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'Nothing could exclude a 6'4 shooter': crime scene expert testifies in Murdaugh murders ABC NEWS 4State prosecutors rested their rebuttal case Tuesday after calling six witnesses to contradict parts of Alex Murdaugh’s defense as the disgraced attorney’s double murder trial neared its end.
Kenneth Kinsey, a crime scene forensics expert, was the final rebuttal witness and criticized the methodology of a defense expert who said the shooter had to have been between 5-foot-2 and 5-foot-4 in height. (Alex Murdaugh is 6-foot-4.) Kinsey said there were too many variables to determine the shooter’s height with any certainty, calling the analysis “unscientific.”
Kinsey also criticized another defense expert’s theory that there were two shooters, saying the analysis that led to that determination was “preposterous.” He was questioned by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, his first time questioning a witness in the case.
Other rebuttal witnesses included two attorneys who worked with Murdaugh, a local sheriff and the pathologist who conducted the autopsies.
On Wednesday morning, the jury will visit Murdaugh’s sprawling property in Islandton known as Moselle, where the bodies of Murdaugh’s wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, and son Paul Murdaugh were found on June 7, 2021.
Closing arguments will follow afterward.
The rebuttal comes more than a month into the murder trial of Murdaugh, the 54-year-old disbarred personal injury attorney and member of a dynastic family in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, where his father, grandfather and great-grandfather served as the local prosecutor consecutively from 1920 to 2006.
The prosecution rested its case two weeks ago after calling 61 witnesses, and the defense rested its case Monday following testimony from 14 witnesses.
The most important witness was Murdaugh himself. Under oath, he admitted he had lied to police about his whereabouts on the night of the murders and that he had in fact been at the dog kennels, near where his wife and son were found dead, shortly before the killings. He blamed his lies on “paranoid thinking” stemming from his addiction to painkillers.
“I don’t think I was capable of reason, and I lied about being down there, and I’m so sorry that I did,” Murdaugh said.
Prosecutors have argued he killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and distract from financial misconduct allegations that the state says were about to come to light before the fatal shootings. Murdaugh indeed confessed to a decade of defrauding his legal partners and clients – yet denied killing his family.
“If I was under the pressure that they’re talking about here, I can promise you I would hurt myself before I would hurt one of them, without a doubt,” Murdaugh said on the stand Friday.
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two weapons charges in the killings. He is separately facing 99 charges related to alleged financial crimes that will be adjudicated later.
Six people testified as rebuttal witnesses on Tuesday to push back on some defense witnesses.
Ronnie Crosby, an attorney who worked with Murdaugh and testified for the prosecution three weeks ago, spoke about what Murdaugh was like in court.
“He was a theatrical-type presence in the courtroom and he could get very emotional during closing arguments in front of a jury,” Crosby testified Tuesday.
Dr. Ellen Riemer, a pathologist who conducted the autopsies of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, returned to the stand to reject a defense expert’s assertion that Paul died from a shotgun contact wound to his head.
She reiterated her conclusion that Paul died from a blast to his left shoulder that entered his neck and exited his skull.
The method of death is relevant to the defense’s two-shooter theory. A defense crime scene expert argued Monday a shotgun contact wound to the head causes the skull to violently explode, which would have temporarily stunned or even injured the shooter. The expert said it was unlikely that the same shooter would have been able to recover and kill Maggie in such a short amount of time.
Thomas C. Smalls, who until recently was sheriff of Hampton County, testified Tuesday that he had never had a discussion with Murdaugh about installing blue police lights in Murdaugh’s personal vehicle.
The testimony contradicted Murdaugh’s assertion last week that he got permission from Smalls to install blue lights in his vehicle. The prosecution used the blue lights to try to show Murdaugh had used his connections with police for his own benefit.
On cross-examination, Smalls said he did not know if someone else in his department may have approved the lights and said he had no knowledge at all that Murdaugh had blue lights in his vehicle.
Smalls also said Murdaugh had not reported any threats related to the boat case, in which a 19-year-old woman was killed when a boat driven by Paul Murdaugh crashed. Murdaugh has testified he believes the killings of his wife and son were in some way related to threats the family had received in that case.
In their case, prosecutors sought to poke holes in Murdaugh’s account of the night of the killings, using cell phone data, video and other evidence to suggest he tried to manufacture an alibi.
In the absence of direct evidence connecting Murdaugh to the killings – no murder weapon, bloody clothing or eyewitnesses – key arguments in his trial have revolved around the timeline of events and Murdaugh’s whereabouts the night of June 7, 2021.
In particular, prosecutors used video filmed at the dog kennels shortly before authorities say the killings took place to show Murdaugh was at the scene just minutes before the fatal shootings. Multiple witnesses testified that Murdaugh’s voice can be heard in the background of the video, which was filmed on Paul’s phone starting at 8:44 p.m. In his testimony, Murdaugh admitted he was indeed there and had lied about it.
Murdaugh testified last week that he went down to the kennels at Maggie’s request, but then returned to the house and laid down on a couch. When he got up, he said, he drove to visit his ailing mother at her home in nearby Almeda, before returning to his property later that night. Police say he called 911 at 10:07 p.m. to report finding the bodies.
The defense has painted Murdaugh as a loving father and husband being wrongfully accused of the killings after what it says has been a mishandled investigation and crime scene.
Among the witnesses called by Murdaugh’s attorneys were his former legal partner who testified the scene was not properly secured, and a forensics expert who said his analysis suggests two shooters carried out the killings.
The defense has further tried to establish that Maggie and Paul’s time of death could have fallen in a much longer time window than prosecutors have presented.
Last week, Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey testified that he estimated the time of death to be around 9 p.m. – just minutes after Murdaugh’s voice was captured on the video – based in part on armpit checks he conducted to feel how warm the bodies were.
However, when asked by the defense if the pair could have been shot anytime between 8 or 10 p.m., Harvey said yes.
A forensic pathologist, Jonathan Eisenstat, testified Monday that armpit temperature checks are “just not a valid method to try to make a determination of time of death,” calling the technique “just a guess.”
CNN’s Randi Kaye, Chris Youd, Maxime Tamsett, Adrienne Vogt and Christina Maxouris contributed to this report.
Prosecutors on Tuesday planned to call up to seven further witnesses to rebut parts of Alex Murdaugh’s defense in his murder trial, according to attorneys in court.
The first rebuttal witness was Ronnie Crosby, an attorney who worked with Murdaugh and testified for the prosecution three weeks ago.
“He was a theatrical-type presence in the courtroom and he could get very emotional during closing arguments in front of a jury,” Crosby testified Tuesday.
Once the rebuttal witnesses are complete, the jury will be allowed to view Murdaugh’s property in Islandton, particularly its dog kennels near where the bodies of Murdaugh’s wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, and son Paul Murdaugh were found. Closing arguments will follow after that.
The rebuttal comes more than a month into the murder trial and a day after the defense rested its case following testimony from 14 witnesses.
The most important defense witness was Murdaugh himself, as he admitted he had lied about his whereabouts on the night of the murders and that he had in fact been at the kennels shortly before the murders took place. He blamed his lies on “paranoid thinking” stemming from his addiction to painkillers.
“I don’t think I was capable of reason, and I lied about being down there, and I’m so sorry that I did,” Murdaugh said.
Prosecutors, who called 61 witnesses in the case, have argued he killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and distract from the financial misconduct allegations, some of which the state says were about to come to light before the fatal shootings. Murdaugh indeed confessed to much of that financial misconduct – yet denied killing his family.
“If I was under the pressure that they’re talking about here, I can promise you I would hurt myself before I would hurt one of them, without a doubt,” Murdaugh said on the stand Friday.
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two weapons charges in the June 7, 2021, killings. He is separately facing 99 charges related to alleged financial crimes that will be adjudicated later.
In their case, prosecutors sought to poke holes in Murdaugh’s account of the night of the killings, using cell phone data, video and other evidence to suggest he tried to manufacture an alibi.
In the absence of direct evidence connecting Murdaugh to the killings – no murder weapon, bloody clothing or eyewitnesses – key arguments in his trial have revolved around the timeline of events and Murdaugh’s whereabouts the night of June 7, 2021.
In particular, prosecutors used video filmed at the dog kennels shortly before authorities say the killings took place to show Murdaugh was at the scene just minutes before the fatal shootings. Multiple witnesses testified that Murdaugh’s voice can be heard in the background of the video, which was filmed on Paul’s phone starting at 8:44 p.m. In his testimony, Murdaugh admitted he was indeed there and had lied about it.
Murdaugh testified last week that he went down to the kennels at Maggie’s request, but then returned to the house and laid down on a couch. When he got up, he said, he drove to visit his ailing mother at her home in nearby Almeda, before returning to his property later that night. Police say he called 911 at 10:07 p.m. to report finding the bodies.
The defense has painted Murdaugh as a loving father and husband being wrongfully accused of the killings after what it says has been a mishandled investigation and crime scene.
Among the witnesses called by Murdaugh’s attorneys were his former legal partner who testified the scene was not properly secured, and a forensics expert who said his analysis suggests two shooters carried out the killings.
Murdaugh’s only surviving son, Buster Murdaugh, also testified last week, saying his father was “destroyed” and “heartbroken” following the killings.
To show the killings could have taken place after Murdaugh left the kennels, the defense has tried to establish that Maggie and Paul’s time of death could have fallen in a much longer time window than prosecutors have presented.
More than a week ago, Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey testified that he estimated the time of death to be around 9 p.m. – just minutes after Murdaugh’s voice was captured on the video – based in part on armpit checks he conducted to feel how warm the bodies were.
Harvey, who said he arrived on scene at 11:04 p.m., also testified that rigor mortis – the stiffening of a body’s joints and muscles following death – had not yet set in, and that it typically starts developing one to three hours following death.
However, when asked by the defense if the pair could have been shot anytime between 8 or 10 p.m., Harvey said yes.
A forensic pathologist, Jonathan Eisenstat, testified Monday that armpit temperature checks are “just not a valid method to try to make a determination of time of death,” calling the technique “just a guess.”
Instead, he said, someone arriving on scene should first check the ambient temperature of the area where the body is found and then take a rectal temperature to get as close to a core body temperature as possible.
Harvey testified earlier that he did not take rectal temperatures that night. During cross examination, prosecutors asked if the coroner had an idea of when the killings occurred since he did not take exact temperatures.
“You really do not have a general idea as to when that incident actually occurred?” Deputy Attorney General Attorney Don Zelenka asked Harvey.
“Yes sir, that’s true,” Harvey said.
The defense has also tried to portray the investigation into the case as shoddy, arguing that the crime scene was not secure or handled carefully. One witness, Mark Ball, one of Murdaugh’s former law firm colleagues, testified no barricades or police tape were set up to block several visitors from entering the property the night of the killings.
CNN’s Eric Levenson, Randi Kaye, Chris Youd, Maxime Tamsett, Adrienne Vogt and Christina Maxouris contributed to this report.
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Quantumania Director Confirms Kang Identities In The Post-Credits Scene Screen RantThe director Edward Berger narrates a sequence from his drama, nominated for nine Academy Awards and winner of best film at the BAFTAs.
In “Anatomy of a Scene,” we ask directors to reveal the secrets that go into making key scenes in their movies. See new episodes in the series on Fridays. You can also watch our collection of more than 150 videos on YouTube and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
In this sequence from the World War I drama “All Quiet on the Western Front” (nominated for nine Oscars and winner of best film at the BAFTAs), young German soldiers who were expecting an exciting adventure get a cruel dose of reality.
It’s the soldiers’ first night on the front and they are on night watch when they come under mortar attack. They retreat to a bunker, but things get worse from there.
In an interview, the director Edward Berger said that the sequence was pivotal in the film because it is the moment when the characters’ sense of anticipation “changes to complete fear and desperation.”
“Inside the bunker,” he continued, “we wanted to create claustrophobia. So a lot of the shots are quite close, quite dark.”
He said the scene was first rehearsed and blocked in a gym with the actors before shooting it on a soundstage.
“The sound does a lot of the work in this in the sequence,” Berger added, “the way it crushes those wood panels and you feel like this thing is going to collapse and bury these boys alive. That’s the feeling they had, and that’s the feeling we wanted to give to the audience.”
Read the “All Quiet on the Western Front” review.
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Marietta Police said they received a 911 call about a potential bomb threat near the East Gate shopping plaza. (FOX 5 Atlanta)
MARIETTA, Ga. - Marietta Police have confirmed a serious bomb threat near East Gate shopping plaza has been handled. The owner of the truck they believe contained some sort of bomb or explosive device in the back was promptly arrested. The device was removed and has been secured.
On Saturday morning, Marietta's department received a 911 call that a pickup truck parked near the plaza may have contained explosive materials.
The officers who investigated the scene said they evacuated the area and took the owner of that vehicle into custody without incident.
The Cobb County Sheriff's Office, Fire and Police Department joined Marietta Police and Fire with the evacuation and traffic control while the FBI, Cobb County Bomb Squad and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were notified of the incident.
Around noon, the device was removed from the vehicle and secured by bomb technicians, according to the police. They have not confirmed whether the device was real, but said the threat was.
Before the area reopened at 3 p.m., the vehicle was searched.
"We believe the scene to be safe at this time. ATF and FBI are both on scene and this case may be adopted by one of them, in which case any follow-up information will come from their office," a spokesperson for Marietta Police said.
While the investigation remains ongoing, the police thanked the 911 caller who tipped officers off to the serious incident.
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MADISON, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - A home in northeast Madison collapsed after a gas explosion Thursday, according to the Madison Daily Leader.
Police, Fire, and EMS crews are on scene at the home on 11th St. near Division Ave.
This story is developing. More details are to come.
Copyright 2023 KSFY. All rights reserved.
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A law partner of Alex Murdaugh testified Wednesday at his double murder trial that more than a dozen people who weren’t first responders or law enforcement walked around the scene of the killings before South Carolina agents arrived to investigate.
Then, when state agents arrived, Murdaugh, his law partners and friends were all sent back to the family home, which authorities had not entered since arriving after Murdaugh called 911 to say his wife and son were shot.
“This is a pretty big farm and I don’t know who is over there. Two people have been gunned down,” attorney Mark Ball testified. “Safety is one concern. And is that house part of what has gone on here? Where does the crime scene start and stop?”
While the defense had Ball highlight what he saw as problems at the crime scene and Murdaugh’s devotion to his family, prosecutors on cross examination used Ball to walk through Murdaugh’s apparent lies to police. Those allegedly include where he was just before the killings, his lack of concern for his safety or the safety of his son after the shootings and stealing millions of dollars from the family law firm.
Murdaugh, 54, is standing trial in the murders of his wife Maggie, 52, who was killed by four or five rifle shots; and their 22-year-old son Paul, who died from two shotgun blasts. Both were killed near kennels on the family’s sprawling property in Colleton County on June 7, 2021. Murdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison if he is convicted.
Alex Murdaugh may testify. Defense attorney Jim Griffin asked the judge Wednesday if he would allow Murdaugh to take his Fifth Amendment right against incriminating himself in the 100 or so other crimes he faces — including stealing from clients, money laundering, tax evasion and insurance fraud.
Judge Clifton Newman said prosecutors generally get wide latitude in cross examination.
The judge has agreed with prosecutors to allow evidence of the other crimes to show Murdaugh killed his family to gain sympathy and buy time to hide his financial misdeeds. Prosecutors also want to show Murdaugh lied to police three months after the killing about a shooting. He initially said he was shot by a stranger, but later said he asked a friend to shoot him in the head so Murdaugh’s surviving son could collect $12 million in life insurance.
Newman said he will advise both sides if Murdaugh takes the stand. The defense said if he chooses to testify, it could be as early as Thursday.
Ball was a compelling witness for both sides Wednesday.
He arrived about 45 minutes after Murdaugh called 911 and described a chaotic scene. Police hadn’t blocked the entrance to the property and more than a dozen people not with law enforcement were walking around by shell casings and pools of blood near the kennels where the shooting happened. A light rain was intermittently falling and the runoff from a roof was hitting Paul Murdaugh’s body.
“It’s a crime scene. You don’t want water dripping all over the place but more importantly, I thought it was pretty disrespectful. Paul was a good young man and quite frankly it just pissed me off,” Ball testified.
Ball returned the day after the shootings once state agents said they were finished investigating the crime scene and found a number of uncollected shotgun pellets along with small clumps of tissue and a fragment of Paul Murdaugh’s skull about the size of a baseball.
“It infuriated me,” Ball said. “It was kind of like walking across a grave.”
On cross-examination, prosecutors used Ball to review much of their case. They had Ball read a list of several clients he had to call on behalf of the law firm to tell them Alex Murdaugh lied and stole their money. Those clients have been repaid, with millions of dollars coming out of the pockets of the other attorneys at the firm, Ball said.
Ball also testified he was certain he heard Murdaugh’s voice on a cellphone video along with his wife and son that phone records said was taken about five minutes before Maggie and Paul Murdaugh stopped using their phones forever.
Ball said Murdaugh told him at least three times he was not at the kennels that night, instead taking a nap before leaving to visit his ailing mother. Murdaugh called 911 and said he discovered the shooting when he returned.
Murdaugh and Ball knew each other for 34 years and worked together for decades. Ball told the defense Murdaugh appeared to be a loving father, a good lawyer who could talk to anyone and a man whose finances were solid.
“He was pretty good at hiding who he really was, wasn’t he?” prosecutor Creighton Waters asked.
“Obviously,” Ball replied.
How do you work with the families? Is there a “grief counseling” element of your job?
Spaulding: Our company was founded on empathy, and that is the very core of our existence. We lead with empathy and want to be as resourceful as possible to the families. In addition to cleanup, we also have a partnership with a mental health organization which allows us to offer our customers four free therapy sessions and unlimited texting for a month. This is available to our customers as well as our technicians. We strongly believe in taking care of our mental health first and foremost, as that is a priority in order for us to do such a difficult job time and again.
Andrews: Lots and lots of tears. Sometimes the property owner/landlord is on the property and the family is not, though typically it's frazzled, confused, sad, and depressed family members. Grief-stricken, angry family members are common too. Thankfully, many come up to us and express their gratitude, and the feeling that you've been able to inspire hope in them during such a dark — probably the worst — time in their life is really what keeps me going every day. No exaggeration.
You certainly have to be part counselor — you have to be empathetic, open to listening, patient, and kind. You need to be sensitive, but you also need to be able to detach from the situation and your surroundings. You need to take the role of a counselor without completely replacing one, if that makes sense.
What is your typical process for a crime scene cleanup?
Spaulding: When we receive a call, we gather as much information as possible in order to assess the scene. We provide an estimate and we help our customers file a claim with their insurance company, as more often than not, many of these cleanups are covered under their homeowners insurance policy. Once that has been taken care of, we come to the scene with our equipment, protective gear, and special cleaning solutions. We do a very thorough job cleaning any surface that has come into contact with body matter, especially fluids that can seep through surfaces. More often than not, we find ourselves removing drywall, carpets, tile, you name it.
Martin: My company takes [Occupational Safety and Health Administration], [Department of Transportation], and local and state protocols very seriously. After all, an error that seems minor can actually create a serious issue that exposes everyone on site to a life-threatening illness or circumstance. That is why all cleaners are certified, licensed, and trained to do these types of jobs through OSHA.
That means having a plan to minimize exposure to all and any dangers at the site. A supervisor comes up with a plan to deal with contaminated areas, the supplies appropriate for the job, the level of PPE required, and what actions to take if someone is exposed (or suspects exposure).
We arrive at the scene in an unmarked work van (to respect the privacy of our clients — naturally we wouldn't want our neighbors to see a murder cleanup company when the incident is so fresh) and enter the home in PPE. A family member may or may not be there — in which case, like you asked earlier, they are usually crying, distraught, frazzled, and not in their [usual] state of mind. Yes, we respond by trying to be their backbone and reassure them that they aren't alone in what they're going through, answer any questions they may have, and provide them with a sense of hope, comfort, and stability. We are there to help them during their time of need.
Depending on how the occurrence happened, we may need to remove wall panels, flooring panels, ceiling panels — especially if they are saturated with biohazards. Carpet is the worst because bio usually always seeps through the carpet fibers into the flooring beneath — and if there's wood floors beneath the carpet then they can seep through the wood as well. The bio can get down into the foundation even — and yes, that will need replacing. It's a lot of physical labor and demolition.
We also try to keep as many valuables in the home by decontaminating them with foggers loaded with EPA-registered disinfectants. We strive to use the top-of-the-line disinfectants that are environmentally friendly and do not cause allergenic reactions, so the premises can be entered as soon as the restoration is complete.
The biohazards have to be properly contained in biohazard containers and properly labeled and color-coded. We also need special licensing on our work vans to transport them.
Once the job is completed, we work with the insurance companies directly for payment. There's no reason why these families should have to pay — they're already going through enough. We are here to help them.
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JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Jackson Police are investigating a crime scene in West Jackson.
The scene happened on Clinton Circle off of Clinton Boulevard on Monday night.
WLBT crews spotted an ambulance standing by farther up the road. 3 On Your Side has reached out to JPD to get more information.
This is a developing story.
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Copyright 2023 WLBT. All rights reserved.
Ellen Barkin got brutally honest in a recent interview with HuffPo about battling misogyny, sexism and harassment in Hollywood. The actor revealed that during the making of her 1989 neo-noir thriller “Sea of Love,” director Harold Becker allegedly ripped off her merkin during the filming of a nude scene. A merkin is a loin cloth garment that serves as a pubic wig for actors to wear during nude scenes.
“What was I going to do when [director] Harold Becker on ‘Sea of Love’ walks over and literally rips my merkin off, taking some pubic hair with him and saying: ‘What do you need this for? Nobody’s looking at you,’” Barkin said, adding that Hollywood made her feel so powerless that the answer back then was “you do nothing.”
Barkin said the alleged incident occurred during a “very difficult” scene in which she was nude on set. The actor added that her co-star in the film was “terrified” by the director’s alleged behavior. “Sea at Love” co-starred Al Pacino and John Goodman.
“This is what [the industry’s] like,” Barkin added. “And I had an easy time with it, believe me.”
Variety has reached out to Becker’s representative for further comment.
Elsewhere in the HuffPo interview, Barkin said she “wanted out” of her series regular role on TNT’s “Animal Kingdom.” Barkin appeared on the series from 2016 to 2019.
“I had been asking to leave for four years. It was not a pleasant place to work.” Barkin said. “Want to talk about treating women disrespectfully?…Men used to come in my trailer and just scream at me. How’s that? With me pushing them out the door saying, ‘Get out of my trailer.’ That’s what it was like for me to go to work.”
“I was like, ‘Wow, I hate these men,’” Barkin added. “Most of them were just like little boys.”
Barkin recently appeared in a guest role on Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne’s murder mystery series “Poker Face,” now streaming on Peacock.
Victoria Justice won’t forget her first day on the job. The former Victorious star talked about shooting her first sex scene in th...
