Murdaugh Murder Trial, Day 16: Alternates replace 2 COVID-positive jurors

WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCIV) — UPDATE 2/13/23 @ 6 p.m. -- Sources close to Alex Murdaugh's defense team say Murdaugh could testify on his own behalf. ABC News 4 will continue keeping you updated.

Read more: PODCAST: Murdaugh Day 16 Recap I Unsolved South Carolina

Week 4 started in the Murdaugh murder trial Monday. The State is expected to complete their side of testimonies this week.

Judge Clifton Newman started Monday announcing two jurors have tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be able to continue with the trial. Two alternates will take their places.

The Clerk of Court is also out with COVID-19, the judge said. Her staff has reportedly tested negative.

Read More: Public gets firsthand perspective of walking onto Murdaugh murder scene at Moselle

Dick Harpootlian suggested a delay, but Judge Newman said a doctor came and tested jurors this morning and recommended they be tested again on Wednesday. They agreed to wear masks in the meantime.

This week, "Cousin Eddie" could potentially take the stand, but we're told likely not until mid-week.

Curtis "Eddie" Smith, a friend and former client of Alex Murdaugh's, has been indicted on several charges related to Murdaugh's alleged schemes. Those charges include money laundering, drug trafficking, and criminal conspiracy.

Read More: GRAPHIC: Body-cam footage shows crime scene where Maggie & Paul Murdaugh were murdered

Smith was also linked to the September 2021 shooting of Murdaugh. Investigators said that incident involved a botched suicide-for-hire plot that would have resulted in a multimillion-dollar life insurance policy payout for Murdaugh's only living son, Buster.

Alex Murdaugh stands trial accused of killing his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, at the family's Colleton County property in June of 2021.

Read More: DNA evidence one of main focuses on day 16 of Murdaugh murder trial

He's charged with two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Court began at 9:30 a.m.

Read More:

• Murdaugh Day 15: Judge denies motion for mistrial, housekeeper testifies on $31M lawsuit
• PODCAST: Murdaugh Day 15 Recap I Unsolved South Carolina
• Week 3 wraps up with fiery moments in the Murdaugh murder trial
• GoFundMe for Alex Murdaugh's mother's caretaker surpasses $27K in donations
• Testimony: Murdaugh's friend of 30 years was unaware of troubles, is owed $192K
• Financial crime evidence remains center stage on day 14 of Murdaugh murder trial
• Condon: Murdaugh focus group tests in defense's favor, will be central to defense's case
• TIMELINE: Alex Murdaugh and 5 years of death investigations, fraud & murder
• WATCH: Murdaugh trial evidence includes Alex's first police interview on night of murders

Live blog embed authored by Drew Tripp.

Monday

Judge Newman announces two jurors have been excused due to COVID-19.

Both Dick Harpootlian and Creighton Waters are expressing worries about potential delay if more jurors test positive, or worst case scenario, a mistrial should an outbreak sweep through the jury pool.

Waters and Harpootlian both float the idea of delaying trial until everyone can be tested (they were tested this morning) and retested until all can be shown negative due to potential delayed symptoms.

Judge Newman says he's not interested in delaying the trial. This is why they selected so many alternates. Attrition is a natural par of the trial.

Two alternates have been seated in the main jury of 12. Now down to three alternates after a juror had to be excused due to a medical emergency last week. They started with six.

Harpootlian and Waters both say they would not object to Judge Newman issuing a mask requirement. Waters also says he'd like to see social distancing and limit the number of people who can attend court. Judge Newman won't issue any social distancing rules. For the time being, he's encouraging everyone to mask up in the courtroom.

Big update: Waters says General Motors suddenly Friday afternoon contacted the State saying they've been able to somehow now recover OnStar location and vehicle speed data from Alex Murdaugh's Chevy Suburban. Waters says they subpoenaed this data from GM back in March 2022, and says GM told them the data didn't exist.

Waters says the State and Defense are both in receipt of the OnStar data from GM. Both the State and Defense want the data admitted and both feel it's important to their case. Harpootlian wants additional time for their experts to review the data before it's introduced.

Judge Newman says they'll address the issue of a timeline witness and the new data when it arises, but for the time being says for Waters to proceed with his planned witnesses. Waters thinks it could be late Tuesday or Wednesday before they have someone in to go over it.

Judge Newman notes many on the jury are wearing masks already.

First witness: Ryan Kelly

First on the stand, Ryan Kelly, SLED Sr. Special Agent. He's being called for "limited purposes" this morning, according to state prosecutor Savanna Goude.

Kelly is affirming DNA samples from several people he collected related to his investigation into the Murdaugh case:

• Phillip, Renee, Robin Beach
• John Marvin
• Ronald Freeman
• Michael List
• Matthew Luce (unsure of spelling)
• Curtis Smith

All the DNA swabs have been admitted into evidence. No more questions for Agent Kelly at this time.

Next witness: Rachel Nguyen

Now on the stand, Rachel Nguyen, DNA forensic analyst at SLED. She can also do body fluid identification and retrieval for evidence.

Nguyen has been qualified as an expert witness.

Nguyen examined samples from Paul and Maggie Murdaugh.

Nguyen examined .300BLK shell casings for "touch DNA" from Maggie and Paul Murdaugh. Nguyen also prepared fired shotgun shells for analysis.

Nguyen prepared swabs for analysis taken from the doorknob of the feed room door.

Nguyen says she tested swabs of potential blood taken from the 12 gauge shotgun Alex Murdaugh had with him the night of the murders, which he claimed he went to get from the house while on the phone with 911 because he said the killers might still be around.

Nguyen notes that of the two swabs of potential blood taken from the shotgun, the swab close to the receiver tested presumptive for blood. The other one from the muzzle did not test positive.

Two other swabs of "reddish brown debris" on the receiver of the shotgun were also tested, and both were presumptive positive for blood as well.

Nguyen says several swabs were taken from Alex's Chevy Suburban and some had been found presumptive positive for blood by crime scene agents. After her confirmatory testing, swabs from the steering weel were positive for blood. The steering wheel swabs were sent to the DNA lab for further analysis, as with the swabs from the gun.

Fingernail clippings of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were reviewed, processed initially by Nguyen, and sent to the DNA lab for further analysis.

White T-shirt of Alex Murdaugh submitted to the lab for blood testing. Nguyen says she tested two potential stains on the short bird for possible blood. One stain on the front bottom of the shirt was presumptive positive for blood, so she cut the one stain off the shirt and sent the fabric for further DNA analysis.

A second stain on the shirt presumptive positive for blood was not cut out until later.

After she removed the second stain and sent it for further analysis, SLED crime scene agents tested the remainder of the shirt using LCV presumptive blood test spray, which revealed 10 additional possible blood stains. All were clipped from the shirt and sent for further analysis.

Several stains from Alex's shorts were examined, and two potential blood tests were identified, snipped, and sent for testing.

Six additional stains potential for blood were found when agents used the LCV spray. Removed and sent for additional testing.

Now moving onto Alex's tennis shoes. Two possible blood stains were found, one from shoelace was sent for further analysis.

Now the blue raincoat. Nguyen tested 71 stains for possible blood, and crime scene agents came behind with LCV test. No presumptive positives for blood anywhere on the coat.

The coat was also tested for DNA to help determine primary wearer of the coat. No hair found. Plastic seam liner was coming off throughout the item, she noted.

Nguyen says when the cartridge casings were soaked in the solution to test for DNA, they were all 6 soaked in the solution at the same time.

Nguyen clarifies the second sets of presumptive positive blood stains from the shotgun mentioned earlier were from a separate shotgun taken from the Murdaugh's, not the one Alex had with him when police arrived.

Nguyen confirms there are several things that can trigger false positives for blood samples using the methods SLED has available.

Nguyen wasn't tasked with testing Maggie and Paul's clothing.

Nguyen says she is aware there were additional hemotrace tests on Alex's shirt, shorts and shoes, but says she didn't perform those tests personally.

Nguyen notes the swabs from Alex's SUV steering weren't the only vehicle tests she examined. She also examined swabs from a Ford F-250 (Paul's truck). All samples from the F-250 were negative.

Nguyen says she was not informed why other crime scene agents and performed the LCV tests on the shirt after she had already done her initial testing.

No further questions from state or defense. Nguyen is excused.

Worth noting that the Defense in pretrial motions to exclude the blood testing of Alex's T-shirt said SLED's LCV testing of the shirt basically ruined it and prevented further testing. And Nguyen testified she doesn't know why other agents came behind her and retested the shirt with LCV.

Nguyen noted also the tests she uses for blood (pheno tests) -- copper and nickel salts, rust, plants (broccoli, cauliflower, horseradish), pus and bacteria.

Next witness: Sarah Zapata

Next on the stand is SLED Forensic DNA analyst Sarah Zapata.

DNA contained in bodily fluids, and can be left behind by simply touching things.

Zapata is able to use samples and technology to create DNA "profiles" from what's collected at crime scenes and direct samples from a person (such as in a mouth swab). DNA is said to have "contributed to the mixture" from what's found in the sample, what's found at the crime scene, and is then compared against an unrelated third party.

Zapata is using the analogy of a see-saw to explain DNA test results. The see-saw may tilt strongly in the direction of one individual (meaning they contributed to the mixture) vs. the other. If the see-saw doesn't tilt to one side, the result isn't very strong.

Sometimes voluntary samples from a person are used to compare directly against evidence samples for that same person to demonstrate their DNA matching strongly. This is another scenario where the see-saw doesn't tilt.

Zapata uses the "grandma's cookie recipe" to show how matching DNA is compared. If the computer tool used to process the DNA spits out very similar recipes, the DNA can be assumed to match for contributions.

Zapata now preparing to review the DNA swabs she analyzed as part of the Murdaugh investigation.

First swab: Nolan Tuten (friend of Paul Murdaugh, brother of Nathan Tuten who testified Friday).

Next: DNA samples from .300BLK shell casings and swabs from shotgun shells. The DNA profile on the .300BLK casings was 510 billion times more likely to be from Maggie Murdaugh than an unknown person.

For the shotgun shells found in the feed room, DNA swabs were 15 octillion times more likely to be from Paul Murdaugh than an unknown person. Zapata says both the results for Maggie and Paul can be considered "single source" contributions to the DNA mixture, meaning it's very unlikely other DNA was present.

Now from the doorknob in the feed room: DNA sample is 15 octillion times more likely to be from Paul Murdaugh than a stranger.

Now onto the suspected blood samples from the shotgun Murdaugh had with him the night of the murders. The blood sample was found to be a mixture. 670 octillion times more likely the blood was from Maggie and an unknown second person, 210 quintillion times more likely it was Alex and an unknown third person.

Result was 48 quindecillion 48 followed by 48 zeros) times more likely Alex and Maggie contributed to the blood than 2 unknown strangers. Meaning, it was a near certainty their DNA profiles were in the blood on the gun.

The second swab from Alex's shotgun was not suitable for developing a DNA profile.

Now onto the second shotgun from the house that was tested. Both blood samples showed a mixture of DNA profiles, with incredibly strong certainty (hundreds of octillions of times more likely) for Maggie Murdaugh being a contributor to the mixture than a stranger.

Blood samples from Chevy Suburban steering wheel. Mixture from two individuals. Only 35 times more likely for it to be Maggie and another person than two strangers, but 100 quadrillions times more likely it was Alex and another person than strangers, 240 quintillion times more likely that it was both Maggie and Alex being the contributors than strangers. The first test (Maggie 35 times more likely) is not considered a strong result.

Left hand fingernail clippings from Maggie Murdaugh: Mixture identified. Paul and Buster were easily excluded, as was Alex (plus several others).

First scenario for mixture: Maggie and Claude (CB) Rowe. Rowe was included for testing because his alleles profile couldn't be visually excluded. Based on further testing, it was found 11 times more likely CB Rowe was the second contributor to the mixture than a stranger. Again, 11 times is moderate likelihood, per Zapata. It was a very low level of unidentified DNA found in the mixture (only three alleles). Possible any given person in the courtroom could have a similar DNA allele profile.

Fingernail clippings on right hand: Only Maggie's DNA present.

Paul Murdaugh's fingernail clippings: Paul's DNA.

Alex Murdaugh's shirt:

• Stain one: Two contributors 360 quadrillion times more likely Alex and Maggie contributed to mixture than unidentified strangers. 7 octillion times more likely it's Paul and Alex than strangers.
• Stain two: Two contributors. 3,800 times more likely it's Maggie and Alex's DNA than strangers.
• Stain three: Three contributors. 570 octillion times more likely it's Alex and Maggie and an unknown third person than Alex and two strangers.
• Stain four: Four contributors. 1.9 quadrillion times more likely it's Alex and Maggie and two strangers than Alex and three strangers. 480 septillion times more likely it's Nolan Tuten, Alex Murdaugh and two unknowns than Alex and three unknowns. 480 duodecillion times more likely it's Alex, Maggie and Nolan Tuten than other scenarios.
• Stain five: Three contributors. 590 million times more likely it's Alex and Maggie's DNA plus unknown than Alex and three unknowns.
• Stain six: No results suitable for testing.
• Stain seven: Three contributors. 430 octillion times more likely it's Alex, Maggie and a third person than Alex and two unknown persons.
• Stain eight: Two contributors. 10 times more likely it's Alex and Hippolito Torres than Alex and a stranger. Weak support for it actually being Hippolito, same as it was with CB Rowe under Maggie's fingernails.

Zapata couldn't visually exclude Hippolito Torres' allele profile, but again, weak support for him being a contributor at only 10 times more likely.

• Stain nine: Two contributors. 1.3 nonillion times more likely it's Alex and Maggie than unknown second contributor.
• Stain 10: Three contributors. 1.5 sextillion times more likely it's Alex and Maggie and an unknown third contributor than Alex and two unknowns. 24 quintillion times more likely it's Paul Murdaugh and two unknowns than three unknowns. Only 29 times more likely it's Alex and two unknowns than three unknowns.
• Stain 10 continued: 260 quindecillion times more likley it's all three (Maggie, Paul and Alex) than three strangers. Zapata notes again Maggie and Paul's results were stronger individually than Alex's.

HemaTrace blood tests on all the shirt cuttings were all negative for blood. Zapata says HemaTrace is weaker but more exact than LCV, while LCV is stronger but less exact. Zapata notes some studies show LCV can dilute or taint items such that HemaTrace cannot detect usable results.

Alex Murdaugh's shorts: Alex's, Maggie's and Paul's DNA all found on the shorts.

Suspected blood on Alex's shoelace. Most likely Alex's DNA.

Raincoat: Swabs from cuffs, neck, hood, and zipper. No DNA profile. Pockets: Unable to determine.

Court is resuming now after lunch. Creighton Waters for the State says an upcoming witness for the state will be a forensic pathologist who will discuss autopsies for Maggie and Paul Murdaugh. There extraordinarily graphic autopsy photos will be shown in court under seal.

Phil Barber now beginning cross examination of SLED agent Zapata.

Barber asks Zapata to clarify there was foreign male DNA found under Maggie's left hand fingernails.

Zapata says the DNA from under Maggie's fingernails was not compared against male members of the Murdaugh family because their familiar connection means they all would've had the same Y chromosome and many similar alleles, making it hard to differentiate between them all.

Barber establishes Maggie had been to the nail salon the day ahead of coming to Moselle. Barber tries to suggest any DNA under her nails prior to the appointment would've been gone, and there wouldn't have been much opportunity after that nail appointment for her to pick up someone else's DNA under her hands. Zapata explains Maggie could've picked up foreign male DNA at the salon or simply by touching something. She notes it was also a very small sample. Doesn't really support Barber's framing.

Zapata says the unknown male DNA from under Maggie's fingernails wasn't submitted to CODIS (FBI DNA database) for cross referencing because with only 3 alleles, there wasn't enough data to draw a comparison.

Zapata agrees it's possible Maggie's DNA and blood could've wound up on Alex's steering wheel and the shotguns because Alex touched them. Defense's insinuation is Alex touched their bodies checking them for pulse, and touched the guns and steering wheel afterward.

Only part of Alex's shirt where Paul's DNA was found is in one area at the bottom front of the shirt.

Backing up a minute, Zapata said other places on Maggie and Paul's bodies weren't tested for DNA after the murders. She explained the volume of blood and other bodily fluids in cases like this can often saturate the bodies.

Using a visual aid, Barber has Zapata confirm SLED was "0 for 74" on finding blood on Alex's clothes. She agrees all the tests were negative for blood.

Zapata confirms she was informed in August Alex's shirt was being sent for blood spatter analysis. She doesn't know how that came to be, but she does recall hearing about it.

Zapata issued her report including HemaTrace results in November 2021. She doesn't recall discussing those results with anyone besides the person who reviewed her report. For the blue raincoat, she spoked to Lt. Charles Ghent with SLED to give him the preliminary DNA profile findings from the jacket.

Barber moves ahead to March 2022: State receives results of its high velocity impact spatter (blood spatter) test on Alex's shirt. She says she wasn't aware of the details or timeline of its receipt.

April 2021, meeting called by the AG to discuss case evidence. Barber asks Zapata if she recalls any mention of blood spatter in that meeting. She doesn't recall. Does she recall media reports about it days after the fact? She tried to avoid media.

Zapata says she was asked about her HemaTrace results showing no blood at some point during a meeting about the results of her reports. She says there were several meetings like that with her. Zapata consults her notes. She says that meeting happened in April. She says people were called individually to that April meeting, and doesn't know if blood spatter was discussed outside her presence.

Defense introduces memo Creighton Waters had Zapata write attempting to explain why the blood testing was negative. She can't say if Waters asked her for the memo because of the high velocity impact blood spatter report by Tom Bevel. She says she was aware there was a report, but she and Waters didn't discuss its results. She was simply asked to discuss HemaTrace.

Zapata says she was also made aware of a report by Tom Bevel regarding the efficacy of LCV and HemaTrace testing on the same objects.

Zapata says there's a report out of Australia she included in her report to Waters showing that blood was accurately found 33 of 38 times in HemaTrace testing after LCV testing. That's 84 % of the time. Barber notes again that Zapata's testing was 0 for 74.

Barber: Is it fair to say there's no human blood on the t-shirt?

Zapata: The test that I performed was negative for the presence of human blood.

Barber says Murdaugh wore this shirt while fishing. Suggests the blood spray / spatter on the shirt could've come from gaffing fish (clubbing large fish with a sharp hook on the end of a stick in order to securely pull the fish up from the water). Zapata says she has no idea about gaffing and blood spray, but says most animal blood except ferrets and great apes would not show up on the shirt using HemaTrace.

Barber asks Zapata if there was ever a discussion in her presence about a "blue buttondown shirt." She doesn't recall any discussion of that.

Savanna Goude in redirect for the state. Zapata says DNA can be swapped from a simple handshake. Zapata also adds re: not testing Maggie and Paul's clothing, she doesn't test items she isn't asked to test, and she wasn't asked.

Barber in brief cross asks Zapata if it would be uncommon for a wife's touch DNA to be on a husband's shirt. She says it would not.

Next witness: Ellen Riemer

Back from break. Now on the witness stand, Dr. Ellen Riemer, medical examiner.

Board certified in forensic pathology. Former pathologist at Wake Forest, but Medical University of South Carolina for last 14 years. She's a professor at MUSC in addition to being a forensic pathologist.

Estimates 5,500 autopsies in her career.

Dr. Riemer has been qualified as an expert witness in forensic pathology around 250 times in SC & NC, tribal lands.

Reamer now established as an expert witness in this case.

Riemer is demonstrating Paul Murdaugh's shotgun blast wounds for the jury. Starting with wound to the front left of his chest, armpit, back and left arm. She notes the "stippling" on Paul Murdaugh's skin from the burning gunpowder. She says this indicates the shot was fired from within 3 feet. Riemer says the shotgun pellets didn't enter Paul's chest cavity and didn't hit any vital organs He would've most likely survived the first shot and wouldn't have even been knocked off his feet.

Riemer says Paul's arm injuries from the first shotgun blast indicate his hands were down, not up.

Riemer discussing second shotgun wound to Paul. Pellets went into and across the top of his left shoulder, into the left side of his face and neck, then trough his brain and skull and out the upper right side of his head. His brain was detached and was expelled from his skull. It actually arrived separately in a bucket for the autopsy. The entry location of the shotgun blast in his face and neck suggests he was facing the shooter on his left when the shot was fired.

Riemer says the second shot to Paul was immediately fatal, and he had abrasions on his face indicating he fell to the ground unprotected (without bracing or protecting his face).

Riemer says there's no evidence of defensive wounds on Paul Murdaugh.

Paul's toxicology report shows he only had caffeine in his system at the time of his death, no alcohol or drugs.

Riemer says Maggie suffered five gunshot wounds, either from four shots with five wounds, or five shots with five wounds.

Riemer: Maggie's injuries were consistent with an assault rifle. She's now trying to explain the likely order of her 5 wounds. First shot was front to back, downward trajectory, entered somewhere around her right breast, into her intestines, through her pancreas and left kidney, out the left side of her back about 10 inches below where it entered.

Second wound: Front to back, right to left, downward. Parallel to first shot. Entered upper front of left thigh, exited lower rear of left thigh.

Both of Maggie's frontal, parallel gunshot wounds were accompanied by gunpowder stippling burns, again indicating the shot was fired within about 3-feet.

Gunshot wound 3: In upper left wrist (top, hairy area), out of left wrist (underneath, smooth area).

Gunshot 4: Scraped along left abdoment, went into her left breast from underneath, exited breast and went into her head from under the jaw. Destroyed her brain, was immediately fatal.

Gunshot 5: Downward direction entering top rear of head, exiting rear bottom of skull through brain stem and cerebellum, bullet fragments marring her upper back.

Riemer says due to the pain of the first shot in her kidney, Maggie was likely bent over at the waist or down on all fours when the 4th shot entered her body, scraping along her abdomen and into her breast from behind, then out of her breast and into her head.

Riemer opines the last shot to the back of Maggie's head likely occurred with Maggie lying face down on the ground.

As for the wrist wound, it could've occurred as a separate individual wound, or it could've occurred with the next to last shot from behind that went up through her breast and into the jaw and head. Possible if Maggie's arms were folded across her abdomen where she was hunched over from the pain of the first shot.

Riemer says the stippling from the wound to Maggie's thigh was tighter in circumference than the one to her chest, indicating the gun barrel was closer to her for the second shot.

Reimer is confident the next-to-last and final shots came from different directions. She says the amount of blood in Maggie's abdomen hadn't yet produced a significant amount of blood (although it was everywhere in her abdomen from the damage), indicating the first shot and last shot didn't occur very far in time away from one another.

Reimer is confident the next-to-last and final shots came from different directions. She says the amount of blood in Maggie's abdomen hadn't yet produced a significant amount of blood (although it was everywhere in her abdomen from the damage), indicating the first shot and last shot didn't occur very far in time away from one another.

Court is in recess until 9:30 Monday morning. Creighton Waters notes re: General Motors location data from Alex's SUV mentioned this morning, he has a GM custodian coming and it shouldn't be long testimony. He still expects to be done by Wednesday.

One quick note from right at the end of the State's direct examination of Dr. Riemer: Maggie Murdaugh's toxicology report indicated only caffeine in her system, no drugs or alcohol.

Both Paul and Maggie's causes of death were gunshot wounds, manner of death was homicide.

Court adjourned around 5 p.m. The defense will begin Tuesday with cross-examination.