By 9:00 o'clock on your Thursday night,
February 16th, and thanks for tuning in as we
recap what happened in the courtroom today
in the Alec Murdoch double murder trial,
the disgraced attorney accused of shooting
and killing his wife and son in June of 2021.
Now, after we go over what happened today,
we're going to be joined by a criminal
defense attorney, Taylor Bell.
He's got the latest on the
developments in the courtroom.
We'll talk about that in a moment.
But today, in that courtroom
graphic testimony about the
murders of Paul and Maggie Murdoch.
This came from chief deputy Kenneth Kinsey,
who was a crime scene expert with the
Orangeburg County Sheriff's Department.
He was called to the Murdoch property
last fall to give investigators more
information on how and where Peggy,
Maggie and Paul Murdoch were shot and killed.
He testified that Paul was about 5
feet inside the feed room when he was
shot the first time and had moved to
the door frame when the second fatal.
Scott was fired.
He was found outside the feed door.
He fell over forward after
sustaining that movement.
Some some wounds are fatal.
Later you can actually see someone
that receives a fatal wound and
they I've seen them run 100 yards,
they can move for a little while.
This is not that type of wound.
Once he received this wound,
it ceased all movement.
While jurors were also shown this picture
of the feed room where Paul was killed,
Kinsey added a green line to the
photo showing what he believes
was the angle of the second shot.
This angle was questioned by
Defense attorney **** Harpootlian.
Angle, you would agree with me,
is an unusual angle.
Typically people shoot a
shotgun from their shoulder.
Typically, unless you and I are both
occupying nearly the same space like that.
But you would agree with me,
I'm bent over to do that.
You are. Yes, Sir.
So the shooter was a very short person,
but here I'm not been over that
far and I'm almost 6 foot.
Was also testimony about how
Maggie Murdoch died several shots,
with the fatal wound coming from behind.
Now, as you may recall,
yesterday Judge Clifton Newman ruled
that questions about the roadside
shooting will be allowed in court.
So this afternoon,
the September 2021 incident was
at the center of testimony.
Slide agent Ryan Kelly took the stand.
He interviewed Alec Murdoch several
times following the incident.
Murdoch originally said that he had been
shot in the head while changing a flat tire.
Jurors heard Murdoch tell that story.
A911 call and a video taken in the
ambulance on the day of the shooting.
Take a listen.
I got a flat tire.
If somebody stopped to help me.
And when I turn my back
they tried to shoot me.
Ohh OK will you shot?
Yes, but OK. I'm OK.
I'm going on the road.
Pulled over this car.
You didn't pay a lot of attention,
truck, but then it turned around,
came back, I got you real nice guy.
Acted like and I turned my head and I mean.
AJ Kelly questioned Murdoch several
times following the shooting.
On September 6,
while still hospitalized in Savannah,
Murdoch described a suspect in the
shooting to a police sketch artist.
Kelly says that that at the time
Murdoch was able to call Curtis
Eddie Smith through a phone number,
agents were led to Smith.
Kelly testified that sled found
thousands of dollars in financial
records tracing back to Murdoch.
Murdoch entered a rehab facility out
of state on September 13th, 2021.
Kelly arranged a phone interview
with Murdoch with his attorneys
**** Harpootlian and Jim Griffin,
present at the beginning of the interview,
Harpootlian question Murdoch about
what happened on September 4th,
the previous day the news had come
out about of your embezzling or
taking client money off for money.
Is that correct? That's correct.
And how would you describe your
state of mind at that time?
Very bad place. What does that mean?
Thought it would be better
for me not to be anymore.
What do you mean by not be here anymore?
I thought that it would make
it easier on my family.
So to me, to be dead and easier
with some financial gain to
your family if you were dead.
Fair amount of life insurance that that much?
No, it's not in my head.
But like 10 million dollars,
$12 million, OK.
And so you decided to end your life.
That's correct.
And tell these sled agents on how
you went about arranging them.
I called Curtis Eddie Smith on the telephone.
She never stopped saying
who was Curtis Eddie Smith.
Curtis Eddie Smith is the primary
person who I purchased pills from for.
Years and some weeks she would
give him how much money for pills.
I mean it would be in my records,
but if I mean we had weeks where
there would be 40 fifty $60,000.
I am being joined now by criminal
defense Attorney Taylor Bell for his
take on what's going on with his trial.
Thank you so much for your time.
Thanks for having me.
Alright, let's talk about what
happened in the courtroom today,
mainly the prosecution playing these tapes.
Pertaining to this roadside shooting
where you hear Alec Murdoch with
this story that he was shot while
changing a tire only to admit later
in a sled interview that he lied.
So the juror sees today Alec Murdoch
discredited and he's proved to be
a liar in court today, correct?
That's correct.
I wasn't sure that they were going
to get into this initially as Judge
Newman originally stated and ruled.
On the bench that they weren't
going to get into this.
However, then he changed his mind,
saying that the defense had opened the
door to this information and they were
able to to get into this information of,
you know, it doesn't bode well for.
The defense here,
having their client, you know,
being able to show videos of him
telling two different stories
and they get into it without
putting cousin Eddie on the stand.
At least he hasn't been on the stand yet.
Yeah, I don't think,
based on how they're presenting it,
that he's going to get on the stand.
I don't think that they need him.
I think there's too much
of a risk at this point.
I could be wrong,
I've been wrong before,
but I just don't think he's going to.
I don't think he's going to get on the stand.
Based on what what we've seen so far today,
let's talk about the expert also testifying
about how Paul and Maggie Murdoch were shot,
how that how their lives ended.
The jurors had already heard previous
information about the shooting deaths,
but today we find out that the fatal
shot for Maggie Murdoch was from behind,
which would might indicate that she was
trying to run away from the scene, correct?
It could. It could indicate that
I thought, you know, first.
Kenley, I think it was he
discussed Paul's being shot,
discussed the very first shot
being from at a a low angle and
a very sharp upward trajectory.
You know, I think there was a photo
out there of during a break that
Alex attorneys were were measuring
him to see how tall he was.
I'm not sure if that was for optics,
I believe it was.
I assume they already knew how tall he was.
And so that, you know,
was part of a cross there and
then we moved to the discussion
that Waters had with the expert
relating to Maggie and.
I'm not sure a 100% agree with the the
the drop down and then behind the shot.
I'm not sure it all makes sense
necessarily but that's how.
But you know he's the expert he seemed
pretty credible it kind of sounds like
you know he he knows what he's talking
about up there based on his credentials.
So it it is possible at the last shot
came to the back of the head. The
prosecution had said that they
were going to probably rest their
case by the middle of the week.
That was Wednesday.
Wednesday came and went.
Then they had testimony today.
They said last night to some
reporters in the field last night.
We're going to wrap tomorrow.
They didn't wrap today.
So this is going into another day of
testimony tomorrow with the state witnesses.
If, and I say if the state rests their case,
say early afternoon tomorrow,
would the defense begin immediately?
Or would they wanna wait until
Tuesday since there is no court
Monday with it being Presidents Day?
I'm interested to see how long
cross examination is tomorrow.
I believe that Mister Harpootlian
had said that it would be at
least an hour or so or more,
and if there's any further additional
witnesses after that, I'm interested.
I. Having been in front of Judge Newman,
he expects the lawyers to be prepared.
I wouldn't say necessarily if there's
this is the last witness that he wouldn't
expect the defense to to go right into it.
However, if there's a couple more witnesses,
maybe one or two more to tie a few things
up and it ended around noon or one or two,
I wouldn't be surprised if he ends
it for the day and says we'll
start with defense on. On Tuesday,
we've had so many people ask questions
with this segment that we do every night.
Some viewers wanting to know why can't
the jurors take notes in this case?
Well, that was Judge Newman's ruling.
It's up to the individual trial judge.
They get to make the decisions of
whether or not they can take notes.
From my perspective, I I kind of.
I kind of don't necessarily want them to
take notes because then they might write
down one thing and then forget about
other things because only that one thing
was what they wrote down is when you're
sitting in class and you take a note
and then you get tired of taking notes,
so you you stop taking those notes and
you just use and well, that could happen.
And so I'm not a big fan of it because but,
but then sometimes, you know,
you get them all together and
they've got different notes,
but it's up to the individual
trial judge at the end of the day.
For a long trial like this,
I am a little surprised that there
wasn't the ability to take notes
here and collect them all at the
end by the bailiffs and give them
back out the next morning.
But I am a little surprised,
given the link,
the number of witnesses.
Do you believe that the jury has
been overwhelmed with evidence
coming from here, here, here, here.
You've got the shooting deaths
of Paul and Maggie Murdoch.
You've got the alleged financial
crimes of Alec Murdoch.
Then today you've got the 911 call,
you've got the ambulance ride,
you've got Alec Murdoch sitting there
giving an interview with a sled agent,
basically, you know,
with his arms crossed saying
you think I'm a suspect.
I mean, so they've, they've seen a lot,
they've heard a lot, they've seen a lot.
Is it, is it a lot for the jury
to to comprehend right now?
I think they've been paying attention.
Based on what I what I've heard,
they've been paying attention.
However, I think it's a lot,
but it was a lot that was necessary
because this case all is circumstantial.
There is no direct physical evidence
necessarily linking Alec to this.
And so I think it's the state's
responsibility as well as they want
to make sure that there's no stones
unturned so that the defense can come
back and say they didn't do this.
You've seen some of that
throughout the trial.
Of defence, saying you didn't do this,
but I think they're just
trying to cover their bases and
they've done it chronologically.
You know,
these incidences occurred the roadside
shooting after everything else.
So it's kind of been chronological
and I think it's necessary
a lot of circumstantial evidence
in this case, as you mentioned.
But again, there's been audio played in
court where witnesses have contradicted what
he has had to say about he wasn't there.
And then today basically
they're playing tapes.
The court proving again as we started
this broadcast this interview off
proving that he has told lies.
So I mean and when it comes to a jury you
don't have that physical hard evidence.
You've got a lot of circumstantial
evidence but you know the defendant there.
Well we've caught them in a few lies already
that's correct.
And criminal defense 101,
whether your clients innocent
whether your client did anything
you don't talk to law enforcement.
You always have to understand
that any little inconsistency,
whether it's intentional or just
happens to the way you tell stories,
not everything always will line up.
They're going to use that against you
and they they're doing that right here.
It also the.
I think, I'm not sure Alec has
been truthful about anything in
this so far and that's kind of
being shown here today in the two
different stories regarding the
roadside and and that's been really
devastating for for the defense here.
You think the state scored some
points today with all those tapes.
They definitely scored some points.
However, you know from the
direct circumstantial,
it's not direct evidence that
he committed those murders.
It's circumstances of maybe why he lied.
Covered things up to show his
deceitfulness that circumstantially
he he covered the other stuff up too.
So I wouldn't say it's direct
that he committed the murders,
but it's circumstantially.
It leads someone to believe
that that he did what's
left for the state to present
at this point, do you think?
I think they're about done. I do.
The only possibility would be cousin
Eddie and I I don't think that he's going
to get called to the witness stand.
I am not sure there are any
other crime scene investigators.
They're they're closing out the the
the chronology here today with this
roadside shooting and then the two
different stories that were told
and just I I think that's going
to be the the state's case here.
Alright, so that's the state.
Moving on to the defense,
your criminal defense attorney,
what is **** Harpootlian,
Jim Griffin going to present
in the days ahead? Do you think
I'd expect there to be a counter
expert in terms of firearms,
a counter expert in terms of
crime scene reconstruction,
a counter expert in potentially forensic
pathology, potentially character
witnesses about Alex character,
whether or not there how many there are?
I don't know.
I assume maybe maybe Alec they
they may put him on the witness
stand but but those would I be I
I would be expecting here is some
experts to counteract the experts
that have been used by the state
with the defense be taking a big
gamble Putin Murdoch on the stand.
I mean he again not to not to
hammer at home but he's been caught
in a few lies already so would
it be a big big risk to put him
on there. It's always going to
be a risk but I I assume from.
You know the get go that.
The attorneys have started prepping
him in the situation that they might
have to put him on the witness stand.
I. I always prepare my client
in case he has to testify.
Most of the time those cases
are self-defense cases,
though this case is not a self-defense case,
so you don't have to tell
his version of events.
However, most juries are going
to want to hear from him.
He's been sitting there the whole time.
They have all these unanswered questions,
so they're thinking in their mind well.
These attorneys are mentioned
all these other theories.
Can't he explain that to us?
And if he doesn't,
I think it's gonna be held against
him even though the even though
the judge is going to tell them
they can't hold his right to remain
silent against him because he's
already talked in these videos.
Exactly. He has done that indeed.
All right. So again as you mentioned
a lot of circumstantial evidence
in this case has been presented.
What do you think the biggest
circumstantial evidence, so,
so to say, has been presented,
that's the most damaging
when it comes to. Murdoch,
I'd still say the the videos from
the kennel as well as the the
the different change of clothings
and the two different videos.
Can't he again maintaining it's
not him on there and you know I I
guess he hasn't he'll get a chance
to explain the change of clothes,
I suppose. I guess.
I mean maybe maybe the defense attorneys have
something up their sleeve they asked about.
Did y'all ever go look for these clothes?
Maybe they're somewhere. I don't know.
I mean, that would be a big,
a big ace up somebody sleeve if they
just hear some clothes, but I doubt it.
I doubt that's there.
However, I don't know.
His attorneys are pretty slick guys.
So we're already three weeks and a day.
Tomorrow we'll make three weeks and two
days with witness testimony from the state.
I don't expect, and I don't think anyone
expects the defense to last that long. Well,
they they they won't last.
I don't think more.
More than four or five days,
really. I don't.
I I would push it to be that long.
They don't have to tell the chronological
story as the government did.
They're coming in there to counteract
the the evidence that does not help them,
which is the pathologist,
which is the firearms expert and which
is the crime scene reconstruction expert,
and then any witnesses that are there
going to build the character of Alec.
Anything you want to add before we wrap up?
I think that's good.
We've covered it pretty well.
Yes, alright. Testimony will resume
9:30 in the morning and of course
you can watch several different ways
from the Covington County Courthouse.
You can watch on WLTX plus you
can watch on our YouTube channel.
And we thank all of our viewers
all over the world.
I've seen some viewers from South
Africa watching on YouTube.
Thank you so much.
Also you can watch on WLTX dot.
Tomorrow night, right here.
We'll hope to see you then.