WALTERBORO, SC – The brother of the defendant, John Marvin Murdaugh, took the stand today; the last witness before defense rested. He gave emotional testimony, that came across as credible.

John Marvin started by talking about his relationship with Paul, who he called “Little Rooster”. Paul would work summer for him at his business and they had a “special relationship”. He was the one that cleaned the kennels the day after the murders after seeing brain matter left behind. He did it “for Paul”.  “I couldn’t stop. I had to do it for Paul,” he told the jury. 

He then went on to talk about Alex’s relationship with his family. Calling Alex’s relationship with his sons, Alex and Paul, a “great relationship”. Giving an example of how Alex would never go hunting without him; he hadn’t since they were old enough to hunt. Alex and his wife, Maggie, also had a “good marriage”.

The night of the murders, he received a phone call from a “hysterical” Alex telling him about Paul and Maggie.  John Marvin arrived at Moselle around 11 p.m. and found a “broken” and “distraught” Alex.  “We didn’t talk. We just cried.

John Marvin was around during the days after the murders, assisting law enforcement when he could.  He was able to give further insight on the botched investigation. He was the one that found Maggie’s phone, after SLED dismissed him when trying to get them to look at the phone tracking app on Buster’s phone.  Law enforcement also never asked for consent, which he would have given them, to search Almeda.

During one interview, he is lied to by SLED about blood being found on Alex’s t-shirt. He spoke of being told that they had body cam footage showing that “Alex wiped his face on it” and that’s how they knew he was the one.

And, what did John Marvin hear on that now infamous kennels video? “They did him so bad.”

The most poignant of all the emotional testimony given by John Marvin was the promise made by the grieving uncle to his nephew, Paul, while cleaning the scene of the crime. He told Paul that he loved him, and he would find out who did this to him.  That’s when defense asked, “Have you found out?” He replied, “I have not.”

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Surviving Son of Alex Murdaugh Takes the Stand

WALTERBORO, SC – Richard Alexander “Buster” Murdaugh, Jr. took the stand on Tuesday in the case involving the murders of his mother, Maggie, and brother, Paul. Buster is the eldest son of the defendant, Alex Murdaugh.

After a long, holiday weekend court in Colleton County was back in session. Defense started the day with a peak into the Murdaugh family. Buster painted his family as loving and close as defense asked about things like growing up as the son of the defendant, the family – both immediate and extended, family get-togethers, and the phone calls on the day of the murders the state introduced. In all accounts, they were the all-American family, and Buster’s words seem to match those of other witnesses that had taken the stand before him; they were happy.

And when they did have disputes or disagreements, they handled them “like adults” and were “civil”; they talked about it. His father showed patience with him and his brother. They didn’t act with violence in their family.

As children, both Buster and Paul were into sports. Their parents made a point to attend all their games, with Alex coaching little league. Missing an event was a rare occurrence for the Murdaughs. He explained that his parents always made sure to call and explain to if they wouldn’t be able to attend.

The closeness of the family continued into his teen, and adult years, getting together for every holiday, weekends, and trips. This closeness extended to more than just the immediate family. Buster spoke of his grandparents Randolph “Handsome” (a nickname given by the grandkids) and Libby “M” Murdaugh, and Terry “Pappa T” and Kennedy Branstetter. His father, Alex and his father-in-law were close. Buster would spend a lot of time with his father and grandfather, doing things like playing golf. Holidays, trips, and weekends spent with both his paternal and maternal families.

The Days Before That Night

During the months of May and June of 2021, Handsome’s health was “not good”. It was cancer. His grandmother, M, had Alzheimer’s. His father would check on his parents regularly, Buster often coming along. Paul, also, made regular trips to his grandparent’s house. His mother, Maggie, would check on his grandparents but her visits were more sporadic.

There was fun during the weeks leading up to the tragic night, as well. A week prior to the murders, Memorial Day weekend, the family took time together with family and friends. A photo showed Buster with his mother and father on a boat, smiling. Defense then showed a video of a gathering and singing, celebrating Alex’s birthday. Maggie had made a birthday cake for her husband. And the defendant becomes noticeably emotion when younger son, Paul, comes into the frame.

That’s A Lot of Calls

All those phone calls and texts between the Murdaughs introduced by the state? Busters says, it’s “just the way we communicated”. He and his brother, Paul, would speak to their parents “pretty much every day, several times a day”. The frequent phone calls were just another “normal day in the life of Buster Murdaugh”, as the defense put it. Yes, his father called him at 9:10 the night of the murders. There was nothing unusual about either the phone call or his father’s demeanor. It was common for them to call when riding in the car and Alex called to check in and let him know he was going out to Almeda to check on Buster’s grandmother.

That Tragic Night

“He was heartbroken, destroyed.”

Buster on his father’s demeanor

The next phone call he would receives is from his father was after his mother’s and brother’s bodies were found. “He asked me if I was sitting down. I was like, yeah, and then he sounded odd and then he told me that my mom and brother had been shot.” He sat in shock. His girlfriend, Brooklyn, could hear the phone call and immediately started to pack. They then drove to Moselle, arriving sometime around 2 a.m.

“He was heartbroken, destroyed,” Buster responded when asked about his father’s demeanor. “I walked in the door and saw him and game a hug and just broke down.” His father was crying and unable to speak. They stayed there, along with other such as his Uncle Randy and Uncle John, around 3 to 4 hours then left for Almeda.

According to Buster, he and his father were rarely apart, with the exception of the 3-4 days he spent at the home of his maternal grandparent, from the moment he got to Moselle that early morning until after their Lake Kiwi trip on June 17. At which time he returned to his home, and back to work. He has never spent another night at Moselle.

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Prosecution Presents Video of Interrogation of Alex Murdaugh

WALTERBORO, SC – SLED agent and lead case agent on the Murdaugh case, David Owen, took the stand on Wednesday, February 15, 2023. Agent Owen conducted the 3^rd interrogation of Alex Murdaugh. The court is shown the video of the interrogation.

The video of the interrogation shows Alex Murdaugh, friend of Alex and fellow attorney Cory Fleming, SLED Agent David Owen, and a second SLED agent. Agent Owen conducts the interview. Alex went into the station voluntarily; under the impression he would be getting updates on the case involving the murders of his wife and son. It soon became clear that wasn’t the case.

You can hear Cory Fleming asking, “Are you not asking him these questions as a suspect?” To which Agent Owen responded, “Any homicide investigation you start with the closest person and/or the person who found the deceased. In this case, that’s Alex.” At this time it is obvious that Alex is a suspect in the case.

The interrogation begins with a creation of the timeline of events for the day. They discuss the morning, and we learn Maggie and Alex were at the Moselle property alone, Paul having spent the night elsewhere. This stood out to me because there has been so much talk about Maggie moving out and so it would be as if Alex pushed her to be there that evening or she wouldn’t have been. This piece of information about Maggie having stayed the night there with Alex, alone, points to the contrary. Maggie had been staying at their other property because of work that was being done. According to Alex, “she was worried about [him] and [him being] worried about [his] dad so she came home” that evening.

Wardrobe Change

As the interrogation continues, the next part of the conversation that stood out to me is when Owen brings up the video of Alex with the tree, showing him in the khaki pants and seafoam collared shirt. The video is paused, and we go back to the courtroom where Prosecutor Creighton Waters asks Owen if he had questioned Alex about the tree video before that interview. Owen responds, “No sir, I had not” and we go back to the video and the conversation between Owen and Alex about the clothing.

“What point in the evening did you change your clothes?” – Detective Owen

“What time of day was that? I would have thought I’d already changed.” – Alex Murdaugh, referencing the tree video.

“Looks to me about dusk. 7:30 to 8:00.”

“I guess I would have changed when I got back to the house.”

This was disappointing to me. Up until this point, I was trying to give the benefit of the doubt that, if the defense is sticking with the napping narrative (Alex claims to have napped before leaving to check on his mother) then it was quite possible that he took off the day’s clothes before lying down and put on the t-shirt and shorts after waking up. This seemed plausible since it’s a common thing to do.

Was He, Or Wasn’t He, At The Kennels

We have now reached the point where Owen questions Alex about going to the kennels. Alex has maintained that he was not at the kennels before going to his mother’s house. The conversation went like this:

“You didn’t go back down [to the kennels] after dinner until you returned from visiting your mother?” – Owen

“Yes, sir.” – Alex

“I’ve got information that Paul’s (inaudible) and Maggie was heard in the background, and you were heard in the background and that was prior to 9pm” – Owen

“I heard Rogan Gibson ask me if I was up there. He said he thought it was me.” – Alex

“Was it you?” – Owen

“At 9 o’clock?” – Alex

“Yes, sir.” – Owen

“No, sir. Not if my times are right.” – Alex

“Do you think it could have been?” – Owen

“I have no idea.” – Alex

He has no idea. This is not the answer I was expecting. I am not going to go into opinions, speculations, etc. so I will leave this for you to ponder and make of it what you will.

Just A Few Things to Clear Up

They go on to discuss Alex’s shotguns and what he loads them with. We learn that, according to Alex, he loads his guns with “all kinds [of shot]. [He’s] loaded bird shot, buck shot, slugs,” but not normally at the same time. The shells recovered at the scene were bird shot and buck shot. The gun Alex had on him that night was loaded with bird shot and buck shot.*

Had Paul ever gotten physical (violent) with either Maggie or Alex? According to Alex, never with his mother but once with him. Alex clarifies that he (Paul) was drunk at the time. There is an attempt to clarify the time Alex left work the evening of the murders. There’s not too much discrepancy between what the agent says, Alex claims, and information they got from Alex’s brother, Randy. Alex was at work when Randy left at 6p.m. Alex replies that if he was it wasn’t long after that he left. According to the OnStar timeline given in later testimony by another witness, Alex pulls out of work at 6:24p.m.

The interview finishes with Owen asking Alex if he killed Maggie and Paul. To which Alex responds that no, he did not kill them. It’s clear from Owen’s next statement that he does not believe him, “I have to go where the evidence and the facts take and I don’t have anything that points to anybody else at this time.”

One Final Thought

We’ve reached the end of the interview. Detective Owen leaves us with a last thought saying that they have “nobody else’s DNA” at the crime scene. According to the DNA witness, unknown DNA profile found under Maggie’s fingernails.

*The information given in the interview video concerning the loads in the guns found at the hose was shown to be false.

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