Alex Murdaugh shot son Paul twice as second bullet pierced his neck and brain, reveals forensic expert
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ISLANDTON, SOUTH CAROLINA: In a recent court document, a state forensic expert revealed the horrible wounds that Alex Murdaugh is suspected of inflicting on his 22-year-old son, Paul Murdaugh, after shooting him twice at the family's expansive South Carolina property.
According to a statement made in an affidavit by state forensic expert Dr Kenneth Kinsey, the second shot penetrated Paul Murdaugh's left shoulder before striking his neck and brain. According to Kinsey's assessment, the "brain was completely detached from the head," which would have resulted in sudden death, Fox News reported.
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On the family estate in Moselle, South Carolina, Paul Murdaugh was struck in the chest for the first time while he stood in the feed room attached to the dog kennels. About 30 yards away from Paul, his mother, Maggie Murdaugh, was killed after receiving five gunshot wounds, including one to the back of the head.
According to expert Kinsey, Alex's wife, Maggie, was discovered "a short distance away" at a shed and there was no sign that her body had been relocated. Five shots were fired at her, two of which would have been lethal. The forensic expert believed that two of the fatal shots were fired while she was "prone or nearly prone," while the other three shots were fired while she was standing. One probably came from behind and the other from the other side.
According to a report from December, the expert's description was accurate. "His head exploded like a watermelon," one person who saw the crime scene pictures informed the news outlet of Paul's injuries. "I mean, you can see his face, but the rest of it – his head – it’s just gone. Totally empty," as per FitsNews.
Kinsey's declaration was included in a motion filed by Alex Murdaugh's lawyers on Tuesday, January 17, asking Judge Clifton Newman to bar a blood spatter expert from testifying for the prosecution at his impending trial. Tom Bevel, a forensics specialist based in Oklahoma, was hired by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) to examine a white T-shirt Alex Murdaugh was sporting the night of the killings. In an earlier petition, defense attorneys Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian contended that any blood on the garment was transferred when Murdaugh discovered the victims and "frantically checked them for signs of life."
Bevel's initial assessment stated that the stains were "consistent with transfers and not back spatter from a bullet wound," but he later stated that the T-shirt is "stained with high-velocity blood spatter resulting from shooting Maggie and Paul." Attorneys for Murdaugh alleged that SLED "badgered" Bevel into revising his report.
The trial of Alex Murdaugh, a member of a once-powerful legal dynasty, for the double murders of his wife, 52, and younger son, on June 7, 2021, is set to begin on January 23.