Day 16: DNA from ‘unrelated male’ found under Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails

Editor’s note: This article may contain graphic descriptions of bodily wounds given in witness testimony.

Alex Murdaugh, a once prominent Hampton-based attorney from a well-known politically-connected family, is on trial in the deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul.

Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty. He faces life in prison without parole if found guilty. The trial started Jan. 23 with jury selection, opening arguments and the initial round of witness testimony. For now, the trial is expected to stretch at least another week, through Feb. 17.

How to watch the Murdaugh double murder trial, who to follow from The State, Island Packet

5:45 p.m. — Maggie had clean toxicology report, court adjourned

Maggie Murdaugh had no drugs or alcohol in her blood at the time of her death.

Dr. Ellen Riemer, who conducted the autopsies of Paul and Maggie, said Maggie had no substances except caffeine in her bloodstream. Paul’s toxicology report also showed nothing except caffeine.

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian will begin an “extensive” cross-examination of Riemer Tuesday morning, he said.

Judge Clifton Newman dismissed the court until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow.

5:20 p.m. — Maggie also first shot at close range

The shooter that killed Maggie Murdaugh was originally within 3 feet of her when firing, similar to Paul Murdaugh.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Ellen Riemer, who performed Maggie and Paul’s autopsies, said two of Maggie’s wounds also had gunshot stippling. Stippling is residue left around gunshot wounds by the powder that propels bullets or shotgun shells.

Riemer said the bullet paths were noteworthy. The first two bullet wounds she discussed were to the front of the body and traveled downward through the body, though neither were immediately fatal.

Another wound to the wrist wouldn’t be fatal, Riemer said.

A fourth wound that did not have stippling entered around the left breast, Riemer said, and strangely “scraped up the abdomen” before moving upward into the clavicle and head. Riemer said that wound would have been immediately fatal.

A fifth entrance wound was directly to the back of the head, Riemer said.

Maggie was likely bent over from the first three downward traveling wounds, when the upward traveling fourth shot was fired, Riemer hypothesized.

5 p.m. — No evidence of ‘defensive wounds’ on Paul

Paul Murdaugh likely didn’t attempt to defend himself before dying, forensic pathologist Dr. Ellen Riemer said.

Riemer, who performed Paul and Maggie Murdaugh’s autopsies, said defensive wounds will typically be on the hands or arms. Paul had neither, she said.

Riemer has performed around 5,500 autopsies in her career, she testified.

Paul did have scrapes and bruises on his face, but Riemer said those likely resulted from falling to the ground.

Riemer said Paul had caffeine in his blood when he died, but no other substances.

4:40 p.m. — Paul was still standing after first wound

Forensic pathologist Dr. Ellen Riemer said it’s likely Paul Murdaugh was still standing after he was hit by the first of two shotgun blasts that killed him the night of June 7, 2021.

Riemer testified that the first shot impacted the left side of his chest and would not have been fatal, since it did not puncture any vital organs.

The second blast was an “extremely severe and immediately fatal” injury, Riemer said. She testified Paul was likely still standing, since the path of the second projectiles moved up his left shoulder, around the neck and out the top of the skull.

The path of the shot and the fact it “spared the face,” Riemer said, suggest the head was turned toward his left shoulder and the shooter.

During Riemer’s descriptions, Alex Murdaugh was seen becoming very emotional while sitting in the courtroom.

4:27 p.m. — Shooter was ‘no more than 3 feet’ from Paul

When Paul Murdaugh was killed, his murderer was in close proximity, according to forensic pathologist Dr. Ellen Riemer.

Riemer conducted Paul and Maggie Murdaughs’ autopsies. Because Paul’s gunshot wounds had “stippling” around them — residue left behind by the powder that propels a bullet or shotgun round — she said the shooter was likely “no more than 3 feet” away when firing.

Because of the Paul’s close proximity to the shooter, prosecutors have had the tall task of explaining to the jury how Alex Murdaugh, if he committed the murders, was not found with blood on his clothing or body. The state has leaned on the idea that Murdaugh possibly changed clothes before first responders arrived.

Defense attorneys have countered that no blood or blood traces were found in Moselle’s bathroom drains, and no bloody clothing was ever recovered.

4:07 p.m. — Forensic pathologist takes the stand

The state has called Dr. Ellen Riemer, a forensic pathologist and professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, to the stand.

Riemer has been with MUSC for 14 years, she said. She is a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine.

Riemer has spent much of her career performing autopsies to determine cause of death. She’s conducted close to 5,500 autopsies, she said.

2:47 p.m. — DNA from ‘unrelated male’ under Maggie’s nails

DNA from an unidentified male was found under Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails, SLED forensic scientist Sarah Zapata said under cross-examination.

Paul and Alex Murdaugh were excluded as contributors, Zapata said. SLED’s analysis picked up three foreign alleles from an “unrelated male,” but the small amount was not enough to create a DNA profile.

Defense attorney Phillip Barber suggested the DNA was unusual, given Maggie had her nails done the same day she was killed. Barber hinted she wouldn’t have had “much opportunity” to come into contact with an unfamiliar person before her death, attempting to bolster defense’s stance the killer was from outside the Murdaugh family.

However, Zapata said it’s not difficult to pick up traces of DNA under the fingernails. She added any object Maggie touched could have had those traces of DNA on them, from something at the nail salon to a steering wheel or door knob.

2:40 p.m. — Court back in session

The jury has returned to the courtroom. The defense will now cross-examine Sarah Zapata, a SLED DNA analyst.

Zapata testified that the white T-shirt SLED seized from Alex Murdaugh the night of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s deaths had no blood on it, but had DNA consistent with Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s.

1:11 p.m. — Court breaks for lunch

Court has entered lunch recess until 2:30 p.m.

SLED DNA analyst Sarah Zapata will be cross-examined after lunch.

Before the break, Zapata said DNA swabs on the blue raincoat, which prosecution previously suggested may have been used to transport and hide a murder weapon due to “significant” numbers of gunshot residue particles, returned inconclusive results.

12:57 p.m. — Stains on Alex’s shirt negative for blood

The white T-shirt SLED agents seized from Alex Murdaugh the night of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s deaths did not have human blood on it, according to Monday’s testimony.

Sarah Zapata, a SLED DNA analysts, said crime scene agents analyzed stains on the shirt with a “presumptive” blood test, which gave a positive result. When Zapata conducted a “confirmatory” test in the SLED forensics lab, the stains were negative for human blood.

“It is possible for there to be amounts of hemoglobin that would not be detected by the test that would give a negative result,” Zapata said after prosecutor Savannah Goude asked if the earlier test could have diluted blood present on the shirt.

Another SLED forensic scientist, Rachel Nguyen, said in earlier testimony she would not have ordered the presumptive tests.

12:43 p.m. — Maggie, Paul’s DNA associated with stains on shirt

DNA linked to Maggie, Paul and Alex Murdaugh was discovered on the white T-shirt SLED seized from Murdaugh the night his wife and son were killed.

SLED DNA analyst Sarah Zapata said DNA profiles found on stains cut from the T-shirt were most likely to have come from those three members of the Murdaugh family. When DNA from related people is compared, Zapata said earlier, it can be difficult to pinpoint which person it may come from.

It’s especially difficult when comparing children to parents, Zapata said.

For one stain on the shirt, Zapata said it was “460 octillion times more likely” that Maggie and an “unidentified, unrelated individual” contributed to the DNA profile than two unidentified, unrelated people.

11:40 a.m. — Prosecutors call next SLED forensic scientist

Another SLED forensic scientist, Sarah Zapata, has taken the stand.

Zapata is a DNA analyst who worked with evidence collected during the investigation of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s murders.

11:05 a.m. — Moselle shotgun positive for ‘possible’ blood

One of the shotguns, a Benelli, recovered from the Murdaugh estate, known as Moselle, by law enforcement returned a positive “presumptive test” for blood.

During cross-examination, SLED forensic scientist Rachel Nguyen said the presumptive test could return a false positive if numerous substances besides human blood are present, such as other animal blood, rust, copper and nickel salts, some bacteria, or pus.

“It’s not confirming the presence (of human blood). It’s only an indication so we can further process that stain,” Nguyen said.

10:42 a.m. — Blood detected on car steering wheel

Rachel Nguyen, a SLED forensic scientist, said a lab test confirmed human blood was detected on the steering wheel of a car belonging to Alex Murdaugh.

A “presumptive test” was taken by officers on the scene, Nguyen said, before she performed a “confirmatory test” in a SLED forensics lab. The second test confirmed the swab samples taken from the steering wheel had human blood.

10:15 a.m. — State calls SLED DNA analyst

Prosecutors called SLED senior special agent Ryan Kelly to the stand for “limited purposes.”

Kelly took DNA swabs from several people of interest in the case, including Curtis Smith and several relatives of Mallory Beach, who died in a 2019 boating accident.

The prosecution presented Kelly’s swabs into evidence before excusing him from the stand.

Rachel Nguyen, a SLED DNA analyst, has now taken the stand.

10:05 a.m. — GM provided GPS data from Alex’s car

Prosecutors last week presented data from the night of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s murders pulled from computers on Alex Murdaugh’s car. That data was limited to showing when the car’s computer system was turned on and when it was in park.

Early into the trial’s fourth week, lead prosecutor Creighton Waters said General Motors reached out to his legal team Saturday and provided GPS data from the vehicle.

“The most important data to what we’re doing. We have specific location data, data points that are being logged every 30 seconds or so, as well as vehicle speed,” Waters told Judge Clifton Newman.

Waters made the disclosure before the jury was brought into the courtroom.

The data, Waters said, is “confirmatory” of the timeline prosecution has presented. The state has argued Murdaugh left the family’s Colleton County estate around 9 p.m. June 7, 2021, to visit his mother, Libby, and stayed for about 20 minutes.

The length of Murdaugh’s stay at his mother’s home has been a sticking point in controversial testimony given by Libby’s caretaker that night, Mushelle “Shelley” Smith.

Waters requested the witness be allowed to take the stand on short notice. Harpootlian asked that the defense be given time to prepare for the testimony, which both legal teams agreed on. The witness will not testify Monday, Waters confirmed.

9:50 a.m. — Two jurors test positive for COVID-19

Judge Clifton Newman started court today by announcing two jurors are unable to attend due to positive COVID-19 tests.

One was symptomatic and one was asymptomatic, Newman said. Two alternate jurors will become part of the regular panel, leaving three alternate jurors after one left earlier in the trial due to a medical issue.

The two jurors who tested positive for COVID-19 have been released from jury service.

Newman said the jury has agreed to wear masks and suggested everyone in court should be wearing masks.

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian expressed concerns a mistrial could occur if the jurors infect each other. He suggested adjourning for “one or two days” until the court could receive test results for other jurors.

9:30 a.m. — Week 4 starts in Murdaugh’s double-murder trial

The fourth week of Alex Murdaugh’s double-murder trial starts this morning.

Last week, the 12-member jury heard from the family’s housekeeper, more forensic experts and Paul Murdaugh’s longtime friend, Nathan Tuten, a current Walterboro police officer.

Tuten testified he worked as a “runner” for Murdaugh’s former law firm, and would often ask him to cash checks at Palmetto State Bank, he said, up until about a week before Maggie and Paul were killed the night of June 7, 2021.

Tuten, who portrayed Paul as a frequent cellphone and firearms user, was the sixth witness to identify Murdaugh’s voice in a video Paul took at the family’s kennels before his death.

Prosecutors say they’re aiming to wrap up the case this week, likely Wednesday.

Meanwhile, defense attorney Dick Harpootlian said he expects they’ll need about a week to present their case, potentially pushing the trial near the end of February. The judge said court won’t be held on Feb. 20 to observe President’s Day.