WALTERBORO, SC (WCSC) – Court docket is again in session on the Colleton County Courthouse the place disbarred Lowcountry lawyer Alex Murdaugh is standing trial on two expenses of homicide.

Murdaugh protection lawyer Jim Griffin confirmed shortly earlier than 1 pm that the rationale for the evacuation was a bomb risk. The evacuation started shortly earlier than 12:30 pm

South Carolina Legislation Enforcement Division spokesperson Renée Wunderlich stated courthouse personnel acquired the bomb risk.

“The constructing has been evacuated and SLED together with the Colleton County Sheriff’s Workplace are investigating the risk,” Wunderlich stated.

The Colleton County Sheriff’s Workplace urged individuals within the space to make use of an alternate route across the courthouse. Deputies deliberate to replace site visitors circumstances as mandatory.

Murdaugh has been on trial for the June 7, 2021, killing of his 52-year-old spouse, Maggie; and their 22-year-old son, Paul.

Earlier than the risk, jurors heard from Annette Griswold. Griswold was considered one of two paralegals who labored for Murdaugh at his former legislation agency.

Griswold examined that she had been instructed to design checks for “Forge” and was corrected when she wrote “Forge Consulting” on the checks.

Murdaugh assured her Forge was a subsidiary of Forge Consulting, Griswold stated.

Griswold instructed jurors Murdaugh stated he would hand ship these checks to Michael Gunn at Forge Consulting.

Griswold stated the 2019 boat crash prompted a change in Murdaugh’s demeanor.

“He was simply not his regular self or what his regular self was once. It was simply very tense,” Griswold stated. “You would inform the boat crash was weighing heavy on him and it was virtually consuming his life. “

A break in Griswold’s testimony as Prosecutor Creighton Waters tried to introduce a textual content message despatched from Murdaugh whereas in rehab was met with objection from the protection.

Griffin seized the second to try to persuade Choose Clifton Newman to toss out all testimony on Murdaugh’s monetary crimes.

The message was allowed to remain and skim to the jury saying:

“I have been apprehensive about y’all and I am sorry I did not get to inform y’all myself. I do know the 2 of you’ve gotten been damage badly by me. I do know it sounds hole and I am really sorry, the higher I get the extra guilt I’ve. I’ve an terrible lot to attempt to make proper after I get out of right here. The worst half is figuring out I did probably the most injury to these I really like probably the most. I am not actual certain how I let myself get the place I did. I am dedicated to getting higher and hope to fix as many relationships as I can. You each are particular individuals and essential to me. Please understand how sorry I’m to have made you a part of my misdeeds.”

Throughout cross examination, Griswold described Murdaugh as a household man and stated his household would go on journeys with him.

After the murders of Paul and Maggie, Griswold stated he was apprehensive about Alex, his son Buster Murdaugh and brother Randy Murdaugh and went into “momma bear” mode.

Jurors heard proof Tuesday about what crime scene technicians found after they examined a rain jacket discovered three months after the killings.

A state agent examined gunshot residue was discovered contained in the jacket, probably after somebody shot a gun sporting it inside out or wrapped it round a not too long ago fired weapon. Protection attorneys had requested the choose within the case to stop additional testimony in regards to the raincoat after the caretaker for Murdaugh’s ailing mom testified that she noticed him deliver a “blue one thing, wanting like a tarp” into his mom’s house 9 days after the killings. They are saying nothing hyperlinks Murdaugh to the jacket.

READ RECAP: Within raincoat had ‘important quantity’ of gunshot residue, knowledgeable says

Jurors heard from Ronnie Crosby, a legislation accomplice with Murdaugh for greater than 20 years.

Crosby testified for the prosecution that Murdaugh instructed him and different legislation companions he was by no means on the kennels the evening of the shootings and later grew to become the third witness to determine Murdaugh’s voice alongside together with his spouse and his son on a video from the kennels about 5 minutes earlier than investigators stated they had been killed.

testimony began with Jeanne Seckinger, who’s the workplace supervisor and chief monetary officer for the legislation agency Murdaugh’s household based greater than a century in the past.

Murdaugh took cash from authorized settlements that had been alleged to go to shoppers by routing it to a faux firm that he created and that had an analogous identify to the corporate the legislation agency had meant to ship it to, Seckinger stated. The true firm would have then distributed the cash to the agency’s shoppers.

Seckinger stated she confronted Murdaugh about virtually $800,000 in lacking legislation agency charges on the day of the killings. However throughout the dialog, Murdaugh came upon docs had instructed his father he would die inside days. Seckinger stated all of the grief ended the investigation into the lacking charges till issues had been settled down.

After an intensive investigation, the agency decided that Murdaugh took greater than $5 million from shoppers, and it’s within the strategy of paying them the whole lot they had been owed, Seckinger stated.

For practically two hours, Seckinger went over dozens of checks Murdaugh despatched to his faux firm.

The trial was initially anticipated to final three weeks, however Choose Clifton Newman’s resolution Monday to permit prosecutors to debate the monetary crimes may double the size of the trial.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. The Related Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.