Read moreLive: Jurors in Alex Murdaugh's murder trial travel to Moselle, site of the slayings, On the final day of testimony in Alex Murdaugh's double-murder trial, state prosecutors and a crime scene expert worked to debunk theories his defense lawyers have floated in recent weeks to blame unknown assailants for the June 2021 slayings of his wife and son. Richard Alex Buster Murdaugh Jr., 26, is the oldest son of Alex and Maggie Murdaugh. Grace Beahm Alford/The Post and Courier/Pool, Judge Clifton Newman and his clerk take a break during the Alex Murdaugh trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. Meanwhile, apolice investigation is still underway and sources familiar with the case told FITSNewsthat a family member of the victims is a "person of interest" in ongoinginquiries, but they have not deemed any person a suspect in the murders at this time. 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Grace Beahm Alford/The Post and Courier/Pool, Prosecutor David Fernandez uses a tape measure as he questions Mike Sutton during Alex Murdaughs trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. jgrzeszczak@postandcourier.com, By Eric Russell Grace Beahm Alford/The Post and Courier/Pool, Defense attorney Phillip Barber talks with attorney Dick Harpootlian during the Alex Murdaugh trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. Crowds line up early outside of the Colleton County Courthouse waiting for a seat to watch the proceedings in the Alex Murdaugh trial at the in Walterboro, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. Murdaugh then allegedly went to the steering wheel and the boat accelerated "full throttle," according to testimony. Its another way to humanize the individual to show this is the environment they lived in. IE 11 is not supported. The victims were found with In June 2021, a statement from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) said the agency has opened an investigation into the death of Stephen Smith based upon information gathered during the course of the double murder investigation of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, Peoplereported. He has pleaded not guilty to these crimes, and during Buster's testimony it was said that his father was "heartbroken" and "destroyed" after the killings. He said that at the time of the killings, he was living in South Carolina with his longtime girlfriend, Brooklynn White. Buster Murdaugh. Stephen Smith Death Obituary: Stephen SmithCause Of Death. Your email address will not be published. Contact us at murdaugh@postandcourier.com. She graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1991, where she met her husband, Alex. But they were wrong. Where was Buster Murdaugh during the murders? By Karen Ruiz and Laura Collins, Chief Investigative Reporter, For Dailymail.Com, Published: 14:39 EST, 13 February 2023 | Updated: 18:12 EST, 13 February 2023. Charleston, SC 29403, News tips/online questions: newstips@postandcourier.com, Delivery/subscription questions: subserve@postandcourier.com, var html = new Date().getFullYear(); Instead, Alex Murdaughs surviving son took the witness stand and offered the defense a boost. He has really closed off and built walls around himself. Another childhood friend of Buster told the outlet, Buster is collateral damage to his fathers situation, says a friend who has known him since childhood. All six of the occupants were ejected from the boat. An emotional Buster Murdaugh visited his late mother Maggie and brother Paul's gravesites at Hampton Cemetery in South Carolina on Sunday, as his father's murder trial begins to wind down. The case has brought new scrutiny to three other deaths in the regionthat may be tied to the family, including a young man found dead along a road in 2015 and a fatal boat crash in 2019. Jocelyn Grzeszczak covers crime and public safety in the Charleston area. His answers helped diffuse some of the theories and suspicions prosecutors floated about his father over the double murder trials first four weeks. The defense on Tuesday also called its first expert witness, Mike Sutton, a forensics engineer, who introduced a theory that Murdaugh was too tall to be the shooter. Judge Clifton Newman allowed the visit and attended along with the lawyers. Grace Beahm Alford/The Post and Courier/Pool, Alex Murdaugh trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. Buster contended that his father instead said: "They did them so bad.". Simpson case were allowed to see a trophy room in his house where the former N.F.L. sentencing trial of the school shooter in Parkland, Fla. charged over the fatal Breonna Taylor raid, toured Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, among a minority of jurors who voted for the former, admitted from the witness stand last week. Joshua Boucher/Getty Images, If youre interested in learning more about the family, dont missMurdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandalon Netflix. Newsweek has contacted Alex Murdaugh's defense lawyer for comment. Call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) for free, confidential support. Will call you later. He was 81. Was there any violence in the family? Griffin asked. A life so beautifully lived deserves to be beautifully remembered. To plant trees in memory, please visit the. Article. Prosecutors have said that the call occurred after his wife and son were already dead and was an attempt to build an alibi. Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. I hope you can find peace and comfort in your memories and knowing there are many of us thinking of you and remembering Margaret and how she touched our lives. He has bags under his eyes and he just looks miserable. Grace Beahm Alford/The Post and Courier/Pool, Buster Murdaugh, the son of Alex Murdaugh testifies in his fathers trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. There were no suspects in the death of Stephen Smith and no one has been apprehended. Grace Beahm Alford/The Post and Courier/Pool, Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian uses the 300 Blackout in evidence as he questions Mike Sutton during the Alex Murdaugh trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. We had, as evidence, diagrams and photographs, Mr. Mathews said. Mr. Murdaugh admitted from the witness stand last week that he was at the dog kennels where the killings occurred with his wife and son in the minutes before the killings, but he said he drove a golf cart back to the main house before the shootings took place. Jurors have heard evidence about Mr. Murdaugh, 54, his familys legal influence in the region and the fatal shootings in June 2021 that left his wife, Maggie Griffin also questioned Buster about his fathers opioid addiction. You just cant really appreciate the spatial issues without actually seeing them, he said in court. In this daily update episode, hosts Jocelyn Grzeszczak and Eric Russell recap the testimony from Buster and others on day 21 of the trial. Grace Beahm Alford/The Post and Courier/Pool, Prosecutor David Fernandez uses a tape measure as he questions Mike Sutton during Alex Murdaughs trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. Fernandez was quick to elicit testimony that Murdaugh paid Suttons company $350 an hour for its work on his case, and that Sutton had already worked more than 40 hours. Much love and respect Maggie was always so kind and friendly to our family. Switch to the dark mode that's kinder on your eyes at night time. She always brought light to every room entered. His testimony bolstered some of the defense team's case. Alex Murdaugh, who is about 6-foot-4, would have had to be holding the weapon below his kneecap, Sutton said. Buster also said that his father called him a second time to inform him about the murders. Emotional Buster Murdaugh was seen honoring the victims in the horrific murder case that has riveted the country: his late mother Maggie and younger brother Paul, as his father's murder trial continues in South Carolina. Buster who has been named as a defense witness and his girlfriend have been seen attending trial proceedings together in recent weeks, and he could potentially take the stand when defense attorneys begin to argue their case. "He was heartbroken," Buster Murdaugh said, contrasting the prosecution's portrayal of his father as deceptive and conniving. The charges are related to the 2019 boating death of Mallory Beach, a 19-year-old woman who drowned after a boat Murdaugh was driving crashed into bridge pilings leading to Parris Island. Ted Cruz accuses AG Merrick Garland of ignoring threats to Supreme Court justices and crisis pregnancy centers in VERY heated Senate exchange, AG Garland says every prisoner 'deserves dignity' when asked if 'biological males' should be in female jails - as Republicans grill him on the Hunter Biden investigation, fentanyl deaths and rising crime, Dozens of DEMOCRATS side with Republicans to pass measure that would force Biden administration to audit executive orders to prevent more inflation and 'wasteful spending', Laura Collins, Chief Investigative Reporter, For Dailymail.Com, they were shot multiple times at the family's hunting estate, Do not sell or share my personal information. erussell@postandcourier.com, Understand Murdaugh: Cowboys, contraband and DNA evidence (Reader Mailbag), Live: Jurors in Alex Murdaugh's murder trial travel to Moselle, site of the slayings, Alex Murdaugh's prosecutors push back on 2-shooter theory in final day of testimony, Feb. 28: Prosecutors in Alex Murdaugh double murder trial question additional witnesses, The Berkeley Independent - Moncks Corner, SC, Alex Murdaugh indicted in double murder of wife, son, Attorney General's Office releases Alex Murdaugh's alleged motive in double murder case, Alex Murdaugh files formal alibi ahead of January double murder trial, Murdaugh prosecutors won't seek death penalty in January double-murder trial. 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