Very early, AM tried to confuse LE about another important detail!
Having better recall of AM's 2-day testimony, a couple of things didn't pass the smell test so I went back to read the first couple of days of testimony and found a couple more things AM lied about -- most likely to interfere with the police investigation.
When JG questioned AM about what he did with PM at Moselle, AM described that they arrived at Moselle about the same time, and they first went to the Dove Field to check on the dead sunflowers, and then rode around the property viewing the fruit trees and food plots.
When JG asked how they got to Dove Field, without any hesitation, AM stated that PM showed up at Moselle driving John Marvin's truck because they traded vehicles that day, and they drove the black truck to Dove Field. AM added the black truck was personally known to AM as "Buster's truck."
Referring back to the LIVE TRIAL BLOG for the first couple of days of the trial-- when the first responders were called to testify, I especially recalled testimony from Jason Chapman (CCSO). During his testimony, he told the jurors about how he listened to AM's 911 call while driving to the crime scene.
Traveling to the scene, Chapman wasn't certain what they had: “I don’t know if we had a active shooter, didn’t know if was a murder-suicide, didn’t know if we had people in the woods. We don’t have any idea,” he says.
Chapman also said investigators checked beneath PM's body for any weapon, and PM's arms and hands were located beneath his body.
[How did AM check PM for a pulse?]
Most significant by Chapman was his question about the tire tracks at the crime scene and wondering how MM and PM got to the kennels from the house.
This question was asked repeatedly of AM by investigators and just like AM repeatedly lied about never being at the kennels on Monday night, knowing that PM was not driving his F250 on Monday and driving John Marvin's truck, AM consistently told police that PM probably drove his F-250 to the kennels because he wasn't known to ever walk to the kennels.
IMO, AM must have been so convincing about PM driving his F-250 that CCSO issued a BOLO for PM's truck-- believing it was stolen from the property/crime scene.
PM's F-250 was found around 10:30 a.m. or 10:45 a.m. the next morning off Highway 63. It was later learned that the truck broke down when John Marvin was driving PM's truck to Moselle after he received AM's call about the murders
Det. Rutland didn't arrive at the crime scene until around 12:20 AM as she stopped in Walterboro to secure a search warrant for Moselle. SLED and Colleton deputies were already on scene. "I was basically the last one there."
Given AM's testimony that he lied about never going to the kennels because he was paranoid due to his mistrust of SLED and being told by his law partners not to talk to investigators without Danny Henderson present (AM's personal attorney), I think it significant that Henderson was already on the scene before Det. Rutland arrived at 12:20 AM, where she saw AM and Henderson behind Randy Murdaugh's truck.
Seems to me AM had sufficient time to correct his story when his lawyer was by is side within hours of the murders!
When questioned by A/G Waters about AM's last words to MM when he was allegedly sitting on the golf cart-- until he got off the cart to get the chicken out of Bubba's mouth, the best that AM can come up with is that they talked about PM's swollen feet. Except AM already used this when questioned about their dinner conversation!
AM cannot talk about the last words spoken to him by his wife. Personally, I hope they haunt him forever. MOO
