Lynn Murdaugh Goette (turquoise jacket) and Buster’s girlfriend Brooklynn White (also under the umbrella)
Alex Murdaugh’s brother John Marvin (right) and sister Lynn Murdaugh Goette arrive at the court Monday
Murdaugh is accused of killing Paul, 22, (right) and Maggie, 52, at the hunting property on June 7, 2021. His sole surviving son Buster stands on the left
#v-2023013002 .title_xW1le {display:none;}Murdaugh told cops he arrived home around 10pm to find his wife and son dead, but prosecutors say phone pings will show the legal scion was there when the pair were killed.
Murdaugh’s son Buster, brother John Marvin, sister Lynn and Buster’s girlfriend Brooklynn White sat behind him in the courtroom Monday. Buster angrily rejected the suggestion that he is ‘supporting his father,’ when speaking to DailyMail.com in November.
Harpootlian kicked off this morning by suggesting to Worley that Colleton County deputies and first responders had trampled all over the crime scene by the time she arrived – botching the investigation in its first hours.
‘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,’ he told Worley.
The forensics officer told him that the first officers at the scene had put down markers in the feed room in order to protect the evidence.
Harpootlian claimed that ‘one reasonable explanation’ provided by footprints and the distance between the shots fired that killed Paul and Maggie was that there were two shooters.
‘There are two people there, there are two guns there, one’s a shotgun, one’s an AR,’ he told the court.
Harpootlian suggested that Paul could have been shot by one perpetrator, while another who was acting as ‘the lookout’ was surprised by Maggie.
Worley looked bemused, saying ‘I wasn’t there,’ before agreeing with Harpootlian that his theory could be ‘one explanation’ – not ‘the explanation.’
The defense attorney established with Worley that forensics were unable to determine multiple bloody footprints at the scene – as well as a possible footprint on Maggie’s calf.
Asking her about the bloody footprint in the feed room, Harpootlian said: ‘Is that preservation of the scene that your standards require?’
Worley replied: ‘Not exactly, no.’
Harpootlian responded: ‘Not exactly. Should police be walking through the scene?’
‘No’, Worley answered.
The defense attorney then moved to question Worley about large volumes of water found at the crime scene which jurors heard about last week – Paul’s body was saturated with both blood and water.
Harpootlian asked Worley if anyone tested the water for blood or if anyone requested that she do so. She said no.
Jurors last week heard how Murdaugh, in his first interview with detectives, said Paul had been attacked and threatened a ‘lot’ after the fatal boat accident.
He then sensationally tried to cast suspicion on a farmhand who bragged to Paul that he was a killer for the FBI.
But jurors Friday heard from Detective Laura Rutland who said Murdaugh was ‘clean’ from head to toe, despite telling them he had touched the blood-soaked bodies of Maggie and Paul – even trying to roll his son over.
Rutland added that it looked like Murdaugh had changed following the murders, noting that she found it odd the defendant was sweating but his clothes were ‘dry.’
‘I knew it was really bad,’ Murdaugh said in the back of a police car as he was interviewed by detectives. ‘I could see his brain.’
Other images show drone shots of the crime scene, including the buildings where Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s bloody bodies were found. Maggie was found by the red-roof building
Pictured: The dog kennel where police found Paul’s body in a pool of blood
NIGHT OF THE MURDER: New images on Friday showed the police body cam footage of Murdaugh (right) wearing a clean white shirt on the night of his wife and son’s murder
Worley said Murdaugh’s white t-shirt and khaki shorts reacted positive to a test for blood.
However, she admitted that the test can also be triggered by bleach and rust.
Forensic evidence of the horrific crime scene was laid out by Rutland who – referring to her notes from the investigation – observed strands of brown hair in Maggie’s hands, as well as what appeared to be scratches and a bruise on Paul’s cheek.
Worley later described images of pieces of skull, hair strands, blood, tissue and brain matter scattered across the feed room of the kennel where the bodies were found.
Worley said the two shotgun shells recovered at the scene were both 12-gauge shells, but from different brands, one Winchester and the other Federal.
The forensic expert said she found a .300 Blackout rifle round underneath Maggie’s knee, differing to the shotguns shells around Paul’s body.
The prosecution say Murdaugh first shot Paul twice with a shotgun, hitting him in the chest and head, before shooting Maggie twice in the head with an AR-15-style rifle.
Murdaugh rocked back and forth and cried as Worley described the scene.
Worley said police found blood in Murdaugh’s SUV, along with a 16-gauge shotgun shell in the rear. She told the court the Chevrolet Suburban tested presumptive for blood after swabs were taken from the steering wheel, edge of the driver’s seat and lock button.
At 1am on the night of the killings, Murdaugh sat with detectives, telling them his relationship with Paul as ‘as good as it could be’ and he ‘had a wonderful marriage’ with Maggie.
During the 30-minute interview he described at length the threats and violence Paul had suffered in the aftermath of the boating accident.
Murdaugh said his son ‘didn’t know’ some of the people menacing him because much of it was coming from online due to ‘negative publicity’ from the accident.
The defense theory is that somebody killed Paul and Maggie in revenge for the boating accident in February 2019 that left 19-year-old Mallory Beach (pictured) dead.
The defense theory is that somebody else killed Murdaugh’s wife and son in revenge for a boat crash (the Murdaugh boat Sea Hunt is pictured) during which Paul had been driving under the influence, killing a 19-year-old woman, in February 2019
Bottles and cans of beer found aboard the boat which Paul Murdaugh was driving under the influence
He said people had threatened to ‘kick his a**’ and said Paul had gone out in Charleston a couple of months ago and received a black eye.
Murdaugh describe Paul as a ‘man’s man’ but said he was unable to fight back because he was facing trial over the fatal boat accident.
He then described how farmhand, CB Rowe, had recently confided in Paul that he had ‘killed radical Black Panthers’ while working undercover for the FBI.
Murdaugh told cops: ‘He told Paul a story the other day about how when he was in high school he got in a fight with some black guys.
‘And the FBI undercover team observed him fighting with those guys and put him on an undercover team with three Navy Seals and their job was to kill radical Black Panthers and they did that from Myrtle Beach to Savannah.’
But Murdaugh quickly added: ‘I actually do not think in all honesty it’s him but I know y’all got to talk to him.’
The legal scion said ‘Paul was so taken aback’ by Rowe’s story that he recorded the farmhand on his phone saying some of it.
Murdaugh said that he had hired Rowe at the farm about two months ago but he ‘wasn’t cutting the mustard’ and Paul was having to tidy up a shoddy job the farmhand had done with sunflower fields on the estate.
Murdaugh arrives at court Monday wearing a checked shirt and long pants, his blazer draped over his cuffs
Alex’s surviving son Buster and brother John Marvin arrive at court Monday
Alex Murdaugh’s sister Lynn Murdaugh Goette (center), son Buster (left), Buster’s girlfriend Brooklynn White (right) and Alex’s brother John Marvin (behind Lynn) arrive at court Monday
Asked about how his son was coping after the boat crash, Murdaugh told cops: ‘I’ve never been prouder of him than the way he’s handled the pressures and adversity in that situation. I mean Paul is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful kid. He can do almost anything. He gets along with almost anybody.’
Describing his relationship with Maggie, Murdaugh said they ‘had a wonderful marriage, wonderful relationship.’
Earlier it was revealed that redacted body-worn camera footage from the investigation is due to be released, after new images showed Murdaugh talking to cops wearing a pristine white T-shirt, as well as drone footage of the crime scene.
The T-shirt formed a central part of the evidence Friday, with Detective Rutland repeatedly asked about Murdaugh’s clothing, arms and hands, and answering that all were ‘clean.’
Murdaugh told the cops he had checked Maggie and Paul’s bodies for pulses and even tried to roll Paul over – causing his phone to pop out of his son’s pocket.
Murdaugh said he briefly attempted to do something with the phone before placing the device back on top of Paul.
Rutland also said she did not see any footprints or kneeling marks on the ground in the kennels where the bodies were discovered, despite there being pools of blood.
Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian will launch his cross-examination of Melinda Worley (pictured Friday), 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
The camo shotgun that was taken from Murdaugh by the first officer who arrived at the scene
‘Is the individual that you describe as clean head to toe sitting in this courtroom,’ the prosecutor asked Rutland.
‘Yes,’ she replied, pointing to Murdaugh.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin then grilled Rutland about the evidence, attempting to turn the cleanliness she noted in Murdaugh’s favor.
‘Did he look like someone who blew his son’s head off,’ Griffin asked.
Rutland replied that distance would have been a factor in whether Murdaugh would have been covered in blood spatter if he fired the shots.
Griffin also questioned why a dirty shirt was not found despite Murdaugh giving officials ‘carte blanche’ to search the estate and examine his cell phone.
Rutland confirmed that Murdaugh did allow police to fully search his property.
Rutland noted that she canvased the land on an ATV and that other investigators dove in ponds near the property.
Griffin then asked if Murdaugh was a suspect that night.
Rutland replied: ‘That night, everybody was a suspect.’
Murdaugh claimed he had been visiting his elderly mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s and arrived home to find Maggie and Paul dead near the estate’s dog kennels
A shed near the dog kennels at Moselle Hunting Lodge where Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were gunned down
Photos showing the exterior of the kennels and out houses at the estate, where footprints were discovered by investigators
A photo taken by investigators showing water inside the kennels. Jurors have heard that the body of Paul Murdaugh was saturated with both blood and water despite it not having rained
Griffin also asked the detective if she was aware that investigators left some 30 shotgun pellets behind in the feed room of the kennels when they left the property. Rutland said she did not know that.
During his interview with cops, Murdaugh said that there were probably 25 guns on the estate.
He said that in addition to the camo shotgun officers took off him when they arrived there were ‘all kinds of rifles.’
He added: ‘I mean you name ’em, we have ’em.’
The trial is taking 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 judicial and political power.
Indeed, in the courtroom where Murdaugh faces judgment a portrait of his late grandfather – legendary longtime 14th Circuit Solicitor Buster Murdaugh Jr. – had hung on the wall before it was removed ahead of the trial.
Alex Murdaugh pictured with his wife Maggie and their two sons Paul (left) and Buster
Prosecutors have said Murdaugh killed his wife and child to generate sympathy and distract from his financial crimes, an alleged motive that Murdaugh’s lawyers have argued doesn’t make sense.
But he has adamantly insisted from the moment he found the bodies of his wife and youngest son shot multiple times that he was not the killer.
Following the murder trial, Murdaugh will have to face more than 100 additional 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 dead.
The court also claims that his life was spiraling out of control amid years of opioid addiction and ballooning debts.
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.
In total, over 220 people could testify against Murdaugh in the trial, it was revealed Tuesday.
