The state has called its 10th witness, special agent Jeff Croft. Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters is questioning him. He responded to the crime scene the morning after the slayings.
Croft testifies he spoke with Rogan Gibson, one of Paul's friends, the morning after the slayings. He viewed and took photos of communications Gibson had received from Paul the night before. Waters puts them on the screen. We can't see them.
Croft testifies Paul called Gibson at 8:40 p.m. that evening and they spoke for 4 minutes. Then Paul called Gibson again at 8:44 p.m. Then at 8:59 p.m., Gibson texted Paul asking him to send a picture of a dog. No response.
Gibson called Paul five times over more than an hour. 9:10 p.m., 9:29 p.m., 9:42 p.m., 9:57 p.m., 10:08 p.m. At 9:58 p.m., Rogan texted Paul: “Yo.” Rogan also texted Maggie Murdaugh at 9:34 p.m. asking her to have Paul call him.
Rogan Gibson also had missed calls from Alex Murdaugh at 10:21 p.m., 10:24 p.m., 10:25 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., Croft testified.
State prosecutor Creighton Waters seems like he is about to introduce the jury to something the rest of us learned just before trial - that spent .300 Blackout shell casings found all over the Moselle property matched casings found near Maggie's body.
Croft testifies he entered the Moselle main house and searched the first-floor gun room. Outside the exterior door of that gun room, Croft says he found older spent .300 Blackout casings.
Croft testifies Alex Murdaugh's former law partners Lee Cope, Mark Ball and Ronnie Crosby were at Moselle as investigators searched the property on the day after the 6/7/21 slayings.
Croft testifies he found one gun on the Moselle property (Buster's .300 Blackout rifle) that could shoot .300 Blackout rounds. No others. It was in the gun room.
Croft testifies about finding an empty ammo box in the Moselle gun room that was labeled as 147-grain .300 Blackout rounds. 147-grain is a measure of the weight of those bullets. Bullets of the same caliber can still have different weights, Croft testified.
Croft testifies Bamberg attorney Chris Wilson, Murdaugh's friend whom he called on the night of the slayings, was in the gun room with the three PMPED attorneys at some point during SLED's search on the day after the killings. Murdaugh's brother, John Marvin, was there too.
State prosecutor Crieghton Waters seems to be in a very good mood. He overcomes Murdaugh attorney Jim Griffin's objection to showing a .300 Blackout rifle to the jury. In a chipper voice, he continues, "Let's see what else is in this box" before dumping out a magazine.
The latter part felt like an episode of Blue's Clues.
Apologies for the photo quality, but here’s Waters handling the .300 Blackout rifle
Waters and Croft now showing a 12-gauge shotgun that was seized from Moselle. Griffin objects, says a lot of weapons were seized from Moselle, wonders how this is relevant. Judge Newman overrules the objection.
I imagine he is about to make the case that Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were killed with Murdaugh family weapons and Murdaugh family ammunition.
Griffin again objects as Waters presents a parade of guns seized from Moselle. “There’s no evidence linking these guns to the crime." Waters: "It is very important to show the extensiveness of the investigation,” including all the testing SLED did with the seized guns.
Judge Newman again sides with Waters, who continues to unbox shotgun after shotgun.
As
@jocgrz
points out, prosecutors are showing jurors that the Murdaughs kept loaded firearms in their gun room.
As this testimony slows to a crawl, lunch weighs heavily on the mind.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters continues to inject some levity into his questioning. Presents body cam video of Croft digging through a trash can on the Moselle property on 6/8/21. Waters: “Is that a fun job?” Croft: “It’s not. Has to be done.”
Among Croft's findings in a trash can down by a shed on the Moselle property: Several empty 12-gauge ammo cases and a Gucci receipt on which someone had circled a $1,021.10 expenditure.
The plot thickens.
Waters presents the receipt to Croft. It's in a plastic bag.
Waters says he has a good bit of ground still to cover with Croft. Newman orders a break for the jury - sends them on their way.
With the jury gone, Murdaugh attorney Jim Griffin again objects to the Moselle weapons themselves being presented in court. The parade of "weapon after weapon" before the jury is "unfairly prejudicial," Griffin says.
Waters again argues that the defense has questioned the sufficiency/legitimacy of the state's investigation and presenting these guns is necessary to prove the extent of the state's testing. He says they are not prejudicial. Newman again sides with prosecutors.
We have now broken for lunch for at least an hour. (I didn't catch the exact time).
I am curious about who spent more than $1K at Gucci, what they spent it on, who circled that transaction on the receipt, and why prosecutor Creighton Waters thought that was relevant to this case. In the news business, we call what Waters just did there a "curiosity gap."
