♪ >> if you can't get on that ride it looks like the lines right now haven't opened up yet in new jersey. you might as well run to the radio. carley shimkus was supposed to be first but i have to sub her out. >> she will have her baby soon. >> this will be -- we'll reach the conclusion that alex murdered maggie and paul. >> what is more believable, the night he comes home and finds his wife and son butchered. he goes over and tries to get a pulse out of maggie, no pulse. calls 911. he didn't do it. he didn't kill, butcher his son and wife. >> bill: he is on trial for

double murder. now day two of the double murder try of alex murdaugh in south carolina. it begins in 30 minutes. the first witness is set to take the stand today. i'm bill hemmer. good morning at home. >> dana: i'm dana perino and this is "america's newsroom." a lot of drama. a lot of people following the story for the prominent south carolina lawyer accused of shooting and killing his wife in 2021. propers cuteors argue all the evidence fits together like the pieces of a puzzle including cell phone footage and gunshot residue. >> bill: the defense claims it proves nothing. high emotion in the courtroom yesterday. the defendant broke down in tears. >> dana: now as the trial is set to resume the big question is whether his surviving son will take the stand. >> bill: that's where we begin with jonathan serrie covering the trial. good morning. >> good morning, bill and dana.

alex murdaugh 26-year-old son buster is on the list of 255 potential witnesses. a list that includes law enforcement who investigated the crime, other relatives as well as the victims of murdaugh's alleged financial schemes that took place over more than a decade. the prosecution will try to convince the jury that those crimes were beginning to catch up with murdaugh and killed his wife and 22-year-old son to goth sympathy and create a distraction. >> you will hear some of what was going on in alex murdaugh's wife leading up to that day. stuff that happened and the perfect storm that was gathering. >> the defense says the prosecution has a weak case and opening statements the attorney told the jury state investigators went into this case presuming murdaugh guilty without hard evidence. >> the police announced don't

worry, there is no danger to you. there is nobody out there that could pose a danger to you because you see, they decided that night he did it. >> the trial is scheduled to resume at 9:30 eastern time minutes away. back to you guys. >> bill: thank you, jonathan in atlanta. thank you. the man suspected of shooting and killing a microsoft executive last february set to make his first court appearance today. 61-year-old henry tinon cases four felony charges including second degree murder. investigators suggesting more arrests in the case could be imminent. >> we know henry did not act alone. conspiracy to commit murder is a first degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. >> bill: phil keating is live in miami with more. what happened? >> good morning. the defendant has been locked up in jail since august on other

crimes including being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. he is about to make his first court appearance this time charged with four very serious felony counts involving murder, the live feed is not up yet. let's look at the mug shot. this is him. 61-year-old convicted felon. he was convicted in florida as well as georgia. the police chief says don't believe he acted alone. they're still looking for at least one accomplice. we're monitoring the courtroom. still no appearance by any of the defendants or judge. jared bridegan was gunned down last february in what was a well-planned pre-staged ambush on a dark road in jacksonville beach. he was driving home with his 2-year-old toddler strapped in the back seat he had to come to a stop. there was a tire lying in the middle of the road. >> that tire was purposely placed there to make him stop. after putting on his hazard

lights and placing his car in park, he opened his door to presumably move the tire out of the road. he was then gunned down in cold blood. >> bill: also in hand yesterday bridegan's second wife, the mother of their two toddlers wiping tears. he had just dropped off his twins from his first marriage at his exwife's house when the killing happened. the first wife and her husband have been considered suspects in the mysterious killing. gardner fernandez and bridegan divorced but were battling over finances and custody of the twins in family court until his death. fox news confirmed that the defendant here actually was renting a property owned by fernandez, the exwife's second husband. reached by fox digital

yesterday. the first wife when told about this connection to that property took a long pause and said i'm not surprised to be honest. bill. >> bill: going to need a flow chart. nice to see you phil keating on the case in miami. thanks. >> dana: now to talk about drug cartel violence erupting across mexico in a deadly wave of shootings. republican lawmakers are sounding the alarm warning the blood shed south of the border could spill north into our country. we're covering the national security threat from all angles. jim banks is on deck but first matt finn live at the epicenter of the crisis in eagle pass, texas with what happens to migrants after they make it into the country. good morning, matt. >> good morning, dana. u.s. customs and border protection tells fox news since the beginning of this year only a couple months ago there have been 278,000 known gotaways that have made it into this country. when you are here on the ground texas dps will tell you the

known gotaways are a major threat to this country. they are people intentionally evading authorities. in the meantime our cameras show you every day hundreds if not thousands of migrants that cross into this country, do surrender and we wonder what happens to those people? we have been tracking one individual migrant since last year. no idea what to expect where he would end up. turns out now he is in new york city. the latest chapter in his story. >> we first met 23-year-old brian andres last summer when he crossed the border. today he is staying at the shelter in brooklyn awaiting court date in august. >> for the past three days i've been going out looking for work and haven't been able to find any. they ask me for a work permit. all i have is an i.d. from my country and the asylum claim paperwork. >> after brian arrived in texas last year we connected with him in chester, pennsylvania outside of philadelphia. he tells us he could not find

consistent work there and he was evicted because he could not pay rent. >> it is very difficult. i hold back my tears. there are people that judge you for just being an immigrant. >> he said the government gave him a cell phone to track him. after a few months he was asked to give it back. ice tells us there are scenarios where a migrant's electronic monitoring is ended based on crime gnat history and compliance. >> it's very difficult being away from family and missing the people that you love. i feel that i can do more for my family here than back in my country. >> and brian tells us he has to send a picture of himself to ice every month and tells me that he paid a coyote tens of thousands of dollars to get into the united states. we know that coyotes often work for and enrich the cartels. brian tells us he knows now there are migrants in mexico waiting to cross into the united states.

dana. >> dana: very interesting personal story that adds to the coverage. >> bill: very interesting angle. republican jim banks out of indiana is with us now. sir, good morning to you. what is your reaction to that story when you consider that he is 1 of millions in america now? >> that's right. we've had more illegals come into the country since joe biden has been in office than the entire population of my home state of indiana. you got to hear one personal story there. think of the humanitarian crisis going on at the border at the moment. record number of deaths actually occurring of children and women coming across the border. but also the price that's being paid here from the fentanyl epidemic in america now the leading cause of death of americans my age. i don't talk to almost any family not touched by that. fentanyl poisonings killing so many americans. the drug cartels are pushing it over the border, manufactured in

china. more deaths from fentanyl poisonings in america this year alone than the number of americans killed in the entire vietnam war. we're not doing enough about it. >> dana: let's show everybody call for number three what you were talking about in terms of the death by fentanyl poisonings. 2021 was 80,411. we know that went up and it is not slowing down. so because we know that the cartels are making all of this money down there, we put sanctions or take action to disrupt this thing in other places in the world. the group of members of congress that you work with that want to deal with this, what are you asking the biden administration to do specifically to help prevent these fentanyl poisonings? >> it is simple. it's time to declare war on the mexican drug cartels. others and i have introduced an authorization of mill force to get serious.

use the force of the military to take out one of the biggest sources of the deaths of the american people, the mexican drug cartels pushing the drugs over our border. on top of that it's time to sanction the chinese communist party where fentanyl is manufactured, the vast majority of it comes from there. sent to the southern border, pushed across the border by the cartels with the intent and explicit purpose of killing young americans. so it is time to get serious about it. this is a war. we have to treat it as such and we have a president, commander-in-chief who is completely turning a blind eye. >> bill: another issue regarding the border terror watch list now. these are those who have been caught. we don't know how many have gotten through on their own and not caught. since october 1st now you have 38, okay? we're on pace to top 150 this year. last year in 2022 it was 98. we're only four months into the

new fiscal year. what are you hearing from intel officials when they find out that dozens and dozens of those on the no fly list have gotten into america? >> this is startling. whether it's the intel officials or border patrol agents who aren't partisan officials. they are concerned about it. they will tell you when i go visit the border, they tell us that the border was under control and secured under president trump. it is wide open, a national security threat under president biden. those numbers are just the ones that they know of who they caught who are on terrorist watch list. we know that thousands of illegals have crossed the border who weren't caught and no telling how many of them are a threat to the united states. we also know that only half the number of known gang members have been sent back to mexico as which were sent back under donald trump as well. that means that more mexican gang members are coming into --

violent gang members are coming into the united states who aren't being sent back. it is a national security threat, a violent crime threat to the united states and on top of that fentanyl poisonings killing more americans than any other source of death in this country. it's a travesty. >> dana: congressman jim banks thank you for your attention to the matter and for coming on the show today. >> bill: the border is causing us all kinds of problems. 19 hijackers pulled off 9/11. let that sink in. >> dana: what are you missing? all of us when we go to the airport we still go through tsa security. i think the people, men and women who work in tsa or in homeland security at the border are doing the best they can but being overrun. >> bill: more to come on this unfortunately. 19 past from d.c. yesterday. watch this. >> i'm very disappointed with the lack of detail and a timeline on when we're going to

get a briefing. >> it was very unsatisfying hearing. i speak for every member of the committee. >> dana: something you don't see every day. both sides of the aisle in agreement. senators demanding to see the classified documents that president biden and trump were holding. so why is the white house saying no? >> bill: good question. a judge orders footage from the paul pelosi attack to make public. the video could be out at any moment. >> dana: the white house ending talks of retaliation against saudi arabia just months after president biden pledged to impose punishment over oil cuts. maria bartiromo is on that. here she is next. right, you have to do it yourself. in 2015, my dad had the idea to revitalize american textile manufacturing with bedding crafted from cotton grown on our family farm.

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>> dana: it's a decade olds disney world icon and now being shut down in the name of diversity. the splash mountain was originally inspired by the 1946 film song of the south. criticized for using racestery type. fans lined up for hours to get their last turn on the log flume ride which i've never heard that before. a log flume ride. i didn't know that. they have one in denver, i went to that a couple of times. disney says it will reopen as a new ride based on the 2009 movie the princess and the frog. the only original movie to star a black princess. if you went on those rides did you want to get wet? i didn't. i would hate that.

>> bill: summertime you want to be on the king's island log flume. these are the rides that have been canceled, removed or redone over disney's diversity initiative. splash mountain, small ride. juggle cruise and roger rabbit's cartoon spin. i can't recall being on any of those rides. i don't know if it is good or bad. >> dana: maybe we ought to go down there. you want to go on assignment? >> i would love to go on a rollercoaster assignment around america and show you the best rollercoasters. >> dana: my friend taught his teenage sons physics. they could choose a rollercoaster across america, understand how it works and they would choose which one to go to. a smart kid there. let's talk about biden and saudi arabia now.

>> president biden: there is little social re deeming value in the present government in saudi arabia. >> bill: that was joe biden on the campaign trail. as president he sings a different tune. they are ending talk of retaliation against saudi arabia for cutting oil production and human rights abuses. "washington post" calling him out today saying he vowed to punish saudis over oil cut. that's no longer the plan. the anchor of mornings with maria, maria bartiromo is with us in studio. hello. a bit of an about face? >> no surprise it's an about face. the country needs oil production. we've been going to saudis and venezuelans with hat in hand trying to get more oil production. we aren't seeing any permitting loosened up so america can go back to the position of being energy independent. yeah, no surprise. we have to get oil from the saudis. >> dana: will we get it? that's the other thing. >> they'll sell it to anybody

who will buy it. i'm not questioning whether or not we'll get it. what i am questioning is why it is we're against american drillers when, in fact, he wants to do business with these killers. >> bill: hour stuff is better than anyone else's around the world when it comes to the environment. managing oil prices. politics are harder to deal with. it is hard not to think that biden sold oil to reduce gas prices last year in boost democrats' chances in the mid-term elections. even not true the impression is unshakable. >> that's exactly why he sold oil from our strategic petroleum reserve and now we are at the lowest level since 1984. it is supposed to be for emergencies, not just to get prices down. in fact, this is the problem. there is no recognition, acknowledgement that we can be energy independent if we were to just pivot on policy. that's where this administration

is not doing. for me that tells me there is no strategy for growth. we can talk about inflation and jobs all day long. where is the strategy for growth? the strategy for growth would be-not going to potential adversaries. >> dana: show gas prices. call for three at 3.50 up from last week. going up there. however, this morning you get this gdp number and comes in better than expected at 2.9%. is there a disconnect between what we're hearing from some ceos and what is happening in the economy? >> i don't think so. the gdp number is backward looking talking about the fourth quarter and talking about the first read. we have three more reads on the gdp and by the way, yes it is better than expected but weaker than the third quarter.

we're seeing little by little things slow, slow, slow, slow. a lot of people expect recession by the second half of this year. we'll see what the rest of the fourth quarter shows. 2.9% growth looks great. when you strip out transportation it's negative. when you look at housing. housing is in a recession right now. so you have business spending under pressure within this gdp number. business spending declining leads to a recession. that's why you want to focus on business spending and why we focus on the earnings. look what microsoft said. lowest sales growth in several years, why? businesses are pulling it back on spending. >> bill: define transportation. >> it's the airlines. a lot of people spending money on travel. they aren't buying as much stuff as they were. they are taking trips. that's one of the positives in this gdp number. transportation. it's what we are spending our money on, trips. we're buying less stuff and

doing services. that's where you see the growth in the gdp. >> dana: also then do you find when you look at these layoffs. some are big numbers. when you say look at the businesses and what they're doing, that's also something we should take into account? >> tech companies have ramped up the cutbacks. we see ibm talking about 1 1/2% of its workforce being cut, 3,000 employees. you see throughout technology. part is because they ramped up before covid and hired all the people and then they were bloated. so that's what's happening there. but unemployment is expecting to catch up with this economic slowdown, no doubt about it. we need a strategy for growth. one strategy would be tapping into energy. another strategy would be reining in the spending. that's one of the issues. inflation is elevated. we're off of the highs, no doubt about it and that's good in terms of inflation. but food is still very high.

eggs 100 times. margarine and butter, 30 and 40% moves in a year. eggs up 60% year-over-year. >> bill: your point about pro growth policies and lack of them is something to keep in mind. >> that's the regulatory state. president biden put in 200 billion of new costs for regulations. you have to cut those regulations down. you have to get the permitting process in the energy area better but also in particular cut the regulations. that's also a growth strategy. >> bill: nice to see you. thank you for coming by today. maria b. >> remember, as you sit there right now in your mind, he didn't do it. he is innocent. he would require a verdict of not guilty from you. that's the law. >> dana: jury hearing a mountain of conflicting evidence in the

murdaugh murder trial. how strong is the case for both sides? our panel breaks it down as the trial is set to resume any minute now. disturbing details emerging in the death of lsu student madison brooks. what the coroner is revealing about night she died. >> she left the world with one thing, kindness and love is always the answer. yeah. i respect that. but that cough looks pretty bad. try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? robitussin. the only brand with real honeyand elderberry. today, everything costs more: gas, groceries, cars. we all need cash in the bank to stay ahead. well here's great news for veterans who own a home. home values have climbed to near all-time highs, too. that means the cash you need is right there in your home. newday can unlock it with the newday 100 va cash out loan.

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>> dana: footage from the october attack on nancy pelosi's husband will be released and could come out as soon as today. a san francisco judge denied a request from prosecutors to keep that video secret after several outlets, including fox news, asked for its release. paul pelosi was asleep in the couple's san francisco home when someone broke in and beat him with a hammer. it happened just days before the 2022 mid-term elections. the 82-year-old suffered a fractured skull and arm

injuries. the suspect, 42-year-old david depop has pleaded not guilty to six charges including attempted murder. >> bill: interesting to see this and how much we can see. it was night, right? 2:30 in the morning and assume there were lights on. i imagine the cops had a flashlight or two. i don't know. but we'll see. >> dana: understand why they want to keep it a secret but will be released today. >> bill: a tough story here now. there are new details in the tragic death of this lsu student madison brooks in baton rouge. the coroner says the 19-year-old died from multiple traumatic injuries after she was hit by a car in the early morning hours on the 15th of january. prosecutors say she was intoxicated. she was allegedly raped, then dumped on the side of the road. senior correspondent casey stiegel has details from dallas where arrests have been made in the case. >> the coroner says the manner of death is still under

investigation but has ruled that just as you said the cause was due to multiple traumatic injuries, motor or vehicle meaning pedestrian. she was incapacitated at the scene but then later died at the hospital: after she was struck by a car on january 15th. police say the lsu student had been abandoned there on the side of the road by these three men and a 17-year-old. prosecutors say two of the men raped the victim while the other two watched. at this hour we can tell you that two of them are already out on bond. investigators say they were seen on surveillance video with the victim outside a baton rouge bar and offered to give her a ride home and cell phone video and ruled it contains evidence of a crime. now it will likely go to a grand jury. this as police look into the establishment where the underage co-ed spent her final hours that

has been ordered closed for now. >> we have oh look at the facts of the case in this particular situation. what happened? how did these individuals come to get drinks in their hand? was there a potential fraud on their part? were they presenting fake i.d.s or someone else's i.d.? >> makeshift memorial has been put on the road where madison was hit. he and another person helped the victim. all four students are not students or staff of lsu so says the university. >> bill: thank you from dallas on that story today. >> dana: all eyes are on the courthouse in south carolina, day two of the murder trial of disgraced attorney alex murdaugh set to resume any minute now. the jury hearing stunning details from both sides in opening statements yesterday. let's bring in criminal defense

attorney jonna spilbor and paul morrow. they heard wildly different opinions yesterday about what happened as both sides presented the facts that they think will help them in the case. what should we be watching for today? the first witness is expected to take the stand this morning. >> so the first witness will be for the state. i thought it was interesting in opening statements yesterday. the state laid out what they intend to show to the jury while the defense laid out what is not going to be shown to the jury and the reason that's significant is because the defense is saying look, there should be more evidence that the state is going to give you and they aren't going to be able to give you that evidence because it doesn't exist, why? because my client didn't do it. defense attorney repeated that phrase. he didn't do it. it was pretty compelling for an opening statement. >> bill: before we pop in here paul, what are you listening for? >> obviously here this will come

down to a lot of the things we saw in the idaho case which is going to be forensics that are in the cyber world. i would characterize this under what we know right now as one of the first snapchat murder cases that certainly that i've encountered. there are two reported snapchat videos sent by the victim, paul. the timeline is very significant. the first of those reportedly shows the accused in clothing that is different from what he was wearing when police subsequently arrived. they'll get that off the body cam footage assuming it gets introduced into evidence. the second of them, however, maybe even more significant because it does a lot towards placing the time of death. reportedly you can hear the voices of the two victims and the accused on that. you don't see them but you can hear them and then the reporting goes shortly after that 3 to 5 minutes paul's phone locks and is never again opened placing

the time of death sometime around there. so the snapchat videos will help us with a timeline. potentially put alex at the scene and again it just demonstrates how digital our current world is and how digital investigations are in this day and age. >> dana: one of the things about this case if you are a fan of john grisham it's as if we're reading a plot from one of his november else. here in the south. a family that's well-known in the community. the jury seated yesterday said they would be able to rule impartially. interestingly where they decided to have the case, does that help or hurt the defense? >> i think what's going to help the defense the most is the lack of actual physical direct evidence that connects alex murdaugh to this crime. one of the things i think we can look forward to is they will keep -- the defense will keep the prosecution in a very narrow

lane. there is a lot out there, a lot of potential financial crimes and a lot of other crimes that have happened in the past. the prosecution will want to show motive. the defense will fight very hard to keep it out. if i had to bet, the defense will win those argument because they are not very probative and mo mo mo mostly -- >> bill: when this attorney talks he sounds as if he is a man who was raised in the low country of south carolina. i imagine the defendant and his attorney have known each other over the years knowing how deeply entrenched this family is going back three generations. paul, you brought up this first snapchat trial. at 8:45 that night the son

apparently sent two videos. he was with his father and his mother was on the video as well. we'll see if that's the case in court. when maggie was missing, her cell phone was gone and it was found on the side of the road and they found it by using a feature called find my iphone. the defense attorney is arguing the only way they could find that phone is with the help of the defendant, alex murdaugh. he is making the case he helped police find her phone on the side of that road. does that help him? i don't know. what do you think? >> it will come -- the fact that he knew his wife's code and allowed them to get access to that phone, you know, not giving that information might have looked a lot more suspicious than he would like. but i think you are right, bill. you have gone to something that the strongest piece of evidence i know right now for the defense in the cyber world is that reportedly at the time the phone was being dumped on the side of the road, the defense has

evidence that alex's truck was being started. car was being started and the phone is placed in that car. his own phone. so how they did that is likely the phone's bluetooth activated and matched to the car or perhaps the car has its own wifi. but at the time that her phone was being dumped on the side of the road, the defense is going to attempt to demonstrate alex was nowhere near that location using cyber forensics. it will come down to how compellingly they can present the fact he was nowhere near where the body was being dumped. -- the phone was being dumped, sorry. >> dana: alex murdaugh has not been tried for any of the financial crimes he is accused of and that is actually kind of important because if you think of motive, means and opportunity, how do you think the prosecution and defense did when discussing motive here?

>> so motive is never an element but the prosecution really wants to bring that extra information in because otherwise how do you explain this? how do you explain a father blowing away -- that's another thing. the defense attorney graphically described especially when it came to paul murdaugh how his head was literally blown off like a watermelon. what kind of father is going to be motivated to do that. is money enough of a motivation? i think the prosecution will want to bring in all of that to show this man was unraveling and lost it and committed this horrific crime. the defense attorney will be wait a minute. that would be one sinister man. as you mentioned earlier this man has been part of the community for years and years. his name is probably on every little league field in the county. >> dana: i understand they had to take down from the courtroom

there was a portrait of this suspect's grandfather in the courtroom that they took down as the jury got seated. as the jury is starting to be seated right now we expect the first witness to take the stand any moment. >> bill: the lead prosecutor yesterday was making the case that he made three video recorded statements. maybe that night, maybe the next day with police. and the language was this. watch these closely, watch the expressions, listen to what he is saying and what he is not saying. that will be very intriguing when they play it for the jury. >> dana: it will be depending what the contents are. one of the first things you put together as a detective and prosecutor you want to get a narrative and a timeline of what occurred and where the defendant was at the time of the event and you want to make it feasible that he could have done what he did.

and everything fits. so it will come down to a lot of the stuff we've seen in the past. tracking his phone, where he went. this gunshot residue. that's good evidence for the prosecution but it is defensible. he was at a shooting range, right? he had some gunshot residue potentially in his car or on the rain coat. the defense has a path towards knocking that out or at least raising reasonable doubt. so yeah, he wants the body language here, the prosecution wants the body language here to really go to the idea that he is being shifty and trying to ob files indicate where he was. he said he went to see the ailing mother. can they place him where he was at the time? i go back to the snapchat video. the second one, if they can buy the idea, the jury, that he was there at the time when he is saying that he was nowhere near that scene at the time of what appears to be the murders, that's very, very powerful

evidence and why i should mention both snapchat and google personnel are subpoenaed. they want to put all the stuff in laymen's terms. we are pretty cyber savvy these days. prosecution will want to keep it simple so the jury understands this is what happened and it places the accused at the scene. >> dana: i would imagine many members of this jury are not on snapchat but their grandchildren are probably on that app, right? you brought up body language, paul. i want to put this question to both of you. start on body language. it was noticed by some of the reporters covering this trial that alex murdaugh's body language was very different from the last few times we've seen him. he was hunched over a lot, crying and emotional but before that he has been very gigly as we listen to the jury getting

instructions. your thoughts. >> he is a lawyer, defense lawyer for a while and in the prosecutor's office so he has a lot of courtroom experience. so perhaps the realities of what he is about to face is starting to hit him. to jonna's point there is a universe of stuff outside of the four corners of this case that i'm sure the prosecution would like to bring in. mr. murdaugh apparently had an oxycontin habit. he went into rehab. there is all this financial stuff. this guy has been -- he has had an eventful past couple years, none of it good. who knows? maybe he is starting to hit the breaking point. >> dana: as a defense attorney, jonna, what do you think? >> this is where the rubber meets the road, right? the jury got to meet him in not the evidentiary setting during jury selection. now he is hearing direct evidence and being reminded his wife and son are dead.

if we believe the defense attorney, he didn't do it. of course he should be hunched over and crying. i think that's natural body language. >> dana: we'll listen in as the first witness is taking the stand. this is witness for the state. give you his information as soon as he starts taking place. >> you may have a seat. adjust the microphone so it fits you comfortably. if you will state your name and spell your last name for the record. >> daniel green, last name g-r-e-e-n-e. >> tell us where you work? >> i work for the sheriff's office. >> your rank of sergeant, correct? >> that's correct. >> give us a little background and your career in law enforcement if you would, please? >> i went to school and grew up here, went to college at charleston southern university. got a degree in social studies

education, caught for a little while and oh got into law enforcement. fell into it and liked it and i've been here since 2014. >> you started with the sheriff's department in 2014? >> that's correct. >> how does your career progress? >> i started at the jail and worked there for just over a year and then moved to the road patrol. i was on road patrol for several years. moved up the ranks to sergeant where i was a road patrol superviseor and now i'm a detective. >> when did you become detective? >> earlier last year, june of last year. >> back in june of 2021, what was your job at that particular time with the sheriff's department? >> i was a road patrol sergeant supervisor. >> what is your exact role as a sergeant in a road patrol supervisor? >> for the most part i'm assigned a team consisting of 3

to 4 deputies, just depends. corporal and several deputies. my job primarily is to supervise them in their 12-hour shift. we answer calls for service. sometimes i'll go with other deputies to calls that require more than one officer to be present. the majority of my job is supervising what they do. >> during june of 2021 were you working day or night shift? >> i was on night shift. >> what are the hours of the night shift? >> we swap every two months. two months on days, two months on nights. for those hours it is 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. >> okay. let me take you to the evening of june 7, 2021. were you working that evening? >> i was. >> what shift were you working. working from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. >> you went on duty at 6:00 p.m.enter you said you are the sergeant. what was the -- do you have a squad you are supervising out

during the shift? explain it to the jury. >> it consisted of myself being the sergeant. i had a corporal and two deputies working as well. at that point i had a lieutenant who was my immediate supervisor. he was working as well. >> tell me who those people were? >> my corporal is corporal and the two deputies were william pruitt and chad mcdowell. >> the lieutenant was who? >> lonnie nettles. >> did you on the evening of june 7, 2021, get a call for service at 4147mosel road? >> i did. >> what time? >> later in the evening. several hours into my shift. >> and did you ultimately respond to that location? >> i did. >> what was reported to you that led to the call for service? from dispatch? >> that there was a caller who stated he had found his wife and son shot.

>> and tell me what happens then? you get that report and what do you do? >> i get the call for service. we immediately respond to situations like that. we would respond with lights and sirens to get there as quickly as possible. >> driving fast to get there? lights are on? >> lights are on, siren was on. i think it still took me close to 20 minutes to get to the scene from where i was. >> you had to ask dispatch to clarify the address? >> i did. it's a dark and rural area there and there were not a whole lot of residences in the area and i did need clarification once i got out there to confirm the address and located the address on a mailbox across the street from the driveway. >> so you saw the mailbox in the driveway you entered, is that correct? >> that's correct. >> the driveway i entered that had this mailbox where did it lead? what structures were there as you pulled up to the scene? >> when i got to the end of the driveway there was a dog kennel area on the left and shed area on the right. >> and that was the driveway

with the mailbox, correct? >> that was. >> is this location where the scene was, is it in colton county? >> it is. >> tell me just a little bit before we get into specifics. it was dark. what was the weather in the scene like? >> rather hot and humid. it had been raining a little bit off and on that evening. not range at the time i actually responded to the scene. >> okay. were you the first law enforcement officer or first responder on the scene? >> i was. >> were other first responders close behind? >> the initial first responder directly behind me worked for fire rescue pulled in about the same time i did. >> when you arrived at the scene. before you talk about what you saw. what is your main job and what are you there to do the first officer on the scene? >> major crime scene like that

my job is to get there, secure the scene and what i mean by secure the scene is insure there are no individuals there that would potentially cause harm to additional first responders or witnesses or victims already on scene. preserve any evidence that might be there. and then wait for investigators to arrive as i gather information from anybody else that is already on scene. >> okay. you will gather basic information but your job is not to investigate in any great detail. >> that's correct. >> as you arrived at the scene what had been reported to you by dispatch? >> that a male caller called and said he found his wife and son shot. >> from that report to you about how long did it take you to ultimately make it onto the scene? >> it was roughly about 20 minutes. >> when you arrived on scene you said one of the things you do is secure the scene. were you at all concerned about any perpetrator still being there at that point in time? >> when i arrived not necessarily. he had been there for quite a

while already whenever he called, the way the call came in it seemed he discovered them like that and there was nobody else there other than him and the wife and son. >> you were the first officer on the scene but not thinking the perpetrators are still there. >> it's something you keep in the back of your mind but not necessarily at the forefront. >> you didn't come in hot with guns drawn or anything like that? >> no. >> when you arrived at the scene and walked and got out of your car, what did you see? >> as soon as i got out of my vehicle, i was walking down the rest of the driveway which went between the dog kennel and the shed. as i -- i could see mr. murdaugh at the end of the driveway. as i approached toward him i could see the male victim laying on the ground to my left as well as the female victim on the

ground to my right. the male victim was close to a small shed in the dog kennel on the left. a large deal of blood that pooled around his body. same thing for the female victim on the right. also a large amount of blood around her body. >> as you approached and at first saw the male victim and female victim, what was your assessment was there any possible signs of life? >> my initial assessment there was not. a large matter of blood and brain matter around them. >> do you have a conversation with mr. murdaugh? >> i did. >> do you see the person you talked to? >> i do. >> point him out to the jury. >> he is right there. >> let the record reflect he identified mr. murdaugh >> it does. >> when you ultimately approached mr. murdaugh ras the first thing that you did? >> the first thing i did was

insure he did not have any weapons on him. standard procedure arriving on a scene like that. any kind of weapons anywhere on the scene i want to be aware of so i can know whether they're there or not and if they are there who has access to them at any point. my safety as well as other responding officers and anyone else on scene. >> did mr. murdaugh give you any possible explanation? >> his reaction was to start telling me about an incident that happened with his son with a boating accident. >> the boating accident? >> yes, sir. >> had you asked him anything about that? >> i did not. >> you ultimately -- were you wearing a body worn camera at that point? >> i was. >> and you ultimately had a conversation with mr. murdaugh for a fairly extended period of time, correct? >> that's correct. >> did you ever see any tears in your interactions with mr. murdaugh >> he was upset but i did not

see any visible tears. >> did mr. murdaugh tell you that he had any sort of firearm? >> he did. he stated that he had left from that scene, went to the residence, grabbed a shotgun from that residence and brought it back because he felt like he needed to have it just in case something else were to happen. >> he told you he had gone back to the residence after finding the victims to get the gun. >> he did. >> what if anything did you do once he told he he got the gun. >> he pointed out where the gun was leaning against the vehicle that he was driving at the time. i could see it was a camouflage shotgun and spoke with him for a few more minutes. based how nervous an anxious and upset he was acting i decided it was in everyone's best interest to get that shotgun and secure it in my vehicle so no one else had access to it.

>> so you put that shotgun in your vehicle, is that correct? >> i did. >> what did you do with the shotgun did you turn it over to additional law enforcement? >> once they arrived on scene to do further investigation it was turned over to sled. >> bear with me one second. >> objection, your honor. >> submitted without objection. >> may i ask we have the element working, please?

>> do you want to see it first? submitted without objection. not a graphic image. can i show it to the jury? >> yes. >> i will put what's been marked -- i will put what's been marked as state's exhibit 3 up on the screen and see if i can get it the right way. all right. can you see that? >> i can. >> do you recognize what's in that particular image? >> i do.