Thread by @AveryGWilks

🚨🚨🚨 Alex Murdaugh Double Murder Trial Day 14 (Feb. 9) Megathread begins now 🚨🚨🚨

Court resumes at 9:30 with the defense crossing an FBI electronics engineer about what he learned from the data on Murdaugh’s Suburban

#AlexMurdaughTrial #AlexMurdaugh #MurdaughTrial #murdaugh

Our story from yesterday on a scattered day of evidence and testimony (even before a bomb threat disrupted the proceedings), and how that’s emblematic of the state’s case thus far postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Our Understand Murdaugh podcast on the day open.spotify.com/episode/1MLvlu…

Photos from yesterday, via pool photographers @WhitakerPhotos and @JAABPhoto

1 and 2. Lawyers, journalists and attendees evacuate the building in response to a bomb threat.
3. Judge Clifton Newman is first told about the threat before telling the room to leave.

@WhitakerPhotos @JAABPhoto 1. Alex Murdaugh has taken a stack of documents back to the jail with him every night. Seems to play an active role in his own defense.
2. The 9/26/21 text Murdaugh sent to his paralegal and assistant as his life unraveled
3. A spreadsheet of data gleaned from Murdaugh's Suburban

SLED is continuing the actively investigate the source of yesterday's bomb threat, I'm told.

Court is back in session. Murdaugh defense attorney Phillip Barber is cross-examining FBI electronics engineer Dwight Falkofske.

Barber establishes that Falkofske’s data includes logs of which phones connected to Murdaugh’s Suburban’s onboard computer system, and when. He also establishes that “if a device has registered to the vehicle (before), it will automatically connect to the vehicle.”

Barber ends his questioning. But it seems like he’s noting the lack of a log indicating Maggie’s phone connected to the Suburban that night could indicate her phone was never in that SUV (and that someone else ditched her phone on the side of the road after her death).

Falkofske steps down. The state's 40th witness is Bamberg attorney Chris Wilson, who was one of Murdaugh's best friends before Murdaugh allegedly screwed him out of $192K during the coverup of one of Murdaugh's thefts from his law firm.

Wilson previously testified with the jury excused on Feb. 2.

Here is our story on Wilson's previous testimony. postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

And here is the unrolled Megathread from the day Wilson previously testified.

So far, prosecutor Creighton Waters and Chris Wilson are going beat for beat through that testimony as Wilson re-testifies.

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1621125…

Wilson also features heavily in our front page story this past Sunday on what this trial is revealing about Murdaugh's influence even as his life unraveled postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Wilson testifies about how Murdaugh approached him in March 2021 and asked him to bypass Murdaugh’s law firm and directly send him his $792K share of the legal fees from a Mack Trucks case they worked together. Wilson testifies Murdaugh was worried about his exposure in ...

... the 2019 boat crash wrongful death lawsuit and wanted to shield his income from recovery. Murdaugh told Wilson he had gotten the arrangement cleared with his law firm. (He had not).

Wilson: “I had known him for 30-plus years and didn’t have any reason not to trust him.”

Wilson agreed and paid Murdaugh the money directly, instead of sending it to Murdaugh’s firm as usual. Months later, when PMPED would demand Wilson pay them the fees, Murdaugh could come up with only $600K of it.

Wilson paid PMPED the full amount, essentially loaning Murdaugh $192K. Murdaugh promised to pay Wilson the rest later but never did, Wilson previously testified.

Our running updates feed and livestream are here: postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Today’s @postandcourier front page

Waters is repeatedly having Wilson testify that Murdaugh was his best friend, or one of them.

Wilson on his perception of PMPED and Murdaugh: “Big firm. Big reputation. Alex had a big reputation. I thought he made a whole lot more money than I did.”

“He was one of the biggest dogs in that firm, one of the biggest producers they had.” He spent a lot of money.

Shelley Smith's daughter started a GoFundMe campaign shortly after she testified in this case. It has already raised more than $6,100.

I don't think I've ever seen this before for a witness in an ongoing trial.

gofundme.com/f/for-her-brav…

So far, 136 people have donated, including an anonymous donor who gave $1,000.

We have posted a thorough update on this in our live feed

postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

The jury has been excused.

Waters wants to question Wilson about the roadside shooting over 2021 Labor Day weekend, which the jury has not heard about before. Griffin is objecting.

We're now doing a brief hearing on it with the jury excused

Judge Newman has sustained Griffin's objection, saying Wilson's testimony about the roadside shooting would be hearsay. That's a rare evidentiary ruling in favor of the defense in this trial. We're on a short break now.

Miller Shealy, a Charleston School of Law professor and former state and federal prosecutor, told @postandcourier he had never encountered a fundraiser for a traumatized witness but doesn’t see anything improper with the practice ...

... as long as the pitch is truthful and people know what their money is going to.

“I have never heard of such a thing but I don’t have any reason to believe it is improper,” Shealy said.

postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Chris Wilson testifies about the 3 p.m. 9/3/21 call he got from PMPED attorney Lee Cope telling him Murdaugh had been stealing from his clients and the firm.

Waters asks what Wilson felt.

“Shocked. Betrayed. Mad. I don’t know. Numb.”

Wilson on what Murdaugh told him when he confessed in a face-to-face meeting on the morning of 9/4/21.

“I’ve shit you up. I’m sorry. I shit you up. I shit a lot of people up.”

Griffin rises to cross-examine Wilson.

Griffin establishes with Wilson that no one at PMPED was asking him about Murdaugh’s $792,000 share of the Mack Truck legal fees before 6/7/21, the day of the slayings. He had gotten some questions about the legal expenses (a much smaller amount). But nothing that raised alarms.

Griffin is trying to chip away at the state’s theory that Murdaugh’s financial crimes faced imminent exposure on 6/7/21, contributing to his alleged motive for the slayings.

Wilson, one of Murdaugh's closest friends, testifies he never saw signs of opioid addiction. “When we socialized together, I didn’t see anything that indicated that he was addicted or had a drug problem.”

Griffin supposes Murdaugh might have built up a tolerance to the drugs.

Wilson testifies Murdaugh was able to function in high-stress situations, though he was scatterbrained and unfocused.

Murdaugh would “always” take phone calls when Maggie, Buster or Paul called. Only in court would he not answer the phone.

South Carolina basketball catches a couple strays: Griffin notes Murdaugh had season tickets for Carolina basketball even when they weren’t very good. Wilson testifies Murdaugh bought season tickets after the 2017 Final Four run, right before “they tanked.”

Griffin has worked hard with Wilson and other witnesses to paint the portrait of Murdaugh the family man. Murdaugh took his family with him to legal conventions and South Carolina football and basketball games. Murdaugh always answered their calls, etc.

Griffin: “Would you agree that Alex’s No. 1 priority was his family?”
Wilson: “Yes sir.”

Griffin establishes with Wilson that they spoke several times on the phone in the hour after 9 p.m., as Murdaugh drove between Moselle and his mother’s house at Almeda (after prosecutors say Maggie and Paul were killed.”

Wilson testifies Murdaugh sounded normal.

Griffin: “He wasn’t breathing heavy, was he?
Wilson: “No sir.”
G: “He didn’t sound panicky in any way, did he?”
W: “No.”

Wilson testifies Murdaugh visited his mom and dad almost every day. So he didn’t think the visit was unusual.

Wilson testified they did not speak on the night of the slayings about the missing $792K in legal fees from the Mack Trucks case. Wilson said at the time, he didn’t realize there was an issue with the fees at the time.

In final questioning, Waters gets his point across that Wilson was one of Murdaugh's best friends but didn't actually know him. He didn't know about the drugs, the thefts, any of it.

A solid undercut of Griffin's work in using Wilson to establish Murdaugh's character.

We are breaking for lunch for an hour and 15 minutes.

I transcribed prosecutor Creighton Waters' final questioning of Murdaugh friend Chris Wilson.

Defense attorney Jim Griffin had used his cross-examination to show Wilson knows Murdaugh and he isn't capable of killing Maggie/Paul.

Waters works to show no one knew Murdaugh.

We’re back after lunch. Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian rises to object to Waters calling his next witness, Tony Satterfield. Harpootlian says the presentation of one of Murdaugh’s financial witnesses is more prejudicial than useful.

Harpootlian says Murdaugh’s thefts have already been documented in evidence, so this is beating a dead horse.

Waters argues Satterfield shows a different kind of theft and is worth including.

Waters says he has texts in April 2021 in which Murdaugh assured Satterfield they are working hard on his mother’s case and everything is fine.

Satterfield called Murdaugh on 6/22/21 to ask about his mother's case, two weeks after the slayings, Waters says.

Satterfield said in his previous testimony he couldn't remember exactly when he made that call.

Harpootlian makes the case that the Satterfield issue didn't contribute to the alleged motive since the call didn't come before 6/7/21.

Harpootlian: The financial crimes were admitted to prove motive.

Nothing here establishes that Alex Murdaugh had reason to murder his wife and son. No “immediacy.”

“The only call between these folks began on June 22, two weeks after the murders.”

Harpootlian: “This is a murder trial, not a financial fraud trial.”

Judge Newman: “This testimony is consistent with the state’s theory of the defendant being in a frantic state, seeking to avoid disclosure of these financial crimes and thefts.”

He denies Harpootlian's motion to exclude Tony Satterfield's testimony.

Harpootlian argues one last time that Satterfield's call to Murdaugh didn't come until two weeks after the slayings, so it couldn't have contributed to Murdaugh's concern he was about to be exposed.

Newman says he understands. But this is a huge theft and Murdaugh could have been worried about its exposure.

The state's 41st witness, Tony Satterfield, takes the stand. Here is our story on his testimony from last week, with the jury excused.

postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Satterfield testifies about how Murdaugh spoke with him after his mother's funeral and told him he would bring a legal claim against his own insurance providers for Satterfield and his brother's benefit.

Satterfield then explains how Murdaugh essentially handled the case, even though he was the defendant.

Prosecutor Waters has Tony Satterfield read a text conversation he had with Murdaugh on April 12, 2021.

Murdaugh texted Tony to check in, saying he was working a case that reminded him of Tony.

Tony responded he was doing well. He asked about his mother's case.

Murdaugh to Tony: “Finally getting some movement. Still a ways to go. Doing good. Was just thinking about and thought I’d check in. ... See you soon.”

By then, Gloria's case had produced two settlements worth $4.3M. Murdaugh stole $3.4M of it.

Tony to Murdaugh: “Cool. Thanks.”

Satterfield testifies that Murdaugh told him his goal was to recover $100,000 for each of Satterfield’s two sons from the insurance case.

But then Murdaugh never told him when the case settled for $4.3M.

Waters: “At any time, did he ever pay you one penny?”

Satterfield: “No.”

Waters finishes his questioning of Tony Satterfield: Why did you agree to Murdaugh’s plan to sue himself?

Satterfield: “Because I trusted him.”

Harpootlian on cross-examination asks Satterfield if he ever called lawyer Cory Fleming or banker Chad Westendorf to ask about his case.

Satterfield says no.

Harpootlian notes that the Satterfields hired attorneys Eric Bland and Ronnie Richter and got $6.5 million from their case against Murdaugh and other defendants.

Harpootlian: “So you have been made more than whole for that loss?”
Satterfield: “Yes.”

Harpootlian also establishes that Satterfield never confronted Murdaugh about any stolen money before 6/7/21, the date of the murders.

The state's 42nd witness is Jan Malinowski, CEO of Palmetto State Bank. He testified earlier in this case with the jury excused about Murdaugh's massive debts and overdrafts.

He said the bank would have cut Murdaugh off if it found out earlier that he was stealing from clients.

It should be noted that at least one executive at the bank allegedly knew Murdaugh was stealing, and he is now headed to federal prison (pending appeal).

The lengthy explainer on the Shelley Smith GoFundMe page has been deleted and replaced with a two-line description. It has now raised more than $7,600.

"Hi my name is Rachelle Buckner. I am starting this for my mother Mushell Smith. We just want to show how proud we are of her.

"For BRAVERY…these are her children doing this for her!! She had no idea about this!!!"

gofundme.com/f/for-her-brav…

Malinowski is going point-for-point through his previous testimony. You can read our live updates on what he said here: postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Prosecutor Creighton Waters seems to acknowledge this testimony is putting everyone to sleep, says he is finally getting to "the beginning of the end" with Malinowski.

If this were a baseball game, this would be the perfect time for the seventh-inning stretch.

Under questioning from Waters, Malinoski testifies (again) that Palmetto State Bank would have stopped lending to Murdaugh if it had learned he was stealing client funds, had been fired from his law firm or had been disbarred.

Judge Newman has called for a brief break.

I went over to the food trucks and bought a funnel cake. Gotta try to turn this day around somehow.

Oh boy. Defense attorney Phillip Barber is bringing up the Shelley Smith GoFundMe page.

"The very first donation" made to the page was $1,000 from Mark Tinsley, Barber says.

Tinsley later removed his name. But Tinsley has admitted he donated the money to a witness who is still under subpoena.

The defense is now moving to exclude Tinsley's testimony. Wow.

Barber says he cannot find a single case in which one witness called by prosecutors is making monetary payments for testimony by another witness at trial.

"He made a financial payment to a witness in the middle of a trial" ... "as a reward for her honesty."

"That'll be good fodder for cross-examination," Newman says, refusing to strike Tinsley's testimony.

So now we get Barber vs. Tinsley 2.0 with a little more juice.

The jury is back in. Jim Griffin is up to cross-examine Malinowski. I wouldn't mind fast-forwarding this bit to get to Barber v. Tinsley asap, if I'm honest.

Days since the Murdaugh trial was unnecessarily dramatic: 0

Griffin establishes that at the time of the slayings, Alex Murdaugh could have walked into Palmetto State Bank and gotten a loan. He was not under any kind of scrutiny with them. Malinowski agrees.

Waters: “When all of this crashed and burned, was the bank left holding the bag for all of these uncollected loans?”
Malinowski: “Yes, sir.”
W: “Including the $750,000?”
M: “Yes, sir.”

Mercifully, Jan Malinowski's time on the witness stand is up.

Now it's Mark Tinsley's turn. He's the state's 43rd witness.

Mark Tinsley went to Clemson. Tough to hear. Will take a moment to process that.

Given the late hour, I'm not sure we will get to the defense's cross-examination of Tinsley today.

Tinsley testifies about watching a 2005 case in which Murdaugh handled the closing argument and cried as he gave it.

Barber objects, relevance. Waters says it speaks to Murdaugh’s conduct as a lawyer.

Newman sustains the objection.

This is a murder trial, btw.

The state has called four witnesses today, all of them financial witnesses, all of whom we've heard from before (with the jury excused).

The clear focus is a far cry from yesterday when prosecutors covered a dizzying variety of material and subjects. postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Tinsley testifies that in the days after the fatal 2019 boat crash, Renee Beach tried to go to the scene at Archer’s Creek. Law enforcement stopped her, saying it was a crime scene. Then the Murdaugh family showed up, and law enforcement waved them through.

“That day, I got involved," Tinsley said.

He said the Beach family was concerned about a cover-up. Paul was eventually criminally charged with drunkenly driving the boat when it crashed.

The Beaches filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Defense attorney Phillip Barber objects to the cover-up line. Waters doesn't defend it. Judge Newman sustains the objection.

Here is our story on Tinsley's prior testimony in this trial. Coincidentally, this story also includes our first coverage of Shelley Smith's testimony. postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Tinsley testifies Murdaugh had little insurance coverage for the Beaches to collect in a settlement. Progressive offered up their max payout, $500,000.

Tinsley: Murdaugh's hunting insurance policy would not cover him in this boat crash case.

And Murdaugh had already burned up his $4.3 million in coverage from two carriers - Lloyds of London and Nautilus - during the Satterfield swindle.

Per @thadmoore, someone has donated $10 to Shelley Smith under the name "Phillip Barber"

That's pretty funny.

gofundme.com/f/for-her-brav…

The GoFundMe is up to nearly $11,000. It pays to testify against Alex Murdaugh!

Judge Newman calls it a day with Waters questioning Tinsley. He will remain on the stand when we resume tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. Story coming soon.

Harpootlian says the state has a number of pricey out-of-state expert witnesses. He wants a better idea from prosecutors when they plan to rest their case so he can make travel/lodging plans for them.

Waters says he thinks they will rest midway through next week at the latest.

Now we're done for real.

postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

🫡 This concludes the Day 14 Megathread. Same time, same place tomorrow 🫡