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Alex Murdaugh— Case Archive
personpersonT.C. SmallsT.C. SmallsFormer Hampton County sheriff and a longtime acquaintance of Alex Murdaugh.← All People
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T.C. Smalls

Courtroom still of T.C. Smalls.

Former Hampton County sheriff and a longtime acquaintance of Alex Murdaugh.

Appeared2023 Murder Trial
39 lines·4 proceedings·1 mention

About

Former Hampton County Sheriff T.C. Smalls testified for the State in rebuttal about Alex Murdaugh's claimed authorization to use blue lights in a personal vehicle and a claimed report of threats related to the boat case.

Smalls said he never discussed installing blue lights with Murdaugh, did not authorize them, and did not know Murdaugh had them. He also denied that Murdaugh had approached him about boat-case threats.

On cross-examination, Smalls acknowledged that he could not say whether another official, Anthony Russell, had granted permission for the lights. He maintained, however, that he had no personal knowledge of any authorization or of Murdaugh's use of blue lights.

Trial Record (4)

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

Former Hampton County Sheriff T.C. Smalls testified in rebuttal that he neither authorized blue lights for Alex Murdaugh nor received a report from him about boat-case threats. Smalls acknowledged that he did not know whether another official had authorized the lights.

Day 26

DirectT.C. Smalls - DirectT.C. SmallsCreighton Waters1highlight12lines spoken

Summary

Former Hampton County Sheriff T.C. Smalls denied authorizing blue lights for Alex Murdaugh's personal vehicle or hearing from him about boat-case threats.

Highlights (1)

Quote“No, sir. I never had a conversation with Alex Murdaugh. Matter of fact, I never had a conversation with anyone in my thirty-nine years about installing blue lights in their personal vehicle.”— T.C. SmallsSmalls directly denied the claimed conversation and placed the denial in the context of his entire law-enforcement career.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
CrossT.C. Smalls - CrossT.C. SmallsJim Griffin1highlight24lines spoken

Summary

T.C. Smalls said he could not determine whether another official authorized blue lights for Alex Murdaugh and maintained that he never knew Murdaugh had them.

Highlights (1)

Quote“Well, I knew they knew him. I don't know how close they were.”— T.C. SmallsSmalls declined to adopt the defense question's characterization of several deputies as very close to Alex Murdaugh.Open in transcript →Watch this moment ▶
CrossMark Ball - CrossMark BallJim GriffinMentioned

Summary

Mark Ball limited his knowledge of Alex Murdaugh's later disclosures, qualified claims about distrust of law enforcement, and provided defense context about hog hunting, family firearms, emotional demeanor, and post-killing security concerns.

Mentioned in this proceeding.