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Alex Murdaugh— Case Archive
personpersonJonathan VanHoutenJonathan VanHoutenDigital-forensics examiner who unlocked a phone provided by SLED and produced its full file-system extraction.← All People
Witness

Jonathan VanHouten

Courtroom still of Jonathan VanHouten.

Digital-forensics examiner who unlocked a phone provided by SLED and produced its full file-system extraction.

Appeared2023 Murder Trial
54 lines·5 proceedings·4 mentions

About

Jonathan VanHouten testified about receiving a locked phone from SLED, gaining access with Cellebrite Premium, and creating a full file-system extraction. He placed the extraction on an external drive for SLED examiners, who were responsible for analyzing the phone's contents.

VanHouten addressed the device's custody and condition, saying the supplied data had not changed in any significant manner. He also explained safeguards against remote wiping, including using a Faraday bag to block electronic signals, powering down a phone, removing its SIM card, or placing it in airplane mode.

Later testimony confirmed that SLED transferred the locked phone to VanHouten and received his completed extraction for analysis. When the defense subsequently challenged the chain supporting testimony about the phone's contents, the court relied particularly on VanHouten's testimony, found the chain of custody sufficient, and denied exclusion.

Trial Record (5)

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

Jonathan VanHouten unlocked a phone delivered by SLED and produced the full file-system extraction used for later analysis. His testimony addressed custody, data preservation, and safeguards against remote wiping.

Day 7

DirectJonathan VanHouten - DirectJonathan VanHoutenJohn B. Conrad4highlights54lines spoken

Summary

VanHouten explained how Cellebrite Premium unlocked Paul's phone, established the extraction and chain-of-custody foundation, and said SLED—not he—analyzed the contents.

Highlights (4)

Quote“It was. It was successful because I generated a predefined dictionary to attempt first prior to the tool using its own dictionary.”— Jonathan VanHoutenVanHouten explained why the attempt to unlock the phone succeeded.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“Adding two extra numbers to a six digit, going from a four digit to a six digit, there are approximately 1 million possibilities now. And 146 attempts per day, it could take upwards 19 years.”— Jonathan VanHoutenThe estimate illustrated how passcode length could substantially increase the time required for a brute-force attempt using the technology then available.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“I believe the number was associated with the date of birth of Paul Murdaugh.”— Jonathan VanHoutenVanHouten qualified his identification of the user-related number that unlocked the phone.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“I did not. SLED has their own examiners. We did the extraction for them, but they analyzed the phone.”— Jonathan VanHoutenThe answer defined the limit of VanHouten's role and separated extraction from analysis of the phone's contents.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶

Day 8

Day 18