Thread by @AveryGWilks

🚨🚨🚨Alex Murdaugh Double Murder Trial Day 20 (Feb. 17) Megathread begins now 🚨🚨🚨

The state is expected to rest its case today at the end of the trial’s fourth week. I’ll provide updates below.

#AlexMurdaugh #AlexMurdaughTrial #MurdaughTrial #Murdaugh

We will begin today at 9:30 am with the defense’s cross-examination of SLED agent Ryan Kelly, who investigated the September 2021 roadside shooting/assisted suicide/insurance fraud scheme.

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian said it’ll take a while.

Our story on what happened yesterday in court, including Kelly’s testimony and a never-before-heard recording of Murdaugh’s confession in the roadside shooting investigation

postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Our daily Understand Murdaugh podcast on yesterday open.spotify.com/episode/439dSb…

Yesterday’s Megathread

https://twitter.com/averygwilks/status/1626200657806983169

Albert doing some lampbathing

The cover is off Drama King, who is resting on a dead mouse he plans to eat later. Weirdo.

Some photos/evidence from yesterday, via pool photographers @GraceBeahm and @JAABPhoto

1. Crime scene expert Kenneth Kinsey re-enacts the shooting of Maggie Murdaugh
2. Alex Murdaugh's 14th circuit assistant solicitor badge

@GraceBeahm @JAABPhoto 1. The knife AM used to puncture his tire before the 2021 roadside shooting. Investigators found it on the side of the road
2. AM on the way to go get shot in the head during that orchestrated incident.

@GraceBeahm @JAABPhoto 1. Defense attorney Jim Griffin measures AM. I imagine his height vs. Paul's height will come into play later as we consider the upward trajectory at which Paul was shot.
2. The green cone illustrates that upward trajectory, according to crime scene expert Kinsey

@GraceBeahm @JAABPhoto 1. The sketch a SLED artist created w/ AM's help after roadside shooting. This person doesn't exist.
2-3. Blood on the walls, door and floor of feed room where Paul was shot. The weird feet in the 2nd picture are Kinsey's digital estimation of where Paul stood during first shot.

@GraceBeahm @JAABPhoto Last one: Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian aims a shotgun at his law partner Phillip Barber as expert witness Kenneth Kinsey looks on.

Court is back in session.

Our guy @NickAtNews brought donuts for the media room. Felt that deserved a Megathread shoutout.

We begin with defense attorney Dick Harpootlian's cross-examination of SLED agent Ryan Kelly, who investigated the roadside shooting.

I'm not sure yet if we will hear from Curtis Edward Smith, or from Mr. Peepaw Bubbers III, but I'll let you know as soon I find out.

For those confused, I remind you of the funniest joke anyone has made about this trial

https://twitter.com/mhlinz/status/1625697669313187841

Harpootlian begins his cross-examination by asking agent Kelly is SLED sought and reviewed Murdaugh's medical records from the Savannah hospital that treated him after the September 2021 roadside shooting.

As best I can tell, Harpootlian wants to try to play up Murdaugh's injuries from the gunshot wound to the head to show that Murdaugh was actually trying to die - not trying to survive and engender sympathy for himself.

Here is my story from a month after the shooting on those hospital records postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Kelly plays coy about whether Murdaugh was actually shot in the head, saying he is not a medical professional and would defer to them.

Then Harpootlian establishes that Kelly told Murdaugh’s relatives that he was shot in the head. Kelly now says Murdaugh was shot in the head.

Harpootlian and Kelly having as hostile an exchange as we’ve seen in this trial. Kelly giving no ground, making Harpootlian work for every fact/admission.

For instance, Harpootlian asks if SLED subpoenaed for Murdaugh’s detox/rehab records.

Kelly said SLED had issues w/ doing that since the facility was out of state.

H: “Did you ask us for consent?”
K: “No consent was given.”
H: But did you even ask for consent?
K: “No consent was asked for and no consent was given.”

Harpootlian establishes that Murdaugh reached out proactively to confess to orchestrating the roadside shooting incident and making up the story about an unknown assailant.

Harpootlian is trying to establish that AM was cooperative with SLED’s investigations.

K: “Some of the best confessions I’ve ever gotten are from defense attorneys.”
H: “Not this defense attorney.” Laughter in the courtroom.

Harpootlian ends his cross-examination. Then he objects to Waters asking Kelly about his interview with AM in the hospital, noting his prior objection that AM was heavily medicated and not competent during that interview.

Harpootlian says if Waters wants to question Kelly about AM’s hospital interview, we will need to have hospital staff testify about AM’s competence and state of mind during that interview.

Essentially threatening to drag this out if Waters wants to go down that road.

Waters says his question is more limited. He's not trying to get into the substance of the interview or what AM said.

Kelly: AM gave voluntary interviews to SLED on 9/4/21 (date of the shooting) and 9/6/21. He seemed sound of mind. Appeared to understand the questions. And he gave consistent stories and details in each interview.

Kelly: SLED considered AM the victim of a violent crime in those first two interviews.

Then AM confessed in a 9/13/21 phone call.

Harpootlian establishes Murdaugh has been in jail since Oct. 16, 2021.

Harpootlian: “What opportunity has he had since Oct. 16, 2021, to manipulate witnesses … to manipulate anything in this case?”

Waters objects. Newman sustains the objection.

Harpootlian and Kelly continue to have testy exchanges, especially as Waters jumps in with objections and forces Harpootlian to explain and rephrase his questions.

Then Kelly asks Harpootlian to repeat the question.

Harpootlian is visibly frustrated. Walks to the lectern.

Then kind of insults Kelly’s intelligence. Calls him a *senior* agent. Then asks the question very slowly and loudly, as if he were putting a period behind each word.

Harpootlian: Could you just say yes or no, and then we could move on?

Did you speak to one of his physicians or any of his medical personnel and ask if he was competent to speak with you in the hospital?

Kelly: “I did not.”

Kelly: “They didn’t talk to me about his medical records.”

Harpootlian: “Did you ask them?”

Kelly starts to answer without a yes or no.
H: “Did you ask them?”

Kelly starts again.

H: “Did you ASK THEM?”

Kelly: We didn’t ask them.

Kelly says SLED didn’t ask because medical personnel wouldn’t have answered anyway.

Harpootlian ends his questioning. Kelly steps down.

The state calls its 61st witness, SLED agent Peter Rudofski.

Rudofski said his main focus during the investigation was to take all of the available data in this investigation and put it into one timeline on one readable document.

Thank God.

A medical doctor just texted me to confirm that the Savannah doctors/medical staff would NOT have given SLED anything about Alex Murdaugh's care.

Rudofski said he has worked on the timeline for a year. Then last week he got new data from General Motors re: AM’s 2021 Chevy Suburban. So now we’re going to hear about that new data and how it affects the timeline.

Rudofski testifies the new data from GM provides a lot of GPS and speed data from AM’s SUV, which investigators did not previously have.

The FBI analyst who testified about this stuff was named Falkofske. The SLED agent now testifying about the same subject matter is named Rudofski. Anyway.

Waters and Rudofski are showing the jury a map of AM’s SUV trips on 6/7/21. It includes 4,820 GPS points. We’re about to walk through a few different trips.

General Motors data from AM’s 2021 Chevy Suburban on 6/7/21
6:42:54 p.m.: AM arrives home from work.
9:07:06 p.m.: AM leaves the Moselle home for Almeda.
9:08:06 p.m.: AM leaves Moselle out of the main entrance.
9:08:18 p.m.: AM is going 37 mph toward Almeda

Continued:
9:08:36 p.m.: AM is going 42 mph at the spot where Maggie’s phone is eventually found. Doesn’t appear AM’s vehicle slowed down there. If anything, it sped up.
9:08:42 p.m.: AM is going 45 mph.

Rudofski: After passing that location, the defendant’s vehicle accelerates

Continued:

9:08:54: AM is going 44 mph
9:09:06 p.m.: AM is going 46 mph
9:09:18 p.m.: AM is going 49 mph
9:09:18 p.m.: AM is going 52 mph
9:09:24 p.m.: AM is going 52 mph
9:09:42 p.m.: AM is going 52 mph

9:13:30 pm: AM is going 68 mph

Continued:

9:14:36 pm: AM is going 69.4 mph
9:16:47 pm: AM is going 70 mph

Ol’ buddy is MOVING.

9:22:06 pm: AM’s Suburban makes a left into the Almeda property.

Rudofski: Data points show the Suburban went into the grass closer to the woodline at 9:22:39 p.m. That’s 36 seconds after he turns onto the curved driveway.

On his drive from Moselle to Almeda, the Suburban reached a max speed of 74.4 mph and averaged 51.94 mph.

Waters establishes with Rudofski that AM drove faster on that trip than he did on his trips to/from work earlier that day.

AM SUV data continued:
9:43:18 pm: AM leaves Almeda to head back to Moselle, moving 2 mph. This is 20 minutes after his arrival.
9:45:22 pm: AM turns onto the highway.
9:46:01 pm: AM is on the highway.
9:51:30 pm: AM is going 74 mph

9:54:24 pm: AM is going 74 mph
9:59:18 pm: AM is going 57.98 mph
10:00:00 pm: AM arrives into Moselle, taking a left into the main driveway.
10:00:30 pm: AM is halfway down the driveway of the main house

Drive back to Moselle from Almeda: Max speed was 80.16 mph. Average speed was 46.52 mph.

Rudofski testifies that the road conditions between Moselle and Almeda were poor, with a lot of potholes and a heavy deer population. The posted speed limit was 55 mph.

Rudofski testifies that even police rushing to emergencies wouldn’t go 80 mph on that road.

10:05:06 pm: AM leaving Moselle main house for kennels
10:05:49 pm: AM is going 28.6 mph
10:05:57 pm: AM arrives at kennels

I missed some of the exact times/speeds of AM returning to the Moselle main house to retrieve a shotgun before returning to the dog kennels. But he was going about 30 mph each way.

We are on a short break.

That was fascinating. As someone who drove a lot of country roads growing up, I will say that it is quite common to drive *way* above the speed limit, especially at night. With that being said, I did hit a deer while doing exactly that and totaled my first car. So.

Not sure 80 mph is normal or usual on pothole-riddled roads, though.

Prosecutors lately have heavily implied that Alex Murdaugh's 9 p.m.-hour trip to his mother's house in Almeda served two purposes: Establishing an alibi on the evening of the slayings and temporarily stashing the murder weapons.

Prosecutor John Meadors earlier in this trial asked Murdaugh’s mother’s caregiver, Shelley Smith, about Murdaugh’s comings and goings from Almeda in the days after the slayings.

Implying - without stating - that was when AM got rid of the guns for good.

Harpootlian tells Judge Newman that he will motion today for a directed verdict - asking Newman to acquit Murdaugh on the basis that prosecutors haven’t proven their case.

Waters says Rudofski is his last witness.

Newman: “Assuming the case proceeds beyond a directed verdict.”

Newman: Jury wrote him a note. They thought they could elect their own foreperson. Newman says he doesn’t know who gave them that notion. “I appoint forepersons.” Other judges do it differently. He said he explained that to them.

Rudofski is now presenting a color-coded, heavily labeled timeline pulled from all the data jurors have heard about over the past four weeks.

Or, exactly the same thing I've been staying up at night building after each day of testimony. Brutal.

I would note that our timeline includes entries from witness testimony, but still.

Ah dangit this is EXACTLY what I did.

It is formatted the exact same way, too. Including timestamps in bold and citations in parentheses at the end. I'm dead.

The timeline is moving quickly. I’m taking photos instead of trying to keep up via typing.

Continued

Continued

First photo here is Maggie’s drive to Moselle (the far left dot) that evening

More timeline

A map shown on the timeline puts Murdaugh groundskeeper CB Rowe in the Augusta/North Augusta area around 8:13 p.m. Trying to exclude a possible person of interest.

More timeline

Worth noting. The last data point logged on Alex’s phone is 6:52 pm. Until after 9 pm. His phone did record him taking steps though

Timeline: Evidence puts Paul by the dog kennels around 8:38 p.m. on 6/7/21.

Pivotal moments here

More timeline

Prosecutor Creighton Waters pauses the presentation to remind jurors that AM repeatedly denied going down to the dog kennels and seeing Paul and Maggie there before discovering their bodies there after 10 p.m.

At 9:02 pm, AM’s phone “pretty much wakes up,” Rudofski testifies

Rudofski created a steps/minute pace spreadsheet for Alex and Paul Murdaugh, showing AM’s pace picked up CONSIDERABLY right after the estimated time of the killings. I also did this. Oh well

“He was a busy guy right then, wasn’t he?” Waters asks of Murdaugh right after. 9:02 pm

Waters is also careful to note each of Alex Murdaugh's calls that evening, almost all of which were deleted from his phone before investigators extracted his phone data on 6/10/21.

Waters then asks about the 2-second gap at 9:06 p.m. between when Maggie’s phone was picked up and when Alex calls Maggie’s phone.

Murdaugh making calls on his way to his parents’ house in Almeda

Murdaugh leaving Almeda, heading to Moselle

Timeline: Murdaugh is calling and texting his friends and relatives at the same time he's flying 70+ mph down pothole-riddled country roads at night.

Timeline: Murdaugh on return trip to Moselle

Roughly 20 seconds between AM arriving at kennels and calling 911

Murdaugh heads back to the main house to get a shotgun

Murdaugh returns to kennels with shotgun

Stephen Smith's mother is here, watching in the media center.

Paul to Alex on 5/6/21

Maggie Murdaugh browser searches on 5/26/21.

The state is revealing things we’ve never heard before on its 61st and final witness.

AM texts Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Laffitte needing more money 4 days before the slayings

Waters shows these two photos and then finishes questioning SLED agent Rudofski. We break for lunch until 2:20ish.

Defense will cross-examine Rudofski when we return.

A doctor tells me 30 mg of Oxy (as mentioned in the Maggie Murdaugh search history) is a heavy, heavy dose. Doctor tells me he prefers to prescribe 5 mg in very limited quantities, and for substantial pain.

We just got a copy of the SLED timeline.

I don’t wanna talk about it.

Court is back in session.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Phillip Barber establishes with Rudofski that Murdaugh’s trip to Almeda took 16 minutes and his trip back took 18 minutes. SLED agents did a test drive between Moselle and Almeda, and it took them 17 minutes, 35 seconds.

Barber: Is it unusual for someone on a straightaway to give it a little bit of gas? (Trying to explain the 80mph timestamp on the way back)

Rudofski: “A little bit of gas.” But you’re talking about a 55 mph road at night with deer around.

Barber establishes with Rudoski that Murdaugh didn’t slow down or speed up in any significant way shortly after 9 p.m. as he passed the spot on Moselle Road where agents later found Maggie’s phone. Barber says the car is on a “gentle acceleration.” Rudofski agrees.

Barber is trying to establish that AM’s headlights were illuminating Maggie and/or Paul’s bodies as he drove up to the scene. Trying to explain why Murdaugh called 9-1-1 so quickly, some 20 seconds after getting there.

Rudofski is not cooperating, says he wasn’t there.

Barber: “Presumably he knows something is horribly wrong.”

Barber asks if it is reasonable that a person could see something was wrong, get out of their vehicle, check both bodies and call 911 in 20 seconds.

Rudofski: “I’m here to testify on this data, not a hypothetical. I think you’re asking the wrong person.”

Barber: “Fair enough.”

We move on.

We have posted SLED’s 43-page timeline to our live updates feed postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Barber is asking Rudofski a lot of questions about the significance/relevance of certain types of data that were included in the timeline.

Rudofski is making clear he’s just the guy who assembles the timeline, not the expert who can tell you what every piece of it means.

Rudofski: “It’s just data that I plotted. … You can take that however you want.”

SLED test drove between the Moselle kennels and main house. It took 1 minute, 15 seconds.

Barber is now trying to establish that if AM had killed Maggie and Paul, he would have had to accomplish a lot of cover-up in a very short timeline

tiktok.com/t/ZTRtGjSBj/

Our daily TikTok on this case

Barber establishes that AM’s first call after hanging up with 9-1-1 was his brother Randy. His second was to his brother John Marvin.

Rudofski says he finds it odd, as an investigator, that AM's third call was to Paul's friend Rogan Gibson.

Barber points out that Paul's phone, which AM looked at, had missed calls and messages from Rogan.

R: "I would have been in a state of shock."

Barber says the fact that AM was googling a restaurant in Edisto Beach in the minutes after finding the bodies shows he was in shock, or “fat-fingering” his phone.

Barber is repeating over and over that AM's phone was recording steps during a period shortly after 9 p.m. in which Maggie's phone is not recording steps.

Barber: “Do we have any evidence that her phone and his phone ever moved together?”

Rudofski: Says he would argue that at 9:06 p.m., the same person has both phones. He notes that Maggie’s phone was picked up (changing orientation) 2 seconds before AM called Maggie’s phone.

But if nothing else, Barber is getting Rudofski to reiterate that different people can look at the same data and draw conclusions.

I imagine we will hear from defense witnesses in the coming days who will draw conclusions from this data that contradict the state’s witnesses.

Barber shows Rudofski a text AM sent to Maggie on 5/7/21. “I am very sorry that I do this to all of you. I love you.”

Barber: “So his family was aware of his drug issues, correct, from the texts.”

Rudofski says Maggie didn’t respond to that text.

Waters has established that the backlight on Maggie’s phone turned off at 9:07 p.m. - right around the time Alex Murdaugh’s SUV drove past the spot on Moselle Road where her phone was found the next day.

That seems bad for the defense.

To be crystal clear, very bad.

Waters is doing one last exhibit check before the state rests its case. Prosecutors have admitted more than 550 exhibits and called 61 witnesses.

9:06:20 p.m. on 6/7/21 was the last orientation change on Maggie's phone, indicating that was the last time it was held up. Her screen turned off 40 seconds later and didn't light back up until 9:31 p.m.

AM turned onto Moselle Road for Almeda at 9:07:06 p.m.

AM drove past the location on Moselle Road where Maggie's phone was found the next day around 9:08:36 p.m.

At 9:08:58 p.m., AM texts Maggie: “Going to check on Em be rite back.”

Defense attorney Jim Griffin rises and asks Judge Newman for a directed verdict tossing out the case - arguing the state hasn't proven its case.

This is standard operating procedure in criminal trials. Unlikely to succeed.

Waters is now running through the evidence for Newman.

Judge Newman denies the state's motion for a directed verdict.

The state has rested its case.

Harpootlian says the defense is ready to "rock and roll, your honor."

Jury coming back in.

The state calls its first witness, Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey.

He has been the coroner here for 30 years.

Harvey says he was notified 10:30 p.m. He arrived on scene at 11:04 p.m. He took photographs, including inside the feed room. He did that before SLED’s crime scene unit arrived, he said.

Harvey estimated Paul and Maggie’s time of death as 9 p.m.

Harpootlian: How did you come to that?

Harven: First thing I did, “I simply put my hands in their armpits to determine how warm they are.”

Harvey: “That was all I did initially because I knew SLED was coming.” He figured they had been dead between one to three hours.

Harvey: I normally carry a thermometer to take more exact measurements. But I didn’t do it that night.

Harpootlian establishes that by Harvey’s estimation, the time of death could have been as early as 8 p.m. or as late as 10.

9 p.m. was a rough estimate.

It’s pretty clear why the state didn’t call Harvey as a witness.

Veteran deputy assistant attorney general Don Zelenka is now cross-examining Harvey. Zelenka's first time speaking in this trial.

Harvey says thermometers aren’t necessarily accurate either, giving you different readings at different parts of the body. It had been raining.

Harvey steps down.

The defense calls its 2nd witness, Shalane Tindal, former lead spokeswoman with the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office.

Harpootlian asks about the "no danger to the public" quote.

"This quote was actually coordinated between SLED and us at the time," she says

Harpootlian wants to enter a @postandcourier article into evidence with that quote. This is part of the defense’s effort to show investigators viewed Murdaugh as their one and only suspect on the day after the slayings.

@postandcourier Prosecutors object to the entire 6/8/21 @postandcourier article going into evidence. But they allow two paragraphs.

@postandcourier Both SLED and CCSO witnesses earlier in this trial claimed they had nothing to do with that quote getting released. It's the hot potato no one wants to own.

@postandcourier Tindal is catching the hot potato here, but she’s taking SLED down with her.

Tindal: SLED and I discussed this over the phone and via email. But it did come from my email.

Tindal: SLED signed off on the statement, from what I understood, according to SLED’s spokesman at the time, Tommy Crosby. (He is no longer with SLED).

Tindal: When we put out an updated news release, a draft version of the document had the “no danger to the public” line. But SLED took that line out, though they never corrected the original statement.

Harpootlian: SLED took the line out of the updated release. But “did they say there is a danger to the public? They never said that, did they?”

Tindal: “No, sir.”

On cross-examination from prosecutor John Meadors, Tindal says SLED and the sheriff's office issued a formal, letterhead statement without the "no danger to the public" line a few hours after an emailed statement to @postandcourier with the line included. Both 6/8/21.

@postandcourier Tindal is done.

Harpootlian: The defense’s next witness is “extraordinarily lengthy.” He doesn’t want to start at 4:30 p.m. on a Friday knowing he can’t finish.

The jury is excused.

@postandcourier We're calling it a day. So ends the fourth week of this three-week trial.

We will be back at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday. (Monday is a holiday).

@postandcourier The @postandcourier story that was heavily referenced earlier was broken by @GregoryYYee, a great journalist and wonderful guy who passed away last month.

Story coming in a little while. What a day

Full story as we end week four:

https://twitter.com/AveryGWilks/status/1626741632623165440

So ends the Alex Murdaugh Double Murder Trial Day 20 Megathread.

Thank you for following along this week, and last week, and the week before, and the week before that.

See you on Tuesday.