Guns seized at crime scene shown to Murdaugh murder trial jury
The jury at Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial got a look at several firearms that were seized from the “gun room” of Murdaugh’s country estate shortly after the disbarred attorney’s wife and son were shot to death.
Among those weapons seized were a .12-gauge shotgun and an AR-style rifle, the same models as those that killed Paul and Maggie Murdaugh on the night of June 7, 2021, at the family’s Colleton County estate.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin repeatedly objected Monday to the guns being entered into evidence at the Colleton County Courthouse, saying there is no evidence tying the guns seized at the house to Paul and Maggie’s murders.
But Judge Clifton Newman overruled those objections, with prosecutor Creighton Waters stating the guns are a key piece of the state’s evidence that Murdaugh killed his wife and son.
“These guns were tested, and later we will have expert an testify to how they were tested, so admitting these guns into evidence is very relevant,” Waters said.
Just outside the room at the Murdaughs’ Moselle property, State Law Enforcement Division agent Jeff Croft told the court he found weathered casings identical to those rounds fired from the weapon that killed Maggie on the other side of the property.
“I saw spent casing that appeared to be weathered like it had been there for some time,” Croft said.
How Murdaugh’s guns play into the murder case
Last week, before Murdaugh’s murder trial got underway in Walterboro, the state presented evidence from SLED expert Paul Greer that markings on fired .300 blackout cartridges found at Moselle matched markings on the spent casings from the gun that shot and killed 52-year-old Maggie, moments after a shotgun took the life of her 22-year-old son Paul.
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It is the only connection so far established between a gun located at the house and the killings. Prosecutors told the court that state investigators have not located the murder weapon, but Waters has said they believe the weapon is an AR-style rifle previously purchased by Murdaugh, which they have been unable to locate since the killings.
Murdaugh’s defense team have disputed that the markings can be conclusively matched to a specific weapon, and have also pointed out that a similar rifle Murdaugh bought for Paul had been stolen out of Paul’s truck years earlier.
All that argumentation took place before a jury in the case had been seated. Prosecutors called Greer to testify to overcome a defense objection and have the ballistics evidence admitted.
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Murdaugh has told investigators that he left the house around the time the murders are believed to have been committed at 8:50 p.m. to visit his ailing mother, who has Alzheimer’s, and that he discovered the bodies when he returned. But prosecutors allege he killed them himself as part of a scheme to divert attention from financial dealings that had come under scrutiny, which ultimately led to Murdaugh being fired from the law firm founded by his great-grandfather and his arrest on a variety of fraud charges, which are still outstanding.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
