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Alex Murdaugh— Case Archive
personpersonKatie McCallisterKatie McCallisterSLED agent who preserved Maggie Murdaugh's phone and documented weapons and ammunition inside the Moselle house.← All People
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Katie McCallister

Courtroom still of Katie McCallister.

SLED agent who preserved Maggie Murdaugh's phone and documented weapons and ammunition inside the Moselle house.

Appeared2023 Murder Trial
78 lines·9 proceedings·7 mentions

About

Katie McCallister testified for the State about her work as a SLED senior special agent at Moselle. She described helping preserve Maggie Murdaugh's phone after it was found beside the road. McCallister said she entered a passcode supplied by Captain Ryan Neill, immediately relocked the phone, placed it in airplane mode at another investigator's request, and did not delete or alter its data.

McCallister also described a consent search of the Moselle house while approximately twenty to twenty-five family members and friends were present. Although agents had a search warrant, she said they obtained consent rather than executing it. Accompanied by John Marvin Murdaugh and Lee Cope, she searched every room and spaces capable of holding a long gun but found no bloody clothing or other item she considered valuable to the search. She documented weapons and ammunition found by another agent, transferred them to a SLED crime-scene investigator, and witnessed the collection of Buster Murdaugh's buccal swab.

On cross-examination, the defense focused on the search's forensic limits. McCallister acknowledged that her bathroom inspection was visual, no trace-evidence specialists were present, and she was unaware of showers or tubs being swabbed. She continued to report seeing no visible blood, tissue, or bloodied clothing, but declined to say whether a shower drain would retain trace evidence after washing because she was not qualified to answer.

Trial Record (9)

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

Katie McCallister testified for the State about preserving Maggie Murdaugh's phone, searching the Moselle house by consent, and documenting weapons and ammunition. Cross-examination focused on the visual scope of her inspection and the absence of known specialized trace-evidence testing in the bathrooms.

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Day 9

DirectKatie McCallister - DirectKatie McCallisterSavannah M. Goude3highlights50lines spoken

Summary

Katie McCallister described preserving Maggie Murdaugh's recovered phone, conducting a consent search of the Moselle house, transferring collected weapons and ammunition, and witnessing the collection of Buster Murdaugh's admitted buccal swab.

Highlights (3)

Quote“Yes. So, once we got out of the car, I had gloves. Captain Neill retrieved the phone from where it was laying. I was standing right beside him when he got a phone call. He handed me the phone with my gloved hands. I held the phone for Investigator Hightower to take a picture of it. The phone call was Captain Neill receiving the pass code. He asked me to confirm it. I typed it in. We confirmed that it was the right pass code. I locked the phone. At that point, Investigator Hightower asked me to put it in airplane mode, which I did.”— Katie McCallisterMcCallister gave a firsthand account of the initial handling and preservation steps taken with Maggie Murdaugh's recovered phone.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“At the time of my arrival, multiple family, close friends were at the house. Rather than executing the search warrant and displacing all of those people, we asked for consent and we were given it.”— Katie McCallisterThe testimony explains why investigators relied on consent rather than executing the available search warrant.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
Quote“So upon consent, I walked through the residence. I was looking for weapons and ammunition and observant to anything else that may have been of value. I found nothing. And once I came back downstairs to the gun room, Agent Croft had located several items of interest, some weapons and ammunition. He and I collected those. I completed a property receipt.”— Katie McCallisterMcCallister distinguished her unsuccessful search of the residence from Croft's discovery of weapons and ammunition in the gun room.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
CrossKatie McCallister - CrossKatie McCallisterDick Harpootlian2highlights28lines spoken

Summary

Katie McCallister testified that her search of the Moselle house was visual, that she knew of no forensic swabbing of its showers or tubs, and that she found no visibly bloodied clothing or other visible traces.

Highlights (2)

Quote“I don't know that I'm qualified to answer that.”— Katie McCallisterMcCallister declined to offer an expert opinion about whether a recently washed shower drain would retain trace evidence.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶

Day 25