Murdaugh’s defense team to hear testimony Wednesday

COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Defense is expected to continue calling witnesses in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial Wednesday after only making it through two on Tuesday.

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

WATCH: ALEX MURDAUGH MURDER TRIAL: DAY 21 RECAP

Get caught up on the Alex Murdaugh investigations

Murdaugh’s only surviving son, Buster, was the first to take the stand Tuesday.

Buster described his father as normal when they spoke on the phone around 9:08 p.m. the night of the murders, then distraught later that evening. He also gave the jury what the defense hopes is some clarity in an ongoing debate about what Murdaugh said in an interview after the murders. In a video, prosecution claims Murdaugh said “I did him so bad” when talking about Paul. Buster says he knows his father’s voice and his father said “they did him so bad.” He also said Murdaugh made the same statement the night of the murders.

Defense also called Mike Sutton, a forensic engineer, to the stand. Sutton offered what could be an exculpatory interpretation of data, much of which was collected by SLED.

Sutton said that he conducted a test to see if gunshots from the kennels could’ve been heard inside the main house at Moselle and found that the sound would’ve been so low it would be almost inaudible.

He also calculated the trajectory of several bullets based on evidence SLED collected from the scene and used simple trigonometry to determine the relative position and height of the shooter. In his opinion, the shot was made by someone who was around 5’2 and could not have been made by Murdaugh, who stands around 6’4.

Prosecutors mocked that theory, calling the shooter in Sutton’s renderings a 12-year-old. They also frequently called into question his credibility, pointing out that he does not have formal training in pathology or ballistics. Sutton said that his findings follow the laws of physics.

Testimony is set to resume at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. A source close to the defense tells News 2 that Alex Murdaugh is expected to take the stand himself on Thursday, but that could change.

ALEX MURDAUGH MURDER TRIAL LIVE BLOG:

9:45 a.m. – Mark Ball is called to the stand.

Ball is a lawyer at Parker Law Group, formerly PMPED. He was a partner and friend of Murdaugh. Ball says he has known Murdaugh for over 30 years. Their wives are friends and their children have grown up together.

He recalls the night of June 7, 2021. He says another partner tried to call him, but he missed the call so he called his wife. They went over to Moselle immediately and arrived around 10:50 p.m. He said when you live in the middle of nowhere and you get a call that your law partner’s wife and child have been shot, you go.

Griffin asks if any roadblocks or barriers were up to stop traffic from coming in. Ball says no. He said that he brought up the need for roadblocks with Colleton County Fire Rescue Chief, Barry McRoy and Sheriff Buddy Hill. He also told a deputy coming in that the sheriff wanted it blocked off. Ball says the entrance was never blocked off and cars kept “piling in.”

Ball says that law enforcement and first responders were walking through the crime scene. He also saw water dripping off the roof of the kennels onto Paul’s body. He says it upset him for two reasons. First, he says you don’t want water contaminating the crime scene. Second, he says Paul was “a good young man” and it was disrespectful; Ball says “frankly, it just pissed me off.” Ball says they eventually put a tent over Maggie’s body, but not Paul’s.

Ball says that when he saw Murdaugh, Murdaugh “went to pieces.” He said that Murdaugh repeated, “look what they did, look what they did.” Balls said he didn’t think much of it until he was on the way home, then he realized it was an odd comment.

Ball says that when SLED got there, everyone was eventually asked to leave the crime scene and go to the house. Ball asked if that was okay. His first concern was safety. He said it was a big farm and he didn’t know if the killer was at the house. His second concern was whether the house was part of the crime scene and whether it had been processed.

Sheriff Hill asked Ball if he had any ideas who would want to do this. Ball said not really. He asked if Paul had received any threats connected to the boat case, and Ball said that he did.

9:35 a.m. – Court is in session.

Defense attorney Jim Griffin asks Judge Clifton Newman for an order ruling that should Alex Murdaugh himself take the stand, the prosecution be prohibited from questioning him about financial crimes. Griffin says that the defense will not ask about the financial crimes in direct examination, so the prosecution should not ask about them in cross-examination.

State prosecutor Creighton Waters argues that the matters are relevant and within the scope of cross-examination. He says when a defendant takes the stand, he waives his right against self-incrimination.

Judge Newman said that he would not issue an order limiting the scope of cross-examination. He said that objections should be made in real-time, not based on advanced rulings by the court.

Griffin asks if Murdaugh will be allowed to plead the fifth during the interview if they bring up the financial crimes. Judge Newman says that he is not going to give advice on what Murdaugh can say. He says he will take a look at the cases both prosecution and defense have provided as precedents.

—

STAY CONNECTED: Receive news alerts from this trial and watch it on the go with the NEWS 2 APP (download it here). You can also subscribe to daily emails for the latest news on this trial.