An expert witness for the defense in the double murder hearing of controversial South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh said during his testimony on Monday that he believes Murdaugh’s wife and son were murdered by two distinct shooters. Tim Palmbach, a crime scene expert, was the first witness to bring up the two-killer theory in testimony, even though the theory has been a concern throughout the trial due to the use of two distinct weapons and the lack of any evidence that either victim attempted to defend themselves.
All About Alex Murdaugh Double Homicide
On June 7, 2021, 2 gun blasts near kennels on the Murdaugh family’s expansive Colleton County property killed 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh, while 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh was slain by four or five rifle shots. On Monday as well, one of Murdaugh’s siblings concluded the defense’s case by claiming that he had promised his nephew he would locate his killer but that hasn’t happened yet. The 54-year-old Murdaugh is accused of killing his son and wife. If found guilty, he could spend 30 years to life in jail.
Palmbach’s testimony OnAlex Murdaugh Double Homicide Trial
According to Palmbach’s testimony, it makes the most logical that there would be two shooters. The two people who were killed were shot nearly at the same moment, according to all available evidence. A few seconds later, they both put down their phones. With their hands down and no sign of either victim trying to help the other or fleeing, both victims looked startled.
Since the second deadly shotgun blow to Paul Murdaugh’s head occurred up close, blood, skull fragments, other debris, and perhaps even shot pellets would have been fired back at the shooter, according to Palmbach. Alex Murdaugh’s defense focuses heavily on demonstrating that investigators did not meticulously gather evidence from the crime scene and casting doubt on the prosecution’s expert witness testimony that the police made every effort to locate the murderer.
The defense also applied Monday’s testimony to point out that neither weapon applied in the assaults has been discovered that state agents at the scene didn’t search for footprints or fingerprints and that no proof of the blood, brain matter, or other substance from the killings were found on Alex Murdaugh or his clothes. Only 16 minutes had passed between the victims’ last cellphone use and the time Alex Murdaugh departed his home, which was about 1,100 feet (335 meters) away from the crime scene, to go see his ailing mother. When he discovered the bodies soon after arriving home, he dialed 911.
The deadly shotgun blast went off from over Paul Murdaugh’s head, according to Palmbach’s analysis, even though hair, blood, and other materials were discovered on the ceiling over in a storage area the Murdaugh family named the feed room. According to Palmbach, the shotgun blast’s power of gases was like a bomb inside the contained skull, spewing fragments out of the same opening the shotgun shot had made.
Alex Murdaugh Cried During Trial
Several times throughout the graphic account, Alex Murdaugh sobbed. As they always are whenever photos from crime scenes and autopsies are shown in court, the monitors that the jury and public can use to view the evidence were hidden. John Marvin Murdaugh, Murdaugh’s sibling, was the final witness for the defense. In his testimony, he related how state agents had claimed to have a shirt covered with blood that would show that his sibling was the murderer.
Although Alex Murdaugh’s attorneys claimed in pretrial motions that a state agent alleged to discover blood, that evidence has not been introduced at trial. Later studies contradicted the claim, and the garment was destroyed before the defense could inspect it. Less than 12 hours after the murders, state agents cleared the crime scene, according to John Marvin Murdaugh. That morning when he went to search the area, he discovered blood, brains, and a fragment of Paul Murdaugh’s cranium. He claimed that he was driven to tidy.
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