Snapchat video from Paul Murdaugh presented as evidence in Murdaugh murder trial

COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. (WTOC) - Day nine in the trial of Alex Murdaugh started with a Snapchat video taken by his son, Paul, the night of the murders.

“Is that video, the video we just discussed, that was part of the Snapchat search warrant return?

“Yes.”

“That you just testified was uploaded at 7:39 p.m. and sent at 7:56 p.m.?”

“Yes.”

A Snapchat employee confirmed video of Murdaugh was taken by his son just over an hour before he was killed.

The jury was dismissed for a hearing on financial crimes, before being met with more discussion of Alex’s phone records in the afternoon.

“On June 7, I only saw two FaceTime calls on the phone extraction and I saw a series of around 73 phone calls on the Verizon detail record,” said Dylan Hightower, an investigator with the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

The investigator did a brief search of Murdaugh’s phone, which he says showed starkly different results than the cell company’s data. In the defense’s questioning of the same witness, they focused on a briefing held by law enforcement agents the morning after the murders.

“So, somebody, even two people or one person with two guns, was at large at that point as far as y’all were concerned,” said defense attorney Dick Harpootlian.

“Yes sir, I mean ideally.”

“Ok. Did any of those agents indicate during your briefing that they felt there was somebody at large that posed a danger to the community? Did you hear any of that?”

“I don’t believe so.”

The next witness was the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s Sr. Special Agent Katie McCallister, who searched the Murdaugh home the night after the murders.

“You’re telling this jury that you saw no evidence of blood or tissue or anything that could indicate somebody had showered or washed off or bathed to remove evidence of a crime. Is that what you’re telling them?

“Yes sir, there was nothing visible to me,” McCallister said.

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