Thread by @TrialMurdaugh

Day 21 of the #MurdaughTrial. We're back after a long weekend. Judge says we have 2 issues: 1) Juror #441 is sick & will be replaced with Juror #530. This was an alternate Juror who took the place of #220. 2) Jim being on Twitter retweeting the article about the investigation.

Judge Newman said the first tweet he saw this morning was Jim's retweet!! Judge tells him not to post or repost anything. He says his command not to discuss the case doesn't apply to the lawyers, but it doesn't look good. #MurdaughTrial

Defense plans to wrap up their case by Friday. Jurors should expect to receive their Jury Charge sometime next week, depending on how long the State takes to Rebuttal. #MurdaughTrial

First witness today is Buster - another Richard! LOL! Like all other witnesses, he is giving his background. #MurdaughTrial

He was 3 or 4 when they first moved to Hampton. Alex coached every little league team he played on. Paul's interests were mostly outdoors. He also played basketball and baseball. #MurdaughTrial

Maggie and Alex attended almost all of Buster and Paul's sporting events. #MurdaughTrial

They purchased Moselle around 2012. They also had a home in Hampton. One of the hurricanes came through and from that point, they moved out from Hampton out to Moselle while the house in Hampton was getting fixed and they never moved back out to Hampton. #MurdaughTrial

They also had the Edisto home. He went off to college in 2014. It was after that when the family transitioned to Moselle. #MurdaughTrial

The Moselle property is about 1700 acres. A lot of that is really not even accessible, no road systems or anything like that. It's broken up into several parcels that border each other. A lot of hunting stands, etc. They hunted all sorts of things. #MurdaughTrial

Friends would come out and use the property for hunting. The house right on Moselle road is the cabin. Buster would stay there in the Summer with Nolan Tutan and Rogan Gibson. #MurdaughTrial

There were a lot of hogs. Hogs are very destructive to property. So they would frequently go out and hunt them and try to cut the numbers down a little bit. #MurdaughTrial

They had A LOT of guns!! #MurdaughTrial

The had A LOT of ammo!!

They had a gun ROOM. #MurdaughTrial

Buster admits to leaving guns around everywhere. Guns would not always find their way back to the gun room. Paul left guns out on the property more than anyone else. #MurdaughTrial

Paul would use Buster's gun and leave it somewhere and Buster would have to track it down. #MurdaughTrial

Paul left guns in his truck. #MurdaughTrial

Buster & Paul got 300 Blackouts Christmas of 2016. The one that has been shown in Court is his. Paul's gun was stolen, lost or taken. Buster's gun became the one that they would both use. #MurdaughTrial

He repeats Paul was not good about putting the gun back and that would cause tension between them. #MurdaughTrial

Buster has never seen a replacement for Paul's gun. #MurdaughTrial

Mojo is a brand of decoy. It's to replicate a duck. Buster put the sticker of the Mojo on his gun to know its his. #MurdaughTrial

Buster did typically put his gun away loaded. #MurdaughTrial

He has never loaded his gun with a buck shot followed by a bird shot. #MurdaughTrial

He doesn't know anybody who does that and doesn't know any reason to do that. #MurdaughTrial

There were 2 entrances at Moselle. Maggie normally used the main entrance. Amazon deliveries would be dropped off at the shed. #MurdaughTrial

Leaving Moselle, they would typically exit out of the main gate. You would turn right out of the main gate to head to Almeda. #MurdaughTrial

During the Summer months, Maggie preferred to stay in Edisto. In Spring of 2021, Buster was staying in between Columbia & Moselle. In the Summer, he was between Columbia & Rockhill. In Spring of 2021, Paul was staying in Columbia. He had an apartment. #MurdaughTrial

When school got out, Paul was staying with John Marvin. Paul worked for John Marvin at his equipment rental business in Okatee (may be misspelled). #MurdaughTrial

They all spent time together during the holidays. They took family trips together. Jim shows a photo of Maggie, Alex, Paul & Buster. They were at a baby shower. #MurdaughTrial

Family get togethers were common for them. Alex was close to Papa T. They would do a lot together. They camped, golfed, attended sporting events, etc. Buster also spent time with them doing these activities. #MurdaughTrial

Alex's side of the family was a close knit family. The grandchildren called Alex's dad "Handsome". Randolph & Libby lived 10 minutes from PMPED. They were also about 10 minutes from Hampton. They were about 20 minutes away from Moselle. #MurdaughTrial

There was a lot of family activities on Alex's side of the family as well. #MurdaughTrial

John Marvin, Randy & Lynn are Alex's siblings. So Buster & Paul had a lot of cousins. #MurdaughTrial

"Handsome" was sick in the Summer of 2021. He had cancer and was battling with it. Libby has Alzheimer's. Alex frequently went to check on them. Buster went with Alex occasionally to check on the grandparents. #MurdaughTrial

They had no real set schedule and would visit all times of the day. #MurdaughTrial

When they visited Almeda in the evenings, they would pull around to the backside of the house, so they could enter through the backdoor. #MurdaughTrial

We are viewing an exhibit showing Almeda. The dots that are connected show the back corner of the house where they would normally park when arriving at Almeda. #MurdaughTrial

Buster is shown a series of photos and asked to identify them without showing them to the Jury. They are photos of the back corner of the house at Almeda. #MurdaughTrial

Now we are viewing them. The first one we see is the back door of the house. #MurdaughTrial

The next one is the same thing, back side of the Almeda property, just a little bit of a different angle. #MurdaughTrial

The grandparents' bedroom was closest to that back door. #MurdaughTrial

If you enter the front of the house, you typically have to call for someone to let you in because they were commonly in the back of the house. #MurdaughTrial

Now we are seeing the yard. Buster steps off the stand and shows where he would normally park. It's in the grass near the satellite dish. #MurdaughTrial

He also points out the cook shed. That's mostly where Handsome would have his cookout on the third Saturday or Thursday of the month. (I forgot which one he said) #MurdaughTrial

Buster spoke to his mom and dad almost everyday. #MurdaughTrial

They engaged as a family frequently via phone. He spoke to Maggie multiple times per day. They were also all talking to each other. There was a lot of conversation with the family via phone everyday. #MurdaughTrial

State's #520, page 14 is brought up. This shows Maggie calling Paul and he doesn't answer. She then calls Buster 1 minute after. Paul calls her back about 8 minutes later. Maggie reached out to Paul & Buster frequently throughout the day. #MurdaughTrial

These frequent calls between them was normal. #MurdaughTrial

Buster takes Dupixent. We see a call where Maggie is trying to get that medication redirected to the pharmacy close to him. #MurdaughTrial

We're going through more calls. (I assume to establish how close they were and how much they were frequently in contact with each other) #MurdaughTrial

Alex also called Papa T frequently. Nothing was going on that sparked all of these calls. This is just their normal way of communicating. #MurdaughTrial

Objection to the question by Jim asking Buster what his conversation with Alex was about. Objection overruled. #MurdaughTrial

Alex was letting Buster know that he was going to check on "M". This was common for Alex to do. #MurdaughTrial

Cell phone coverage at Moselle is spotty around the whole property. You couldn't get service under the metal roofs. It would not be unusual for Alex to leave his phone when he went down to the shed. #MurdaughTrial

Alex did not always have his phone on him when he was at the property at Moselle. Paul did not always have his phone on him when he was at the property at Moselle. Alex frequently missplaced his phone, and so did Paul. #MurdaughTrial

Aww Bubba!! Bubba could be difficult to control, but he listened to Alex more than anyone else. They put a shock collar on him sometimes to get him to be on his P's and Q's. #MurdaughTrial

Alex showered a lot. He would sweat a lot outside so he would shower. He was bigger back then, 6'4", 250-260 lbs so he would sweat a lot out in the Summer heat. #MurdaughTrial

Buster new a little bit about Alex's opioid addiction. Alex went to rehab sometime after Christmas 2018. He did some at-home self-detox's a few times. Buster thought Alex had beat his addiction. #MurdaughTrial

Buster wasn't around when Alex was confronted about his drug use. But he knows he was apologetic. #MurdaughTrial

When the family had disputes and disagreements, they handled them civilly and by talking about the issue(s). #MurdaughTrial

Alex as patient with Buster and Paul. There was no violence in the family. #MurdaughTrial

Buster was living in Columbia at the time of the boat crash. There was a negative reaction in the media and from the community in Hampton. #MurdaughTrial

Paul was bullied and threatened on social media after the boat crash. #MurdaughTrial

Paul was confronted on the street and in bars about the boat crash.#MurdaughTrial

The boat crash consumed Maggie. She was obsessed with reading about it. It ultimately caused her to distance herself from Hampton. #MurdaughTrial

She started doing things over in Walterboro. #MurdaughTrial

Objection for relevance overruled when Jim asks about Buster being sued in relation to the boat crash. #MurdaughTrial

Maggie was anxious about the civil lawsuit. Her biggest concern was about how much Tinsley was coming after them for. He believes that amount was about $40 million. #MurdaughTrial

Alex did not appear to be overly anxious about the civil case. He was more concerned about the criminal case against Paul in relation to the boat crash. #MurdaughTrial

None of the family thought that Paul was driving the boat at the time of the accident. #MurdaughTrial

Jim says he will now discuss the weekends leading up to 6/7/21. #MurdaughTrial

We see a photo of Buster, Maggie and Paul Memorial Day weekend on the boat. There was also a birthday party this weekend. The video of them singing Happy Birthday to Alex is played. #MurdaughTrial

Maggie made that cake for Alex. Buster does not know Alex's birthday, but he knows it's around Memorial Day. #MurdaughTrial

Buster recalls when he heard the news about his mother and brother being murdered. He discusses who was all present when he arrived at Moselle. When they left Moselle, they went to Almeda. #MurdaughTrial

Buster helped Alex pack because he was so upset and they were trying to expedite the process to get to Almeda. #MurdaughTrial

Missed the last couple of questions. Had to respond to an email. #MurdaughTrial

Buster packed mostly athletic shorts and t-shirts. #MurdaughTrial

Buster was with Alex everyday for a good while after the murders. #MurdaughTrial

They stayed at Almeda and transitioned over to John Marvin's hunting lodge. #MurdaughTrial

On Thursday, June 10, 2021, Mr. Randolph passed. Buster was physically close to Alex during this time. #MurdaughTrial

Jim offers #129 for ID only, to refresh Buster's memory. #MurdaughTrial

Buster stayed with his grandparents in Summerville, along with his dad. #MurdaughTrial

He had discussions with Alex about his personal safety. Jim asks what Alex offered to him. Hearsay objection sustained. #MurdaughTrial

Buster did not want security protection after the murders. He didn't want to carry a gun and he didn't want security following him. #MurdaughTrial

Him and Alex announced a $100.000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who brutally murdered Paul & Maggie. #MurdaughTrial

They had a deadline of 9/21/21 for that reward. #MurdaughTrial

CORRECTION: They had a deadline of 9/31/21 for that reward. #MurdaughTrial

Alex spent 0 nights at Moselle after 6/7/21. Buster spent 0 nights at Moselle after 6/7/21. #MurdaughTrial

Jim brings up the snapchat video of the tree. Jim asks about a green shirt. Buster confirms that is NOT the green shirt, that one in the video is blue. #MurdaughTrial

Alex may have ordered clothes after the murders. Buster says Alex does not have order or wear a lot of Vinny Vines. #MurdaughTrial

There was a house between Mr. Johnny's house & his uncle's house where Alex sometimes stayed. Alex had a number of places where he left clothes. #MurdaughTrial

Buster was not present for Alex's conversation with Blanca. #MurdaughTrial

Buster states that in the interview video, Alex says, "THEY did him so bad." He has heard Alex say that more than one time the night of the murders. #MurdaughTrial

Buster says it would take about 10 minutes to clean a dog run. #MurdaughTrial

We're taking a 15 minute break before Cross by the State. #MurdaughTrial

XE: Meadors begins his cross by offering Buster his condolences. #MurdaughTrial

Buster says you can see the kennels if the lights were fully on. #MurdaughTrial

Almeda is a 10 minute drive to the law firm. #MurdaughTrial

Meadors brings up the photo of the yard where they would typically park at Almeda again. Meadors says the grass looks good here. Buster contends he doesn't know when that photo was taken. #MurdaughTrial

Buster said most times they would call to let them know they were pulling up at Almeda. #MurdaughTrial

Buster says that he has been at Almeda at 6:30 AM. #MurdaughTrial

Meadors says he's not trying to be difficult and he keeps forgetting he's on cross. #MurdaughTrial

Buster does not know what Maggie's plan was in regarding to staying at Edisto or Moselle. #MurdaughTrial

Buster had no knowledge of Alex's financial difficulties. As far as he knew, the family was financially sound. #MurdaughTrial

He learned about the financial issues until September. #MurdaughTrial

Buster wouldn't use the word "pressure" for what the family felt after the boat crash. Maggie felt ostracized. #MurdaughTrial

Paul used his ID and sometimes that frustrated Buster. #MurdaughTrial

Alex was wearing shorts and a t-shirt when Buster arrived at Moselle. On a day-to-day, Blanca was responsible for the laundry. #MurdaughTrial

He's been back to Moselle, but he's never slept another night at Moselle after the murders. #MurdaughTrial

Alex told Buster that he could hunt at Moselle if he wanted to. Buster did not want to. Meadors ends his cross. Jim comes back for the re-direct. #MurdaughTrial

When Maggie went to Edisto, she would take a dog or two with her. Both dogs were at Moselle the night of the murders. #MurdaughTrial

Next witness is Mike Sutton, forensic engineer. He goes through his background. #MurdaughTrial

He's worked alongside LE, as well as against LE. He is not the same as a crime scene reconstructionist. He physically reconstructs a site. He has the ability to capture data and collect facts from the site & interpret the findings. #MurdaughTrial

He has testified in other criminal trials. Acoustics engineering is the study of how sound moves. It is a subset of mechanical engineering. #MurdaughTrial

He often tests acoustics, as they are readily accessible. #MurdaughTrial

He is designated and admitted without objection as an expert. #MurdaughTrial

He was hired by Dick & Jim to do some reconstruction regarding what happened the night that Paul & Maggie were murdered. #MurdaughTrial

Facts were collected, photos were taken, the scene was processed, etc. Sutton went to Moselle about 18 months after the murders. He used his observations and the evidence collected by SLED. #MurdaughTrial

We are walking through a powerpoint. Looking at bullet holes now. #MurdaughTrial

Sutton is explaining the path of the bullet. #MurdaughTrial

We're going through photos of a reconstruction of the crime scene. #MurdaughTrial

"It's just trigonometry." #MurdaughTrial

Sounds like Sutton is suggesting the shooter was about 5'2".

They measured Alex. The bottom of his foot to his knee cap is about 25 inches. #MurdaughTrial

His shooting hand would be below his knee cap, which is an unrealistic shooting position. #MurdaughTrial

"It makes it very unlikely that a tall person made that shot." #MurdaughTrial

We're breaking for lunch because it's 1:00 & Dick says the testimony of Sutton is going to take another hour. #MurdaughTrial

We're back from lunch. We're almost done with the quail pan and the dog house, Dick says. We're bringing out guns again! Sutton recognizes it as a .300 Blackout. #MurdaughTrial

Sutton positions Dick as the shooter could possibly be holding the gun. He reminds the gallery that he is not 5'2". As he approaches the quail pen, he's gotta change the angle of the gun. #MurdaughTrial

CORRECTION: The person has to change position, not the angle of the gun. #MurdaughTrial

We're viewing the photos of the window from the feed room with the bullet hole caused by the pellets. Sutton even found one pellet that had been wedged. #MurdaughTrial

He stretched a string from the damage in the tree through the hole in the window to show the trajectory. #MurdaughTrial

Dick is now discussing the 2nd shot that hit Paul and where the gun had to be in order to get stippling. #MurdaughTrial

Sutton is discussing the sound testing he performed. #MurdaughTrial

He's doing some math here & talking about a military standard. #MurdaughTrial

We see photos of the ammo and guns he used for the testing. #MurdaughTrial

The Blackout was louder than the shotgun. #MurdaughTrial

Exhibit 25 shows us the Noise Level Chart. Kind of a reference chart for how loud different things are. #MurdaughTrial

His testing was in line with others' testing regarding how loud the guns were. #MurdaughTrial

They play an audio and we don't hear anything when the gun was shot. He said he could barely hear it and he was listening for it. #MurdaughTrial

If you were doing any activities inside of the house, you wouldn't hear the shots. #MurdaughTrial

SIDE NOTE FROM ME: I'm sure the State is going to say, "But he wasn't in the house... he was at the kennels!" #MurdaughTrial

Dick admits Exhibit 140. Gotta go get my kid. BRB. #MurdaughTrial

The State is working to discredit Sutton. #MurdaughTrial

State shows Exhibit 230 & 231, a photo showing the side of the road with an orange marker. State points out that there is a field across the way, the road, grass shoulder and brush & leaves that are fairly soft. #MurdaughTrial

Sutton's sound studies have primarily been for trains, ER whistles, back up alarms, warning alarms inside of a factory, etc. #MurdaughTrial

Creighton is super bored, with his head placed in his hand. #MurdaughTrial

State is bringing up the sound acoustics powerpoint again. It's almost 1150 feet between the house and the kennels. #MurdaughTrial

Going over the ammo and guns used for the testing. Jim provided the guns. Michael Whitley, from Sutton's office, was the one who actually pulled the trigger. Sutton was running the acoustics. #MurdaughTrial

They are talking about some gun stuff that I know nothing about ... cutting the barrel and classifying it as a pistol and such... #MurdaughTrial

This isn't going well.... #MurdaughTrial