And day six of witness testimony has closed
in the Alec Murdoch double murder trial.
He has so much to get to today.
But a lot of what happened in court
today was the state and the defense
arguing about whether or not Alec
Murdoch's alleged financial crimes should
and will be admitted into evidence.
Now, those arguments were
made without the jury present,
so News 19 is not going to report on
that evidence until it goes into the.
Court record Judge Clifton Newman will make
a final decision on those financial crimes,
whether or not they will
be presented to the jury.
The prosecution has argued that
evidence shows Alex motive, but again,
none of that in court today,
in front of the jury,
here's what was in front of the jury.
Defense attorney **** Harpootlian trying
again to focus on the fact that law
enforcement zeroed in on Alec Murdoch
as a suspect right away late this afternoon.
14th circuit investigator Dylan Hightower.
Took the stand.
That's him.
He talked about a meeting that
law enforcement had one day after
the murder of Paul and Maggie.
To hear what was initially found
at the scene.
Harpootlian brought up Colleton County
sheriff's release the next day,
saying that the community wasn't in danger.
Here's that exchange.
Had an active shooter at large.
Would police take any proactive steps?
Would they put up roadblocks or would they?
Put out a statement.
Look, we got two people brutally
murdered and we don't know who did it,
so keep your doors locked.
Be careful about if you see somebody in
the woods or or walking along the road.
I mean you see these unfortunately
much too often these days.
But did the did you only seems to be
testifying they're getting to a question.
Yeah the question is did you all do
any do you see any any not you did
you see any evidence of that or hear
any evidence of that that morning.
Not that I recall, no, Sir.
All right. Meanwhile,
under questioning from prosecutor
John Conrad, Hightower said that
his investigation showed his phone
records the day of the murder,
that there were 73 calls the day of
the murder, according to Verizon.
But on the actual phone,
all but two of those phone
calls had been deleted. As
you know, Murdoch is accused
of killing his wife, Maggie,
and his son Paul, in June of 2021.
We have team coverage tonight.
And Collins.
County we begin with Kaylan Hagwood,
who joins us now live with
the very latest Kaylan.
Well, Darcy, Andrea, it's been a
long and short day of court today,
only a few people actually
testifying before jurors,
as you mentioned earlier,
much of the day and even now as
jurors have left for the day,
continuing with those discussions
on whether or not his alleged
financial crimes are going to be able
to be included in the days ahead.
Now what we learned today was from
the Snapchat representative and
it's been central to the case from
prosecutors who say that that video
puts Murdoch there at the crime.
The same day,
around the same time that Paul Murdoch
was found dead along with his mother
and we also heard from a sled agent
who searched the mozelle property
where the killings took place.
That also testified.
Now the defense taking note of what
evidence she says she didn't find.
Take a listen.
See any evidence of any quotes
that had been involved in any
sort of altercation that had
left blood or tissue or brains?
You see anything like that
in any one of those rooms?
I didn't find anything like that.
Well, we have been sharing with you
guys about the key kind of evidence
as the OR role that blood evidence
has been playing in this case,
as prosecutors say that it really
suggests that Murdoch cleaned
himself after this crime took place.
Meanwhile, the defense says that
it means that he's innocent.
There was little blood that at
least you could see on his body,
which means he wasn't involved.
But the jury and the future testifies.
The people that get up on the stand will
continue to let that evidence play out,
and we will of course, bring it to you.
Court resuming tomorrow with
jurors tomorrow at 11:30.
Guys.
Alright, Kaylin, thank you so much.