Day 2 - January 26, 2023

Before the jury entered, the judge placed an email alleging disclosure of juror identities into the record as Court's Exhibit 2, while noting uncertainty about the sender's identity. The parties also arranged to shield an audience-visible monitor from images covered by an existing order. Sergeant Daniel Greene described arriving first at the Moselle kennels, finding Paul and Maggie Murdaugh with no apparent signs of life, and securing a shotgun that Alex Murdaugh said he had retrieved from the residence. Greene testified that Alex immediately raised the boating accident as a possible explanation and appeared upset but showed no visible tears. The shotgun, Greene's body-camera recording, and a tire-impression photograph were admitted. Cross-examination focused on water around the kennels, shells listed with the shotgun, officers' lack of protective foot coverings, and tire and footwear evidence Greene personally did not preserve, photograph, or report. Greene later said he knew of no contaminated evidence and described the tire marks as impressions in dewy grass. Deputy Chad McDowell explained first-responder safety and preservation duties, including marking a .300 Blackout casing and leaving his K-9 in the vehicle to avoid disturbing the scene. He acknowledged limited crime-scene-processing training and the possibility that unseen material could have been disturbed. He said Alex appeared visibly upset, that he saw no blood on him, and that Alex was not treated as a suspect to McDowell's knowledge. 911-system witnesses authenticated recordings of the initial Hampton County call and its transfer to Colleton County at 10:07:09 p.m. The recordings were admitted and played, but their audio was not transcribed in the supplied proceedings. Fire and Rescue Chief Barry McRoy described injuries he considered incompatible with life and testified about tire tracks near the bodies. He said he showed the tracks to a deputy but could not determine their direction; civilian traffic, rain, and the absence of tape affected conditions around tracks on the road. Captain Jason Chapman said SLED assumed primary responsibility because of the local department's conflict involving the Murdaugh family. He described the scene, time-sensitive gunshot-residue collection, drone views, tire impressions, and shoe impressions near the hangar. Chapman treated Alex's decision to end the 911 call and a change in demeanor near the tire impressions as investigative observations rather than conclusions. He acknowledged that he was not told about possible driveway impressions, that later patterned shoe prints were absent during his initial observation, and that he did not know who made them. His visual comparison of other impressions with Maggie's footwear was not supported by measurements. On redirect, the court sustained a question asking whether photographed discoloration was consistent with blood; Chapman testified only that he saw discoloration arranged in straight lines.