Jurors returned to the Colleton County Courthouse on Thursday morning after an eventful day before as prosecutors continued to present their case against attorney Alex Murdaugh over the double murder of his wife and son at the family’s hunting lodge in June 2021.
The 54-year-old disgraced legal scion – disbarred soon after the murder allegations and various alleged financial improprieties came to light – is accused of shooting and killing his wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and their youngest son Paul Murdaugh, 22.
After a two-hour delay due to an unsubstantiated bomb threat that evacuated the courthouse on Wednesday, a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division forensics agent briefly offered testimony that introduced information about the computer systems used by Alex Murdaugh’s SUV on the night of the slayings. Dwight Falkofske, an FBI electronics and automotive forensics expert, followed that testimony.
Jurors and alternates heard about several goings-on culled from the “infotainment” and OnStar modules removed by SLED agents from the defendant’s Chevy Suburban. Alex Murdaugh admittedly drove quite a bit on the night his family was killed – to and from his ailing mother’s house. It is unclear to what extent the various data will play in the eventual deliberations.
Law&Crime compiled the following timeline based on Wednesday’s testimony and prior state evidence from Maggie Murdaugh’s iPhone:
9:03:44 SUV door opens
9:04:23 missed called from Alex to Maggie
9:06:12 orientation change on Maggie’s phone
9:06:14 missed call from Alex to Maggie
9:06:49 SUV starts
9:06:50 SUV taken out of park
9:06:51 missed call Alex to Maggie
9:07 – 9:31 screen off of Maggie’s phone
9:08:51 Alex texts Maggie “going to check on M. Be right back”
9:22:45 SUV is put in parkAlex Murdaugh presumably spends 21 minutes at his mother’s home
9:43:05 SUV leaves off of park
9:43:59 SUV put into park
9:44:54 SUV out of park
9:45:32 missed call from Alex to Maggie
9:47:23 Alex text to Maggie “Call me babe”
10:00:36 SUV put in park
10:01:17 SUV out of park
10:01:29 SUV put in park
10:01:30 SUV out of park
10:01:43 SUV put in park
10:03:58 missed call from Alex to Maggie
10:04:44 – 10:04:47 SUV system powering down
10:04:49 SUV out of park
10:05:55 SUV put in park
10:11:45 SUV out of park
10:12:38 SUV put in park
10:13:39 SUV out of parkNOTE: Alex Murdaugh called 911 at least twice – at 10:06:14 and 10:06:18.
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