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Moment Alex Murdaugh’s defence witness says he has ‘no doubt’ disgraced attorney is in kennel video

One of the key parts of the prosecution’s case has been cellphone footage taken by Paul at the dog kennels just minutes before he and Maggie were shot dead

Rachel Sharp
Wednesday 22 February 2023 21:18 GMT
Video shows Paul Murdaugh minutes before he and his mother were murdered

Alex Murdaugh’s high-profile murder trial took another dramatic turn on Wednesday when one of his own defence witnesses insisted he has “no doubt” that the disgraced attorney was at the scene of the killings.

Mark Ball, Mr Murdaugh’s former law firm partner at PMPED and friend of 34 years, delivered bombshell testimony in Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, where he identified Mr Murdaugh’s voice in the video taken at the dog kennels minutes before the murders.

Mr Ball told the court he has “no doubt” at all that the three voices in the footage belong to Mr Murdaugh, his wife and his son. “It’s Alex, Maggie and Paul,” he said.

Minutes after the video was taken, Maggie and Paul were dead, prosecutors say.

One of the key parts of the prosecution’s case has been cellphone footage taken by Paul at the dog kennels just minutes before he and Maggie were shot dead.

The video was recorded for 58 seconds from 8.44.49pm to 8.45.47pm – less than five minutes before prosecutors say the victims were killed at around 8.50pm.

Off-camera, three voices are heard – Paul, Maggie and a man prosecutors say is Mr Murdaugh.

Multiple prosecution witnesses have testified that they are “100 per cent sure” that the voice belongs to Mr Murdaugh.

The video casts major doubts on Mr Murdaugh’s alibi.

The disbarred attorney has claimed he never went down to the dog kennels of the family estate that night. He claims he was napping at the family home and then, when he awoke, drove to his parents’ home to visit his mother.

When he returned he claims he found his wife and son weren’t home and drove down to the kennels where he found their bodies.

Mr Ball testified that he had known Mr Murdaugh for 34 years – both professionally and personally – and their two families were close. When he learned about the murders of Maggie and Paul, he rushed to the Moselle home straight away.

Mr Murdaugh told him on the night of the murders that he had never been down to the dog kennels that day, he told the court.

Mr Murdaugh then continued to tell him that version of events “at least three times” over the coming days and weeks.

“He was always clear that he never went down to those kennels?” asked prosecutor Creighton Waters.

Mr Ball responded: “It was the same version of it.”

Alex Murdaugh’s former law partner Mark Ball testifies on Wednesday

He said that he had not seen the kennel video until about a month a go but, now that he has, he knows his friend lied to him about not being there that night.

In dramatic testimony, Mr Ball said that he had no doubt that the voice belonged to his friend and did not need to hear it again to check.

“Do you have any doubt in your mind that Alex Murdaugh, Maggie and Paul were in that kennel video at 8.44pm on 7 June 2021?” asked prosecutor Creighton Waters.

“No,” Mr Ball replied.

“No doubt in mind?” Mr Waters continued to which he again replied: “No.”

“We don’t need to play it again?” asked Mr Waters.

“No,” said Mr Ball.

The kennel video was initially brought up during direct questioning from Mr Murdaugh’s attorney Jim Griffin – in what appeared to be an attempt to raise the matter and brush over it.

When asked by Mr Griffin if he had told SLED he heard Mr Murdaugh’s voice in the video, he confirmed that he had.

Mr Griffin then used this assertion to ask about Mr Murdaugh’s voice in another video – the police interview which prompted speculation that the disgraced legal dynasty heir may have unwittingly slipped up and confessed to the murders.

Video from the 10 June 2021 interview – Mr Murdaugh’s second interview after the murders – was previously played in court, with the sobbing legal scion speaking about the killings.

There was been much speculation around whether Mr Murdaugh said “they did them so bad” or “I did them so bad” in the audio.

Mr Ball said that he could recognise Mr Murdaugh’s voice, given he has known him for 34 years.

When asked what Mr Murdaugh says in the police interview, he says: “They did him so bad.”

Mr Ball testified that Mr Murdaugh repeatedly said those five words to him on the night of the murders.

“Look at what they did. Look at what they did,” he said his friend was saying.

Mr Ball told the court that he “thought it was an odd comment”.

Mr Murdaugh’s longtime friend and former colleague went on to testify that the discovery of his alleged financial crimes had left him now doubting everything about his friend.

On the day of the murders, the PMPED CFO had confronted Mr Murdaugh about a missing payment which was raising alarm bells about what he was doing with funds at the firm.

The probe into the missing payment was put on hold after Maggie and Paul were killed.

On 3 September 2021 – three months on from the murders – Mr Murdaugh was confronted by his law firm partners for stealing millions of dollars from clients and was forced to resign.

Mr Ball said he felt “betrayed” to learn he had lied to him for years and said that he “obviously did not” ever really know Mr Murdaugh.

Alex Murdaugh listens to witness testimony during his double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse

“The way he was doing it was very, very cunning,” he says of the multi-million-dollar fraud scheme.

One day after he was pushed out of PMPED, Mr Murdaugh was shot by the side of a road in Hampton County in what turned out to be a botched hitman plot.

The disgraced attorney claimed he was ambushed in a drive-by shooting while changing a tire on his car.

Mr Ball said he instantly “didn’t believe that” story and went to the scene with other PMPED partners.

“I told them “I don’t buy it”,” he said.

He said they found the knife in the grass used by Mr Murdaugh to slash his own tire and noted that he didn’t even have a spare tire.

Mr Murdaugh’s story soon unravelled and he confessed to orchestrating the saga so that his surviving son Buster could get a $10m life insurance windfall.

In damning testimony, Mr Ball said that – while he doesn’t know if he killed Maggie and Paul – he now “doubts everything” about Mr Murdaugh.

“I’ve spent 33 years in one place. I’ve put everything in it... and it’s gone.... because of his acts,” he said of the law firm.

“And when it comes to that, I’m mad as hell. But on the other hand, I’m not saying he’s done what he’s been accused of.”

While Mr Ball may have helped the state as much as the defence, his testimony came as the defence continues to present its case, seeking to present Mr Murdaugh as a loving father and son who could not have killed his family members.

Mr Murdaugh received a glowing character interview in other testimony on Wednesday, as his parents’ housekeeper Barbara Mixson took the stand and said she loved him “like one of my children”.

In very brief testimony, Ms Mixson said Mr Murdaugh visited his parents “practically every day”.

She said she’d called him on the day of the murders and asked him to come visit his mother Libby Murdaugh because she was “agitated” with her husband in the hospital.

Ms Mixson said she never saw the blue tarp that Libby’s caretaker, Muschelle “Shelley” Smith, previous told the court that Mr Murdaugh brought into his parents home in the days after the murders.

Before the day’s proceedings got under way, Mr Murdaugh’s attorneys asked Judge Clifton Newman to bring an order preventing the prosecution from cross-examining Mr Murdaugh about his string of alleged financial crimes should he take the stand in his own defence.

Jim Griffin said that the legal team had not yet decided whether or not Mr Murdaugh will testify in his murder trial but that they wanted the financial crimes to be off limits if he does.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters argued that the cross examination is “wide open” to all the alleged crimes – including the financial crimes – if Mr Murdaugh takes the stand.

Judge Newman sided with the state, refusing to issue an order ahead of the testimony.

“For the court to issue a blanket order limiting the scope of cross-examination, that’s unheard of to me,” he said.

In court on Tuesday, jurors heard testimony from Mr Murdaugh’s surviving son Buster who said his father was “destroyed” by the murders.

A ballistics expert also testified that – based on the projectile of bullets – Maggie’s killer is around 5’2” tall. Mr Murdaugh is 6’4” tall.

This comes after jurors heard four weeks of dramatic testimony from 61 prosecution witnesses covering a trove of circumstantial evidence, including cellphone and car data, a damning video allegedly placing Mr Murdaugh at the crime scene and apparent holes in his alibi for the time for the murders.

Murdaugh murder trial witness 'infuriated' by state of 'sloppy' crime scene

The final state witness SLED Agent Peter Rudofski laid out a detailed timeline of both the final movements of the two victims – and the movements of their accused killer.

Among the timeline was newly-obtained car data which placed Mr Murdaugh’s car at the spot where his wife’s phone was later found dumped – before he quickly sped away from the scene.

It also showed that he stayed just 21 minutes at his parents’ home that night – less than half the 45 minutes to an hour he claimed to police.

Bombshell testimony from his mother’s carer Muschelle “Shelly” Smith previously disputed Mr Murdaugh’s alibi, saying that he showed up at his sick mother’s house for only 20 minutes that night – before telling her to tell authorities he was there double the length of time.

A cellphone video captured by Paul minutes before the murders also appears to place Mr Murdaugh at the murder scene.

Prosecutors claim that Mr Murdaugh shot dead Maggie and Paul, in order to distract from his string of alleged scandals and financial crimes.

Mr Murdaugh, 54, is facing life in prison for the murders of his wife and son. He has pleaded not guilty.

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