The witnesses or data don’t lie, imo.
Throughout the trial, the prosecution asked witnesses, including friends and relatives of the Murdaughs, whom they heard speaking, and every person identified the voices as belonging to Paul, Margaret and Alex.
In interviews with investigators just after the killings and about two months later, Murdaugh denied having been at the dog kennels. Instead, he said that the last time he saw his family was earlier in the evening at dinner and that he then took a short nap and left to visit his ailing mother, who has Alzheimer's disease.
State Law Enforcement Division agent David Owen, the lead investigator, testified Wednesday that there were too many inconsistencies in what Murdaugh had told them over time and that the apparent use of family firearms in the killings — based on shell casings at the scene — and a lack of DNA to point to other suspects helped pinpoint Murdaugh as the only credible lead.
On Friday, the state's final witness, State Law Enforcement Division special agent Peter Rudofski, reconstructed the evening of the murders using cellphone data extracted from the phones of Murdaugh, his wife and son, and GPS data from Murdaugh's Chevrolet Suburban to suggest his movements became quick around the time of the killings.
Murdaugh began walking at a fast pace at 9:02 p.m., according to the data. Then five minutes later, he drove to his mother's house about 15 miles away, stayed for roughly 20 minutes and then returned home at 10 p.m. During the drive to and from his mother's house, he reached speeds that far exceeded the 55 mph limit, Rudofski testified.
Without a confession, eyewitnesses or fingerprints directly linking Murdaugh to the fatal shootings, the defense will look to sow doubt that he murdered his family in 2021.
www.nbcnews.com
