Murdaugh defense questions significance of gunshot evidence, testing of blue tarp

Alex Murdaugh’s defense team tried to sow doubt Wednesday about evidence that would tie a blue raincoat to a gun prosecutors believe was fired by Murdaugh the night his wife and son were murdered.

Megan Fletcher, a gun residue expert with the State Law Enforcement Division, first took the stand Tuesday to testify about gunfire residue she collected from items collected by investigators from Murdaugh the night of the murders and later from the home of Murdaugh’s mother. Fletcher began her testimony by answers questions from prosecutors about her examination of Murdaugh’s clothes from the night of the murder, June 7, 2021, and particularly a raincoat investigators removed from the home of Murdaugh’s mother.

Fletcher said she took samples from the blue raincoat taken from Murdaugh’s mother’s house, which tested positive for gunshot residue. There were 38 gunshot primer residue particles found on the inside of the jacket, including three on the inside of the hood, Fletcher said. It was such a “significant number,” that she said she ultimately made the decision to stop counting them.

“This jacket could have been in the vicinity of the discharge of a firearm, or something with gunshot residue could have been transferred to it,” Fletcher said Tuesday.

Under the state’s questioning, Fletcher also testified that the residue could have transferred over to the raincoat if it was wrapped around a fired gun. She noted that 38 particles were found on the interior of the raincoat, while only 14 were found on the exterior of the jacket, which would be unusual if it were being worn right side out when a gun was fired.

“If you were taking it somewhere to hide it, would that transfer be consistent with a recently fired firearm?” prosecutor John Meadors asked, which Fletcher agreed with.

She also testified Tuesday that she found trace amounts of gunshot residue on the shirt and shorts Murdaugh was wearing the night of the murders, as well as from samples collected from his hands. But defense attorney Jim Griffin dismissed the significance of the evidence, noting that Murdaugh was holding a shotgun when law enforcement arrived at his home June 7, 2021, which he said he picked up for protection after finding his wife and son murdered on the property.

“Unless it’s cleaned off or washed off, it could stay there for years,” Griffin said of the gunshot residue.

Griffin also dismissed the residue found on the raincoat and on the seatbelt buckle of Murdaugh’s car, saying it could have been transferred at any time from “Bo Whoop” — the name given to Murdaugh’s father’s shotgun — when it had been casually laid down on the seat of the car or on the raincoat.

The defense had argued to exclude the raincoat, saying testimony by the caregiver for Murdaugh’s mother did not connect the coat to Murdaugh. Mushelle “Shelly” Smith, the caregiver, testified she saw Murdaugh carrying a “blue tarp something” into the house a week after the murders. But Smith said the item was not a raincoat, and a blue tarp was also found by investigators in Murdaugh’s mother’s house.

Fletcher testified that her office did not test the tarp for any material, and she was only asked to test the raincoat.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters argued the item Smith saw Murdaugh carrying was the rain coat, based on the fact Smith identified a photo of the rain coat folded in a closet as the item she saw Murdaugh carrying into the house. Judge Clifton Newman ultimately decided to allow the jury to determine for themselves what the item Murdaugh was carrying was.

Also on Tuesday, jurors were given a crash course in the allegations of financial misdeeds for which Murdaugh has sat in the Richland County jail since October 2021. They heard for the first time from Jeanne Seckinger, the chief financial officer of Murdaugh’s former law firm, who detailed how Murdaugh allegedly siphoned funds meant for the firm into his own accounts, including one he set up under the name of a real consulting firm.

Seckinger also told of how she confronted Murdaugh about missing funds the day of Paul and Maggie’s murders, what the prosecution has grabbed onto as evidence of Murdaugh’s state of mind. They contend he was motivated to kill his wife and son because of fears his financial schemes were about to be uncovered, and his family’s tragic deaths would buy him more time.

This story was originally published February 8, 2023 at 10:50 AM with the headline "Murdaugh defense questions significance of gunshot evidence, testing of blue tarp."

Bristow Marchant

The State

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Bristow Marchant covers local government, schools and community in Lexington County for The State. He graduated from the College of Charleston in 2007. He has almost 20 years of experience covering South Carolina at the Clinton Chronicle, Sumter Item and Rock Hill Herald. He joined The State in 2016. Bristow has won numerous awards, most recently the S.C. Press Association’s 2024 education reporting award.  Support my work with a digital subscription