Alex Murdaugh trial: Detective explains key crime scene mystery after killer begins appeal
Murdaugh was convicted last week for murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul in June 2021
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A lead investigator in the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh has offered an explanation for a key mystery from the trial after Alex Murdaugh took the first official step toward an appeal of his conviction.
Detective Laura Rutland, one of the first officers at the Moselle estate crime scene in South Carolina, was asked during trial testimony about hairs found in Maggie’s hand after she was killed. While she was unable to offer much of an explanation on the stand - she now has one.
Ms Rutland explained to Fox News a bullet that struck Maggie’s skull had ripped out much of her scalp, leaving hair not only in her hand but also scattered around her body.
The revelation came hours after Murdaugh’s attorney Dick Harpootlian announced that his defence had filed a notice of appeal.
Meanwhile, Murdaugh has been separated from other inmates and is under round-the-clock surveillance for his own safety at the Kirkland Correctional Institution, where he is awaiting permanent placement in a high-security prison.
South Carolina’s Department of Corrections released his new mugshot on Wednesday, capturing the 54-year-old smiling softly.
Alex Murdaugh’s brother Randy reveals he really thinks about murders
Alex Murdaugh’s brother Randy has broken his silence to reveal what he really thinks happened on the night that the disgraced attorney’s wife Maggie and son Paul were gunned down in a brutal crime that shocked South Carolina’s Lowcountry and captured the nation’s attention for the better part of two years.
Randy became the first family member of the disgraced attorney to speak out after the high-profile trial, where Murdaugh was convicted of all charges and sentenced to life in prison.
The 56-year-old admitted that he believes his sibling “is not telling the truth” about the 7 June 2021 killings.
The Independent’s Rachel Sharp reports:
Alex Murdaugh’s brother Randy reveals what he really thinks happened night of murders
The Murdaugh family – who reigned over the Lowcountry’s legal system for almost a century – put on a united front in Colleton County Courthouse throughout Murdaugh’s trial
Detective offers explanation for hairs found in Maggie’s hand
A lead investigator in the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh has come forward with her explanation for a key mystery from the trial.
Detective Laura Rutland took the stand for the prosecution early in the trial, revealing what she saw as one of the first officers on the grisly crime scene.
She described the horror state of both victims’ bodies - as well as how “clean” Alex Murdaugh appeared.
In cross-examination, Ms Rutland was asked by the defence about hairs found in Maggie’s hand. On the stand, she was unable to offer much of an explanation and the issue largely faded out of the trial.
But speaking out a week after Murdaugh’s conviction and double life sentence, Ms Rutland provided more information about the gruesome detail.
“I just wanted to clarify that when she had suffered her injuries, and the bullet exited the back of her head, it created a large hole, which displaced that part of her skull, including her scalp and her hair,” Ms Rutland told Fox News.
“So, all around her body, there were small clumps of the back of her hair in the grass around her body. Some had fallen near her hands and her arms. And when we removed her body, some of the hair that was on her fingers. It was just a few strands went with her.”
Conviction raises hopes of justice for Stephen Smith
SLED has reopened an investigation into another mystery death with a tie to the Murdaugh family.
Stephen Smith, 19, was found dead in the middle of a road in Hampton County back in 2015.
He had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and his car was left down the road.
His death was officially ruled a hit-and-run but the victim’s family – and investigators who worked on the initial case – have long doubted this version of events.
There have long been murmurings in the community that a “Murdaugh boy” may have been involved and the Murdaugh name came up 40 times in documents in the initial case, reported Live5News.
Just days after the murders of Maggie and Paul, SLED announced that the investigation into their murders had led them to reopen an investigation into Smith’s death.
It is not clear what may have prompted the launch of that investigation.
In January 2023, SLED said it had “made progress” in the case but no other details have been released.
Murdaugh’s new smiling mugshot
Alex Murdaugh’s new mugshot has been released by South Carolina’s Department of Corrections (SCDOC), capturing the convicted killer smiling softly as he begins a lifetime behind bars.
In the image, Murdaugh is wearing a white t-shirt beneath a yellow prison jumpsuit.
After his sentencing on Friday, Murdaugh was taken to the Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia – a maximum security prisons where all male inmates are sent before they head to a facility where they will serve their entire sentences.
He will be evaluated there for the next 45 days before learning which maximum security prison he will call home for the remainder of his days.
The maximum security options include: Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia; Broad River Secure Facility in Columbia; McCormick Correctional Institution in McCormick; Perry Correctional Institution in Pelzer; Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia; and Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville.
What’s next for Alex Murdaugh?
Disgraced legal scion Alex Murdaugh will spend the rest of his life in prison after being found guilty of the brutal murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.
The once-powerful attorney was convicted of two counts of murder and two weapons charges after a dramatic six-week “trial of the century” inside the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina.
Jurors took less than three hours to reach the verdict after hearing how he had gunned down his wife Maggie and son Paul on the family’s sprawling 1,700-acre Moselle estate in Islandton, South Carolina, back on 7 June 2021. He continued to claim his innocence as he received two consecutive life sentences on 3 March.
But this is far from the end of the scandals, criminal cases and unanswered questions surrounding Murdaugh.
Whatever the verdict had been in the murder case, Murdaugh was never walking out of court a free man, as he is being held on bond on more than 100 charges in cases including a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme and a botched hitman plot.
Here’s what’s next for the disgraced attorney:
What’s next for Alex Murdaugh?
Whatever the verdict had been in the murder case, Murdaugh was never walking out of court a free man
Buster Murdaugh’s girlfriend Brooklynn White files second police report
Buster Murdaugh’s girlfriend Brooklynn White has filed a second police report of the week over harassment by journalists.
On Tuesday, Ms White complained to authorities about a reporter allegedly looking into the windows of her car as it was parked outside the house she shares with Buster, the only surviving son of convicted killer Alex Murdaugh.
Ms White claimed that the same reporter had heckled her and Buster repeatedly outside the Colleton County Courthouse while Murdaugh was on trial.
A day earlier, Buster Murdaugh filed a police report claiming that the a reporter was taking photos of him inside their house and following them in a car.
In her report on Tuesday, Ms White said the actions of “certain members of the press has become increasingly unsettling and frightening to her”.
Mother of Stephen Smith calls for justice after murder conviction
The mother of a gay teenager who was found dead in mysterious circumstances in 2015 is calling for justice for his death after Alex Murdaugh was convicted of murdering his wife and son.
Stephen Smith, 19, was found dead in the middle of a road in Hampton County back in 2015. He had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and his car was left down the road.
His death was officially ruled a hit-and-run but the victim’s family – and investigators who worked on the initial case – have long doubted this version of events.
There have long been murmurings in the community that a “Murdaugh boy” may have been involved and the Murdaugh name came up 40 times in documents in the initial case, reported Live5News.
Just days after the murders of Maggie and Paul, SLED announced that the investigation into their murders had led them to reopen an investigation into Smith’s death.
Now that Murdaugh has been convicted of killing his wife and son, Smith’s mother Sandy is hoping she will finally get answers in her son’s death.
“This circus is over and now it’s time to bring justice for other people,” Sandy Smith told The New York Post Sunday.
It is not clear what information came to light during the investigation into Maggie and Paul’s murders and then prompted SLED to launch an investigation into Smith’s death
In January 2023, SLED said it had “made progress” in the case but no other details have been released.
Dark history of the Murdaugh family home
The Murdaugh family estate had a dark past before Maggie and Paul were killed there in June 2021.
Bordering the banks of the Salkehatchie River, 4147 Moselle Road consists of over 1,700 acres of land including a 5,275-square-foot house, a farm, a two-mile stretch of river – and of course the dog kennels.
Before the Murdaughs called Moselle home, the property was tied to another controversial family.
It was the home of Barrett Boulware – a fisherman, suspected drug smuggler and Alex Murdaugh’s longtime friend and business partner who died in 2018.
An aerial view of the Moselle estate including the kennels and feed room
He and his father were arrested on drug smuggling charges in 1980 when investigators seized 15 tons of marijuana from a shrimp boat in the Bahamas.
The charges were later dropped when a key government witness died.
Boulware’s name cropped up during the murder trial when jurors heard that Murdaugh had stolen $750,000 in insurance money from his friend when he was dying of colon cancer.
Juror’s brother was one of first officers on scene of murders
The brother of one of the jurors who convicted Alex Murdaugh of murdering his wife and son was one of the first officers who responded to the scene of the crime.
James McDowell was one of the 12 jurors who reached a unanimous guilty verdict last week and has since spoken out about the case.
His brother is Colleton County Sheriff’s Cpl Chad McDowell – who was the second law enforcement official to arrive at Moselle on the night of the murders.
The family tie was revealed in court during jury selection and neither the defence nor the prosecution objected to James McDowell joining the panel.
Key revelations from Alex Murdaugh’s trial
Legal dynasty heir Alex Murdaugh has been found guilty of the brutal double murder of his wife and adult son after a six-week trial in South Carolina.
Maggie, 52, and Paul, 22, were both shot dead at the family’s sprawling 1,700-acre property in Islandton, South Carolina, on the night of 7 June 2021.
Murdaugh, 54, claimed that he returned home from visiting his elderly mother to find the victims’ bodies at the dog kennels on the land.
No arrests were made for more than a year, until – in July 2022 – Murdaugh was charged with their murders. Nearly eight months later, Murdaugh was convicted on 2 March.
After six weeks of dramatic testimony at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, the jury took less than three hours to return a guilty verdict. Murdaugh was then sentenced to life in prison.
Here are the key revelations from the trial:
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