Alex Murdaugh trial - updates: Court hears grisly autopsy details after bodycam from night murders revealed

Disgraced legal scion Alex Murdaugh broke down in tears as prosecutors revealed grisly details about the autopsies performed on his son and wife.

On the fourteenth day of the trial on Monday, the state showed forensic pathologist Dr Ellen Reimer pictures of Maggie and Paul’s autopsies after she took the stand.

Prosecutors requested that cameras in the courtroom not show the pictures due to their graphic nature, which Judge Clifton Newman granted.

Mr Murdaugh broke down in tears as Dr Reimer testified that he believed Paul was standing and with his face tilted towards his killer at the time he was shot. Dr Reimer said that Paul was likely first shot in the chest and remained standing before a gunshot wound to the left shoulder and the head that instantly killed him.

Maggie Murdaugh first suffered a gunshot wound to her left breast, and the bullet then went upwards to the left side of her face. The second shot went through her kidney, which probably caused her to bend over and while in that position, she was shot in the chest and to the back of her head, Dr Reimer said.

While Paul was killed with a shotgun, the murderer used a rifle in Maggie’s attack, the forensic psychologist also testified.

Alex Murdaugh murder trial

• Murdaugh asked housekeeper to clean home morning after murders

• SUV data offers timeline of Murdaugh’s movements

• Bomb threat causes emergency evacuation of court

• Gunshot residue found all over blue raincoat Murdaugh allegedly hid in parents’ home

• How Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial became a circus

Alex Murdaugh asked housekeeper to clean home morning after murders – then tried to get stories straight

08:00 , Andrea Blanco

Alex Murdaugh asked his housekeeper to clean the family home on the morning after the murders of his wife and son – and then tried to get their stories straight about what clothes he was wearing before the killings.

Blanca Simpson, who worked as the Murdaugh family housekeeper for several years, gave dramatic courtroom testimony in Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Friday morning where Mr Murdaugh is on trial for shooting dead his wife Maggie and son Paul back on 7 June 2021.

Ms Simpson revealed that Mr Murdaugh had asked her to come to Moselle on 8 June 2021 – hours after the murders – to make the house “the way Maggie liked”.

When she went to the house, she said she noticed several “very unusual” things including pots being in the fridge instead of on the stove or sink and Maggie’s pyjamas and underwear lying “neatly in the middle of the doorway” of the laundry room.

She said it was “very unusual”, saying: “It just didn’t look right to me” because Maggie “didn’t wear underwear with her pyjamas” and the “underwear appeared to be clean not dirty”.

Read more.

GoFundMe set up for Alex Murdaugh’s mother’s caregiver ‘for her bravery'

07:00 , Andrea Blanco

Outside the courthouse, it emerged that a GoFundMe has been set up for Mr Murdaugh’s mother’s caregiver “for her bravery” in testifying at his murder trial.

Mushell “Shelly” Smith gave emotional testimony on 6 February, where she cast doubts on part of Mr Murdaugh’s alibi on the night of the murders – revealing he had lied about how long he had spent at his sick mother’s house.

Breaking down in tears at points, she described how a “fidgety” Mr Murdaugh showed up at the house for a brief 20-minute visit on 7 June 2021 but later asked her to tell authorities he had been there double the length of time.

In the aftermath of the killings, he then offered to help Ms Smith both financially and with her other job and brought a mystery blue item to leave at his parents’ home, she told jurors.

On Wednesday, Ms Smith’s daughter Rachelle Buckner launched a GoFundMe campaign to “reward her for her bravery and her honesty as it was one of the hardest things she had to do”.

As of Friday morning, the GoFundMe had raised more than $24,000 for Ms Smith.

But the donation has sparked some controversy – with legal experts warning that it could be detrimental to the prosecution’s case.

This issue appeared to reach a head on February 9 when it emerged that another witness – attorney Mark Tinsley – had made a $1,000 donation to the fund.

Mr Tinsley filed a lawsuit against the Murdaughs on behalf of the family of Mallory Beach, the 19-year-old killed in a boat crash where Paul was allegedly drunk behind the wheel in 2019.

Housekeeper never saw Alex Murdaugh clothes after killings

06:00 , Andrea Blanco

Alex Murdaugh‘s housekeeper testified Friday at his double murder trial that she never saw the shirt and shoes the disgraced attorney was wearing in a video hours before his son and wife were killed after their deaths.

Prosecutors were trying to explain why certain expected things — like bloody clothes — have still not been put into evidence after three weeks of trial.

Under cross-examination, the housekeeper testified she never saw in Murdaugh’s wardrobe a large blue rain jacket that tested positive for a significant amount of gunshot residue. She said Murdaugh wore extra-extra large clothes.

Murdaugh, 54, faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted of murdering his wife, 52-year-old Maggie, and their 22-year-old son Paul near dog kennels at the family’s Colleton County home on June 7, 2021.

Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson said she did all sorts of work for the Murdaughs for well over a decade. She cooked, cleaned and did laundry, as well as did Maggie Murdaugh’s banking. After the killings, she and her husband took care of the family’s home when Alex Murdaugh couldn’t bear to return.

Son of housekeeper accuses Murdaugh of stealing $4m after her mystery death

05:00 , Andrea Blanco

In court on 3 February, Mr Murdaugh was accused of stealing a $4m settlement from his late housekeeper’s family, where prosecutors also raised questions about her mystery death.

Gloria Satterfield worked as the Murdaugh family’s housekeeper and nanny for more than 20 years, before she died in a mysterious trip and fall at the family home in 2018.

Her son Tony Satterfield told the court how Mr Murdaugh allegedly swindled almost $4m in a wrongful death lawsuit payout from the family in the aftermath of her death.

The court was shown evidence of two separate settlements in the wrongful death suit – one for $505,000 and one for $3.8m. Mr Satterfield testified that Mr Murdaugh did not tell him about the settlements and that he did not receive “one cent” of the money.

Alex Murdaugh’s son Buster visits grave of slain mother and brother

04:00 , Andrea Blanco

In exclusive Sunday pictures obtained by DailyMail.com, Buster Murdaugh could be seen visiting Maggie and Paul’s graves.

Buster, the only surviving son of the disgraced attorney, was accompanied by his girlfriend.

Last week, Buster was caught appearing to make a rude gesture to Mark Tinsley as he took the witness stand about a lawsuit he brought against his father. Footage from the courtroom shows Buster apparently flipping the bird as he stared down the witness.

Judge Clifton Newman has reportedly issued multiple warnings to several members of the Murdaugh family about their behaviour in court, where they have put on a united front since the start of the trial.

The family members have already been moved to the back of the courtroom in Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina – and are now only one wrong move away from being booted out altogether.

Defence casts doubt on theory Murdaugh took Maggie’s phone

03:00 , Andrea Blanco

Under cross-examination, the defence cast doubt on the theory that it could have been Mr Murdaugh who threw Maggie’s phone along the side of Moselle Road.

Lt Dove admitted that cellphone data suggested Maggie and Mr Murdaugh’s phones were not in the same place at the same time at 9.06pm as the step data did not match.

This was important because 9.06pm is when the final orientation change – or movement – was recorded on Maggie’s phone.

Lt Dove testified that this movement could have been as it was being thrown from a vehicle to where it was discovered the next day, with the defence contending that Mr Murdaugh was at the family property walking with his cellphone at that time.

However, under redirect, prosecutors cast doubt on the defence’s timeframe for when the phone was tossed down Moselle Lane, as Lt Dove testified that an orientation change can only take place when the phone screen is on.

The SLED agent testified that the screen on Maggie’s phone was off between 9.07pm and 9.31pm so if the phone was thrown from a car during that time, there would have been no orientation change recorded.

When asked by the defence how such a throw could have been made from a moving vehicle with the phone travelling a distance of some 40 feet, a SLED agent noted it could be easily flicked horizontally like a frisbee and travel horizontally through the air landed as it did in the roadside leaves.

Boat crash attorney says ‘fuse was lit’ to expose Murdaugh’s financial crimes

02:00 , Andrea Blanco

Attorney Mark Tinsley testified without the jury present about the lawsuit he brought against Mr Murdaugh on behalf of the family of Mallory Beach and how it was putting his finances under increased scrutiny at the time of the murders.

Mr Tinsley told the court the Mr Murdaugh claimed he was broke and couldn’t pay the settlement he was asking for his clients.

He didn’t believe this – so he filed a motion compelling Mr Murdaugh to reveal his finances.

A hearing for the suit had been scheduled to take place on 10 June 2021 and Mr Tinsley testified that he expected to take the lawsuit to trial in the late summer of 2021. But, the proceedings were derailed because of the murders.

He said that the “fuse had been lit” to expose Mr Murdaugh’s slew of alleged financial crimes – but that his problems would likely “be over” if the family was the “victim of an unspeakable tragedy”.

“Pretty quickly, I recognised that the case against Alex, if he were in fact the victim of some vigilante, would be over,” he said.

If the disgraced attorney was the “victim of an unspeakable tragedy” then no jury would side against him in the case, Mr Tinsley said.

He later testified: “There wouldn’t have been an explosion June 10. But the fuse was lit the moment that information became available in this case.”

He added that Mr Murdaugh “knew it was going to unravel” and that “the fuse was lit when he started stealing money”.

Under redirect, the witness testified that if the hearing had taken place on 10 June it would have set in motion the process that wouldn’t have stopped until Mr Murdaugh either settled the case or disclosed his finances.

Boat crash attorney speaks on Alex Murdaugh’s financial crimes

Who is Alex Murdaugh? The legal scion on trial for the murders of his wife and son

01:00 , Andrea Blanco

The hotly-anticipated trial of Alex Murdaugh is underway in South Carolina where he is facing life in prison for the double murder of his wife and son.

The 54-year-old heir to a prominent legal dynasty is accused of gunning down wife Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, 22, on the grounds of the sprawling family estate in Islandton back on 7 June 2021.

He was arrested in July 2022 and charged with two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

Mr Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty to the charges and maintains that the person or persons responsible for killing his wife and son is still at large.

So who is the man at the centre of the saga?

Who is Alex Murdaugh? The legal scion on trial for the murders of his wife and son

ICYMI: Alex Murdaugh’s other legal troubles

00:00 , Andrea Blanco

The double murder trial is far from Alex Murdaugh’s only legal problem.

Besides the case, Mr Murdaugh is facing at least 100 other criminal charges over a string of allegations.

Three months on from the murders – on 4 September 2021 – Mr Murdaugh allegedly conspired to pay a hitman to shoot him dead so that Buster would inherit a $10m life insurance windfall.

The now-disbarred attorney initially claimed he was ambushed in a drive-by shooting while changing a tyre on his vehicle, but his story quickly unravelled and he confessed to orchestrating the plot.

Mr Murdaugh and his alleged co-conspirator Curtis Smith were arrested and charged over the incident.

One day before the shooting, Mr Murdaugh had been confronted by his law firm PMPED for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from clients.

He is now charged with more than 100 counts from multiple indictments alleging he stole nearly $8.5m from clients at his law firm in fraud schemes going back a decade.

The attorney, who has since been disbarred, allegedly represented the clients in wrongful death settlements before pocketing the money for himself.

Alleged victims include family members of Gloria Satterfield family, the Murdaugh’s longtime housekeeper who died in a mysterious trip and fall accident at the family home in 2018.

At the time, her death was regarded as an accidental fall – though the investigation was reopened after Maggie and Paul’s murders.

The housekeeper is one of a series of other mystery deaths also surrounding the Murdaughs.

Stephen Smith, 19, was found dead in the middle of the road in Hampton County, South Carolina. The openly gay teenager had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and his death was officially ruled a hit-and-run. But the victim’s family have long doubted this version of events, with the Murdaugh name cropping up in several police tips and community rumours.

An investigation has also been reopened into his death.

At the time of Paul’s death, he was also awaiting trial over the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach who died in a 2019 boat crash where Paul was allegedly drink driving behind the wheel. He was charged with boating under the influence and faced up to 25 years in prison but was killed before his trial.

The Murdaugh family reached a wrongful death settlement with the Beach family earlier in January.

Mr Murdaugh is also facing several other civil suits.

Defence says they will ‘extensively’ cross-examined forensic pathology on Tuesday, court dismissed

Monday 13 February 2023 22:50 , Andrea Blanco

Alex Murdaugh’s defence told the court that forensic pathologIST Dr Ellen Remier will be extensively cross-examined on Tuesday.

The court was dismissed shortly before 6pm EST.

Maggie Murdaugh was shot while she ran away

Monday 13 February 2023 22:47 , Andrea Blanco

According to Dr Reimer, the gunshot to the abdomen took place while Maggien was slightly farther away from the shooter than when she was shot in her left thigh.

Dr Reimer did not find any defensive wounds on Maggie’s body.

Alex Murdaugh breaks down in tears as grisly details about his wife’s autopsy are revealed

Monday 13 February 2023 22:34 , Andrea Blanco

The disgraced legal scion heard prosecutors and forensic pathologist Dr Ellen Reimer recount grisly details about the autopsy performed on Maggie Murdaugh.

Maggie Murdaugh suffered gunshot wounds to her ribcage, kidney and head

Monday 13 February 2023 22:24 , Andrea Blanco

Dr Ellen Reimer said that Maggie Murdaugh first suffered a gunshot wound to her left breast, and the bullet then went upwards to the left side of her face.

The second shot went through her kidney, which probably caused her to bend over.

While in that position, Dr Reimer said that she was shot in the chest and to the back of her head.

At that point, she likely fell to the ground, Dr Reimer said.

Maggie Murdaugh’s was shot with rifle, forensic pathologists testifies

Monday 13 February 2023 22:07 , Andrea Blanco

Dr Ellen Reimer said that Maggie Murdaugh suffered five gunshot wounds.

Maggie was shot with an assault rifle, while her son Paul was attacked with a shotgun.

Paul had no defensive wounds, expert who performed autopsy testifies

Monday 13 February 2023 22:04 , Andrea Blanco

Dr Ellen Reimer said that the most likely theory is that Paul was first shot in the chest and remained standing.

He then sustained a gunshot wound to the left shoulder and the head, after which he fell to the ground and died instantly

Dr Reimer said Paul did not have defensive wounds.

Forensic psychologist and prosecutors reenact shooting

Monday 13 February 2023 21:49 , Andrea Blanco

Prosecutors asked forensic pathologist Dr Ellen Reimer to explain how Paul Murdaugh was standing when the bullets entered his body.

Mr Murdaugh broke down in tears as Dr Reimer testified that he believed Paul had his face tilted towards his killer at the time he was shot.

Dr Reimer also described in great detail the degree of the injuries that Paul suffered.

Dr Reimer said that there was a chance Paul was left standing after the first shot, but the second one blew the inside of his head.

“It’s horrible, I know,” she told the court.

Alex Murdaugh breaks down as autopsy images are shown in court, prosecutors and forensic pathologist reenact shooting

Monday 13 February 2023 21:35 , Andrea Blanco

The disgraced lawyer looked down as the state showed forensic pathologist Dr Ellen Reimer pictures of the autopsies she performed on Maggie and Paul.

The state asked Judge Clifton Newman that cameras not show the pictures due to their graphic nature, which the judge granted.

Mr Murdaugh broke down in tears as Dr Reimer testified that he believed Paul was standing and with his face tilted towards his killer at the time he was shot.

Dr Reimer said Paul died instantly.

Forensic pathologist who preformed Maggie and Paul’s autopsies caleld to testify

Monday 13 February 2023 21:18 , Andrea Blanco

Dr Ellen Reimer testified on Monday that the victims died as a result of injuries caused by a shotgun.

The twisted tale began back on 7 June 2021 when Maggie and Paul were found shot dead at the family’s sprawling hunting lodge in Islandton.

Mr Murdaugh claimed he discovered their bodies, placing a dramatic 911 call where he cried and sobbed on the phone.

He said he’d returned home from visiting his elderly mother and dying father to find his wife and son by the kennels on the property, both suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

The call, previously released by investigators, was made at 10.07pm local time.

The coroner placed the time of death for the two victims between 9pm and 9.30pm.

Alex Murdaugh’s defence cross-examines agent on blood spatter

Monday 13 February 2023 20:33 , Andrea Blanco

Prosecutors initially had said that following an outside analysis, blood spatter was found on the shirt that Mr Murdaugh was wearing on the night of the murders.

But SLED agent Sara Zapata on Monday said she submitted her HemaTrace test stating that no blood was found on the white shirt on 10 November 2021.

In April 2022, prosecutors asked Ms Zapata whether the HemaTrace could come back with a false positive.

She said she was not aware of media reports referencing the purported blood spatter.

Murdaugh’s attorney then asked Ms Zapata: “Do you think that there could be blood spatter without blood?”

No blood was found in more than 70 cuttings out of Murdaugh’s t-shirt

Monday 13 February 2023 20:13 , Andrea Blanco

Ms Zapata said that she had cut the shirt into different sections and then made smaller cuttings to test for DNA.

Seventy-four cuttings were made. No blood was found in any of them.

The agent said that Paul Murdaugh’s DNA was only found in the lower half of the shirt his father was wearing when law enforcement arrived at the scene of the murders.

Defence’s argues explanation for blood found on steering wheel

Monday 13 February 2023 20:02 , Andrea Blanco

Agent Zapata told the court on Monday that the blood found on Alex Murdaugh’s steering wheel could have been the result of him checking Maggie’s body and then driving to Moselle to get a shotgun.

Defence asks expert why Alex Murdaugh’s white t-shirt was tested for blood

Monday 13 February 2023 19:55 , Andrea Blanco

Alex Murdaugh’s defence questioned agent Zapata on why the white t-shirt Mr Murdaugh was wearing when police arrived on the scene of the murders was tested.

Agent Zapata said that she received the item along with a request and simply followed procedure.

The shirt did have Maggie and Paul’s DNA on it but did not show blood.

‘Unidentified male DNA’ was found under Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails

Monday 13 February 2023 19:47 , Andrea Blanco

Agent Zapata said that she had examined Maggie’s fingers and found unidentified male DNA.

Ms Zapata was cross-examined by the defence on day 14 trial.

Ms Zapata said that it was not the best course of action to do further testing or submit the unknown DNA to CODIS because it was “very partial, low level profile.”

The defence argued that Maggie had just returned from the nail salon, with Ms Zapata noting that she could have picked up the DNA from any object or person from the time that she left the nail salon to the time she was murdered.

Autopsy photos to be shown at trial

Monday 13 February 2023 19:40 , Andrea Blanco

The prosecution asked the judge that autopsy images to be shown on day 14 of the Alex Murdaugh trial not be shown on cameras as they contained “very graphic details.”

Judge Clifton Newman granted the request.

The jury is now present in the courtroom.

A ‘confession’, bloody dog kennels and ‘clean’ shirt: Key revelations from Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial

Monday 13 February 2023 19:10 , Rachel Sharp

Legal dynasty heir Alex Murdaugh is currently on trial in a South Carolina courtroom for the brutal double murder of his wife and adult son.

Maggie, 52, and Paul, 22, were both shot dead at the family’s sprawling 1,700-acre property in Islandton, South Carolina, on the night of 7 June 2021.

No arrests were made for more than a year, until – in July 2022 – Mr Murdaugh was charged with their murders.

Prosecutors allege that Mr Murdaugh killed his wife and son to distract from the growing number of scandals and crimes swirling around him.

It’s a dramatic saga that now includes murder, a botched hitman plot, multi-million-dollar fraud schemes and a series of unexplained deaths.

The now-disbarred attorney denies the allegations and has pleaded not guilty.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp reveals what we’ve learned so far at trial:

‘Confession’, bloody scene and ‘clean’ shirt: Key moments from Alex Murdaugh trial

Alex Murdaugh trial disrupted again as two jurors test positive for Covid

Monday 13 February 2023 18:37 , Rachel Sharp

Alex Murdaugh’s high-profile double murder trial has been disrupted yet again as two jurors were released on Monday after testing positive for Covid-19.

Judge Clifton Newman made the bombshell announcement on Monday morning in what marks the latest drama for the high-profile case.

One of the two jurors is asymptomatic while the other has a cough and sore throat, he said.

Following the revelation, the defence raised concerns that others could be infected but may not be testing positive yet – something which could threaten to derail the trial altogether if more jurors test positive in the coming days.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Alex Murdaugh trial disrupted as two jurors released due to positive Covid tests

Court breaks for lunch

Monday 13 February 2023 18:20 , Rachel Sharp

After very detailed testimony – that appeared to offer little to the state’s case – the witness stood down.

The court is now on recess for lunch.

Testimony will resume at 2.30pm ET.

The blue raincoat returns

Monday 13 February 2023 18:13 , Rachel Sharp

Agent Zapata testified about the results of testing on the blue raincoat.

Two swabs were taken including from interior cuffs, collar, hood, zipper and zipper pull were taken from blue raincoat.

The agent said that no DNA profile was developed from one swab and a partial DNA profile from the second swab.

There was not enough to determine whose DNA it was, she said.

REMINDER: We’ve previously learned a lot about the blue raincoat. Days after the 7 June 2021 murders, Mr Murdaugh’s mother’s caretaker said that the disgraced attorney had shown up at his parents’ house at around 6.30am cradling a bundled-up “blue something” in his hands. Shelly Smith testified on Monday that he took the item upstairs and left it before leaving again. In a search of the parents’ home, investigators discovered a blue tarp and a blue rainjacket.

SLED forensic scientist Megan Fletcher later testified that a “significant” amount of gunshot residue particles were found all over the coat. Ms Fletcher told the court that the presence of gunshot residue particles on an item means one of two things: the item was in the vicinity of a gun being fired or it came into contact with something else with GSR on it. She said it was possible that the GSR was from a firearm being wrapped inside the coat.

Murdaugh’s t-shirt tested negative for blood

Monday 13 February 2023 18:08 , Rachel Sharp

The white t-shirt Mr Murdaugh was wearing when police arrived on the scene of the murders tested negative for human blood, the agent testified.

His shirt did have Maggie and Paul’s DNA on it but did not show blood.

A mix of three DNA profiles – Maggie, Paul and an unconfirmed DNA – were also found on the shorts Mr Murdaugh was wearing.

The absence of blood could be the result of the types of tests used on the clothing – LCV testing and Hematrace testing – the agent said.

SIDE NOTE: Bodycam footage has been released from night of murders

Monday 13 February 2023 17:48 , Rachel Sharp

Bodycam footage has finally been released showing Alex Murdaugh on the night of the murders of Maggie and Paul.

Watch the footage below:

Whose DNA was found on Murdaugh’s shirt?

Monday 13 February 2023 17:46 , Rachel Sharp

Mr Murdaugh’s white t-shirt was also tested for DNA.

The testing found several DNA profiles on his shirt including from Maggie, Paul, Mr Murdaugh and even Paul’s friend Nolan Tuten.

Alex and Maggie’s DNA found on steering wheel of car

Monday 13 February 2023 17:28 , Rachel Sharp

A mixture of both Mr Murdaugh and Maggie’s DNA was found in swabs of suspected blood found on the steering wheel of his car, the agent testified.

Two swabs of possible blood were taken from the steering wheel of his SUV.

NOTE: Mr Murdaugh told police he drove back to the family home to get a shotgun after finding his wife and son’s bodies.

Paul cellphone has unidentified DNA on it

Monday 13 February 2023 17:21 , Rachel Sharp

Unidentified DNA was found on Paul’s cellphone.

It was not possible to determine who’s DNA profile it was, testified the agent.

Alex and Maggie’s DNA found on shotgun

Monday 13 February 2023 17:20 , Rachel Sharp

Agent Zapata testified that DNA analysis of a Benelli 12-gauge shotgun found a mixture of Mr Murdaugh and Maggie’s DNA.

The DNA profiles are 48 quintillion times more likely to be that of Mr Murdaugh and Maggie’s.

DNA on bullets match Maggie and Paul

Monday 13 February 2023 17:13 , Rachel Sharp

The agent testified about the DNA analysis on bullets at the crime scene.

.300 Blackout cartridge cases were tested.

Agent Zapata said that a single source DNA profile was found and it is 510bn times more likely that Maggie contributed the profile than anyone else.

Swabs from shotgun shells as well as swabs from the exterior doorknob on the feeding room door were also tested.

On both of those, it was 15 octillion times more likely that Paul contributed the DNA than anyone else.

Agent Zapata explains DNA analysis

Monday 13 February 2023 17:02 , Rachel Sharp

Agent Zapata is explaining DNA analysis and how it works.

Related people share some of the same alleles in their DNA, she said.

Next witness: SLED Agent Sarah Zapata

Monday 13 February 2023 16:43 , Rachel Sharp

SLED Agent Sarah Zapata has been called to the stand.

She tells the court how she specialises in DNA testing.

Court returns from recess

Monday 13 February 2023 16:36 , Rachel Sharp

Next witness to take the stand.

Court takes recess

Monday 13 February 2023 16:18 , Rachel Sharp

No redirect for the state and the witness has stood down.

Judge Newman ordered a 10-minute recess. We’ll be back soon...

Defence cross-examines Agent Nguyen

Monday 13 February 2023 16:10 , Rachel Sharp

The defence is now cross-examining Agent Nguyen.

The SLED agent confirmed that a shotgun tested positive for the possible presence of blood.

However she acknowledged that other things could also show up positive other than human blood, including animal blod, pus and bacteria.

NOTE: The presumptive tests do not confirm the presence of blood. Confirmatory tests are required to do that.