Second week of Murdaugh murder trial ends with new testimony

of the trial of Alec Murdoch wrapped up today. A big focus was on firearm testimony while the debate continues over whether to hear financial evidence or not and submit it to the jury. The judge still needs to decide whether the jury will hear it and today we heard testimony about Murdoch's finances, including information on loans and a massive overdraft fee, but the jury itself didn't hear that testimony. It was only for the judge to consider. Fox guys Grace Runkels and Walter Broad tonight with an in-depth breakdown of what happened inside the courtroom today. After hours of detailed testimony, we finally heard a significant part of the state's argument from ballistics specialist from sled, Paul Greer. He testified about casings that were found around Maggie's body and found elsewhere on the property.

Based on my examination, it was determined that items two through seven, 35 through 37 and 39 had matching mechanism marks and it was concluded that those items had been loaded into, extracted, and ejected from the same firearm at some previous time. You might remember this body worn camera from earlier in the week. A sled investigator called to the scene to collect firearms. Notice spent shell casings outside the home and took them into evidence. Greer says comparing markings on those and the ones by Maggie reveal the same gun fired both. Now the defense heavily pushed back on this and at times it got tense with defense attorney Jim Griffin trying and failing to hold Greer to a yes or no answer. Is it your opinion in this case about the shell cartridges being fired from the same 300 blackout? Isn't that based upon your presumption that each 300 blackout manufactured in the world makes unique tool marks when it cycles a bullet and ejects it? It's hard to say.

I have not looked at every 300 blackout that's in the world. So it's hard to answer that question. But again, based on my knowledge of that process and how they're made, I'm able to support my answer. This came after a morning of testimony without the jury. The judge is still waiting to decide what evidence of Murdoch's alleged financial crimes can be admitted. Now we heard from the new president and CEO of Palmetto State Bank, where Murdoch allegedly worked with his friend to steal funds. He testified they started to piece together what had been going on in August after the murders.

And in looking at that loan number, is there any way that document could have even been in existence in July of 2021? No, sir. And in fact, it had to have been generated after the August 9th email and after these disbursements. Is that correct? That's correct. The state is really pushing for evidence and testimony like that to be admitted because they say it's critical to understanding Murdoch's mindset at the time of the murders. The defense, however, is pushing back on that. And that is why we are having these hearings and still waiting for a decision from the judge. In Walter Barrow, Grace Runkle, Fox Carolina News.

Now the trial has gotten the attention of people around the world with many tuning in daily to watch. We'll come up to the next half hour. We hear from two local women who have been staying up to date on what they are watching and find out what they find compelling about this trial. Now make sure you stay connected to Fox Carolina News throughout this entire saga, no matter how long it lasts. We'll be here for you. Make sure you can go ahead and watch it all on foxcalin.com.

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