Thread by @AveryGWilks

🚨🚨🚨Alex Murdaugh Double Murder Trial Day 27 (March 1) Megathread begins now 🚨🚨🚨

Witness testimony is over after 76 people came to the stand, several of them more than once. Closing arguments and Moselle trip today.

#AlexMurdaugh #AlexMurdaughTrial #MurdaughTrial #Murdaugh

Yesterday’s Megathread, for those catching up

https://twitter.com/AveryGWilks/status/1630534529332002817

First thing up this morning is the jury trip to Moselle. We won’t be able to cover that due to the court’s restriction on media access.

Court will resume around 11. We’ll have jury charges and closing arguments.

Deliberations could begin as early as this afternoon.

Our full story from yesterday

https://twitter.com/averygwilks/status/1630729196145188866

Our daily Understand Murdaugh podcast episode open.spotify.com/episode/1SjBho…

I hopped on @livenowfox last night to discuss the case and our coverage of it

Scoop

TikTok recorded. Will post that later. There won’t be a heck of a lot for us to do until the jury returns from the Moselle field trip, likely around 11 am

I just recorded an interview with @ABC's @Nightline outside the courthouse. I'm told it will air tonight during their 8:30 p.m. show.

Our daily TikTok previewing what will happen today and the challenge ahead of both prosecutors and Murdaugh's defense team in closing arguments tiktok.com/@postandcourie…

The great @vbauerlein is already filing pool reports from the jury's visit to Moselle.

VB: The 12 jurors and 2 alternates loaded into three vans and left the courthouse at 9:10 a.m. (Meaning they should be there by now).

VB: Judge Newman rode behind them in a pickup driven by CCSO Capt. Jason Chapman, who testified earlier in this case and responded to the Moselle scene at the night of 6/7/21.

Clerk of Court Becky Hill, a court reporter and the courthouse security chief are also on the trip.

VB: "It is a beautiful morning, sunny and warm. We are told the ground will be wet when we arrive and the warm weather is prone to bringing out snakes."

VB says she is pretty sure snakes come out in the evening.

VB: "Unlike Tuesday's witness Ronnie Crosby, who testified that he is an expert on wild hogs, your pool is a city mouse and not overly familiar with local wildlife habits."

I love Valerie.

VB: Jury will be taken through the kennel entrance and will have 30 minutes to view the Moselle property.

They'll spend most of the time at the kennels and shed where Maggie/Paul were killed.

But they will also see the exterior of the main house, though they won't go inside.

VB writes it is unclear how much the pool will see of the jury on this trip. The media will be escorted onto the property after the jury has left. That's all for this update.

By the way, I continue to not know anything about the mysterious email the judge mentioned before lunch yesterday.

Second pool report from @vbauerlein: "The vastness of the place and the remoteness of Moselle really hits home on the drive. Your pool can go a mile or more without seeing a home."

@vbauerlein VB: The pool turned into the kennel entrance at Moselle at 9:41 a.m.

Reporters got a few seconds to view the jury as they walked the narrow path between the kennels and the shed.

@vbauerlein VB: "One juror was standing in the feed room door, glancing up at the doorway that has been the subject of so much wrenching testimony."

Judge Newman was there, wearing street clothes.

Some of the deputies on watch were witnesses in the case, incl. CCSO detective Laura Rutland.

@vbauerlein VB: It is overcast now and the air feels heavy. Your pool can hear birds singing and is writing this dispatch from the tailgate of a sheriff’s office pickup truck parked at the foot of the kennel driveway. Your pool is about 100 yards from the green caretaker’s cottage ..."

@vbauerlein VB: "...where Buster testified he had lived with friends over the years. There is a light breeze. Reporter Arthur Cerf of Paris just drove by slowly. He has been a fixture in the courtroom."

@vbauerlein VB: "Reporter Thad Moore of The Post and Courier is among the journalists on the far side of Moselle Road. "

That's all for pool report 2.

@vbauerlein The third pool report from the jury's Moselle trip has arrived from @vbauerlein: "Your pooler would like to let you know that the Court TV photojournalist is Steven Gresham. Pool report #1 misstated his last name as Whitaker. Your pooler blames no one but herself and her nerves."

@vbauerlein VB: At 10:07 a.m., defense lawyers Dick Harpootlian and Maggie Fox came down the short driveway in Harpootlian's black Mercedes. Harpootlian said the jury is now at the house, wrapping up their tour.

@vbauerlein VB: Murdaugh defense attorney Jim Griffin was not present for the Moselle trip. He is preparing to deliver closing arguments this afternoon.

@vbauerlein VB: Attorney General Alan Wilson is here, too, escorted by Sgt. Daniel Greene.

Greene was the first CCSO deputy on the scene at Moselle on 6/7/21. The jury has seen his body cam footage several times

@vbauerlein VB: "Your pool is still staged at the foot of the driveway. The birdsong is constant and beautiful; the sky is still overcast.

The grass on the property is tall and the shrubs outside the caretaker’s cabin are bushy and overgrown."

@vbauerlein VB: "The black mailbox at the entrance to the kennels is covered in pollen and spiderwebs. There is a 'no trespassing' sign tied to a post at the top of the mailbox."

Not a pool report, but our @thadmoore says the jury just pulled out of the kennels and stopped in the middle of the road. They’re getting out to look at something.

@thadmoore Per @thadmoore, the jurors have left Moselle after a tour of the grounds that lasted an hour and 15 minutes.

A note from @CourtTV on questions they have received about jury deliberations, and answers:

Q: How long will the jury deliberate?
A: It’s up to the jury.
Q: Will the jury be sequestered.
A: There is no decision at this time.

More from @CourtTV

Q: Will we hear the jury's questions and requests during deliberations?
A: Yes, on the record.
Q: Will the jury have technology to view exhibits?
A: Yes.
Q: Will the attorneys be present?
A: They will be somewhere close, but not required to be in court.

@CourtTV More from @CourtTV:

Q: How much notice will we get that a verdict has been reached?
A: The longer the deliberations, the more notice will probably be given because the attorneys and staff will be dispersed.

@CourtTV Last note from @CourtTV, and this is the big one.

Q: Will the jury deliberate on weekends.
A: Yes, they will deliberate through the weekend if necessary.

I should note I've been told that Judge Newman is known for holding juries. He's not going to let them off the hook too early if they struggle to reach a verdict. It will get very uncomfortable for everyone before the jury is declared to be hung.

Pool report 4 has just arrived from @vbauerlein:

At 10:31 am, Attorney General Alan Wilson left the property in an SUV driven by CCSO Sgt. Daniel Greene.

At 10:32 am, a convoy of a dozen vehicles processed out of the driveway. The vans carrying the jury were in the middle...

@vbauerlein VB: of the group of vans and SUVs. The vehicles turned left out of the driveway, instead of turning right the way we came. It is not clear whether they were headed to a second location or back to the courthouse by a different route.

@vbauerlein VB: Pool was taken to the kennel at 10:34 a.m.

John Marvin Murdaugh, personal representative of Maggie's estate, had requested that the media not be granted access to the scene, or only abbreviated access, so the visit was fairly truncated.

@vbauerlein VB: "We had roughly 14 minutes to view the kennels and shed.

"It is a heavy place to visit. The property has stood vacant for 20 months and the grass is high. Some items seem to be left where they fell, including a deflated football behind the kennels and a tube of..."

@vbauerlein VB: "... sanitizing wipes in the shed. There is a yellow hose wrapped haphazardly in the spot described by Roger Dale Davis, the caretaker for the dogs. There are no animals in the kennels. There was no ATV visible and no significant remaining farming equipment."

@vbauerlein VB is very good at this: "The feed room feels like a haunted place. It is roughly 10’ deep and 6’ wide, according to measurements taken by Special Agent Melinda Worley. Crime scene expert Kenneth Kinsey described Paul as standing about 5’ into the feed room when he was hit by..."

@vbauerlein VB: "... the first shotgun blast to the chest. The doorway is off center and on the right; there is a shelf on the left at waist high. Standing in the center of the small room, which is roughly 6’ wide, your pooler could not see to the left outside of the doorway ..."

@vbauerlein VB: "... where Mr. Kinsey said the shooter would have been."

"The concrete pad where Paul fell is within sight of the corner of the shed, where Maggie’s body was found. Maggie fell roughly 12 steps from where Paul would have fallen (12 steps for me at 5’7” and also 12..."

@vbauerlein VB: "... steps for Steven Gresham at 6’1”). There was no visible sign that two people had died in a violent manner in such close proximity, no blood stain or anything similar to it, either in the feed room, on the concrete pad or at the corner of the shed."

@vbauerlein VB: "The interior of the feed room appeared to be redone with newer plywood and parts had been painted. The back window remains and the bullet holes are large and cracked around the edges."

@vbauerlein VB: "There was significant testimony about the bullet hole in the quail house. The hole is still visible and is in cardboard that appeared to be stapled to the side of the structure."

VB says she is heading back. More to come.

Court is back in session. Lawyers have approached the bench.

Via pool photogs @WhitakerPhotos and @JAABPhoto, here's the state's crime scene expert, Kenneth Kinsey, going through shooting scenarios with Attorney General Alan Wilson (photos 1-2) and Murdaugh's defense attorneys (3-4) yesterday.

Our live feed of today's proceedings. We're about to get going. postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Judge Newman to the jury: “You have heard all of the testimony, received all of the evidence. You’ve visited the scene of the alleged crimes, and now it is time for closing arguments.”

Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters is up first.

Waters: Maggie and Paul were “brutally and maliciously murdered at the kennels by the defendant, Alex Murdaugh.”

Waters: “After an exhaustive investigation, there is only one person who had the motive, who had the means, who had the opportunity to commit these crimes, and also whose guilty conduct after these crimes betrays him.”

Waters: AM was a person of prominence in his community. But he was also living a lie. He gave off an image of wealth. Even his law partners didn’t know how bad his money problems were.

AM became addicted to money. Even his significant legitimate pay “was not enough.”

Waters: AM fast-talked his staff and his clients and stole their money through Palmetto State Bank. “The client was also getting a big check, and they were walking out of there thinking everything had been fine. It was not fine.”

Waters: Then the boat crash happened. That set everything in motion because of the criminal and civil cases. “The pace of his stealing increased. In fact, that’s when he stole the money from Tony Satterfield.” Instead of taking some of the money, he took all of it.

Waters is walking the jury through AM’s thefts and borrowing and the risks that they could be exposed.

“On June 7, when all those pressures were mounting, the defendant killed Maggie and Paul.”

“The timeline puts him there. The forensic timeline puts him there.”

Waters: In the wake of the slayings, everything changes for AM. “It’s a different world.” Nobody is asking about missing fees anymore. The 6/10/21 boat crash hearing is canceled. “And everyone immediately rallies around Alex Murdaugh.”

Waters: AM then borrowed $250K from John E. Parker. He went to Palmetto State Bank and got $350,000 from an off-the-books loan and sent that money to Chris Wilson. And he got Wilson to cover $192,000 of the missing fees so it seemed AM hadn’t stolen the money from PMPED.

Waters: “It seems like a story that is far removed from most people’s experience because it is. It is a different story. … He is a different man than the kind of stories you’ve seen before. This is a different set of circumstances than you’ve seen before.”

Waters: This is a story about a middle-aged man from a prominent family, carrying a massive reputation. “But he was living a lie.”

That last bit was seemingly meant to counter the defense’s argument that the state’s theory of this case is unbelievable and implausible. Waters is saying this whole story is unbelievable and different.

Waters again calls AM a “family annihilator.”

Waters giving a presentation now to the jury.

“Y’all are the judge of the facts.” It’s your job to determine each witness’ credibility.

“Is what somebody is telling you believable?” Does the witness have a reason to be biased?

Waters is now defining reasonable doubt and the difference between direct and circumstantial evidence.

Waters is now walking the jury through the elements of murder.

Waters walks the jury through everything AM stood to lose if his thefts and lies were exposed.

His family legacy, prominence in the community, reputation as a wealthy and successful lawyer and his role as a part-time prosecutor.

Waters: Murdaugh was about to “face consequences like he’s never seen.”

Waters describes Murdaugh’s “constant hamster wheel” of debts and thefts. “The stress and the pressure of that would have been extreme because it has been going on so long, always staying one step ahead.”

Waters accuses Murdaugh of rehearsing his answer on the witness stand that he lied, misled, and stole from people. He notes AM didn’t want to talk about any one victim in particularly.

Waters: “Alex’s situation, I think, is akin to a Ponzi. A Ponzi is like a pyramid scheme. It relies on new money coming in from investors.” You can keep it going as long as there are new investors, new money coming in. When that stops, it “crashes and burns.”

Waters on the pressure of the 6/10/21 hearing in which AM’s finances might have been exposed. “He would lose his career, he would lose his livelihood, he would face investigations and consequences like he’s been able to avoid his entire life.”

Waters: “The pressures on this man were unbearable, and they were all reaching a crescendo on the day his wife and son were murdered by him.”

Waters again repeats that AM's alleged scheme worked. He bought himself time to try to cover up the theft of $792,000 from PMPED. “He had time he didn’t have on June 7. … And that’s the first thing he did. That’s the main thing he did.”

Waters: “He has proven over and over again that he will do anything to keep that hamster wheel going and avoid accountability. He has been doing it for 10 years.”

Waters on Murdaugh’s dealings with Palmetto State Bank: “I think it was called the most generous overdraft policy ever conceived.”

Buddy, you’re the one who said that.

Waters makes clear he doesn’t believe AM’s claims that he was taking dozens of 30mg Oxy pills a day.

“Does that sound survivable?”

Waters says AM’s record of thefts and debts “reflect an insatiable desire for money.”

His thefts escalated over the years, but his payments to a drug dealer only escalated in 2021, he says.

Waters says common sense tells you AM couldn't have taken 2 grams of Oxy a day and survived, much less been a functioning lawyer.

Medical professionals I've heard from agree with the prosecutor here.

Waters makes clear he thinks AM was addicted to money, his reputation, his lifestyle.

Waters brings up the May 2021 confrontation about AM’s drug use. “They were watching him like a hawk.” Opiates have powerful withdrawals.

AM previously testified he would do “almost anything” to stop the withdrawals.

We are taking a one hour, 15 minute break for lunch. Should be back at 2:20 p.m.

I noticed @jmonkatthestate was wearing a similar tie to mine and complimented his.

Monk: "Where'd you get it?"
Me: "My wife bought it for me at Target."
Monk: "She has great taste. Except in men."

Bodybag.

Court is back in session. Creighton Waters will resume his closing argument.

Maggie was killed with a family weapon, a .300 Blackout. Waters says it was Paul’s replacement .300 Blackout, which didn’t have a thermal scope, that was used to kill Maggie.

Waters notes Paul’s friend, Will Loving, had shot the replacement Blackout on the stoop of the Moselle house’s gun room that spring. SLED found Blackout casings by the stoop that matched the casings by Maggie’s body on 6/7/21.

Waters: “A family Blackout killed Maggie. It was present just a couple months prior to the murders, and it’s gone now. A family weapon the defendant cannot account for killed Maggie."

Waters tells the jury they have heard testimony that AM’s favorite shotgun was a Benelli Super Black Eagle 1 12-gauge shotgun. SLED searched Moselle and never found it.

“The defendant had the means to commit these crimes,” he says.

Waters moves on to the forensic timeline SLED created of 6/7/21. He says it’s normal for people to misremember times. But Alex’s inconsistencies were beyond that, Waters said. “He almost never was right,” Waters said.

Waters has walked the jury through AM’s alleged motive (financial crimes) and means (missing family guns). Now he is walking them through the opportunity (kennel video placing AM at the scene of the crime shortly before the shootings).

Waters: “We know that the defendant was there just minutes earlier at the scene of the crime with the victims.”

8:49:01 p.m.: Paul’s phone locks. He never sends the kennel video to Rogan.

Waters is focusing hard on 8:49 p.m., just two minutes after AM supposes he left the dog kennels and made the two-minute golf cart drive back to the Moselle residence.

Paul’s phone locked forever at 8:49:01 p.m. Maggie’s phone locked forever 30 seconds later.

Waters again notes the lie AM told for the months after the slayings - that he was never at the kennels with Maggie and Paul that evening.

Waters: “Why would he lie about that, ladies and gentlemen? Why would he even think to lie about that if he was an innocent man?”

Waters on AM’s new version of the events of that night:

“It doesn’t make sense, ladies and gentlemen,” Waters said. “It’s a new story to fit facts he can no longer deny.”

Waters, getting loud now: You heard Maggie and Paul had no defensive wounds.

There was no indication Paul perceived a threat. “Why? Because it’s him,” he says, referring to AM.

Waters: The crime occurred 8:49 p.m. to 8:53 p.m.

“It wouldn’t take long to strip down, wash yourself off, get in that cart and head back to the house.”

Waters: And then at 9:02 p.m., AM’s phone is picked up for the first time in nearly an hour.

Step count from 9:02-9:06 p.m. shows “he is as busy as he has ever been,” Waters says.

Waters: At 9:06 p.m., “Maggie’s phone has that orientation change" 2 seconds before AM calls her.

Is that some random vigilante who somehow knew the call was about to come in and picked up the phone?

Waters: “Or was that Alex turning the phone … checking it as he manufactured his alibi that it was coming through?”

Waters: Why didn’t AM go by the dog kennels on the way out and check on Maggie? Why call her, text her, but not take that driveway to see her?

AM wanted Maggie to come home that night, “made sure of it.”

“With all of that … why would he not drive down there?’

This quote Waters just offered pretty well summarises his closing statement and his approach to this trial: “All the pieces fit together."

Waters notes AM drove by the side-of-Moselle-Road location at which Maggie’s phone was later found around the time Maggie’s phone stops recording activity.

Waters on Murdaugh’s speed on the way to/from his mother’s house:

“What’s he in a hurry about?” Waters asked. “Why’s he in a hurry? Because he knows he has to compress that timeline.”

postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Waters reminds the jury about how AM couldn’t remember what he did from 9:02-9:06 p.m., as he prepared to leave Moselle to visit his mother. AM also couldn’t remember his last conversation with Maggie.

Waters: “Those are questions he doesn’t want to answer. But would a reasonable person remember those things?”

Waters: “He’s manufacturing an alibi. He’s smart. He’s a good lawyer. His family has a history of prosecution. He understands these issues.” That’s why this case played out this way. “He knows what to do to try to prevent evidence from being gathered.”

Waters on the questions AM asks during his interviews with investigators.

“He’s trying to figure out, what do the police have? What do they know?”

Waters on the 19-second gap between AM parking his Suburban at the dog kennels and calling 9-1-1:

Waters: “19 seconds. Is that enough time for a surprised human being to come across that scene, process what they were seeing, get out of the car ...

"... get over there, check both those bodies and call 9-1-1?”

“The reason why it was so quick is because he knew exactly what scene he was going to find.”

Waters questions why AM repeatedly called Paul’s friend Rogan, who had been texting and calling Paul that night, even before calling his other son Buster. Waters says AM was “worried about what Rogan may have known, may have heard.”

Waters: AM told his sister-in-law Marian Procter “whoever did this thought about it for a very long time. Why would he say that?”

This is a strong closing argument from lead prosecutor Creighton Waters tying together the most important evidence jurors have heard from the state's witnesses over the past 6 weeks.

My pre-trial profile of Waters: postandcourier.com/murdaugh-updat…

Waters is playing a video of Murdaugh’s lies to investigators under a slide labeled “CONSCIOUSNESS OF GUILT.”

Waters: This was June 8, 2021, hours after the slayings, and AM is lying to investigators. “Look how easily he did it.”

Waters asks rhetorically about AM’s 6/10/21 interview with investigators: “Is that an aggressive interview? Is that something that would make somebody paranoid?”

Waters on the disagreements between the state’s forensic experts and the defense’s: The defense is trying to make claims that it definitely was a short shooter or it most likely was two shooters, and that is just not how it works.

Waters says the difference between Kenneth Kinsey, the state’s expert, and the defense’s experts is that “Dr. Kinsey isn’t going to get out over his skis and try to make assertions to you … that simply cannot be supported by the evidence.”

The jury has been excused for a 15-minute break.

There was a chicken dog toy in what I can only assume was Bubba's pen. That dog loved to have a chicken in his mouth. Via @WhitakerPhotos

Waters says he has 30 minutes to go on his closing.

Defense attorney Jim Griffin says his closing argument will last about 2 hours.

Judge Newman said he will let the defense close at a time when the jury is fully attentive.

So, like everything else in this case, this is taking longer than expected. Can't imagine the defense will begin its closing today.

Waters on AM’s new story about leaving the dog kennels on 6/7/21: “He didn’t say, ‘if only I had been there. If only I had gone to the kennels. If only I could have stopped it. If only I could have been there a little longer.’ He says, ‘I got out of there.’”

Waters: “Why would he lie about that time unless he is manufacturing an alibi?”

Waters continues to bonk AM over the head with his own lies.

Waters notes AM took the stand and disputed previous witness testimony by Mark Tinsley, Blanca Simpson, Shelley Smith and others. He reminds the jury AM is a liar. Bonk.

Waters on AM’s story that he took a short nap before leaving for Moselle shortly after 9 p.m. “He dozed off in the shortest nap in the history of the South.” Bonk.

Waters says the murderers must have been 5-foot-2 vigilantes who arrived somehow in that tiny time period between 8:49 and 9:02. Waters: That’s if you believe every bit of AM’s new story, which was sprinkled in with lies as well.

Bonk.

Waters: “No one knew who he was. No one knew who this man was. He avoided accountability his whole life. He relied on his family name. He carried a badge and authority. He lived a wealthy life.”

Waters: Murdaugh knew he was about to be exposed, his reputation ruined. “His ego couldn’t stand that, and he became a family annihilator.”

Waters: “We couldn’t bring you any eye witnesses because they were murdered. But common sense and human nature can speak on behalf of Maggie and Paul. Look at this in its totality. … They deserve a voice.”

Waters: Everything he did was meant to frustrate forensics. Deleting call logs. Moving Maggie’s phone. Changing clothes.

“One man controlled these crime scene issues.”

That was AM, Waters says.

Waters says he agrees with AM that whoever did this had anger in their heart and had planned this for a long time. He also agrees with AM that he hurt the ones he loved.

Waters to the jury: Alex Murdaugh lied to you, just like he lied to everyone in his life. “And he was good at it.”

BONK.

I thought Waters was about to wrap up there. Now we are hearing more of AM's interview with investigators. I don't know when this will end

Waters: “Maggie and Paul deserve a voice. They need a voice because they can no longer speak. This has been a tough job. But the system depends on people who take that oath as jurors, and they’re willing to honor that oath and make the tough decision to..."

Waters: "... vindicate these victims, to vindicate Maggie and Paul, who were cut down in the prime of their lives.”

Waters shows the jury a sealed exhibit. I assume crime scene or autopsy photos.

“This is what he did. This is what he did right here.”

Waters: This defendant has fooled everyone in his life. He fooled Maggie and Paul, and they paid for it with their lives. “Don’t let him fool you too.”

Waters ends his closing argument.

That is it for the day, Judge Newman says. Back at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. Jury is excused.

By my math, lead prosecutor Creighton Waters went for 3 hours today (4 hours, 34 minutes minus a 1:20 lunch break and a 0:15 stretch break).

That's the longest closing argument I've ever witnessed.

I've never seen a break in an opening or closing statement, much less two breaks.

Up tomorrow: defense closing statement, prosecution's reply statement, jury charges, jury deliberations.

And whatever issue the judge is planning to deal with in chambers.

OK, transitioning to writing mode.

Full story, as promised.

https://twitter.com/AveryGWilks/status/1631089915160064000

So ends the Alex Murdaugh Double-Murder Trial Day 27 Megathread.

We ride again bright and early tomorrow for Day 28.