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Alex Murdaugh— Case Archive
2023 Murder Trialtrial-daytrial-daySavannah M. GoudeCreighton WatersDick HarpootlianJeff CroftMelinda WorleycrossredirectrecrossdirectDay 4 - January 30, 2023Worley acknowledged documentation and testing limits while declining to infer two shooters from projectile paths. Croft presented firearms, ammunition, property-search evidence, and Alex Murdaugh's June 10 interview; the court admitted the firearms over defense objections.
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Day 4 - January 30, 2023

Scene-evidence limits, firearms rulings, and Alex Murdaugh's recorded interview

Judge Clifton B. Newman
5Proceedings
2Pages
2Witnesses
2,444Lines
Day 4 of 27
Appearing:
Savannah M. Goude Creighton Waters Dick Harpootlian Jeff Croft Melinda Worley

Worley acknowledged documentation and testing limits while declining to infer two shooters from projectile paths. Croft presented firearms, ammunition, property-search evidence, and Alex Murdaugh's June 10 interview; the court admitted the firearms over defense objections.

Full day summary

Melinda Worley acknowledged limits in the preservation, documentation, and interpretation of evidence from the Moselle scene. A responder had left a bloody footprint in the feed room, other impressions were not recognized in time for preferred photography, and the patterned mark on Maggie Murdaugh's calf could not be classified as a footwear impression. Worley said divergent projectile paths indicated movement but did not establish two shooters or a shooter's distance. She also could not explain why her notes listed an 84-degree dog-house angle while a diagram showed 96 degrees. Testing of Alex Murdaugh's clothing did not by itself establish human blood, and material that appeared to be blood on an ATV was not sampled. On redirect, Worley emphasized that her diagrams showed approximate relationships rather than scale reconstruction. She associated stippling on Maggie with a close-range gunshot and agreed that movement or one person possessing two guns remained possible. She further explained that scene processing and documentation did not amount to a reconstruction. Jeff Croft authenticated phone screenshots, body-camera recordings, firearms, ammunition, and evidence recovered during searches of Moselle. He testified that a recovered .300 Blackout rifle contained S&B ammunition and that scene casings bore the same brand-and-caliber headstamp, without identifying the rifle as the source through a firearm-comparison result. The court admitted the firearms over defense objections, finding them relevant and more probative than prejudicial. Croft also described weathered .300 Blackout casings near the gun-room stoop and seventeen S&B casings collected from the shooting range. The prosecution then played Alex Murdaugh's recorded June 10 interview. Because the certified transcript does not transcribe its audio, the available record is limited to Croft's descriptions of selected portions, including Murdaugh's account that he remained at the house after Maggie and Paul went to the kennels and that a third .300 Blackout rifle had been missing for some time.

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1. Melinda Worley — Cross/Redirect/Recross

Melinda Worley completed cross, redirect, and recross testimony about scene documentation, footwear evidence, projectile paths, biological material, and the limits of her crime-scene work.

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Cross
Melinda WorleyDick Harpootlian
926 lines

Harpootlian used Worley's scene records to challenge scene preservation, projectile-path interpretation, footwear documentation, and clothing tests, while Worley acknowledged several limitations but resisted conclusions about shooter number or location.

Redirect
Melinda WorleySavannah M. Goude
88 lines

Worley clarified the limits of her diagrams and footwear evidence, addressed possible shooter movement and use of two guns, and identified apparent biological matter in newly admitted ATV photographs.

Recross
Melinda WorleyDick Harpootlian
66 lines

Worley acknowledged uncollected suspected blood-like material, defined limits on the footwear comparison and photographic scale, and said her role did not include crime-scene reconstruction.

Highlights

Melinda Worley - CrossconfrontationHarpootlian pressed a two-shooter explanation from the trajectory data. Worley said the data indicated movement to her, acknowledged that two shooters was not the only possible explanation, and declined to locate a shooter at a particular distance along either line.Melinda Worley - Cross“It just indicates there was movement to me.”— Melinda WorleyWorley gave her own restrained interpretation of the divergent projectile paths rather than adopting the defense's two-shooter premise.Melinda Worley - CrossimpeachmentWorley testified that her scene notes recorded an 84-degree dog-house angle while her diagram stated 96 degrees, and she could not explain the discrepancy.Melinda Worley - CrossadmissionWorley explained the proper method for photographing footwear impressions and acknowledged that the impressions were not photographed that way because investigators did not recognize them at the scene; she said the resulting material could not support inclusion or exclusion beyond the impressions attributed to Paul's shoes.Melinda Worley - Cross“If I had realized that was footwear on scene, I would have documented it properly, yes.”— Melinda WorleyWorley acknowledged that investigators did not recognize and properly document the footwear impressions while the scene remained available.Melinda Worley - Crosstestimony highlightWorley described LCD processing of Alex Murdaugh's shirt and shorts and explained that the test did not determine whether a reaction was human blood; she did not know the confirmatory-test results.Melinda Worley - Cross“It doesn't determine whether it's human or not.”— Melinda WorleyWorley identified a central limitation of the LCD reactions observed on Alex Murdaugh's clothing.Melinda Worley - RecrossadmissionWorley agreed that material on the ATV looked like blood but testified that she did not test or swab it. She also said nobody asked her to sample the water around Paul or determine whether it contained human blood.

2. Jeff Croft — Direct

Senior Special Agent Jeff Croft’s direct examination covered phone records, Moselle firearm and ammunition searches, Maggie Murdaugh’s recovered phone, and Alex Murdaugh’s June 10 interview, with an intervening ruling admitting multiple firearms over renewed defense objections.

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Direct
Jeff CroftCreighton Waters
740 lines

Croft authenticated Rogan Gibson's phone screenshots and documented searches that recovered firearms, ammunition, and weathered .300 Blackout casings at Moselle, with several guns admitted over defense objections.

Procedural
Firearms Evidence Admissibility Argument

The defense renewed its relevance and unfair-prejudice objections to multiple firearms, but Judge Newman upheld their admission as relevant and more probative than prejudicial.

Direct
Jeff CroftCreighton Waters
618 lines

Croft authenticated firearms, ammunition, body-camera evidence, Maggie Murdaugh's recovered phone, Alex Murdaugh's June 10 interview, and buccal swabs, while describing S&B .300 Blackout evidence found across Moselle.

Highlights

Jeff Croft - DirectrulingOver a defense relevance objection emphasizing the absence of evidence that the recovered rifle was the weapon used, the court admitted the .300 Blackout rifle; Croft then identified S&B .300 Blackout ammunition in its magazine and the same headstamp on scene casings.Firearms Evidence Admissibility ArgumentrulingJudge Newman ruled that the firearms were relevant and more probative than prejudicial because they were associated with the area around the crime scene and related to issues raised about multiple guns, shooters, and spent rounds.Firearms Evidence Admissibility Argument“And there's no dispute that the defendant had multiple guns in and around his place, and I find that it's relevant and more probative than prejudicial, and that's the basis for the Court's order with regard to admitting that evidence.”— Clifton NewmanJudge Newman gave the court's stated basis for admitting the firearms over the defense objection.Jeff Croft - Direct (Continued)evidence eventCroft testified about the June 16 search of the Moselle shooting range and waterway. Body-camera recordings and photographs were admitted, and Croft said he collected seventeen S&B .300 Blackout casings at the range and spent 12-gauge shells near the waterway.Jeff Croft - Direct (Continued)evidence eventThe court admitted and permitted the State to play the recorded June 10 interview of Alex Murdaugh. The certified transcript notes that the recording's audio was not transcribed.
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