Thread by @AveryGWilks

🚨🚨🚨Alex Murdaugh Double Murder Trial Day 18 (Feb. 15) Megathread begins now 🚨🚨🚨

I expect the state will a few more witnesses, including SLED lead investigator David Owen, before resting its case today or tomorrow.

#AlexMurdaugh #AlexMurdaughTrial #MurdaughTrial #Murdaugh

I’ll post updates below, as always.

For now, some material for anyone needing to catch up before court resumes at 9:30 a.m.

Yesterday’s Megathread

https://twitter.com/AveryGWilks/status/1625471581848850441

Our story from yesterday, when Maggie Murdaugh’s sister provided emotional testimony about her sibling as well as Alex’s behavior and statements after the slayings

postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Our daily Understand Murdaugh podcast episode on yesterday open.spotify.com/episode/4J8SZ8…

Also something to watch: the jurors are set to be tested for COVID-19 today. If more turn out to be sick, we could be in some trouble here postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Gonna go record a TikTok. In the meantime, here’s my dog, Scoop, enjoying some sunshine last week

OK, I'm back. Here are some photos/exhibits from yesterday, via pool photographers @GraceBeahm and @JAABPhoto

1-3. Maggie's sister, Marian Proctor, embraces her nephew Buster Murdaugh
4. Marian's husband, Bart Proctor, takes the witness stand, for some reason.

1. Marian Proctor on the stand
2. Murdaugh's defense attorney shows a family photo of the Murdaughs just weeks before the June 2021 slayings

***GRAPHIC warning***

1, 3 and 4: Crime scene photos of the kennels, including a hose that was store haphazardly and water pooling on the concrete
2: Roger Dale Davis, the caretaker for the Murdaughs' dogs, diagrams where each dog typically stayed in the kennels

1-3: Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian and MUSC forensic pathologist Ellen Riemer turn defense attorney Phillip Barber into a human crime scene mannequin
4. A better look at that Murdaugh family photo

A lot of different trials going on simultaneously here, which is a big reason this has stretched into a fourth week.

1. AM murder charges
2. AM financial charges
3. Bubba chicken murder charges
4. 2021 Roadside shooting

Court is back in session.

We have resumed the fight over whether the 2021 Labor Day roadside shooting/assisted suicide/staged shooting/insurance fraud scheme should be admitted as evidence in this murder trial.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters is up saying it shows Alex Murdaugh's "consciousness of guilt."

Waters on what previous witnesses have testified about their reaction to the September 2021 shooting: “The initial reaction was, ‘Oh my gosh, the real killers are back. The bad guys are back. Now they’re targeting Alex.’”

Community rallied around AM, just as it did after 6/7/21

“We’re not here to try to litigate what happened on the side of the road in its entirety,” Waters says. He thinks it could take an hour for a law enforcement agent to explain on the witness stand.

"It would be a very focused presentation just to get from Point A to Point B."

Harpootlian counters that the Labor Day weekend shooting wasn’t evidence of a guilty conscious about the 6/7/21 murders.

It came three months later, and just a day after Murdaugh was confronted about his financial crimes and pushed out of his law firm.

The roadside shooting is about the financial crimes, Harpootlian argues. “We’re here to try a murder.”

Waters: The state’s focus is not the shooting itself. It’s about how AM lied about it and made it seem like he was the victim of a drive-by shooting by an unknown assailant.

Waters says that is part of AM's pattern of self-victimizing.

In a rare evidentiary win for the defense, Judge Clifton Newman rules the roadside shooting is inadmissible: “The financial evidence was allowed on the issue of motive. This evidence, I find, goes beyond motive or is not evidence of motive, but more toward common scheme or plan."

Newman continues: "It does not survive the logical relevancy test. And it goes more toward showing propensity to commit violent acts, which would cause it not to survive (Rule) 403 analysis. I believe that to allow this evidence is a bridge too far."

Newman continued: "Going down this path and allowing essentially any and all evidence in.”

Newman says he could change his mind, but at this time, he does not see a reason to let in the roadside shooting.

Great news from Judge Newman: The jurors were tested again this morning for COVID-19, and they all tested NEGATIVE.

Huge. The show goes on!

The state calls its 57th witness, SLED agent David Owen, the lead investigator on this case. This should be good.

Prosecutor John Meadors is questioning Owen. I figured it would be lead prosecutor Creighton Waters.

Meadors joined the AG's Office only in January.

Our live updates feed and livestream of today's proceedings

postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Owen testifies he was called into the case at 10:30 p.m. on 6/7/21 and told he needed to go to 4147 Moselle Road. He was in bed at the time. He got to Moselle around midnight.

When Owen arrived, he was told Alex Murdaugh was with a group of family and law partners.

Within 30 minutes, Owen’s supervisors pulled him aside and said SLED was going to take the lead on this case, making Owen the lead investigator.

Owen testifies investigators are taught to treat every scene as a homicide until proven otherwise.

“It was paramount that I speak with Alex Murdaugh to try to determine” what he knew and saw and what was going on in their lives.

Correction: Meadors started with the Attorney General's Office in December, not January, I'm told.

Meadors: Did AM appear to be under the influence of any intoxicants?

Owen: No. “He seemed of full body and mind other than being distraught” that he had just found his wife and son dead.

Owen testifies about asking AM for his clothes that evening. AM understood, went up to the master bedroom, disrobed and handed them over.

Our daily TikTok tiktok.com/t/ZTRtH3yHP/

Owen testifies he looked around the Moselle house that evening and saw nothing out of place or unusual. No evidence of forced entry, a fight or scuffle.

Owen: AM that night said he had called some of Paul’s friends. One of them, Nolan Tuten, was at the Moselle house. Owen interviewed him as well.

Remember: Nolan’s DNA was found on AM’s white shirt.

Owen testifies some 8-10 people were at the Moselle house when he arrived after midnight on the evening of the slayings. Family, friends, PMPED lawyers were there.

Owen testifies he stayed at Moselle until about 9 a.m. the next morning.

Owen testifies about interviewing C.B. Rowe, the Moselle farmhand, when he arrived at the property that morning.

AM had told Owen a story about Rowe claiming to have been hired by the FBI out of high school to be some “sort of killer operative.”

Owen testifies he spoke with Rowe and got his alibi, which was that he had taken his father to the doctor in Mt. Pleasant on 6/7/21 and didn’t go to Moselle.

Owen testifies about how SLED interviewed Paul’s friend Rogan Gibson early on 6/8/21 and learned that Gibson was 99 percent sure he had heard AM in the background of his call with Paul that evening.

Again, SLED knew early on about the inconsistencies regarding Murdaugh’s alibi.

Owen wanted to interview Alex again as soon as possible. Owen testifies it is important to speak with witnesses quickly while their memories are still fresh.

Of note: This has not been SLED's practice in investigating police-involved shootings. They tend to give officers "cooling off" periods before asking them to explain why they pulled the trigger.

postandcourier.com/archives/shots…

Owen reiterates that in interviews, AM was very clear that he had not gone down to the dog kennels that evening before finding the bodies there.

Owen said he verified AM's story that Maggie had gone to see a Charleston doctor earlier that day.

Owen spoke with the doctor.

“She didn’t appear to be in any distress. It appeared to be a normal visit.”

Owen testiifes AM called 7/28/21 wanting to know about his 2021 Chevrolet Suburban and asking if he could get it back. Owen says he told AM the SUV was inoperable. AM said he wanted to get some stuff from it, including his golf clubs, because he was about to go on vacation.

Owen testifies AM also asked about the investigation. He wanted to know what SLED had learned. Owen said he told him not much. But he wanted to question AM again because he needed clarification on some things.

Owen: AM said he couldn’t meet yet. They ultimately set up an interview for 8/11/21.

Owen is now testifying about AM's 8/11/21 interview with SLED. This is reportedly when SLED asked him point blank if he killed Maggie and Paul.

14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone recused himself from the investigation that same day.

The jury is excused for a short break before Meadors plays a lengthy recording of the 8/11/21 SLED-AM interview in court. Here we go, folks.

The jury is returning to the courtroom.

Owen testifies the participants in the interview were Alex Murdaugh and Cory Fleming. It was a voluntary statement.

Cory Fleming, as you'll recall, has had his law license suspended over his alleged role in the Satterfield swindle. Good friend of AM.

In the recording, Murdaugh is wearing a light blue collared short-sleeve shirt. He appears to have already lost a lot of weight in the two months since the slayings.

The interview starts off confrontationally. Fleming wants to know why AM can’t ask SLED questions and get an update on the case first.

Fleming: “Are you asking him questions to further your investigation, or are you asking him questions because you think he’s a suspect?”

Owen: “I am asking these questions to further my investigation.”

Fleming: “Does that mean you are not asking him these questions as a suspect?”

I either can't hear Owen's response, or he doesn't give one.

Fleming, acting as both AM's friend and his lawyer: “I’m uncomfortable with you asking him questions as a suspect when I came here with the thought that you were going to tell him where you are in this investigation.”

They eventually move on, and Owen begins asking Murdaugh about what he did that day before the slayings.

Murdaugh is crying as he tells Owen about riding around with Paul that day. Said they rode around a couple of hours. He doesn’t remember any rifles being in the trucks they used. Maybe some pistols.

Forgot to tweet this, but Fleming explained one of the reasons he was concerned about SLED questioning AM.

“Everybody in the United States of America has an opinion on this case,” he said.

He was worried SLED was buying into some of the rumor/speculation.

Video: AM tells Owen why Maggie came home to Moselle. “She was worried about me and me worrying about my Dad, and so she came home,” AM says.

Video: Owen asks what happened after dinner. AM: “I don’t know exactly how that went. I stayed on the couch and I dozed off. And then I got up.”

Video: Owen asks AM about the 7:38 p.m. Snapchat video on Paul’s phone that showed AM in a blue shirt and khaki pants. Owen asks when he changed. AM asks when the video was filmed. He seems unable to recall that. “I guess I changed when I got back to the house."

Video: Owen asks why AM called, texted Maggie before leaving Moselle to visit his mother in Almeda but didn’t go down by the kennels to see her before leaving. Owen said AM mentioned earlier that Maggie was supposed to accompany him to Almeda. AM says he can’t recall those plans.

Video: Owen asks how long AM stayed at his mother’s house the evening of 6/7/21.
Murdaugh: “45 minutes, an hour.”

We now know from Shelley Smith and Murdaugh’s SUV data he was there for about 20.

Video:
Owen: “Were Maggie and Paul’s vehicles at the house?”
AM: “Yes sir.”

Owen: “How did they get down there (to the dog kennels) that night?”
AM: “I was hoping you were going to be able to tell me that.”

Video: Owen confronts Murdaugh:

Owen: “I’ve got information that Paul was on the phone and Maggie was heard in the background and you were heard in the background, and that was prior to-”

AM: “Rogan Gibson asked me if I was up there. He said he thought it was me.”

Owen: “Was it you?”
AM: “At 9 o’clock? No sir. Not if my times are right.”

Owen: “When do you think it could have been?”
AM: “I have no idea.”

Owen: “And Rogan has been around your family for pretty much all his life?”
AM: “Absolutely.”

Owen: “And he recognizes your voice and you have a pretty distinct voice.” Could he have misheard?
AM: “No, sir.”

Video: Owen asks AM how he normally loads his shotguns. AM doesn’t understand the question. He explains how to load a shotgun, generally. Owen clarifies he is asking what kind of ammo he loads. AM says all kinds. Birdshot. Buckshot. Etc.

Owen: “At the same time? Would you load birdshot and a buckshot in the same load?”

AM: “Not normally.” You use whatever kind of ammo you need depending on what you’re hunting.

Owen asks if there are any guns missing from Moselle now.
AM: Three guns: A Benelli shotgun. A Browning shotgun and a pump shotgun. The Benelli and Browning are automatic.

AM doesn’t mention the .300 Blackout rifles.

OK, there it is.

AM: “I understand also that a .300 was used that night. I know there has been some - I understand John Bedingfield said he only had two of those, one of which was lost a long time ago. But I’m telling you now that I am certain that we replaced that gun.”

So AM was actually forthcoming about the missing .300 Blackout rifles.

Owen now confronts AM about the .300 Blackout cartridge cases found all over the property.

Owen to AM: “The ones by the house, and some of the ones by the shooting range, are confirmed matches as the ones found by Maggie.”

Owen tells AM that he can be heard on the 911 tape saying “I should have known.” He asks AM what he meant.

AM: “I don’t remember saying that. But I guess all of the threats. I had been convinced that it was something to do with the boat wreck and all of that.”

Owen asks if Paul ever got physical with AM. AM said one time. When Paul had too much to drink and wouldn’t listen to AM. AM says he never got physical back. That was at Moselle. A while ago.

Owen: When you turned Paul over and his cell phone popped out. You said you thought about doing something but then put the phone down. What were you going to do?

AM: “I don’t know. When I went up to him and the phone came out, I don’t remember having intentions of doing anything with the phone.”

Video: Agent Jeff Croft asks AM how long dinner that night had been. AM says he can’t remember. Then he says 15-20 minutes, “best guess.”

Croft: You didn’t see any rifles or long guns in the trucks before that night. How long prior?
AM: “I mean, Paul always had guns, so. It was very unusual for Paul not to have guns.”
Croft: “Rifles, shotguns, both?”
AM: “Everything.”

Owen tells AM about how he told the 911 dispatcher at 10:06 p.m. that he hadn’t seen Maggie and Paul in an hour and a half or two hours.
AM: “I think that’s probably about right. … So you believe I’m giving you an inconsistent answer.”

Owen: “No, I’m just trying to wrap my mind around” the timelines of that night.

Now they are getting into when AM actually left PMPED that evening. Owen said data show AM swiped his card at the PMPED office at 5:30 p.m., and Randy said he saw AM there at 6 p.m.

AM said he thought he left earlier. He said he and Paul rode "all over" Moselle that evening.

Owen: “What other questions do you have?”
AM: Pauses. “I would like to know exactly what happened.” Sobs.

Owen: “Me too. The best that I have been able to put together. I believe Paul was shot first.”

AM: Says he thought they shot Maggie first because she was shot in the back of the head.

Owen: “We may honestly never know who was first. But I think that it was Paul for the simple fact that if he saw his mother getting shot, he wouldn’t have run to that feed room.”

Owen: “We’ve already established that family guns were used. And if they came from Paul’s truck, Paul’s truck was at the house. So where were they?”

AM: “And how did they get down there?”
Owen: “And how did they get down there.”

Fleming put up a big fuss before this interview but hasn't really stepped in to object or shut this down, even though it quickly became clear from Owen's questioning that AM was indeed a suspect.

AM crying loudly now: “Can you tell me for sure if either of them lived after they were first shot?
Owen: “Not long.”
AM: “What’s that mean?”
Owen: “The shooting happened very quickly.”
AM: “Is this one person, two persons, three persons?”

Video pauses. Owen tells Meadors this is the first time AM has ever asked him that, about multiple shooters.

AM: “Did either one of them suffer very long?”
Owen: “A matter of seconds.”

Fleming jumps in. Says this comes from Randy Murdaugh: The family has a lot of friends in the community from the upper echelon to the lowest socioeconomic level. They think that they can ask people to keep ears out. Loose lips. Talking. That kind of stuff.

Fleming: But they don’t want to reach out to anybody unless y’all think it’s OK. They’re not talking about paying people, like investigators.

Owen: I’ve talked to Randy about this. I’m not going to ask any of them to do that because then it can be construed as if they are working as an agent of the state. I told Randy, I can’t stop you from going out. But I wouldn’t ask them to do it.

AM: You don’t have any substantive leads?

Owen: “No, sir. Like I said, the only DNA we have are family and close friends.” No shoewear or tirewear impressions because it rained that night. Only thing we can go off of are the cell tower dumps and the SUV data.

AM offers to sign off on whatever authorization or permission investigators need to help with their search.

Video: Fleming and AM are offering any help they can to aid in the investigation, including trying to find ways to open up Paul’s phone. (The U.S. Secret Service ultimately broke into the phone months later in March 2022).

Fleming: Have y’all had to track down all the wackos on the internet?”

Owen: “There has been a few that I’m looking at. But some of the information has been so far-fetched.”

Fleming praises SLED for limiting leaks about the case.

Owen: “Nobody wants to know more than this man right here (pointing at Alex) and this man right here (pointing at himself).”

AM: How far apart in time were the shots?” Did one of them know the other was dead?

Owen: “I think it’s impossible to know.”

AM seems distraught at the idea that Maggie knew Alex had been shot.

Owen: “It all depends on how many shooters were there.”

Owen: I hate to give any credence to the media, but the media keeps throwing you in there. He said it was possible the investigation could exonerate him.

AM: “When you get my car stuff (data), that’ll help.”

Obviously, the tweet above should read: "AM seems distraught at the idea that Maggie knew Paul had been shot."

We are now breaking for lunch. Back at 2:20 p.m.

It sounds like we still have a ways to go on the SLED interview when we return from lunch.

Investigators meandered between subject matters and between asking direct, confrontational questions and asking questions that sounded sympathetic to AM.

SLED hasn't yet asked the "did you do it" question, though investigators got close a time or two. I imagine that will come toward the end.

That's the kind of question that can end an interview, and it seems they were trying to keep him on the hook for as long as possible.

SLED also probably knew this would be their last opportunity to interview AM and squeeze useful information out of him before he realized he was their top suspect and shut down.

If so, they were right. The Labor Day shooting and AM's first arrest were just a month later.

We are back after lunch.

Watching the rest of the SLED-Murdaugh 8/11/21 interview.

SLED is asking AM about the boat crash case.

SLED shows AM the 7:38 p.m. Snapchat video from that evening. AM notes Paul is laughing at him bcause “I had gone to great lengths to try to get (the tree) to be upright.”

Alex Murdaugh to Owen: “I know y’all have to look at me. I try to have as little discussions with the people that y’all are interviewing.”

Owen: A few more questions: “Did you kill Maggie?”
AM: “No. Did I kill my wife? No.”

Owen: Do you know who did?
AM: “No.”

Owen then asks if AM killed Paul or knows who did.

AM says no.

Alex Murdaugh: “Do you think I killed Maggie?”

Owen threw his hands up in the air. “I have to go with the evidence takes me.”

Alex Murdaugh: “Does that mean that I am a suspect?”

Meadors pauses the video.

He asks if Alex Murdaugh was a suspect then.

Owen: “He was the only known suspect at that time, yes.”

Meadors notes that on that day, 8/11/21, the local solicitor recused himself from the case.

Meadors: Did your investigation reveal inconsistencies in what Mr. Murdaugh had told you?

Owen: Yes.

Meadors: Was that significant to you in your probe?

Owen: It was. “It wasn’t one inconsistency. It was several inconsistencies within a period of time that were repeated.”

Owen testifies that the financial investigation into Murdaugh became intertwined with the murder investigation. Some of the same witnesses were interviewed in both probes.

Owen testifies he got Paul's cell phone data on 4/8/21 and found the 8:44 p.m. dog kennel video.

Meadors: “Did anybody else in the world know that was on there except Paul?”

Owen: “Nobody, to my knowledge.”

Meadors: Were there any other credible leads you investigated that led you to anybody but Murdaugh?

Owen: “Not credible leads.”

The state ends its questioning of Owens.

Defense attorney Jim Griffin begins his cross-examination of David Owen.

He establishes that Alex Murdaugh was in the investigators' "circle" from the moment he called 9-1-1 that evening.

Griffin: “Here, SLED and Colleton County Sheriff’s Department failed to take immediate steps to preserve evidence that could possibly” have led them to another suspect. Wouldn’t you agree?

Owen: It wasn’t a failure.

Griffin: Whoever killed Maggie and Paul would likely have biological material on them from the blasts that killed the two victims, right?

Owen: They would have some, yes.

Griffin: He would have had to brutally murder his wife and son sometime after 8:50 p.m. and 9:06 p.m. and dispose of the murder weapons, right?

Owen: Yes.

Owen: We searched from the route from Moselle and Almeda several times, as well as waterways between the two homes.

He also notes evidence shows Murdaugh didn’t stop that night on the drive between Moselle and Almeda.

Griffin establishes that SLED didn't search the Almeda home until months later.

Owen said he didn't have probable cause. Griffin notes that the Murdaughs had given investigators carte blanche to search whatever they wanted.

Griffin is trying to establish that SLED and Colleton County sheriff’s deputies did not secure evidence at Moselle or Almeda that could either have exonerated Murdaugh or implicated other possible suspects.

Griffin is saying Murdaugh remained in the investigative “circle” because of investigators’ incompetence.

Griffin on investigators’ failure to search Murdaugh’s parent’s home at Almeda until months later: “Would you agree that that was an opportunity missed?”

Owen: “Probably, yes.”

Griffin establishes that SLED did not show Shelley Smith a photo of the blue rain jacket until last month in preparation for trial.

Owen said he asked Smith if it was the same color as the thing she saw Murdaugh carrying into the house.

Griffin establishes with Owen that SLED showed a bunch of Murdaugh relatives the rain jacket.

Griffin: “Not a single family member recognized that blue rain jacket.”

Owen: “No they did not.”

Griffin establishes that Owen would expect to find DNA in the blue rain jacket if someone had used it to wrap up the shotgun that killed Paul.

Griffin establishes that investigators found no blood, DNA or wet spots in the back of the Suburban, where you might expect to find it if he had transported the murder weapons in that vehicle.

Griffin establishes again that SLED found no blood or other evidence on the carpet or anywhere in the Moselle house.

Griffin: At no time prior to Aug. 11, did you ask Alex Murdaugh, where’s that blue shirt, where are those khaki pants, where are those shoes?
Owen: I did not.

G: And you have never asked him for those, have you?
O: No sir.

G: And the reason you didn’t was because you weren’t concerned about those clothes. You were concerned about the white shirt, green shorts and shoes he was wearing when he called 911.

O: Yes.

G: And you were actively investigating whether the T-shirt had evidence of high velocity blood spatter, which you would expect to find on whoever killed Paul.
O: Back spatter, yes.

G: And your agency hired an expert to do that?

O: Yes, we asked an individual to examine it to look for back spatter.

Griffin: Before you testified before the Colleton County grand jury, you prepared an outline of your presentation, right?
Owen: Yes.

G: And you followed that narrative?
O: For the most part.

Griffin: And in that narrative, did you say an expert found multiple areas of blood spatter on the front of that shirt?
Owen: Yes.

G: And is that what you told the Colleton County grand jury.
O: Yes.

Griffin: And y’all completely overlooked the fact that your own SLED lab tested his shirt for blood and found no blood.
Owen: I had never seen that report. Says he found out about it in November 2022. Yikes.

Griffin is questioning why SLED tested Alex’s clothes for DNA, but not Maggie and Paul’s clothes.

Griffin: “But Alex wasn’t the victim of any crime on the night of June 7, was he?”
Owen: “Not to my knowledge.”

Griffin: So what are you doing?

Griffin on blood spatter supposedly found on AM’s shirt: “You didn’t know then, but you know now that what you told the Colleton County grand jury was not correct?”

Owen: “In reference to the shirt, correct.”

If it isn't obvious, acknowledging that the Colleton County grand jury was (perhaps accidentally) misled about key evidence before indicting Alex Murdaugh is not good for the state.

Griffin establishes that Owen wasn’t truthful in an interview with AM when he told him that there were multiple shotguns found in the house with buckshot and birdshot ammo.

Griffin asks if Owen was mistaken or if that was an investigative tool.

Owen: “Investigative tool.”

Griffin: “So you lied to him.”

Owen: “I’m allowed to use trickery to elicit a response.”

Griffin: But then you told the grand jury the same thing. “Were you mistaken then, or were you trying to trick the state grand jury?”

Owen says he didn’t mislead the grand jury.

Griffin read his own testimony back to him.

Owen told the grand jury there were shotguns at Moselle that were loaded with buckshot and birdshot.

Griffin: “And that was not accurate, right.”

Owen: Correct.

Woof.

Griffin is comparing the inconsistencies in AM’s statements that Owen referenced earlier to inconsistencies in Owen’s own investigation.

Griffin asks if it made any difference at all how long AM visited his mother, since the slayings had already been committed.

Griffin tells Owen that Alex was buying $50K/week in drugs from Curtis Smith, who owed money to a gang.

Griffin establishes that SLED didn't collect DNA from those gang members and didn't put them into the investigative "circle."

Griffin has brought up the Cowboys gang a few times in this trial already. Likely trying to suppose there was someone else out there with reason to harm Murdaugh.

We're drinking out of a firehose today.

We are back after a short break.

Meadors: “It is the state’s belief that with those last questions, they opened the door to the roadside shooting.”

Judge Newman: “He is in the middle of cross-examination. … Now is not the time.”

Griffin to Owen: You were not aware of the negative HemaTrace blood test (negative for human blood on AM's shirt) until November 2022.

“How is it the lead case agent is left out of the information channel for something so significant?”

Owen: We have email notifications when there is a new report available. I did not have an email notification that report was there when I went back and looked.

Griffin: “Did you develop any info that Eddie Smith was skimming money from what Alex was giving him for drugs?”

Owen: “I am not aware of that information.”

Griffin establishes again that SLED never asked for Murdaugh’s dress clothes from the 7:38 p.m. Snapchat video, never tried to find those clothes, never executed a search warrant for them.

Griffin finishes his cross-examination. We move on to Meadors' redirect.

Now Judge Newman allows prosecutors to bring in the September 2021 roadside shooting. Meadors asked for this just a bit ago, arguing Griffin’s questioning of Owen about Curtis Smith and a drug gang had opened up the door for this.

Owen testifies that before 9/4/21, AM never mentioned any other specific suspects for the 6/7/21 slayings. He never mentioned the Cowboy gang or Curtis Edward Smith. Smith only came into the picture after the September shooting.

Prosecutors have some damning stuff - Murdaugh’s Big Lie, the dog kennel video, the missing clothes, the matching .300 Blackout shells. But a lack of evidence is also forcing them to theorize - rather than prove - when, how and where Murdaugh covered up his alleged involvement.

On final questioning of one of the state's final witnesses, we're now hearing - for the first time, I think - a theory from Meadors about Murdaugh using a cooler to hide evidence at Almeda on the night of the slayings. (I think)

Meadors closes his questioning, basically shouting: Did Alex ever mention anybody else who could have killed my wife and my son on June 7, 2021? “Did he ever mention anybody else?”

Owen: “No.”

Griffin rises to recross Owen. First question: “Is it police procedure that the suspect of your investigation is supposed to solve the crime?”

Owen. “No, it’s not.”

Meadors snaps at Harpootlian for laughing at his rhetorical question about whether AM suggested to law enforcement that they search Almeda.

Harpootlian stood and said Meadors is supposed to address the witness, not him. “If I found the question humorous, I’m sorry.”

Owen is done for the day.

The state calls its 58th witness, David Grubes of the S.C. Attorney General's Office. He's the chief forensic investigator for the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Grubes testifies he downloads and analyzes cell phone extractions.

We are now hearing data about Paul's phone battery. It died four times that week. Once on June 3, twice on June 5 and once at 10:34 p.m. on June 7.

Grubes testifies that Paul would often let his phone battery get low. If it died, he would typically plug it in within a few minutes.

It appears that Grubes is testifying about the exact same cellphone data we have already heard (and that has already been admitted into evidence) from SLED digital forensic analyst Britt Dove.

We are hearing about orientation changes on Maggie's phone. Again.

It has come to my attention that his name is spelled Grubbs. Not Grubes. I regret the error.

Lookin' at spreadsheets, baby

Prosecutor John Conrad ends his questioning without providing a single new relevant piece of information, as far as I'm aware.

Newman repeats that he has reversed his decision excluding the 2021 roadside shooting.

Newman: The defense opened the door to the roadside shooting testimony by questioning the witness as to the relationship between Mr. Murdaugh and Eddie Smith, payment of money to buy drugs, indebtedness, etc.

Okie doke. We are done for the story. Story coming at some point.

Here's our story. It's one of our longer daily takeouts of the trial, on what seemed to be a brutal day for the state's case.

https://twitter.com/AveryGWilks/status/1626006383433773058

So ends the Alex Murdaugh Double Murder Trial Day 18 Megathread.

We will Megathread once more come morning.

I'll be on @newsnation around 7:40 tonight to talk Murdaugh.

Moved up. 7:30ish