The Cross Examination

WALTERBORO, SC – The interrogation video with Alex Murdaugh and SLED Agent David Owen comes to an end. Prosecution completes their direct. It’s the defense’s turn to cross the witness.

Defense jumps right into SLED’s “Investigative Circle”, pointing out that the circle seemingly was a party of 1, Alex Murdaugh. Alex was in the circle from the moment he called 911. “No one had to give [them] any lead to put him in the circle.” They were unable to get him out of the circle. If someone is “unable to get themselves out of the circle, they end up where [Alex] is sitting today”. Agent Owen agrees with the statement, if there were evidence to keep them there. To which point, defense points out “SLED failed to take immediate steps to preserve evidence that could possible exclude Alex Murdaugh from that circle.”

From here, Defense goes on to take apart the video and investigation, pointing out the deficiencies. And, ultimately, putting into question the credibility of both the investigation and Agent Owen.

Search The Scene

Let us look at both the search of the Moselle property, and the search that investigators failed to do. The Moselle property was searched early morning of June 8, 2021, the day after the murders. There were no murder weapons found in the house or on the property. No trace evidence or blood was found in the house, including a search of the drains. If the murderer had cleaned up at the house, it’s logical to believe trace evidence or blood would be found in the house. No search of the Almeda property was done, despite Alex and his attorney giving carte blanche access to wherever investigators wanted to search.

Investigators failed to search the route taken by Alex from the Moselle property to the Almeda property on the evening of the murder. A search of both the route and the Almeda property had the ability to either remove Alex from the “investigative circle” or solidify his place in it, as pointed out by defense. If Alex had gotten rid of the murder weapons, it would have either been at Almeda or along the route.

The weapons used in the murders have not been found. Defense asked Agent Owen about this. “Whoever murdered Paul and Maggie would have, in their possession, an AR style assault weapon and a 12-gauge shot gun. “You agree, at the times of the murders [the murderers] would have those weapons?” To which Agent Owen responds, “Yes.” Alex had neither in his possession.

A search of the vehicle driven by Alex that night was performed. Detective Owen agreed that one would expect biological material and GSR to be on the murder weapons. Neither was found in the cargo area or any other part of the vehicle. The exception being 1 speck of GSR on the seatbelt buckle, 1 drip of blood on the seatbelt, and 1 drip of blood on the steering wheel. Also, there was no appearance of anything wet having been in the vehicle.

Was He a Suspect Or, Wasn’t He

Detective Owen explained that he did not do a proper search because Alex wasn’t a suspect that night. This is in contradiction to his earlier statement that Alex was being looked at from the time he called 911. He claimed that he needed to gain more evidence before confronting Alex. But they did search his home, including his drains.

Would they search the drains for blood and trace evidence of someone not considered a suspect? That’s what defense wants to know.

Detective Owen admits to having interviewed Rogan Gibson between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. the morning of June 8. Gibson told him he was 99% certain he heard Alex in the background during a phone call he had with Paul the prior night. Was this not enough to confront Alex or, at minimum, conduct a proper search of both properties and the route between the two? Detective Owen was in agreement that this was an “opportunity missed” to either clear Alex from the circle or find evidence pointing towards him.

The Blue Tarp, I Mean Rain Jacket

The evidence everyone is talking about, the rain jacket, also came into question. No blood or DNA was found on the rain jacket. Detective Owen agreed with defense that if the murder weapons had been wrapped in the jacket, one would expect to find at least DNA. There was GSR found on the rain jacket, but they cannot say when the GSR got on it. Witness Shelley Smith also indicated that it was a blue tarp, not a rain jacket, that Alex brought into his mother’s house the night of the murders and she saw lying on a chair. Detective Owen did not show Shelley Smith the jacket but rather a picture of it, and not until a month before the trial. Also, she was only asked if it was the same color.

The Clothing

Now we come to the clothing. Clothing of not only Alex but that of Paul and Maggie, as well. So much attention during the state’s case was given to the blue shirt, khaki pants, and tan shoes Alex had on in the tree video. Given how important they seem to be now, why didn’t investigators ever ask for them, or a search warrant obtained to look for them? Detective Owen agreed that Alex and attorneys had provided them with anything the agent had asked for. So, why not ask? Final not on the khakis, khaki pants were seen lying on the bathroom floor after the murder but were never seized.

That could be answered by looking at where the investigation was focused before now, the clothing Alex was wearing at the time of the 911 call. Investigators collected the t-shirt and shorts. Agent Owen testified about the t-shirt and shorts during the Colleton County grand jury trial. Testimony proven to be false. Agent Owen testified, in front of the grand jury, that multiple particles of blood splatter was found on the shoulder of Alex’s shirt. In fact, out of 74 cuttings of the t-shirt, no particles of blood were found. Blood was, however, found on Paul’s shorts bur no DNA testing was done on either Paul or Maggie’s clothing.

The Guns

The guns that killed Maggie and Paul were loaded with buck shot and bird shot ( or turkey load – both being used interchangeably in court). In the video interview with Alex, Detective Owen claims the gun Alex had on him the night of the murder, and other guns taken from the Moselle residence, were loaded with buck shot and bird shot. The guns taken from Moselle did not have buck shot and bird shot load.

Agent Owen claims this was trickery used legally in the conversation with Alex. While controversial, law enforcement is allowed to lie or use “trickery” during an investigation. The issue, as defense goes on to point out, is that Agent Owen also testified, under oath, to the grand jury that the guns taken from the property were loaded with “buck shot” and “turkey load”. Was the agent mistaken, or using “trickery” on the grand jury?

Final Thoughts

A few final takeaways from cross. One, there was no life insurance taken out on either Paul or Maggie. Two, the feed room where Paul was shot was never dusted for fingerprints. And three, Agent Owen told Alex that “no unknown DNA [was] taken from the crime scene.” Court testimony shows unidentified DNA was found under Maggie’s fingernails. Neither Maggie’s nor Paul’s clothing were tested for DNA, despite blood being found on Paul’s short.

In conclusion, both defense and Agent Owen are in agreement, a more “thorough search could have excluded Alex.”

About Post Author

jphiggs

joe@make-n-mod.com

https://truthanddeliberation.com

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