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Alex Murdaugh— Case Archive
personpersonJeff CroftJeff CroftSLED senior special agent involved in the Moselle searches, firearms evidence, phone recovery, and interviews of Alex Murdaugh.← All People
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Jeff Croft

Courtroom still of Jeff Croft.

SLED senior special agent involved in the Moselle searches, firearms evidence, phone recovery, and interviews of Alex Murdaugh.

Appeared2023 Murder Trial
882 lines·11 proceedings·6 mentions

About

Jeff Croft testified for the State as a SLED senior special agent who participated in interviews, searches, and evidence collection during the investigation. He described interviewing Rogan Gibson, photographing communications from Gibson's phone, collecting a DNA standard, and conducting consensual searches at Moselle for firearms and ammunition comparable to evidence reported at the homicide scene.

Croft identified firearms, loaded magazines, ammunition boxes, and spent .300 Blackout casings recovered from several locations. He also described the recovery and packaging of Maggie Murdaugh's phone, later searches of the property and shooting range, efforts to obtain records concerning Murdaugh-family .300 Blackout rifles, and the collection and transfer of buccal swabs. He did not offer a firearm-comparison conclusion that a recovered weapon fired the homicide rounds.

Croft authenticated Alex Murdaugh's recorded June 10 interview and related selected statements from it. The defense disputed Croft's interpretation of one phrase, proposing that Murdaugh said “they” where Croft heard “I.” Croft maintained his interpretation after the recording was replayed, but acknowledged that investigators had not sought immediate clarification, that he could not remember making a written note, and that jurors could decide what they heard.

Cross-examination also tested the limits of Croft's knowledge and evidence handling. He said he was unaware that either homicide weapon had been recovered, had not found ammunition similar to the steel waterfowl load discussed in connection with Paul Murdaugh's death, and could not provide laboratory conclusions outside his knowledge. On redirect, he explained that agents collected potential weapons for specialized testing by firearms-and-toolmark examiners and described the June 10 interview as voluntary, noncustodial, and nonaggressive. On recross, he acknowledged that later-collected ammunition came from property that had not remained secured, so he could establish when it was collected but not that it had been there on June 7.

Trial Record (11)

20232023 Murder TrialJan 23, 2023 – Mar 3, 2023Called by prosecution

Jeff Croft testified for the State about investigative interviews, Moselle searches, firearms and ammunition evidence, phone recovery, and Alex Murdaugh's recorded June 10 interview. Cross-examination examined limits in Croft's knowledge of testing and searches, evidence-handling issues, and his interpretation of disputed words in the recording.

Day 6

DirectJeff Croft - DirectJeff CroftCreighton Waters2highlights288lines spoken

Summary

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.

Highlights (2)

Quote“It was 300 Blackout shell casings, which appeared to be weathered, at the bottom of the stoop entered -- to the entrance of the -- what I call the gun room and in the flowerbed on each side.”— Jeff CroftCroft described discovering spent .300 Blackout casings immediately outside the Moselle gun-room entrance while returning after the initial house search.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“The head stamps on the shell casing at the crime scene was S&B 300 Blackout.”— Jeff CroftCroft identified the scene casings' headstamp as the same brand and caliber shown in the recovered rifle's magazine, without offering a firearm-identification match.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
DirectJeff Croft - Direct (Continued)Jeff CroftCreighton Waters1highlight203lines spoken

Summary

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 (1)

Quote“Okay. During the investigation process, we learned that there was a shooting range and some bodies of water on the property, and when I say on the property, it's across the road from the incident location. Through discussion with the investigative team, it was decided that we need to go over to that shooting range and also search that body of water for any potential evidence that may be found.”— Jeff CroftCroft described the investigative reason for the June 16 search of the Moselle shooting range and waterway.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶

Day 7

CrossJeff Croft - CrossJeff CroftJim Griffin3highlights273lines spoken

Summary

Croft faced cross-examination about the limited connection between recovered Moselle firearms and the homicide evidence, gaps in searches and evidence handling, and his disputed interpretation of Alex Murdaugh's recorded words.

Highlights (3)

Quote“To prevent any tampering from outside sources once a cell phone is collected.”— Jeff CroftCroft explained the evidentiary purpose of a Faraday bag before acknowledging that Maggie Murdaugh's phone was not placed in one.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“I'm 100 percent confident in what I heard and I interpreted him and as saying.”— Jeff CroftCroft firmly defended his interpretation of the disputed phrase in Alex Murdaugh's recorded interview.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“I agree that they get to hear the tape and make their own mind up as to what he said, yes, sir.”— Jeff CroftAlthough Croft maintained his interpretation, he acknowledged that the jury could independently assess the recording.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
RedirectJeff Croft - RedirectJeff CroftCreighton Waters1highlight102lines spoken

Summary

Croft's redirect defended the scope of the firearm searches and June 10 interview, limited his own role in comparison testing, and identified eight admitted Winchester and Federal shotgun-shell exhibits.

Highlights (1)

Quote“We were trying to gather as much evidence that could be tested as potential weapons for the scene to be able to include or to exclude Mr. Alex or these weapons from being the person of -- responsible for the murders.”— Jeff CroftCroft stated the investigative purpose for collecting multiple firearms despite the absence of a comparison conclusion in his own testimony.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
RecrossJeff Croft - RecrossJeff CroftJim Griffin1highlight16lines spoken

Summary

On recross, Croft addressed stippling and .300 Blackout projectiles, then acknowledged limits on the provenance of shot-shell evidence collected months later from property not secured by law enforcement.

Highlights (1)

Quote“It had not been secured by law enforcement during that period of time.”— Jeff CroftCroft acknowledged a limitation affecting the context of ammunition collected from the property months after the killings.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶

Day 8

Day 9

Day 25