Witness testimony breaks down phone data from night of murders

WALTERBORO, S.C. (FOX Carolina) – Six witnesses testified Tuesday as either side targeted on phone data from the night of the shootings and what Alex Murdaugh stated throughout an interview with SLED shortly after the incident.

FIRST WITNESS

The courtroom started at 9:30 a.m., and SLED senior particular agent Jeff Croft returned to the stand for cross-examination.

Jim Griffin from the protection started the day questioning Croft, asking him if he might verify that none of the weapons admitted as proof yesterday fired the pictures that killed Paul. Croft replied that he didn’t imagine so however would want to see the experiences.

Griffin continued asking Croft, “Have you ever found the murder weapon?” Croft admitted that so far as he is aware of, they haven’t discovered the homicide weapon that killed Paul.

Griffin later requested Croft about Murdaugh’s compliance with the investigation, and Croft defined that they obtained his consent each time SLED searched the Moselle Property. “You don’t need a search warrant if there’s consent,” Griffin added.

Griffin then returned to the interview Croft carried out with Murdaugh on June 10, 2021, which was performed within the courtroom Monday. Within the interview, Murdaugh is heard describing Paul’s demise, however there’s some confusion over what he stated. Some imagine Murdaugh stated, “They did him so bad,” whereas others assume he stated, “I did him so bad.”

SLED senior particular agent Jeff Croft testifies beneath cross-examination that he’s 100% sure he heard Alex Murdaugh say, “I did him so bad,” in an interview.

Griffin requested Croft in regards to the confusion, and Croft stated he’s 100% assured that he heard Alex Murdaugh say, “I did him so bad.” He added that he made a psychological notice of it on the time.

Subsequent, everybody shifted their focus to phone data from the night of the murders. Croft stated Maggie’s phone was not put in a Faraday bag when SLED collected it. A Faraday bag is RF-shielded to guard the phone from “access to evidential data held on devices awaiting investigation.” The state requested if Maggie’s phone was on airplane mode, and Croft confirmed it was.

SECOND WITNESS

The second individual to take the stand Tuesday was Michael Anthony Knecht, a information custodian with Verizon Wi-fi. Knecht’s time in courtroom was quick, however he testified that Maggie Murdaugh positioned her final outgoing name on June 7, 2021, at 7:50 p.m.

THIRD WITNESS

Paul McManigal with the Charleston County Sheriff’s Workplace was the following individual to testify. McManigal is a digital forensic examiner who additionally works for the Secret Service.

McManigal stated he was given the data taken from Alex Murdaugh’s phone and was requested to redact data that the Solicitor’s workplace decided was privileged. He added that the decision logs from Murdaugh’s phone weren’t redacted.

In line with McManigal, he tried to unlock Paul’s phone and one other iPhone 11 that SLED introduced him. Nonetheless, he was unable to get into both.

FOURTH WITNESS

The Fourth individual to look as a witness was Jonathan VanHouten, a civilian worker with U.S. Secret Service. VanHouten testified that he used software program to try a “brute force” open of Paul Murdaugh’s phone. In line with VanHouten, this course of labored, and he was capable of extract data from the phone.

Following VanHouten’s testimony, the courtroom took a break for lunch.

FIFTH WITNESS

The courtroom resumed at 2:15 p.m., and Lt. John Bedingfield with the Division of Pure Sources took the stand to testify.

Bedingfield, who owns a firearms aspect enterprise, stated he was commissioned by Murdaugh round Christmas in 2016 to make .300 Blackout rifles for Buster and Paul. In line with Bedingfield, Murdaugh reportedly needed his sons to have them for hog searching.

Bedingfield testified that he made a 3rd .300 Blackout rifle in April 2018 after Murdaugh stated Paul had misplaced or misplaced the primary one.

After the murders, Bedingfield stated he obtained a name from Croft asking for the paperwork that went with the rifles he made for Murdaugh. Nonetheless, Bedingfield admitted that he couldn’t discover the shape they stuffed out for the third rifle.

Throughout his testimony, Bedingfield talked about that he and Murdaugh’s grandmothers have been sisters.

SIXTH WITNESS

The ultimate witness to testify Tuesday was Britt Dove, who works with SLED’s laptop crimes heart.

Dove stated SLED brokers are supposed to place a phone in “airplane” mode and take away the SIM card earlier than being collected for proof.

Following a brief break, the State started asking Dove in regards to the calls and texts Maggie recieved on the night of the murders.

Dove testified that the decision go browsing Maggie’s phone confirmed that she missed 5 calls from Murdaugh and two from John Marvin that night. He added that he believes the final name she made was to somebody named Barbara at 7:50 p.m.

The phone information additionally present that she obtained a number of texts in a bunch message and the final one marked as “read” arrived at 8:49 p.m. In line with Dove, Maggie recieved a textual content from Paul’s buddy Rogan at 9:34 p.m., however it was by no means learn.

Dove acknowledged the final orientation change on Maggie’s phone was at 9:06:12 p.m. He defined that an orientation change is mostly brought on by human interplay. Two seconds after this interaciton, Maggie’s phone recieved a name from Murdaugh.

Shortly after Dove wrapped up his testimony, the courtroom adjourned for the night. The courtroom is predicted to renew at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.