5 key takeaways from Alex Murdaugh trial: Gunshot residue, clean clothes raise questions

The first week of disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial in the killing his wife Maggie and son Paul — among the most chilling murders in South Carolina history — was appropriately prefaced by a cold, overcast and rainy Sunday.

The week ended on a sunny Friday afternoon. In between, jurors heard testimony from nine witnesses that has provided the most complete picture of the murders to date.

Yet, questions still loom, and the jury’s verdict is far from certain at this stage.

Here are 5 key takeaways from the trial’s opening week:

Defense discredits integrity of crime scene

Veteran defense attorney and state senator Dick Harpootlian moved to seed early doubt on how first responders handled the crime scene, hinting careless officers could have contaminated evidence.

The trial’s opening two witnesses — Sgt. Daniel Greene and Cpl. Chad McDowell of the Colleton County Sheriff’s office — have been involved in the case since its first fateful hours. Greene was the first officer to arrive at the Murdaughs’ Moselle property after a frantic Alex Murdaugh called 911 at 10:07 p.m. on June 7, 2021.

McDowell and Greene, aided by body cam footage from the crime scene, described moving to preserve evidence at the scene. Both feared an imminent rainstorm might contaminate what remained of the crime’s chaotic aftermath.

Greene said first responders followed standard procedure by identifying footprints and tire tracks, and marking evidence with fragments of torn crime scene tape before investigators arrived. No boot covers were worn, he confirmed, but he added boot covers aren’t typically worn by those first on the scene

Harpootlian brought attention to a photo depicting a set of footprints consistent with Maggie Murdaugh’s shoes. He highlighted a second set of tracks near those linked to Maggie.

“If it (the prints) was one of your detectives, you wouldn’t be happy?” Harpootlian asked Capt. Jason Chapman, an investigator from the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office.

“I wouldn’t be happy, no sir,” Chapman confirmed.

The early investigation’s integrity will be key to shaping the jury’s perception of state evidence. A mishandled investigation, Harpootlian suggested, may have prevented discovery of other suspects.

Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters rebutted the line of questioning directly.

“You were asked a series of questions about contaminating evidence. Are you aware that any evidence was contaminated in this case?” Waters asked Greene.

“I’m not,” Greene said.

“Did you engage in everything you could to avoid contaminating evidence?” Waters pressed on.

“Yes,” Greene replied.

Murdaugh clean ‘from head to toe’ at crime scene

While speaking with police at the scene, Murdaugh said he checked Paul’s pulse briefly and tried to turn the body over.

Colleton County Sheriff’s Office investigator Laura Rutland told prosecution attorney John Meadors she never saw blood on his hands, shoes, shirt or other clothing. Prosecutors argue that if Murdaugh touched the body, the gruesome injuries would make it impossible to stay clean. Meadors even suggested Murdaugh could have committed the crimes, rinsed off and changed clothes.

“Did he look like somebody who’d just changed his clothes? Did those clothes appear to be fresh, like they’d just come out of the laundry?” Meadors asked.

“Yes,” Rutland said.

In cross examination, Harpootlian pressed Rutland on whether Murdaugh’s clothing was clean enough to pass as freshly washed clothes.

“He’s sweating and they are dry, so I would say yes,” Rutland responded.

The defense has suggested that although law enforcement had full authority to search Murdaugh’s home for “unclean or dirty” clothes, none were recovered, and traces of blood weren’t found inside the house.

Murdaugh’s clothes were seized for examination that night. Murdaugh consented to a search of the property, interviews with investigators and turned over his phone, Harpootlian said. He also questioned how Murdaugh could have cleaned himself off from a gory, close-range murder in the 20 minutes before leaving to visit his mother.

Gunshot residue found on Murdaugh’s coat, seat belt

During Waters’ opening statement, he alluded to a key piece of new evidence — a “wadded up” raincoat found at Murdaugh’s mother’s house.

The prosecution alleges Murdaugh brought the coat to her home about a week after the murders. The coat had detectable traces of gun residue on the inside, Waters said, and investigators found the same residue on the seatbelt in Murdaugh’s car.

Murdaugh is an experienced hunter and regularly used guns, Harpootlian said, so the gunshot residue may not be unusual in and of itself. Shell casings from shotguns and the .300 Blackout bullets used to kill Maggie were found scattered across the property from recreational use.

If the prosecution can prove the residue’s origin or when it was deposited, however, the evidence will be a strong component of the state’s case.

Both parties make emotional appeal

The defense and prosecution alike have used the horror of Paul and Maggie’s injuries to impact the jury emotionally.

“Pow! Pow!” Waters exclaimed during his opening statement, mimicking the gunshots that did “catastrophic damage” to Maggie Murdaugh’s head before she was “executed” lying on the ground.

“It’s going to be gruesome,” Waters told jurors Wednesday.

The defense leaned into the murders’ “gruesome” nature — how could a “loving father and husband,” Harpootlian asked, kill his own family in such a heinous massacre?

“The gasses from the shot literally exploded inside of his head, like a watermelon hit with a sledgehammer,” Harpootlian said, morbidly detailing Paul’s death. “His brain hit the ceiling of the shed and he dropped to his feet.”

When bodycam footage from the night of the murders was shown in court Thursday, Murdaugh broke into tears at several points. He appeared distraught while addressing first responders in the footage, but Chapman noted Murdaugh didn’t cry at the scene.

Recordings played in the courtroom reveal Murdaugh told investigators his marriage was “wonderful” and his relationship with Paul was “as good as it could be.”

The defense’s ability to paint Murdaugh as a family man incapable of the killings will be critical to winning the jury.

Several of Murdaugh’s family members, including his younger brother, John Marvin Murdaugh, and surviving son, Buster Murdaugh, have been listed as witnesses who could help reinforce that image. The defense has also listed relatives of Maggie Murdaugh as witnesses.

Prosecution’s tight timeline must hold up

Waters introduced a slew of new evidence during a fiery opening address, backed by phone data constructing what the state says is an airtight timeline placing Alex Murdaugh at the crime scene minutes before the murders.

That phone activity is allegedly tracked down to the exact second.

At 8:44:55 p.m., Waters said Paul Murdaugh recorded a Snapchat video that includes Maggie and Alex Murdaugh’s voices. At 8:49:01, Waters claims, Paul’s phone went “silent forever.” Shortly thereafter, at 8:49:31, Maggie Murdaugh’s phone goes dark as well.

Waters called the Murdaughs, particularly Paul and Maggie, “prolific” cellphone users and said it would be unusual for Alex Murdaugh to not have his phone. From 8:09 to 9:02 p.m., Waters claims Alex Murdaugh’s phone was inactive until he called and texted his then-slain wife, letting her know he was leaving the property. He started his car at 9:06 p.m., according to the state’s timeline.

If Waters can prove through location data and time stamped phone activity that Murdaugh was at the dog kennels where the bodies were found — something he has repeatedly denied — it may seal the jury’s verdict and confirm Murdaugh sent texts to his dead wife to “manufacture” an alibi.