The defense calls its first witness, Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey.
He has been the coroner here for 30 years.
Harvey says he was notified 10:30 p.m. He arrived on scene at 11:04 p.m. He took photographs, including inside the feed room. He did that before SLED’s crime scene unit arrived, he said.
Harvey estimated Paul and Maggie’s time of death as 9 p.m. Harpootlian: How did you come to that? Harven: First thing I did, “I simply put my hands in their armpits to determine how warm they are.”
Harvey: “That was all I did initially because I knew SLED was coming.” He figured they had been dead between one to three hours.
Harvey: I normally carry a thermometer to take more exact measurements. But I didn’t do it that night. Harpootlian establishes that by Harvey’s estimation, the time of death could have been as early as 8 p.m. or as late as 10. 9 p.m. was a rough estimate.
It’s pretty clear why the state didn’t call Harvey as a witness. Veteran deputy assistant attorney general Don Zelenka is now cross-examining Harvey. Zelenka's first time speaking in this trial.
Harvey says thermometers aren’t necessarily accurate either, giving you different readings at different parts of the body. It had been raining.
Harpootlian wants to enter a
@postandcourier
article into evidence with that quote. This is part of the defense’s effort to show investigators viewed Murdaugh as their one and only suspect on the day after the slayings.
Prosecutors object to the entire 6/8/21
@postandcourier
article going into evidence. But they allow two paragraphs.
Both SLED and CCSO witnesses earlier in this trial claimed they had nothing to do with that quote getting released. It's the hot potato no one wants to own.
Tindal is catching the hot potato here, but she’s taking SLED down with her. Tindal: SLED and I discussed this over the phone and via email. But it did come from my email.
Tindal: SLED signed off on the statement, from what I understood, according to SLED’s spokesman at the time, Tommy Crosby. (He is no longer with SLED).
Tindal: When we put out an updated news release, a draft version of the document had the “no danger to the public” line. But SLED took that line out, though they never corrected the original statement.
Harpootlian: SLED took the line out of the updated release. But “did they say there is a danger to the public? They never said that, did they?” Tindal: “No, sir.”
On cross-examination from prosecutor John Meadors, Tindal says SLED and the sheriff's office issued a formal, letterhead statement without the "no danger to the public" line a few hours after an emailed statement to
@postandcourier
with the line included. Both 6/8/21.
Tindal is done. Harpootlian: The defense’s next witness is “extraordinarily lengthy.” He doesn’t want to start at 4:30 p.m. on a Friday knowing he can’t finish. The jury is excused.
We're calling it a day. So ends the fourth week of this three-week trial. We will be back at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday. (Monday is a holiday).
