The Fall of the House of Murdaugh (2023) s01e02 Episode Script

1
[man in crowd] alex,
alex murdaugh,
Why did you kill your wife
and your son?
[martha] for 29 days,
And the small town of
walterboro by storm.
- You know where we're going?
- No, that's what
I'm asking you.
- People from all over
have been flocking here
To the colleton
county courthouse.
- People would line
up 5:30 in the morning
To come into the courtroom.
- People were watching the trial
To see if alex was capable
of murdering his son
And also his wife.
[martha] for the first time,
Alex murdaugh shares his
thoughts on the trial.
- And alex's only
living child, buster,
Tells his side of this story
in an exclusive interview.
Did you ever go there and say,
"maybe it's possible
that he did this?"
- No,
Because I think that I hold
a very unique perspective
That nobody else in
that courtroom ever held
And I know the love
that I have witnessed.
[suspenseful music]
- On June 7th, 2021,
Maggie murdaugh and
paul murdaugh were brutally
And maliciously murdered
by alex murdaugh.
- A trial like that is a
combination of science,
And acting, theater,
And you've got
actors on the stage
And they're all
playing their part.
- Did you make a written
note of him saying that?
- The state, we're in the
construction business.
Can a six-foot-four person
And a five-foot-four person
still shoot the same angle,
Just at different distances?
- Absolutely.
- The defense, they're in
the demolition business.
- There were multiple tire
tracks coming and going.
What did you do
to preserve those?
- Nothing.
- None of this evidence
Would've met the
minimum requirements
With the typical
csi forensic show.
- This is the 300
blackout rifle.
- It was the totality
of the evidence
And how it basically worked
together like sheet music.
- Can you point
out alex murdaugh,
The person whose voice you
recognized in this video
In this courtroom, please.
- Sitting right
in a gray jacket.
- There was a gasp
in the gallery.
Everybody was gathered around,
Trying to argue about
what they heard.
- They may not have
had a smoking gun
But they did have a
smoking cell phone video.
- It was as if hollywood
came up at the last minute
With the plot twist that
who ever would've imagined
That that existed?
[dramatic music]
♪
[gentle music]
- Would you say you think
the police didn't do the job?
- There's an awful
lot of pressure
On a law enforcement entity
to come up with a suspect.
- You said that you thought
they rushed to judgment
Because the person
who found the bodies
Was the easiest
person to charge.
Why would they wanna
do that to your dad?
- Well, I think it's one
of those things where
You have to do something
and I think that it was,
And that's the
option in the route
That they decided to go with.
My biggest thing that I
want people to realize,
That there are always
two sides of the story.
Now, they can pick which
one they wanna believe
But I think there's
a heck of a lot
That still needs to be answered
About what happened
on June the 7th.
[suspenseful music]
[martha] three days after the
murders of maggie and paul,
Two south carolina
law enforcement agents
Interrogate alex
With his attorney,
jim griffin present.
One of those agents,
jeff croft,
Makes a striking statement
about that interrogation
While on the stand.
- Special agent croft,
When you asked the defendant
about the traumatic picture
That he saw of paul and maggie,
What did he say?
- I did him so bad.
- I did him so bad?
- Yes, sir.
- I was in the car with alex
When he was being
interviewed on the 10th,
And if he had said,
"I did him so bad,"
I would've jumped up and said,
"what the hell are
you talking about?"
- You definitely saw
a traumatic picture
And sitting there
talking today is tough.
- It was just so bad,
They did him so bad.
[courtroom chatter]
- There was a gasp
in the gallery.
Shortly after that,
we took a break.
Everybody was gathered around,
Trying to argue about
what that meant.
- When we left the
courtroom that day,
It was a classic perry mason
type moment
Where the state
threw that out there
For everyone to think about
Until the next session of court.
It's a bell that's
already been rung
And you can't un-ring it,
And the jury's already heard it.
[suspenseful music]
[martha] during his
trial for the murder
Of his wife and son,
Alex murdaugh says
he kept a journal.
He recorded excerpts from
it for this documentary.
- That night before
the cross-examination
Of agent croft,
we were in our compound.
Thankfully, we had that video.
You got it turned up?
We had a good it guy.
[croft] you definitely
[alex recording] So bad,
they did him so bad.
[alex] they did him so bad.
[sobbing]
- I think it's pretty
obvious that he said,
"they did him so bad,"
But it's very difficult
to gauge a jury's reaction
To evidence.
I've been trying cases
for 33 years
And I have yet to
perfect the art
Of interpreting a
juror's thoughts.
[ambient music]
- We have our witness back,
cross-examination.
- Thank you, your honor.
- Mr. Griffin.
- Good morning, agent croft.
- Good morning, sir.
- The exhilaration of a trial is
It's three-dimensional chess.
- Now from the video,
It appears you're back
there taking some notes.
[agent croft] yes, sir.
- Did you take notes?
- I made a mental note on it.
- Did you make a written
note of him saying that?
- I don't recall if I
wrote it or not, sir.
- So, it's possible that
you're sitting there
With a guy who's now
been charged with murder
On June 10th,
In the interview,
the father says,
"I did him so bad,"
And you can't tell the
jury you even wrote it down
On a piece of paper.
- I don't recall if I actually
made a physical note of it
Or not, sir.
- I'm gonna play that clip
from state's exhibit 243
Which is in evidence.
- The defense on
cross-examination played it
At one third speed,
slowed it down.
[alex slow motion]
it's just so bad,
They did him so bad.
[background chatter]
- Did you hear "they" then?
- No, sir, I did not.
- I hear, "I did him so bad."
- They did him so bad.
- And I've slowed it down
and I still hear,
I did it -- I did him so bad.
Um
I don't know.
- I continued to hear "they."
- I heard "they"
- The first time I heard it,
I was pretty sure he said "I,"
But then later,
I went back and listened
to my recording of it
And slowed it down and it
sounded like he said "they."
- It was just so bad,
they did him so bad.
- It was kinda like
those memes, you know,
Where you, you know,
You look at it one way
and then all of a sudden,
Your brain flips over and
you look at it the other way.
I went back and listened to
it and listen to it again
And I couldn't say that
that's not what it said,
But ultimately, this
man was in the car
Listening to what he
had to say and he said,
"that's what I heard."
- I think there's extreme
confirmation bias about this.
I think if you believe
alex murdaugh did it,
You heard "I."
If you believe that
alex murdaugh didn't do it,
Then you heard "they."
- It was such a weird
moment in the courtroom.
It doesn't make a lot of sense
Because if the investigator
is saying that he said,
"I did him so bad,"
Then why wouldn't it
be case closed?
Why wouldn't they have
arrested him then?
[martha] but it isn't just
what the jury's hearing,
It's also what they're seeing
from the night of the murders.
[sirens wailing]
- I remember we approach the
main entrance to moselle.
We can see all the police cars
And the lights shining
through the trees.
[dramatic music]
- I can't even imagine
you get to your home
Where your family lives and
you've spent all this time
And it's crawling
with law enforcement.
Did you go over to
the kennels at all?
- No, I did not.
People did tell me
not to go down there.
The crime scene had been cut off
And they sent everybody, sent
everybody over to the house.
- And what'd you
say to your dad?
- I didn't say
anything to my father.
I walked inside and I saw him
and it was utter silence.
It was a big embrace.
He immediately
broke down crying.
I started crying and
that was what that was.
I mean, it's difficult to relive
these tough circumstances.
[somber music]
- Witnesses took the stand today
To talk about their
involvement in the case.
I have been a reporter and
anchor in south carolina
Since August of 2014,
So this is a very prominent
case for south carolina.
We have been covering
it for years.
We started with the
first investigator
Who arrived to the
scene at moselle
And he was wearing a
camera on his uniform.
[sirens wailing]
[gps] in a quarter mile,
arrive at 4147 moselle road.
- Sergeant greene, this is
your body cam video.
Is that correct?
- That's correct.
- Your honor, permission
to publish this exhibit
To the jury.
There are graphic images on this
So everybody needs to
cover the monitors please.
At this time, I'm gonna fast
forward it until he arrives,
I believe, without
objection from the defense.
- Without objection, your honor.
[film distorting]
[siren wailing]
Right there to the
left of the screen,
What did you see right there?
- To the left was paul's body.
He was laying face
down on the ground,
Large pool of blood around him.
[suspenseful music]
- Well, let's keep going.
[suspenseful music]
What are we seeing to
the right of this image?
- So, on the right
would be maggie's body
Also laying face
down on the ground,
A large pool of blood
around her head.
[suspenseful music]
- What's happening to you
While this is being
relayed to you?
- Ah, it's very sad.
It's a void in my heart that
I will never be able to fill.
[soft somber music]
- This crime was just so
brutal and also so personal
And whether or not
you saw the photos
The way the jury had to,
We know that paul's brains
were down by his feet.
- And we know that
maggie was shot,
You know, execution-style,
You know, in the back.
- We see an individual standing.
Who is that?
- The individual standing
in the background
Would be mr. Murdaugh.
- The person you previously
identified in this courtroom?
- That's correct.
- Did you ever see him
approach the bodies?
- I did not see him
approach them, no.
- Did you observe any
visible blood on him?
- There was no blood on
him that I could see.
- I'm a parent to two children
And if my spouse and one
of my children is found
In a horrific state like that,
I would've been covered in blood
from head to toe, you know,
Taking them and holding them.
That didn't happen here.
- There was a lot of
evidence suggesting
That the family had
a close relationship
And alex and paul had
a close relationship,
And just the idea of a
parent killing their child,
It was just a very dark
and unusual occurrence.
To believe the
prosecution's case,
You really had to put your mind
into this very dark headspace.
- Okay, let's talk a little bit
about crime scene processing.
Can you play that forth please?
- Everybody recognized that,
Given the significance
of this family,
That colleton wanted
to bring sled in.
Sled is the state law
enforcement division.
They are essentially
the state police.
They do forensic testing
for many agencies
Throughout the state,
But they're also called
into work complex cases.
[martha] but before
sled arrives,
For almost an hour and a half,
The crime scene is in the hands
Of the colleton county's
sheriff's office.
- Part of the defense strategy
was clearly to cast doubts
About the quality of
the investigative work
When the local police arrived.
- Let's talk about that sheet
that was on paul's body.
Tell us, would you use
a sheet to cover a body?
- I'd probably use
a tarp of some sort.
- Something that's
not absorbent.
- Correct.
Or other materials
that may be loose
Could be picked up,
Especially when it
becomes moist, all right.
It now becomes like a sponge
And actually picks things up
and takes it away.
You don't know it's not there.
- If I'm the defense,
You have to turn people's
attention everywhere
From where it's supposed to be.
We're in the
construction business,
They're in the
demolition business.
That's basically what
we do for a living.
We build cases.
Their job is to tear cases down
So that we can't
get over the hurdle
Of beyond a reasonable doubt.
- We have two dead family
members in a very grizzly scene
And we have a living
family member present
And other family
members arriving
And so in that situation,
common decency sort of wins out
And they were going to cover
those bodies with a sheet,
And nothing about
that has indicated
That any sort of evidence that
would've been of significance
Was compromised.
- I mean, it's totally false.
They did not process
the scene that night,
Clearly under any standards
that are recognized
By forensic experts.
You can see that officer has
two feet inside the feed room.
- Yes, sir.
- Did you notice any protective
covering on their feet?
- No, sir.
- No booties?
- Correct.
- What, if anything under the
procedures you understand,
Is the purpose of those?
- So that they don't
contaminate the scene
And also the scene
doesn't contaminate them.
- I mean, the integrity
of the crime scene,
There was no integrity.
The police have totally
ignored evidence.
- And footprints.
We found out later on,
One of those bloody
footprints was the police.
- If I was at the original
crime scene at moselle,
I would've protested
And got everyone out
of that crime scene
That didn't need to be there,
But the officers that
responded to moselle,
They had the cards
stacked against them
Before they got there.
You're talking about
a prominent family,
If not, the most prominent
family in this area.
You're talking about a large,
large area of real estate
And they did a great job with
the hand they were dealt.
[martha] the defense
doesn't just highlight
One or two issues,
They point to a litany
Of seemingly
questionable police work.
- In your notes, you indicated,
It was the fire chief I believe,
Pointed out to you tire tracks.
The fire chief said you
need to preserve those.
There's fresh tire
tracks back here
And then cars drove over them.
They were obliterated
in a matter of minutes.
- There were multiple tire
tracks coming and going.
What did you do
to preserve those?
- Nothing.
- Did you take
pictures of the tracks?
- I did not take any
pictures of the scene.
It's not part of
my job description.
- It's possible.
- Those tire tracks,
If they could be matched to
another vehicle, were lost,
And as a result, you
couldn't determine whether
Or not a third party been there.
- I've never seen a
perfect crime scene.
I've never gotten in a
vehicle to leave a crime scene
And said, "man, I did
everything perfect,"
Because there's too many
things happening around you.
There's too many different
spokes on that wheel.
- We believe sled came in
And they disregarded every
other potential suspect
Beginning that night
because at that point,
They were sure that
the husband did it.
- Defense's theory
wanted to assert,
Alex was the only person
that they looked at
And they never
looked anywhere else.
That is entirely untrue.
- Sled came in and
they immediately
Started verifying alibis
For all the people that were
involved in the boat case.
Sled really focused on
trying to identify anyone
And everyone who could
have had contact with them
Or who could have
been on that property
During the relevant time
period and excluding them.
- Anytime that we got
a tip or a lead,
No matter how ridiculous or
tenuous it was, it was pursued,
And hundreds of man
hours were spent
Pursuing leads
that never amounted
Or materialized into
anything important.
- The defense is always
going to challenge
The sufficiency of the evidence.
They're gonna
challenge the manner
In which the evidence
was collected,
But none of that precluded
any significant evidence
From being gathered.
- I was the first out-of-state
reporter to go down there
A week after the murders and
went to moselle and I thought,
Isn't this strange,
there's no crime tape,
There's no barrier.
There are two entrances to
moselle and they were wide open.
It looked to me then suspicious,
And we know now that the
crime scene at the time
Was completely mishandled.
They were letting alex
murdaugh's brothers
Come in there.
All sorts of people were
walking into that place,
Onto the crime scene and
they weren't prepared
For the world scrutiny
And that's what they got.
[martha] you decided to attend
the trial every single day.
Why?
- How grueling was that for you?
- It was incredibly grueling.
I mean, every anxious
negative emotion
Is going through my
mind at this point.
I'm trying to take it in.
I'm trying not to break down,
Trying to hold
composure and it's,
I mean, it's an
absolutely excruciatingly
Difficult experience.
[ominous music]
[sirens wailing]
- First thing that the
Colony county sheriff's
department did was get
A search warrant
for the whole property.
- The night of the murders,
They never searched the moselle
house for murder weapons.
They never searched outside
the moselle, you know,
On the track of land
for murder weapons.
They knew he went to
his mother's house
The night of the murders
And why they did
not go to alameda,
Which is where his mother lived
And search for weapons
And search the house
is beyond me.
[birds chirping]
[martha] because the
murder weapons aren't found
That night at the crime scene,
Sled special agent jeff croft
Searches the
murdaugh's main house
At moselle the next morning.
- I went to the residence
to secure any firearms
Or ammunition,
Spent shell casings
of that nature
That would be
potentially compared to
Or similar nature to
what was at the scene.
How you doing, sir?
- There was a lot of discussion
About the guns being everywhere.
- Mm-hmm.
- A lot of people across
the country watched that
And they think that's unusual.
- Yeah, no.
Well, I can understand how
someone can perceive it
As unusual.
- All right, let's
go shoot this one.
- We obviously grew up with
a love for the outdoors,
Love for hunting.
[gunshots]
And I think everybody's seen
the video of the gun room
With the big gun cabinet
where everything is.
- And they're loaded
and ready to go?
- Normally, unloaded
would always be the key.
You know, our father
from a very early age,
Taught us gun safety and to
not really just be leaving
A bunch of loaded
weapons around,
But sure, absolutely
there are times when,
You know, you forget about
it and they stay loaded
And you forget to unload 'em.
[suspenseful music]
- From the house at moselle,
Sled agents collect an
ar 15 300 blackout rifle
And several 12-gauge shotguns.
These are all the same
types of weapons used
To kill maggie and paul.
- I'm gonna have you
take a look at that
And see if you recognize that.
Go ahead and pull it out.
Just make sure not to
point it at the jury.
What is that item right there?
- This is the 300 blackout
rifle which I secured
From the gun wall.
- All right, lemme see it.
Now your honor, at this time,
We would move state's
exhibit 84 into evidence.
- Your honor, I object
on relevancy grounds.
There's no evidence that
this gun was the gun.
I mean, it's just not relevant.
It was found in the house.
- 'cause it ain't the gun.
- Thank you, your honor.
- Your honor, I would
put some further argument
In the record in that the guns
Had been tested ballistically.
The test excluded the
guns as murder weapons
And as a result, they're
just not relevant.
- These guns were
around the crime scene.
Issues have been raised
regarding multiple guns
And that's the basis
for the court's order
With regard to
admitting that evidence.
- We believe the judge erred,
with all due respect.
The truth of the matter is,
There was no smoke
coming out of that gun.
There was, well
maybe it was just,
Maybe this is too cute,
smoke and mirrors.
[chuckles]
- Within the first two days,
we had six firearms introduced
That by the prosecution's
own admission,
Had not one thing to
do with the murder.
- All right, thank
you very much.
- I think it's difficult for
a prosecution to win a case
Without a murder weapon.
They never found the shotgun,
They never found the ar
But they were allowed to
put into evidence other guns
So they could flash guns
around the courtroom.
- Would it been nice to
recover those murder weapons?
Of course.
But if you know anything about
hampton and colleton county,
There's a body of
water every 15 feet.
It would be like finding a
needle in a stack of needles.
- While investigators never
find the actual murder weapons,
The prosecution has a theory
As to which weapons
killed maggie and paul.
- He did.
- What was the one
that he favored?
- That was a super black
eagle, original black shotgun.
- On top of that, sled took
all of the 12-gauges
In the house.
There was no super
black eagle one.
[martha] according
to the prosecution,
Not only is a 12-gauge
super black eagle missing
From the family's cache,
But also missing is paul's
ar 15 300 blackout rifle,
The same type of gun
that killed maggie.
There was a lot of
discussion obviously
About the 300 blackout rifles.
- We both got one for
christmas in 2016, I believe.
So, paul's got lost.
They went to a party,
It was left in a pickup truck
And then when they
left the party,
The gun was gone
and then, you know,
It was never seen again.
- And he got another one?
- Apparently.
So, I wasn't really
aware of that either
But after everything that's
been said and heard, then yeah,
It certainly seems like there
was another one purchased.
[martha] the prosecution
does not have
Paul's replacement
300 blackout rifle.
[martha] but they do have
five weathered shell casings
Found next to the house
that paul and a friend fired
From his replacement
gun several months prior
To the murders.
- It's not unusual to see some
shell casings laid around.
They accidentally got ejecting
shells out of the guns
And stuff they or their out
there just shooting skeet or
Might be some still laying
on the ground out there.
There ain't nobody
picked them up.
[martha] the state's firearms
examiner, agent paul greer,
Compares these
weathered shell casings
Linked to paul's 300 blackout
To the shell casings
that are found
At the kennels
around maggie's body.
- What were your findings
concerning those items?
- I was able to identify
that the cartridge cases
Of recovered items two
through seven near the body
Did have matching
mechanism marks
With several of
the cartridge cases
That were around the home
And several of those
in the shooting field.
[martha] the
prosecution argues
That these matching
mechanism marks
Indicate that paul's
replacement 300 blackout rifle
Is the weapon that
killed maggie.
- So, that was very significant.
It showed that a family weapon
had been used to murder her.
[ominous music]
- After listening to all of
the testimony by the state
From these experts,
I believed that the
weapons that were used
To kill maggie and paul were
these family-owned weapons
From moselle that are missing.
[martha] but
the defense rebuts
The prosecution's theory
about the murder weapons.
On cross-examination,
jim griffin questions
The reliability of the science
used to compare the shells.
- The national academy of
scientists issued a report
And was pretty critical of
the objectivity of your work.
- I'm aware of some of
the criticism, yes sir,
However,
The process of making
the identification
Is subjective in nature
But it's based on some objective
data that we're looking at.
[martha] and jim griffin
doesn't drop the argument
When he questioned
sled special agent owen
Who spoke with agent greer
about the shell casing findings.
- You were informed
though that forensically,
At the lab, they could not
say with 100% confirmation
That that they
did actually match
Until the missing
firearm is recovered.
Is that right?
Which firearm that came out of
Until he had a firearm
to compare it to.
- Thank you.
- The problem is,
there's millions of these
Blackout rifles so it wasn't
exactly an exact science.
I would call it
more a soft science,
What they were relying on.
- Paul's replacement blackout,
Do you think that's the gun
that killed your mother?
- I don't know.
I mean, obviously there's
the ballistic reports
And they seem to think that.
I don't have the ability
to contradict that,
So that's what the narrative is.
- I'm really not sure that
maggie and paul were killed
With family-owned weapons.
I really don't know and
there's no way to know
Because we don't
have the weapons.
If we had them, then that
doubt would be eliminated.
[suspenseful music]
- State your name
again for the record.
- Michelle shelley smith.
- When the state couldn't
come up with a murder weapon,
They tried to tie alex to a
controversial piece of evidence.
- What was your role as
a caregiver specifically
For the murdaugh's?
- Ms. Libby, taking
care of ms. Libby.
- Michelle shelley smith
was able to take care
Of alex's mother, libby,
for many years.
They trusted her.
She was a very kind woman.
[martha] months
after the murders,
Shelley tells a police officer
That a week after
the double-homicide,
Alex came by his mother's
home very early in the morning
Carrying something
out of the ordinary.
- What did he do after
he knocked on the door?
Did you let him in?
- Yes, he came inside.
- And did he have anything
or was he holding anything?
- A blue tarp, blue
something in his hand.
It was like a tarp that
could put on the car,
You keep your car covered up.
- Can you show me how
he was holding it?
- Like this.
- Is it alright if I touch you?
- Yeah, that's fine.
- How was he doing it?
- Like this.
- Holding something like this?
- Yes.
- Based on shelley's testimony,
They finally search the property
Where alex's parents
lived and it turns out,
There was a raincoat,
This blue raincoat that was
found wadded up in a closet.
- It's state's exhibit 226.
This is the raincoat
you collected from
That closet in alameda?
- Yes, ma'am.
- Yes, ma'am.
- When we found it,
It was balled up like this?
- That is correct.
- So, the prosecution argued
And they believed that blue tarp
Was in fact the blue raincoat
that shelley saw that night.
- How does a tarp suddenly
become a raincoat?
The only reason why the
raincoat became so important
Is because of what
they found inside it.
- Was there a lot of
gunshot primer residue
Inside of the jacket?
- I would say there were a
significant number of particles
Characteristic of
gunshot primer residue
On the inside of
this jacket, yes.
- How many did you determine?
- I confirmed 38 particles
characteristic.
- What we found inside the
blue raincoat was gsr
Or gunshot residue,
And so how does gunshot residue
get inside of a raincoat?
Yes, some hunter can
be wearing a raincoat
And gunshot residue gets on
the outside of the raincoat
'cause you're wearing it,
But how does gsr
get on the inside?
- These are people who are
living in rural south carolina.
They're living on farm
and hunting properties.
There's guns everywhere.
In south carolina.
[gunshots]
- You were shown a
picture of a rain jacket?
- Yes sir, I was.
- Okay, and had you ever seen
that rain jacket at the house?
- Not at moselle, no sir.
- Right.
- They were never able to tie
the blue raincoat to alex.
No family member said,
"oh yeah, that's
alex's raincoat."
In fact, no one knew
who owned this raincoat.
- How long had that
raincoat been there?
We don't know, so should
not have been allowed in,
Pure speculation.
That's not evidence.
- It's a really inexact science
And to be able to tie this to
alex was kind of a dicey move.
- We spent days
on a blue jacket,
Which could have
been a blue tarp,
But ultimately, there was
no blue tarp that mattered.
- I think that was just an
interesting piece of evidence
That would've given
someone the ability
To think this is probably
what he could have done,
But the existence or
non-existence of that raincoat
Doesn't prove his
guilt in my mind.
There's so much other
evidence out there.
[dramatic music]
[judge] your next witness.
- Go have a seat up there
on the witness stand.
- In addition to poking holes
And the job law enforcement did,
The defense brought
on several witnesses
That tried to say that it
was not physically possible
For alex murdaugh to have
committed these crimes.
- Based on your analysis,
Tell us how you get to a
height for the shooter.
- So, I looked at this
And whoever the shooter was
In whatever posture
they were in,
The shooter's hand is 16.2 to
27.6 inches above the ground,
So that's basically two
feet above the ground.
So, what I've been
showing you is a person
That's five foot two.
- The person's how tall?
- Five.
- The shooter's how tall?
- Five foot two.
- Could be someone a little tall
Or crouching down a little bit?
- Could be.
- The defense seemed to
be floundering at times
And one of their crazier
theories in my opinion
Was that because alex
is six foot four,
Presumably a tiny person
hanging out in the dog kennels
Killed his wife and son.
That seemed very
farfetched to me.
- And and this is all
trigonometry?
These are angles?
- It's just trigonometry.
- I think conclusively,
That whoever fired those shots
Was somebody shorter than
alex's, six-foot-four frame.
- Dr. Kinsey,
Can a person be on their
knee and get the same angle
And be standing and
get the same angle?
- Yes, sir.
- Can a six-foot-four person
And a five-foot-four person
still shoot the same angle,
Just at different distances?
- Absolutely.
- So, in your
professional opinion,
Can you exclude a six-foot-four
defendant like alex murdaugh
From shooting that
shotgun at that angle?
- Absolutely not.
[martha] the defense
not only attempts
To make it seem
physically implausible
For alex to have
committed the murders,
They have another theory of
what happened that night.
- Defense calls tim palmbach
to the stand, please.
- In this case, there were
many, many moments
Where the defense is trying
To create fact issues that
create reasonable doubt.
- Mr. Palmbach, do
you have an opinion
Whether there was
one or two shooters
Who murdered maggie and paul
on the night of June 7th?
- I do have an opinion on that.
- And what's your opinion?
- My opinion is the
totality of the evidence
Is more suggestive of
a two-shooter scenario.
- The state's theory is
that alex murdaugh
Killed his wife and son alone
And the defense's theory was
that there were two people
Who showed up there,
Probably in retaliation
from the boat case.
It couldn't have been alex,
It would've been two people
not part of the family,
Like two marauding bandits
as the state called them,
Two five-foot-two to
five-foot-four marauding bandits
Who knew where the family
guns were kept at the kennels
And knew when paul and
maggie would be down there.
- There is just, anybody
who deals with firearms,
A logical argument here.
If one of the weapons
is the blackout 300,
Well, that comes with a
high magazine capacity.
- There were two guns.
One was a high-powered
assault weapon
And the other was a shotgun,
And if there's one shooter,
Why are you carrying two guns?
You can get 20 to
30 rounds in there,
So why do you need a shotgun?
- The two-shooter
theory is inconceivable
Because two persons could
have carried out both
Of those murders a lot more
efficiently than what we saw,
A lot more organized
than what we saw.
- Casings were everywhere
because this was
Spontaneous.
[suspenseful music]
- If you believe
your dad's innocent,
Your mom and your brother's
killer is out there somewhere?
- That's what I believe.
- Would he get
someone else to do it?
- No, ma'am.
I don't think that he
could be affiliated
With endangering my
mother and brother.
I mean, that's
I mean, we've been
here for a while now
And that's been my stance.
- So, are you
fearful for your life
If you believe the killer
is still out there?
- Absolutely.
But yes, when I go
to bed at night,
I have a fear that there is
somebody else still out there.
[suspenseful music]
- We have what's
called the csi effect.
People, because of
watching those shows,
Are always coming with this idea
That there's always
some sort of magic piece
Of forensic evidence
in every case
And the reality is
that's not the truth,
And so as prosecutors,
We're constantly managing
expectations with jurors.
- This is all amazing technology
That most of us carry
around in our pockets.
This cell phone keeps
track of who we're calling,
Who we're texting,
whenever we access apps,
And every time you do that,
There's a record
kept in this phone,
And if you're
using certain apps,
You can even get
gps information,
Where you were
when you did that,
That's stored on these phones.
You're gonna hear
evidence about that.
What I wanted them to understand
Was that was the most
powerful forensic evidence
In this case.
- I'd go on record to say I
learned more about a cell phone
During the trial than
I ever wanted to know.
- So, maggie's phone
was found the next day
On the side of the road,
off of the moselle property
And it was used by
tracking her phone
And they finally found it.
Alex had maggie's
passcode to her phone,
So they were able
to easily open it up
And access the
phone call records.
- Paul's phone was
found on his body.
Alex murdaugh says
he touched the phone
And then he realized he
shouldn't be touching the phone,
So then he places the
phone on paul's backside.
Alex murdaugh did
not have the passcode
To get into paul's phone.
- There were multiple attempts
To try to get into
that particular phone.
It can be very, very difficult,
Particularly if you have to do
What's called brute
forcing a password.
Essentially, you start
a computer program
And it does 00001, 00002,
And it just keeps going
and that can take forever.
It eventually went to a
secret service individual
And tried a few things and
put in some seed numbers
And one of the things
that worked was a birthday
And the phone popped right open.
- From what I've heard,
Paul's cell phone
was like an extension
Of one of his arms.
He had it on him all the time,
Typical for, you know,
A kid 22 years old.
[martha] using
mobile phone data
From paul and maggie's phones,
The prosecution is able
to glean information
About their final moments.
- You're looking at the habits
of the two murdered victims.
You're looking at how they
operated in their life
With how quickly
they read texts,
How quickly they responded,
when they stopped.
- Sled special agent peter
rudofsky is called by the state
To put together a timeline
of the day of the murders
Based on this information.
- 8:49:01 is the last time
Before that that paul had
ever unlocked his phone?
- That is correct.
- And at 8:49:31,
What happens to maggie's
phone just seconds later?
- Maggie murdaugh's
phone locks forever.
- The prosecution believes
maggie and paul's time of death
Is right after their two
phones lock at 8:49 pm.
- When you look at how
we use our cell phones
And when you also, when you
look at a particular individual,
You see how they use
their cell phone,
That when you see a change,
A very significant
and abrupt change
In the way that those
phones are used,
I think that's very much
reasonable assessment
Of a time of death.
- What's the chance
that two people
That are on their cell phones
at this time consistently
On these days,
Now both of them
stopped at this time?
[martha] but not all experts
agree with the prosecution
Including farhad manjoo,
An opinion columnist for
the new york times
Who focuses on technology.
- I think that one of
the most interesting uses
Of technology here was
the prosecution's argument
That the time of
death was related
To when maggie and paul
stopped using their phones,
But there was evidence that
paul's battery was down to 2%.
I have stopped using my phone
before because it's at 2%
And I wanna preserve
the battery.
It's plausible that he just
decided the same thing.
They could have not looked
at their phones
And then died minutes
Up to an hour later.
You could be addicted
to your phone
But if you put it down
for a few minutes,
That doesn't tell you anything
about your physical state.
- Establishing a time of death
Was very important
for the prosecution
Because there was a video
on paul's cell phone
Which was taken at 8:44 pm
And then maggie and paul's phone
Stopped any sort of meaningful
activity at 8:49,
Which is when they're
contending the murders happened.
[alex] it was bad,
check the pulses.
- Alex from day one had always
said they had a family dinner
And then he took a nap
And that's when maggie and
paul went down to the kennels
And then when he was going
to visit his parents,
He tried to call her a few times
And that's when he left
and went to his mother's,
Stayed for about an hour,
Came back
And that's when he went
down to the kennels
And found the bodies.
- So, they left and went
down to the kennels.
- Well, maggie went
to go to the kennels.
- Okay, and paul left.
- And I'm assuming, you know,
I'm assuming paul left-
- Okay.
- Because of, you know,
- Gotcha.
- What happened.
I mean, I'm assuming paul-
- Yeah, yeah.
- Went to the kennels.
- Okay.
And what did you do once
maggie and paul left.
- I stayed in the house.
- He was adamant that he never
went down to the kennels.
- Earlier in the day
when you were
Down at the at shed in
the kennels with paul
And you didn't go back
down there after dinner
Until your return trip
from visiting your mother?
- Yes, sir.
- He never changed his story
Until that trial.
[judge] will you call
your next witness?
- Thank you, your honor,
we call rogan gibson.
- We met rogan really young.
We obviously played sports
together and against each other
And we just grew
really good friends
And then he actually
ended up moving
Right down the road from us,
So when we had our
four-wheelers and everything,
We could just drive down
and and hang out.
- Rogan, he would be
working out of town
And he can't take the dog
with him to take care of him.
[creighton] what's the
dog's name?
- Cash.
- What arrangements
did you make for cash
When you were
staying in beaufort?
- I would leave him at
the kennels at moselle.
- During the course of
that day, June 7th, 2021,
Did you have any
communications with paul?
- I did.
- Paul and rogan are
having a conversation
About an injury that
they believe occurred
To the dog's tail.
They're talking
about it on the phone
And rogan tells law enforcement
That he thought he heard
alex's voice in the background.
Alex denied that and
said he must be mistaken
Because in alex's story,
He was never down at
the kennels that night.
It was a story he stuck to all
the way up until the trial.
- You talked to paul and
what did y'all talk about?
What was he gonna do?
- He was gonna try
to facetime me.
He said, "you know how
the service is out here."
He said, "if I can't get
the facetime to go through,
I'll send you a video."
- Did you ever get that video?
- I did not.
- The snapchat video was never
sent to paul's friend, rogan.
It was forever only
on paul's phone.
[martha] paul's video
is recorded at 8:44 pm,
About five minutes before
the prosecution says
Paul and maggie are murdered.
[suspenseful music]
- Based on the metadata we know,
The video is made 8:44
Where paul is talking
about the dog's tail
And you can hear maggie
in the background
Talking about their dog.
- They've established that
paul's phone went dead
At 8:49,
So that's when they
think he was killed.
So presumably, he was murdered
just about five minutes
After this little
scene by the kennels.
- You recognize paul's voice?
- Yes, sir.
- Do you recognize
maggie's voice?
- Yes, sir.
- Do you recognize alex's voice?
- Yes, sir.
- A hundred percent?
[rogan] yes, sir.
- Can you point out
alex murdaugh,
The person whose voice you
recognize in this video
In this courtroom, please.
- Sitting right here
in a gray jacket.
- Please let the record reflect
He's identified the defendant.
Thank you mr. Gibson.
Nothing further.
- That was a crucial
piece of evidence
Because it proved something
that we already believed
To be true but couldn't
prove that alex was there
Literally several moments
Before they were
brutally murdered.
[maggie] hey, he's got a
bird in his mouth.
[alex] bubba.
[paul] hey, bubba.
[suspenseful music]
- So, the feeling
in the courtroom was
Absolute udder shock
When it came to the cell
phone video being played
For the first time.
- I was able to see the
expressions on people's faces
When it was played
And it was such an inaudible
gasp and a look of,
"aha, oh my goodness."
- It was like "bye bye alibi"
in just a heartbeat.
[alex] come here, bubba.
[paul] come here, cash.
[alex] come here, bubba.
[dramatic music]
♪
♪
♪