Alex Murdaugh trial - live: Defendant confronted about ‘missing’ $792k in law firm fees hours before murders

Mr Harpootlian argues that it would be hard to throw a phone from a driver’s window across a lane of roadway so it landed approximately 15-20 feet from the edge of the road — about 40 feet in total.

Mr Hightower says he could easily make that throw with his left hand. Asked whether he would throw it over or underarm, Mr Hightower says he would do neither and would flick it horizontally.

In earlier testimony, there was much discussion about the orientation of the phone per the event log data. If the phone were to have been flicked horizontally from a car window with the screen off there would have been no change in orientation as the data log shows.

Once the phone was found, Mr Hightower put it in airplane mode and handed it over to SLED in an evidence bag. He did not have the passcode for the phone and so could not have entered it.

It is possible to put a phone in airplane mode without unlocking it.

In cross-examination, defence attorney Dick Harpootlian asks if police had put up roadblocks or had warned people of a possible active shooter and asks about a statement from Colleton County Sheriff’s Office saying there was no danger to the public.

Mr Hightower says he is not aware of such a statement (as others have testified).

Regarding the location of Maggie’s phone, Mr Harpootlian notes that no one measured the exact positioning of the phone. Mr Hightower says that he could find the location within a few feet based on the photos taken of its placement.

As he compared the contents of Alex Murdaugh’s phone with call data from Verizon, he noticed on the date in question (7 June) there were just 2 FaceTime calls registered versus 73 calls on the Verizon records.

Earlier testimony noted that only a user can delete calls from the log. Calls started to be logged again on the morning of 8 June.

On 10 June 2021, Mr Hightower visited John Marvin Murdaugh’s house to extract phone contents from the devices of Alex, Buster, and Randy while they were interviewed by SLED.

After those three extractions, the family received word that Randolph Murdaugh’s condition was worsening and they left for the hospital.

He conducted a basic surface extraction of the phones (call logs, messages, pictures, videos, not necessarily location information) which takes about 30 minutes. A full extraction takes much longer.

On the morning after the murders, Mr Hightower went to the Murdaugh home after a briefing at SLED regional headquarters in Walterboro, Colleton County.

He testifies that it is not uncommon for him to respond to crime or murder scenes.

Mr Hightower toured the kennel area which had been handed over by SLED crime scene investigation unit. He took photos of the scene with a drone and then set about trying to locate Maggie’s phone, having established that Paul’s phone was found on his body.

Using a family phone (believed to have been Buster’s) Mr Hightower used “Find My iPhone” to search for the phone, eventually getting into his vehicle with John Marvin Murdaugh and two investigators and driving off the property when they realised how far away it the device was.

Eventually, they located the phone approximately half a mile from the property having exited the vehicles and proceeded on foot in their search.

He took photos of the phone laying about 15-20 feet away from Moselle Road in brush and leaves. He did not touch the phone and notified the team.

The next witness is Dylan Hightower an investigator for the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

He was responsible for downloading the contents of Alex Murdaugh’s phone a few days after the murders.

Mr Murdaugh is associated as a volunteer associate solicitor with the 14th Circuit. Mr Hightower has worked on a trial in which Mr Murdaugh and his father were prosecutors.

Court has resumed after the lunch break and the jury is brought back in.

Judge Newman says there will be approximately two hours with the jury in the courtroom this afternoon for non-financial crimes witnesses and then proceedings will continue without them.

He also suggested potentially telling the jury to come in late tomorrow so that discussions regarding the financial crimes evidence and motive can continue.

Alex Murdaugh’s former law firm partner has recalled how he gave her a “dirty look” when she confronted him over missing payments worth a staggering $792,000 on the day that his wife and son were murdered.

Jeanne Seckinger, the chief financial officer at Mr Murdaugh’s former law firm PMPED, testified in Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Thursday at his trial for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

She told the court how she discovered the 54-year-old now-disbarred attorney was misappropriating millions of dollars from his legal clients – by moving money into a fake business and into his own personal accounts.

Rachel Sharp has the details.

Prosecutors argue that Mr Murdaugh’s alleged financial crimes – where he stole $8.5m from law firm clients – are key to his motive for Maggie and Paul’s murders

During his high-profile murder trial on Wednesday, jurors at Colleton County Courthouse in South Carolina were shown a Snapchat video taken by Mr Murdaugh’s son Paul at 7.56pm on the night of 7 June 2021.

The video, sent to Paul’s friend Will Loving, shows Mr Murdaugh on the grounds of the family estate looking at a small tree as it limply falls to the ground.

Two videos were shown in court on Wednesday casting doubt on Alex Murdaugh’s alibi and what he was wearing on night of murders

Judge Newman asks prosecutor Creighton Waters what is next.

Mr Waters said he has further witnesses on the financial side of the motive argument — Mr Murdaugh’s paralegal, Michael Gunn, principal at Forge Consulting; and attorney and Murdaugh friend Chris Wilson — ready to testify without the jury present.

Defence attorney Jim Griffin argues that Ms Seckinger’s testimony shows that these financial crimes are not admissible in the murder case and says that admitting this line of evidence will add more than two weeks to the trial.

Mr Waters says he can streamline the state’s case regarding the financial crimes, saying: “The state’s intent is not to try one hundred white-collar cases in the context of this murder case.”

The state argues that it is important to establish what was going on in Mr Murdaugh’s life in the lead-up to 7 June 2021.

Saying that he does not want the jury to be idle, Judge Newman says the prosecution can call witnesses that do not have to do with the financial crimes in the afternoon with the jury present.

The hearing about financial crimes will continue later today or tomorrow without the jury.

Court breaks for lunch and will return at 2.15pm.