Alex Murdaugh murder trial enters week three

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COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Week three of the Alex Murdaugh murder trial is expected to kick off Monday with more witness testimony.

Murdaugh is accused of killing his wife Margaret and youngest son Paul at their family property in June of 2021.

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On Friday, prosecutors brought in three witnesses to testify without the jury present about Alex Murdaugh’s alleged financial crimes as they tried to establish their theory of motive. Judge Clifton Newman will decide whether any of that testimony will be repeated before the jury.

After the jury returned Friday, they heard from a SLED fingerprint analyst who said he did not recover any meaningful evidence from the scene as well as several SLED agents who collected DNA swabs from people in the Murdaugh’s orbit. They also heard from a SLED firearms expert who determined that bullets at the crime scene matched others found around the family property, but that he could not match those items to one of the Murdaugh’s guns.

Court will begin Monday without the jury present, as witnesses testify before Judge Clifton Newman about Murdaugh’s alleged previous crimes. Prosecution claims the evidence is necessary to establish their theory of motive.

Judge Newman is expected to hear testimony from attorney Mark Tinsley, who represents the family of Mallory Beach and several other boat crash victims.

State prosecutor Creighton Waters said he also plans to ask Judge Newman about the extent of attorney-client privilege that exists regarding a conversation allegedly had by Murdaugh and one of his attorneys, Jim Griffin, at a family home days after the murders. Waters said that since the conversation was had in the presence of third parties, the information may no longer be covered by attorney-client privilege.

Court will resume at 9:30 a.m. The jury will return around 11:30 a.m.

ALEX MURDAUGH MURDER TRIAL LIVE BLOG:

9:40 a.m. – Court is in session. Attorney Mark Tinsley is called to the stand. Tinsley represents the family of Mallory Beach and other victims of the boat crash.

Tinsley says he has known Murduagh and all of the other partners at PMPED for years.

He describes an experience Rene Beach, Mallory Beach’s mother, had days after the crash. He says she wanted to go down to the crash site, but it was taped off. Minutes later, members of the Murdaugh family were allegedly waved through the tape and allowed down to the site.

Tinsley also says he reviewed Murdaugh’s insurance policies shortly after the boat crash and determined that none of the policies were applicable.

State prosecutor Creighton Waters asks if he was asking for a significant amount of money. Tinsley says he doesn’t want to seem crass, but the Beach family stood on a causeway as their daughter’s body was pulled from the water, so he isn’t sure any amount of money would be sufficient. But, he did ask for a substantial sum, he says.

Tinsley says in August of 2019, he saw Murdaugh at a lawyer’s conference either at a fundraiser for either Dick Harpootlian or Lindsey Graham. He says Murduagh got in his face and said something to the effect of “I thought we were friends, what’s this about the boat case.” Tinsley says he told Murdaugh they were friends, but he was going to do everything he could for this case and that Murdaugh needed to settle.

The case was brought before a mock jury and Tinsley said that the results were very favorable to the Beach family. He says he shared that information with Murdaugh.

In October 2020, Tinsley said that Murdaugh claimed he was broke and couldn’t pay the large personal sum Tinsley was seeking from Murdaugh. Murdaugh said he could maybe put together $1 million. Tinsley didn’t believe it because he knew how many successful cases Murdaugh had. Murdaugh’s personal attorney, Danny Henderson, said Tinsley crossed a line by coming after Murdaugh personally.

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