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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Oliver O'Connell and Rachel Sharp

Alex Murdaugh trial - live: Ballistics expert says Murdaugh too tall to be shooter as son Buster takes stand

AP

Alex Murdaugh’s wife and son discovered ‘bags of pills’ one month before murders

Alex Murdaugh’s surviving son Buster has testified at his father’s trial for the murders of the 26-year-old’s mother Maggie and brother Paul.

Buster – who has sat in Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, every day since the start of the trial – was called to the witness stand by the defence on Tuesday morning.

His testimony comes after the defence began its case on Friday, fighting back against 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.

Jurors have already heard four weeks of dramatic testimony from 61 witnesses for the prosecution, culminating with a detailed timeline piecing together the final movements of the two victims – and the movements of their accused killer.

Among the revelations in the 88-page timeline was a voicemail message revealing Maggie and Paul had discovered the disgraced attorney’s stash of opioids a month before their murders.

Testifying for the defence, an expert witness claimed that the shooter could only be 5’2” to have fired some of the shots at the crime scene. Forensic engineer Mike Sutton then faced tough cross-examination from the prosecution.

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