Alex Murdaugh trial: Witness found skull the ‘size of a baseball’ at double-murder crime scene
WALTERBORO, SOUTH CAROLINA: A former law partner of Alex Murdaugh claimed the police investigating the murders of Murdaugh’s wife and son botched the crime scene after they left behind a piece of a skull “the size of a baseball.” Mark Ball said in his testimony that investigators did a poor job on the gruesome crime scene adding the weather conditions were equally to blame.
Disgraced legal scion Alex Murdaugh, 54, is in the fifth week of a double homicide trial, accused of killing his wife Margaret Murdaugh, 52, and son, Paul Murdaugh, 22. The victims were found fatally shot several times at the family's sprawling hunting lodge in Moselle, South Carolina, on June 7, 2021.
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'The size of a baseball!'
During the trial, Mike Ball told jurors that he returned to the crime scene the next day after the murders and was left appalled to find shell casings, small clumps of tissue, and a piece of skull. “There was just a piece of Paul’s skull about the size of a baseball laying there,” said Ball, who is Alex Murdaugh’s former law partner at PMPED, according to New York Post. He added that he was able to access the crime scene because the police did not secure it.
“And there was a large bloodspot tissue out right off of the apron of that area right outside the feed room. That was there and it’s kind of like walking across the grave just it’s one of those things you just don’t do.” Ball was one of the dozen Murdaugh’s former law partners and friends to visit the crime scene after the 54-year-old called the police, who were yet to arrive. He further added, the night of the murders it was also raining lightly, causing the water on the roof to drip onto Paul’s body as officers investigated, which later a crime scene reconstruction expert testified, could have caused evidence to be lost.
'It was still a pretty raw scene!'
“It’s a crime scene. You don’t want water dripping all over the place but more importantly, I thought it was pretty disrespectful. Paul was a good young man and quite frankly it just pissed me off,” Ball testified. “It really infuriated me,” he said, adding that “it was still a pretty raw scene,” reported the source. However, the state argues the double homicide turned into a multifaceted case speculating that Murdaugh killed his family to allegedly cover his financial crimes.
If convicted of the murder of his wife and son, Murdaugh could face 30 years to life in prison. He also faces additional 100 charges ranging from drug trafficking to embezzling millions, tax evasion, and insurance fraud from clients and other attorneys.