WALTERBORO, SOUTH CAROLINA: A detective with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, who worked in the case, has explained a key mystery in the disgraced attorney's . Colleton County Sheriff’s Office Detective Laura Rutland was among more than 70 witnesses who testified in the gripping six-week trial.
Rutland was reportedly chosen to work the case because she was one of a handful of law enforcement agents in the area who did not have connections with the . Earlier in March, members of the jury deliberated for just three hours before finding Murdaugh guilty of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul’s June 2021 murders. The patriarch was sentenced to two life sentences without parole and has already .
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Hair strands found in Maggie Murdaugh's hand
Rutland divulged an eyebrow-raising detail that came up during her cross-examination by the defense but eventually faded out of the proceedings after she was unable to offer an explanation, per . The veteran detective described the grisly scene at the Murdaughs' Moselle hunting property a week on from the lawyer's conviction, explaining why hair strands were found in Maggie's hands. “I just wanted to clarify that when she had suffered her injuries, and the bullet exited the back of her head, it created a large hole, which displaced that part of her skull, including her scalp and her hair,” Rutland told the outlet, adding, “So, all around her body, there were small clumps of the back of her hair in the grass around her body. Some had fallen near her hands and her arms. And when we removed her body, some of the hair that was on her fingers, it was just a few strands went with her.”
How Alex Murdaugh killed his wife and son
Murdaugh shot his son Paul twice with a 12-gauge shotgun while he was standing in the feed room of the dog kennels, prosecutors said. The attorney subsequently grabbed a .300 Blackout semiautomatic rifle and opened fire on Maggie as he tried to flee her husband. Maggie, who came running after hearing the shots that killed Paul, was reportedly shot five times, including twice in the head, after she had fallen to her knees.
Rutland also noted how Murdaugh's clothes were bizarrely clean when law enforcement arrived at the scene, especially after he claimed he had tried to turn Paul’s body over to check his pulse. “In addition to the biological matter around his body, there was also a lot of water,” the detective told Fox News, adding, “And [the jury was] able to see that on Sergeant Green’s body cam. It was just so odd that even Alex’s shoes were as clean as they were, including the soles of the shoes. Anybody walking around Paul’s body would have had that watery, bloody mixture on their shoes.”
'Trying to make himself cry'
Rutland, who was reportedly one of the first to respond to the crime scene, rewatched a video of her interview with Murdaugh and concluded that it seemed like he was "trying to...make himself cry" while offering his account of what transpired at the dog kennels that evening. She also recounted his demeanor at the trial and on the witness stand. “I’ve seen it in person and now, I’ve seen it in all of the interviews, how he can turn it on and off,” Rutland told Fox News, referring to Murdaugh’s courtroom antics.
Following his conviction, the detective is convinced that Murdaugh's tears in court were indicative of him reliving his gruesome crimes.
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