On Wednesday, prosecutors revealed video evidence in court with the Snapchat video of Paul Murdaugh now viral
The evidence in the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh might refute the claim made by the disgraced former lawyer.
Snapchat video from Paul Murdaugh presented as evidence in Murdaugh murder trial
According to Alex Murdaugh, who was the first policeman to arrive at the horrifying scene, he last saw his wife and son 90 minutes before finding their bodies.
He reiterated that account three hours later while travelling in a car with investigators on the property of the Murdaughs’ outlying South Carolina hunting resort. On the evening of June 7, 2021, Alex told them that he had been napping alone after dinner and had woken up alone. He claimed that after making multiple unsuccessful attempts to call his wife to inform her that he would be heading to his mother’s place, he ultimately came back home only to find his family dead.
Snapchat video from Paul Murdaugh presented as evidence in Murdaugh murders trial, viral on Reddit and Twitter
Alex Murdaugh at 7.56pm is shown in a Snapchat video filmed by his son Paul. He is wearing a blue shirt and khaki pants, and is planting a tree in the family's yard.
The housekeeper testified she has never seen this shirt or shoes again. #MurdaughTrial pic.twitter.com/nbl1oeFMcx
— Skyleigh Heinen (@Sky_Lee_1) February 11, 2023
Paul Murdaugh Snap Chat video, first part #AlexMurdaugh #SnapChat #VIDEOS #Audio With such crucial evidence in this case @CourtTV That attorney is boring and is not really good. Why not have the AG direct #Brittdove ? #AlexMurdaughTrial #AlexMurdaugh #Audio #SouthCarolina pic.twitter.com/UpIFjWL7hp
— Lee Charley (@RichRichcharley) February 1, 2023
NEW: Here's the Snapchat video the prosecution played for the jury earlier today. Lt. Dove testified this was taken around 8:44p by Paul on June 7, 2021. Three voices can be heard. The state says this video places Alex Murdaugh at the dog kennel minutes before the murders. @WSPA7 pic.twitter.com/d50jm7B5NE
— Jason Raven (@JasonRaven_) February 1, 2023
At around 8:45 pm that night, Paul, Alex’s dead 22-year-old son, made the 50-second video for his friend Rogan Gibson at the kennels. According to the prosecutor, it was just five minutes before he was shot twice with a shotgun.
Paul had just called Gibson to express his concerns over Gibson’s dog, Cash, who was temporarily staying in the Murdaugh kennels. Paul planned to send a video, which is what he actually did when the poor mobile service in the remote location prevented him from making a proper FaceTime call. He wanted to show the dog’s tail to Gibson.
However, the crucial thing in the trial is the voices of Paul, Maggie, and, according to the prosecution, Alex.
According to Lt. Britt Dove, a cellphone forensics expert with the SLED (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division), “you hear three different voices in the video.” You can tell they are separate voices because of how different they sound. One of the voices was of Alex.
The Snapchat Video Was Repeatedly Played At The Court
The trial got underway with a Snapchat video reveal. It was taken by his son Paul, almost an hour before of murder. As per his confession, he was not present when his wife and kid were killed.
The video was confirmed by the Snapchat employee: “Is the video we just talked about included in the Snapchat search warrant return?” and she replied “yes”. Another question which was asked by him, “That you just gave testimony about was sent at 7:56 p.m. and posted at 7:39 p.m.”
Before more discussion of Alex’s phone records in the afternoon, the jury was dismissed for a hearing on financial offences.
According to Dylan Hightower, an investigator with the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, “On June 7, I only noticed two FaceTime calls on the phone extraction, and I observed a sequence of roughly 73 phone calls on the Verizon detail record.”
The investigator conducted a cursory examination of Murdaugh’s phone, which he claims produced radically different findings than the data from the mobile provider. The briefing held by law enforcement officers the morning following the murders was the main topic of the defence’s questioning of the same witness.
The defence attorney, Dick Harpootlian, said, “So, someone was at large at that point as far as you were concerned, even two people or one with two guns.”
“Ideally, yes sir.”
“Ok. During your briefing, did any of those agents mention that they thought there was someone on the loose who presented a threat to the neighbourhood? How much of that did you hear?
“I don’t think so”.
The next witness was Senior Special Agent Katie McCallister of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, who had searched the Murdaugh residence the evening following the killings.
“You’re telling this jury that you didn’t see any signs of tissue, blood, or anything else that may suggest someone had taken a shower, washed off, bathed, or otherwise attempted to erase evidence of a crime. Are you expressing that to them?
McCallister responded, “Absolutely, sir, there was nothing evident to me.”
Lt. David Britton Dove, a supervisor in the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s computer crimes unit, continued his testimony in court on Wednesday. He testified that he removed all forensics from Paul Murdaugh’s phone, who is 22 years old, as well as from Alex Murdaugh’s and his wife Maggie’s phones.
Dove testified that the video, which was a little under a minute long, was captured on Paul’s phone beginning at 8:44 p.m. the night of the murders. The footage was the only image or video Dove found on the phones of the three people, he claimed, adding to the court’s knowledge that it looked to have been taken nearby the Murdaugh family’s kennels.