Warning: Story contains graphic details
The steering wheel in Alex Murdaugh's Chevy Suburban, which he drove the night his wife and son were murdered in 2021, tested positive for blood, Rachel Nguyen, a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) agent specializing in DNA analysis, testified Monday.
Alex says he drove his Chevy to his mother's house on the night of June 7, 2021, after the time his 52-year-old wife, Maggie, and 22-year-old son, Paul, were brutally shot to death on his hunting estate called Moselle in Islandton, South Carolina. He later drove the vehicle to the crime scene, where he says he found his wife and son's bodies around 10 p.m. that evening.
"I used a confirmatory test called Hematrace," Nguyen said Monday. "…On the steering wheel swab, it was positive, which is…of blood identified.
The swab that tested positive for blood from Alex's steering wheel was submitted to a lab for DNA testing.
WATCH LIVE: DOUBLE MURDER TRIAL OF FORMER ATTORNEY ALEX MURDAUGH IN SOUTH CAROLINA
Previous witnesses have testified that Alex's hands and clothing were clean on the night of the murders despite a bloody crime scene.
Monday's hearing began with discussion among the defense, prosecution and Judge Clifton Newman about two members of the jury being released after testing positive for COVID-19.
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Just three of six alternate jurors left in the 12-person jury, and both Alex's defense team and the prosecution are asking Judge Clifton Newman for a mask mandate going forward, in an effort to keep the remaining jurors healthy and not delay the trial. The clerk of the Colleton County Court also recently tested positive for COVID-19, Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian, who wore a mask Monday morning, noted.
"We're three weeks in, three jurors down," Harpootlian said.
Clifton Newman said he can't order social distancing, but said he would consider a mask mandate.
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Newman and prosecutor Creighton Waters both expressed their concern with potential delays in the trial, which began on Jan. 23.
A doctor tested members of the jury on Monday morning and recommended they be tested again on Wednesday, Clifton Newman said.
Alex maintains his innocence and says he was napping at the time of the murders before he drove to see his mother, who had Alzheimer's, at the time. He claims he did not find his wife and son's bodies at the dog kennels until around 10 p.m. on June 7.
The former lawyer is charged in the murders of his wife and son and is also charged with 99 financial crimes totaling an estimated $9 million.
Prosecutors allege Alex shot his wife and son to death in an effort to distract from his alleged financial crimes, which were beginning to come to light in the summer of 2021.
