Who is Rogan Gibson? Paul Murdaugh's pal is '100% sure' of hearing Alex’s voice in video taken minutes before murders
ISLANDTON, SOUTH CAROLINA: Paul Murdaugh's, 22, friend claims that he is "'100% sure" that Alex Murdaugh's voice was heard in a video that was shot immediately before the horrible double homicides. Rogan Gibson, the friend Paul was texting at the time of the killings, offered shocking testimony in the Colleton County Courtroom in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Wednesday, February 1.
Gibson, who referred to the Murdaughs as his "second family," viewed a video that Paul had recorded at 8.44 pm on June 7, 2021, at the dog kennels where the 22-year-old and his mother Maggie Murdaugh were shot to death just after 8.49 pm. Gibson assured the jury that Paul, Maggie, and Alex could all be clearly heard in the video. Despite the fact that the two had just spoken on the phone, Paul had promised to share Gibson the video of the dog he was watching, but it was never delivered.
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Who is Rogan Gibson?
According to the prosecution, Alex shot Paul dead with a shotgun before turning a rifle on his mother, preventing him from sending the footage he allegedly promised to send his friend Gibson. Paul's friend Gibson's testimony refutes Alex's assertion that he last saw Paul and Maggie, 52, while they were having dinner at the home on the Islandton estate in South Carolina. The 54-year-old discredited lawyer admitted to police that he only saw them at the kennels when he returned from his mother's house to discover them dead, Daily Mail reported.
Gibson testified that Paul had been talking to him regularly that evening on the phone and had used it "a lot." At 8.40 pm, the two pals spoke on the phone about Gibson's Labrador, and he claimed to be "'100% sure" that Alex could be heard in the background. Gibson stated they were talking about the dog's tail issue, and Paul said he would try FaceTime to show him what the concern looked like. Paul, however, informed Gibson that if that didn't work, he would send a video due to the estate's reception. Records reveal that Paul tried to FaceTime Gibson 11 seconds after their phone call ended. Then Paul took a video of Gibson's dog, in which his friend claims to hear Alex, Maggie, and Paul all at once. He never sent it, though. At 8:49 pm, Gibson sent Paul a text message regarding the dog, but no one responded. Additionally, he made five attempts to call, and at 9.34 pm, he messaged his mother to urge Maggie to get him to call back.
'100% sure': Gibson claims overhearing Alex's voice
Gibson testified in court that he found out about the killings early the next morning. After picking up his dog from the Murdaugh estate, he traveled down to Moselle to meet with the detectives. When they demanded to see his phone, he described speaking with Paul on the phone around 8.40 pm the previous evening about a problem with his dog's tail. The friend informed the police that he was "99% sure" he could overhear Alex's voice on the phone. As per the report, Gibson told the jury that when he met with police again on November 22, they showed him the video Paul had taken of his dogs at the kennels.
When prosecutor Creighton Waters asked him, "did you recognize the voices of your 'second family'?" Gibson said, "I'm positive." When Waters questioned Gibson on whether he ever told Alex about hearing his voice on the tape, he said, "no." "Not a subject you wanted to talk about?" asked the prosecutor. "That is correct," said Gibson. The young man claimed to have been at Moselle for a long period of time following the murders and recalled telling Maggie's mother, Kennedy Branstetter, whom Gibson fondly refers to as "grandma" that he had "heard Mr Alex" at the kennels.