Ryan Kelly — Direct (Recall)
314 linesMR. WATERS: Thank you, Your Honor. May it please the Court? The State calls Senior Special Agent Ryan Kelly.
The witness, RYAN KELLY, was first duly sworn and testified as follows:
COURT CLERK: Please be seated. State your full name for the record, spell your last name, and make sure you can get to the mic a little bit.
RYAN KELLY: Yes, ma'am. Ryan Kelly, K-e-l-l-y.
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. WATERS:
MR. WATERS: Special Agent Kelly, how are you doing today?
RYAN KELLY: I'm doing well, sir. How are you?
MR. WATERS: Doing well. If you would, just quickly introduce yourself to the jury, and just give them a short synopsis of your career in law enforcement, end with where you are today.
RYAN KELLY: My name is Ryan Kelly. I'm a senior special agent with the State Law Enforcement Division. I'm from Berkeley County. I went to college at the Citadel where I studied biology. I attended the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy. I've got approximately twenty-two years law enforcement experience, the last ten of which have been at SLED Investigative Services Lowcountry Region, where our case load includes violent crime, public corporation, officer involved critical incidents, and financial crimes. I'm currently there as a senior special agent.
MR. WATERS: All right. If you would, get that mic just a little closer to you, to yourself.
RYAN KELLY: Is that better?
MR. WATERS: Yep, that's much better. Have you -- as far as the murders at Moselle, you had a very tangential role in that particular case. Is that correct?
RYAN KELLY: That's correct.
MR. WATERS: All right. Moving forward, did you become the legal lead case agent on a different matter that started on or about September 4th of 2021?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. On September 4, 2021, there was an incident involving Alex Murdaugh where he was shot along Old Salkehatchie Road in Hampton County.
MR. WATERS: All right. Did you respond to that particular scene?
RYAN KELLY: I did.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and about what time did that occur?
RYAN KELLY: The shooting occurred at approximately 1:36 p.m.
MR. WATERS: All right, and that's September 4th?
RYAN KELLY: September 4th, yes.
MR. WATERS: All right. As you're -- as you arrived at the scene, what, if anything, did you notice about what vehicle was there?
RYAN KELLY: Prior to arriving at the scene, while en route Mr. Murdaugh was being treated at a hospital in Savannah, so I responded to Savannah first. After meeting with Mr. Murdaugh, I then responded back to the Salkehatchie Road.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and we'll talk about that in a bit, but let me ask you about the scene a little bit. What vehicle was at the scene?
RYAN KELLY: There was a black Mercedes SUV.
MR. WATERS: All right. Do you know who that Mercedes belonged to?
RYAN KELLY: Yes.
MR. WATERS: And who did it belong to?
RYAN KELLY: Maggie Murdaugh.
MR. WATERS: All right, and what information had been -- you said you responded to Savannah Hospital. Is that correct?
RYAN KELLY: That's correct.
MR. WATERS: All right, and you had a chance to talk with the defendant, Alex Murdaugh?
RYAN KELLY: I did.
MR. WATERS: And do you see him here in the courtroom today?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. He's here in the brown blazer in between Mr. Harpootlian.
MR. WATERS: Let me ask you. I want to ask you just a little bit about the scene before we get into that. What, if anything, did you notice about the condition of the vehicle?
RYAN KELLY: The vehicle had a driver's side rear flat tire.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and did you notice anything about that particular tire that -- the class of tire it was or what kind of tire it was?
RYAN KELLY: That particular tire is a run flat.
MR. WATERS: All right.
RYAN KELLY: So the tire was flat, and when we got there we expected to see some type of damage to the tire, to the inner wall or whatnot, and that just wasn't present. After reviewing of tire, looking up closely, we saw what we thought appeared to be a small puncture wound or puncture mark on the side wall.
MR. WATERS: All right, and what did that -- appear to have caused that as you looked at it?
RYAN KELLY: It looked like a small blade, like a pocketknife that most police officers would carry in their pocket. It appeared to be something similar to that.
MR. WATERS: Tell the jury a little bit about a run flat tire. What does that mean if the tire goes flat?
RYAN KELLY: Well, I don't work for Mercedes and I'm not a tire expert, but it is a -- it's a feature on certain brands of tire that once there is some type of puncture, that the tire remains operable. So, if you're driving on a road and you suffer a blowout, it allows to you drive to a safe place, you know, where you can pull off and seek assistance there. But they typically don't go flat immediately after being punctured unless there's some catastrophic damage to the tire, and in this case there was not. The catastrophic damage was not there.
MR. WATERS: All right. In the -- stand by for me just real quick.
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. WATERS: All right, in the course of your investigation as you started looking into this, did you obtain a copy or review the 911 call from this particular incident?
RYAN KELLY: Yes, I did.
MR. WATERS: All right, and who made that particular 911 call?
RYAN KELLY: Alex Murdaugh.
MR. WATERS: All right. I'm going to show you what's been marked as State's 543, and is that a disc containing that particular 911 call?
RYAN KELLY: Yes.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, at this point I would move in State's 543, I believe without additional objection.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Without additional objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(DVD OF 911 CALL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 543 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: All right, thank you.
MR. WATERS: I'm going to go ahead and play that.
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. WATERS: Well, I'm having a bit of a technical difficulty here. Let me ask you this. While we're getting that 911 call up, can you generally describe what was reported by the defendant on 911?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. Mr. Murdaugh called 911. The Hampton County 911 operator answered the phone, obviously asked what's your emergency? Mr. Murdaugh said he was on Salkehatchie Road by a church with a red roof. When she asked what had happened, he said that he had been driving on Old Salkehatchie Road, suffered a flat, and when he pulled over, another motorist arrived on scene to render assistance, and he said that when he turned around the motorist shot him. So, at that point the dispatcher asked have you been shot? And then that's at that point where Mr. Murdaugh said yes, he'd been shot, but then he said he was okay.
MR. WATERS: All right, and did he say that he got a flat tire and he stopped, and then someone stopped to help and then shot him?
RYAN KELLY: Yes.
MR. WATERS: All right. Stand by for me real quick.
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. WATERS: I apologize, Your Honor. I'm having a technical difficulty.
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. WATERS: Court's indulgence one moment.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Madame Forelady, members of the jury, we'll have you go to the jury room for a few minutes. Please do not discuss the case.
(The jury left the courtroom.)
MR. WATERS: My apologies, Your Honor.
(A break was taken.)
JUDGE NEWMAN: You may bring the jury.
(The jury returned to the courtroom.)
COURT BAILIFF: The jury is present, sir.
JUDGE NEWMAN: You may proceed.
MR. WATERS: Yes, sir, Your Honor.
CONTINUED DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. WATERS:
MR. WATERS: All right, Agent Kelly, we fixed our technical difficulties and for the record are about to publish the 911 call.
(The 911 call was played. Audio not transcribed.)
MR. WATERS: For the record, I'm stopping that at 1:41.
MR. WATERS: Is that the defendant on the 911 call?
RYAN KELLY: Yes.
MR. WATERS: At that point in time, he said someone shot me?
RYAN KELLY: Yes.
MR. WATERS: Did he identify who that was?
RYAN KELLY: No, he did not.
MR. WATERS: All right. I'm going to show you what's been marked as State's 545, and is this a copy of a body worn camera video you received from the defendant in the ambulance at the scene?
RYAN KELLY: Yes.
MR. WATERS: And by the scene, we mean the side of the road on September 4th.
RYAN KELLY: Absolutely. On Salkehatchie Road, September 4, 2021.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, at this point I would offer State's 545 into evidence, I believe without additional objection.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No additional objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(DVD OF BODY CAMERA MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 545 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: All right, for the record, I am going to publish a portion of that video.
(The video was played. Audio not transcribed.)
MR. WATERS: All right, for the record I played that clip from about 14:07 to 14:10 by the timestamp.
MR. WATERS: Was that the defendant in the ambulance at the scene on Salkehatchie Road?
RYAN KELLY: Yes, it was.
MR. WATERS: And did he, again, tell the story that he had been shot by an unknown assailant?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. The story was consistent.
MR. WATERS: And did he say at any time during that that anyone shot him?
RYAN KELLY: No.
MR. WATERS: And what did he say the weapon sounded like that shot him?
RYAN KELLY: He said it sounded like a shotgun.
MR. WATERS: On September 4th, you said you responded to a hospital.
RYAN KELLY: Yes, in Savannah, Georgia.
MR. WATERS: Who did you see when you were there?
RYAN KELLY: I met with Alex Murdaugh, and I met with Randy Murdaugh.
MR. WATERS: All right. Did you have a conversation with the defendant?
RYAN KELLY: Yes, I did.
MR. WATERS: And can you just very generally relate what the defendant said? Did he tell you a very similar story that we've heard from the 911 call and the EMS video?
RYAN KELLY: Yeah. When we arrived at the hospital, Mr. Murdaugh was receiving treatment. He was awake and willing to talk to us. At that point he was the only witness to this incident. We asked him what happened, and he told us the story that was consistent with the 911 call and with what was told to the deputy.
MR. WATERS: All right, and did he state that a driver had stopped, passed by, turned around, and came back to the location?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. He said a similar story: that he was driving on Old Salkehatchie, that he hit something significant with his tire, causing it to go flat. So, when he pulled over to the side of the road to inspect the tire, it was flat. As he was doing that, he said a dark in color Chevy pickup truck drove by, passed him, turned around, and came back to his location. He said he made contact with the driver, and as Mr. Murdaugh turned around to walk back to his vehicle, he said the driver then shot him.
MR. WATERS: Did he say that the driver of the truck seemed very nice?
RYAN KELLY: He described the driver as a very nice, nice looking male between thirty and forty-five years of age.
MR. WATERS: Did he tell you what he thought the weapon was -- that shot him with?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. While he initially said it was a shotgun in the ambulance, when we met with him at the hospital he identified the weapon as possibly a .22 caliber.
MR. WATERS: Did he say whether or not he lost consciousness?
RYAN KELLY: He said that he lost his vision and dropped down to his knees, but he did not believe he lost consciousness.
MR. WATERS: Did he describe the vehicle of the person that supposedly did this?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. He, again, described a newer model, dark in color blue Chevy pickup with, I believe, some type of sport tires.
MR. WATERS: All right, and did he describe the driver at all of this -- that supposedly was the person who shot him?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. His description of the driver was consistent a white male between thirty and forty years of age. He described him as nice looking, a nice person. He described him as having close cropped hair with a closed cropped facial hair.
MR. WATERS: And did he say whether or not he would recognize this unknown person if he saw him again?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. Mr. Murdaugh told us that if he were to see the person again, he would be able to identify him.
MR. WATERS: At any point did he identify specifically any individual, or did he claim that this was an unknown person?
RYAN KELLY: He never gave a specific individual's name. He just said it was someone he did not know.
MR. WATERS: We'll return back to the scene, and I'm going to show you what's been marked as State's 544.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No objection.
MR. WATERS: All right, I want to show you --
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 544 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: I'm going to show you what's been marked as State's 544 and see if you recognize this particular image.
RYAN KELLY: I do. This was recovered from inside of the black Mercedes SUV driven by Mr. Murdaugh. It is his assistant solicitor's badge.
MR. WATERS: All right.
MR. WATERS: Can I have the ELMO real quick, please?
MR. WATERS: Is that what's on the screen right now for the jury to see?
RYAN KELLY: Yes, it is.
MR. WATERS: All right. Returning back now, let's move into September 5th. Did agents with law enforcement continue to sort of search that scene where the Mercedes had been located?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. So, on the -- on September 5th, we agents returned to the scene. We were looking for any evidence of -- involved in the accident. We were looking for the significant piece of debris, and we were searching the roadway around where the Mercedes had pulled off, we searched across the street in the grass area, and we recovered a gray in color utility knife.
MR. WATERS: Did law enforcement -- did you notice any sort of debris or anything like had been described by defendant as supposedly causing the damage to the tire?
RYAN KELLY: No. We searched the area extensively, and we never were able to locate the significant piece of debris that Mr. Murdaugh described as causing his tire to go flat.
MR. WATERS: I show you what's been marked as State's 546, and do you recognize that image?
RYAN KELLY: Yes, I do.
MR. WATERS: And tell the jury what that is, please.
RYAN KELLY: That is the folding knife that was recovered across the road from where Mr. Murdaugh's vehicle was parked.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, at this time, I believe without additional objection, the State would move in State's 546.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No additional objections, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 546 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: All right, and is that the knife as it was found laying in the grass?
RYAN KELLY: Yes.
MR. WATERS: And again, where was that location in relationship to where the Mercedes was?
RYAN KELLY: The Mercedes was pulled off to the side of the road. This was directly across the road in the grass on the other side.
MR. WATERS: Was DNA testing ultimately conducted on this particular knife?
RYAN KELLY: Yes.
MR. WATERS: And were two individuals in that DNA testing that came back in the -- in the propositions as a result?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. DNA profiles of both Alex Murdaugh and Eddie Smith were identified on the knife.
MR. WATERS: In the course of the investigation, did you uncover any evidence that not long before this event occurred at 1:34 or so on September the 4th, that the defendant had had a confrontation with an individual?
RYAN KELLY: Yes.
MR. WATERS: And who was that? Remind the jury of that, please.
RYAN KELLY: Prior to going to Salkehatchie Road, Mr. Murdaugh met with Chris Wilson.
MR. WATERS: And can you remind the jury what generally that discussion was about?
RYAN KELLY: Mr. Wilson and Mr. Murdaugh met. Mr. Wilson at that point -- Alex Murdaugh had been terminated from his law firm, and Mr. Wilson became aware of that. So, he wanted to meet with him to discuss what was going on because obviously Mr. Wilson and Mr. Murdaugh had the missing $192,000 from the previous months that was still ongoing.
MR. WATERS: On September 6th, did you return back to the Savannah Hospital?
RYAN KELLY: Yes, I did.
MR. WATERS: All right, and did you have another conversation with the defendant?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. When Mr. Murdaugh advised us that he would be able to -- would recognize the individual if he should see them again, SLED has in its resources a composite sketch artist. So, we brought her down, and her and I went to Savannah back to the hospital to reinterview Mr. Murdaugh in an attempt to create a composite sketch of the unknown suspect.
MR. WATERS: All right, and just very quickly. What is a composite sketch?
RYAN KELLY: Again, I'm not a composite sketch artist, so I'm a lay person as I describe this. It is where an artist uses a digital software in concert with resources of magazines, of certain body types, and skin tones, and whatnot and allows the victim to -- like a catalog, to go through and find the identifying features closest that fit the unknown person, and those various parts are then drawn together to create a composite sketch.
MR. WATERS: All right, and during that particular interaction, did -- was the defendant able to answer your questions?
RYAN KELLY: He was.
MR. WATERS: Did he respond appropriately to subject matter?
RYAN KELLY: He responded appropriately; he was able to answer the questions asked of him. And again, we started from the beginning, and he again went over the entire scenario of what happened on the 4th, and it was consistent with the versions he'd given us previously.
MR. WATERS: Did he have a -- agree to have this discussion with you?
RYAN KELLY: He did agree.
MR. WATERS: And did you go into some discussion again with what happened on the side of the road, at least according to him, at this point in time?
RYAN KELLY: Yes.
MR. WATERS: And was it consistent to what he'd related before?
RYAN KELLY: It was consistent.
MR. WATERS: Did he describe this unknown individual?
RYAN KELLY: Again, he described them in a similar fashion: white male between thirty and forty years of age, was nice looking, close cropped hair, manicured, and close facial hair. He described him as wearing some type of outdoors type shirt. The description was consistent with what he'd previously told us.
MR. WATERS: And did he also provided similar description of the vehicle that this individual was driving?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. Again, kind of dark in color Chevy pickup truck.
MR. WATERS: And yet again, at any point during this period of time did he identify who this person was, or did he say it was unknown assailant?
RYAN KELLY: Never identified who he was and continued to tell us it was an unknown person.
MR. WATERS: Did he work with the sketch artist in looking through books and working to make a sketch of this supposed unknown assailant?
RYAN KELLY: Yes, a sketch was completed.
MR. WATERS: And did that take a relatively extensive period of time?
RYAN KELLY: Looking back, I don't know the exact proximate, but it probably took a couple of hours for the interview and the sketch to be completed.
MR. WATERS: All right. I'm going to show you what's been marked as State's 547 to your testimony and see if you recognize that image.
RYAN KELLY: I do. This is the composite sketch.
MR. WATERS: All right. Your Honor, at this time I would offer State's 547, I believe without additional objection.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Without additional objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(SKETCH MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 547 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: And what is this image on the screen?
RYAN KELLY: That is the composite sketch created with the assistance of Mr. Murdaugh.
MR. WATERS: Based on his description to the sketch artist?
RYAN KELLY: Based on his descriptions.
MR. WATERS: And this is on September 6, 2021?
RYAN KELLY: September 6, 2021.
MR. WATERS: All right. That evening, did law enforcement receive any communication from the defendant's family?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. On the evening of September 6th, Special Agent Owen received a call from Mr. Murdaugh's brother Randy.
MR. WATERS: All right. Can you relate what the investigation learned from that particular conversation?
RYAN KELLY: Alex Murdaugh was still in the hospital in Savannah; Randy and the family had been down there with him. Randy called Special Agent Owen to let him know that Alex had been making calls from the hospital to some unknown numbers, so Randy provided those numbers to us.
MR. WATERS: And had -- was information related that he had had contact with hospital staff?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. Randy told us that Alex was trying to convince the nurses -- the medical staff members to allow him to use the phone so he could make phone calls.
MR. WATERS: And was information related that he was actually offering the staff money to try to use their phone?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. One of the nurses in their notes made note of Mr. Murdaugh trying to offer money to use their phone.
MR. WATERS: Did the family of Mr. Murdaugh relate a specific name and a number to law enforcement as they discovered that Alex was attempting to contact this person?
RYAN KELLY: A specific name and number were provided to us: Curtis Edward Smith. We were able to take the telephone number and trace that back to Mr. Smith.
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. WATERS: During the course of this particular investigation, did law enforcement obtain any surveillance footage from any nearby establishments?
RYAN KELLY: Yes, we did.
MR. WATERS: And can you describe that to the jury, please?
RYAN KELLY: After the shooting, the agents were present on the crime scene. Obviously part of our investigation was to canvas the area. St. Johns Baptist Church was nearby. Agents made contact with staff there. They, in fact, did have surveillance video that captured the roadway of Salkehatchie Road. Reviewing the footage, we first look to isolate Mr. Murdaugh's black in color Mercedes; that was something that was known to us. If he went that way, it would have been seen, and as we continued to review the footage, we started looking for a blue in color Chevy pickup truck. At 1:25 p.m. approximately, we observed a blue in color Chevy pickup truck with a gold or yellow in color passenger front quarter panel pass by at 1:25. Approximately 20 seconds later, Mr. Murdaugh's black in color SUV passed by. At 1:30 p.m., the blue in color pickup truck was seen driving back in the opposite direction away from where Mr. Murdaugh would have been.
MR. WATERS: All right. I'm going to show you three images that have been marked State's 548, 549, and 550 and see if you recognize these images.
RYAN KELLY: Yes. This is the 1:25 p.m. image; the image is the pickup truck with the gold front quarter panel. The second image is 20 seconds later approximately with the black in color SUV. And the third image is at 1:30, 5 minutes later, with what appears to be the blue in color pickup truck driving back the other way.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, at this time the State would offer State's 548, 549, and 550, I believe without additional objection.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No additional objections, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted.
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 548 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 549 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 550 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: All right, I'm putting this up on the screen. We have the timestamp up here. Is that correct?
RYAN KELLY: Yes.
MR. WATERS: And what is that right there?
RYAN KELLY: That is the -- it is a dark blue in color Chevy pickup truck with a gold front quarter panel.
MR. WATERS: All right. 549, what does that image reflect?
RYAN KELLY: It's the Mercedes SUV.
MR. WATERS: Going in the same direction?
RYAN KELLY: Going in the same direction approximately 26 -- or 20 seconds after.
MR. WATERS: And then 550, what does that reflect?
RYAN KELLY: That's at 1:30 p.m., approximately 5 minutes after the initial vehicles were seen. The blue Chevy truck appears to be driving in the opposite direction.
MR. WATERS: Did law enforcement travel to any particular residence in light of the information that had been provided by the defendant's family about the calls that the defendant was making?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. Once we were able to identify Curtis Edward Smith, we quickly learned that he was a resident of Walterboro, South Carolina, and so we were able to go to his residence the morning of September 7th. And he lives at 1075 Burlington Road in Walterboro. Agent Owen went by and was able to locate or observe the blue in color Chevy pickup truck with a right front gold quarter panel.
MR. WATERS: Was a search warrant conducted of that residence?
RYAN KELLY: Yeah. A search warrant was obtained and executed on the residence.
MR. WATERS: What date was that?
RYAN KELLY: September 7, 2021.
MR. WATERS: All right, and during the course of that search warrant, was there some narcotics found?
RYAN KELLY: Yes.
MR. WATERS: Was there a ledger found?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. So, a small amount of narcotics. Mr. Smith lives in his garage of a modest home. Over the course of the execution of the search warrant, narcotics were located inside the garage, but the search of the residence we found a -- the best way I could describe it would be a Physician's Desk Reference of multiple narcotic pills, like a drug reference guide that he had made personal notes in.
MR. WATERS: And was there any sort of notebook with a ledger in it or anything like that recovered?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. There was also a small spiral notebook, a three and a half inch spiral notebook that had various -- it looked like -- obviously it wasn't completed by an accountant, but there was numbers and there was pills and descriptions of -- it looks like some type of sales ledger.
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. WATERS: All right, I'm going to show you what's been marked as State's 551 and see if you recognize this image.
RYAN KELLY: Yes, I do. These are transaction receipts and deposit and withdrawal receipts for Curtis Edward Smith's Enterprise Bank account.
MR. WATERS: All right, and ultimately did law enforcement look at some of this financial information and trace that back to the defendant? This was recovered in Eddie Smith's house, correct?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. Those documents were recovered at Mr. Smith's house. At this point, Mr. Murdaugh had been fired from his law firm for stealing, for stealing from clients and from the firm. We were aware of that information. It was told to us that Mr. Murdaugh had a prescription drug addiction. That we were aware of. At this point, we were aware of that. Mr. Murdaugh had reached out to Mr. Smith from the hospital, so when we found -- like I said, Mr. Smith lives in a modest house, has a modest vehicle. We're seeing several hundred thousands of deposits and financial records for Mr. Smith's Enterprise Bank. We obtained a search warrant, and from the execution of that search warrant, the funds were tied back to checks written by Mr. Murdaugh.
MR. WATERS: And did those funds continue up until the time of the murders in Moselle?
RYAN KELLY: Yes, they did.
MR. WATERS: Did they continue afterwards?
RYAN KELLY: They did.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, at this time I would offer State's Exhibit 551, I believe without additional objection.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Without additional objections, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(PHOTO MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 551 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: Did the investigation obtain any information from Blanca Simpson about any communication she had with the defendant that day, September 4, 2021?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. Ms. Simpson made contact with Mr. Murdaugh where Mr. Murdaugh had requested her send him copies of their insurance cards.
MR. WATERS: Was that prior to the incident occurring on the side of the road?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. When -- prior to the incident, Mr. Murdaugh attempted to meet with a few individuals, Mr. Wilson being one of them, and he made contact with Ms. Simpson via telephone.
MR. WATERS: In light of the information that had been uncovered about Eddie Smith and the connection, the financial connection between Eddie Smith and Alex Murdaugh, did the investigation seek to reinterview Alex Murdaugh?
RYAN KELLY: We did. I reached out to Mr. Harpootlian on the day of September 7, 2021.
MR. WATERS: And over the course of the next few days, was the defendant going to rehab?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. We communicated regularly with Mr. Harpootlian and Mr. Griffith (sic). They made it known to us that Mr. Murdaugh had entered into a rehab facility that was out of state. So, at that point we were making an attempt to interview him. We were -- we made plans to travel to Atlanta where we believed that Mr. Murdaugh was, and that -- those plans did not come to fruition.
MR. WATERS: Eventually were you able to make contact with the defense and have a subsequent interview with the defendant, Alex Murdaugh?
RYAN KELLY: Yes. Mr. Harpootlian called me on September 13th of 2021, and we were able to set a telephone interview with Mr. Murdaugh.
MR. WATERS: All right. I'm going to show you what's been marked as Exhibit 552, State's Exhibit 552, and see if you recognize this disc.
RYAN KELLY: I do. This is a recording of the September 13, 2021, interview with Mr. Murdaugh.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, at this time I would offer State's Exhibit 552 into evidence, I believe without additional objection.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: No additional objections, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(DVD OF INTERVIEW FOUR MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 552 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: I'm going to publish that to the jury.
MR. WATERS: Can I have the computer input, please?
(Interview of the defendant, Alex Murdaugh, was played. Audio not transcribed.)
MR. WATERS: Whose voice is that?
RYAN KELLY: Special Agent Jomar Albayalde.
MR. WATERS: Was he present with you when you conducted this interview?
RYAN KELLY: Yes, he was.
(The video continued to play.)
MR. WATERS: Let me ask you this, Agent Kelly. As the investigation revealed, as you testified before, that the defendant, Alex Murdaugh, did call Eddie Smith trying to use staff phones as well while he was in the hospital in Savannah.
RYAN KELLY: Yes. Mr. Murdaugh was able to contact Mr. Smith while staying in the hospital in Savannah.
(The video continued to play.)
MR. WATERS: Special Agent Kelly, is that a complete conversation that you had with Alex Murdaugh on September 13th of 2021?
RYAN KELLY: Yes, it is.
MR. WATERS: Prior to that conversation, over the course of the 911 call, the ambulance, and multiple interviews at the hospital, did Alex Murdaugh ever mention or identify Curtis Edward Smith at all until his lies about the side of the road were exposed?
RYAN KELLY: No.
MR. WATERS: Did Alex Murdaugh ever say there was any risk or threat to Buster?
RYAN KELLY: He said no -- no, he did not. He actually denied it when we asked.
MR. WATERS: Did Alex Murdaugh say that Curtis Eddie Smith had anything to do with the murders at Moselle?
RYAN KELLY: He denied it when we asked.
MR. WATERS: And is there any evidence that Curtis Edward Smith had anything to do with Moselle?
RYAN KELLY: None whatsoever.
MR. WATERS: Thank you. Nothing further.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Mr. Harpootlian?
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: Your Honor, I understand you have a 4:30 cutoff. Do you want me just to go as far as I can go?
JUDGE NEWMAN: Or we can adjourn now for the day.
MR. HARPOOTLIAN: I don't -- this is going to take awhile, and I would suggest we adjourn.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to adjourn until 9:30 tomorrow morning. Let's have order. I am speaking to the jury. We're going to adjourn until 9:30 in the morning. Have a good evening. Please do not discuss the case.
(The jury left the courtroom.)
JUDGE NEWMAN: Officer, please do not discuss your testimony with anyone overnight. You will be crossexamined in the morning.
RYAN KELLY: Yes, sir.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right. We'll be in recess.
(Whereupon, the case was at ease.)