Murdaugh trial recap: Videos reveal new details from the night of murders

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The fourth day of testimonies for the Murdaugh murder trial continued with more testimonies regarding the Murdaugh’s phone usage during the night of the murders.

FIRST WITNESS

Britt Dove with the South Carolina Enforcement Division (SLED) computer crimes center continued his testimony.

Dove testified that he was given Murduagh’s phone in September 2021 to examine.

Dove said he extracted the files from the phone and removed some of the files that contained private information about Murdaugh’s clients. However, he added that none of the calls from the phone’s log were deleted.

Maggie’s phone showed that she missed a call from Murdaugh at 9:06 p.m. on the night of the murders, but it was missing from the call log on Murdaugh’s phone. Dove testified that he got Murdaugh’s phone nearly three months after the shooting, and the call must have been deleted from it sometime before then.

Dove then moved on to Paul’s phone, saying a secret service agent was able to get into it in March 2022. Once unlocked, Dove said he extracted the data from it.

Dove stated that Paul was texting someone around 8:40 p.m. on the night of the murders and sent his last message at 8:48 p.m. The phone data also showed that no app usage or movement was detected on Paul’s phone after 8:49 p.m.

Next, Dove said a video was found on Paul’s phone that was recorded at 8:45 p.m. In the video, Paul is interacting with one of the dogs in the Kennels, and what sounds like three voices can be heard.

The defense then began to cross-examine Dove, and he told them that nothing in the phone data indicated that Maggie and Murdaugh’s phones were moving together on the night of the murders.

After further questioning about some of the data found on Maggie’s phone, Dove ended his testimony, and the court took a break.

SECOND WITNESS

Next, Sgt. Dathan Brian Varnadoe for Colleton County Sheriff’s Office took the stand. Varandoe said he responded to the Moselle property the night Maggie and Paul were killed.

Varandoe’s testimony was brief. He explained that he collected gunshot residue from Murdaugh’s hands at the scene and sent it in for testing.

THIRD WITNESS

The third person to testify was Rogan Gibson, Paul’s friend. Gibson told the court that he had known Paul since he was 11.

Gibson testified that they would hunt doves, quail, deer, hogs and turkeys around the Moselle property. He added that they would use a 300 Blackout rifle that he believed belonged to Buster.

According to Gibson, Paul’s .300 Blackout rifle got stolen at some point, but he wasn’t sure if they bought another one.

Gibson then moved on to the night of the murders, saying he had left his chocolate lab, Cash, at the Kennels because he was out of town. He explained that he asked Paul to send him a video of Cash because he thought something was wrong with the tail. The video Paul took for Gibson is believed to be the same one played in court earlier.

The court then replayed the video from the kennels, and Gibson testified that he was 100% sure he heard Alex’s voice in it.

Gibson also mentioned during his testimony that Paul recieved threats after the 2019 boat crash, but it was nothing he thought was really serious.

FOURTH WITNESS

The final witness to take the stand was Will Loving, another friend of Paul’s. Loving said he met Paul when he was 15 and Paul was 13.

Loving testified that earlier on the night of the murders, Paul sent him a Snapchat video of Murdaugh looking at a recently planted tree.

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Loving was also asked about the video from the kennels, and he said he was 100% sure the voices were Alex, Maggie and Paul’s.

Towards the end of the day, Loving described the relationship, Murdaugh

had with Maggie and Paul as “awesome.”

Judge Clifton Newton ended the day by adjourning until 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

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