Moment Murdaugh bursts out laughing as family's kennel caretaker testifies in double murder trial

Alex Murdaugh today burst out laughing as his family's kennel caretaker testified in his double murder trial.

Roger Dale Davis told jurors he cleaned the kennels on the day Maggie, 52, and Paul, 22, were killed at the hunting estate in South Carolina's Lowcountry on June 7, 2021.

Davis sparked laughter in the court when he described how he went home that evening and lay in his recliner for the rest of the night, as he usually would. The prosecutor asked: 'And the day is done?'

'Done,' Davis replied emphatically, prompting chuckles, including from Alex, 54, who Tuesday morning had been sobbing into a tissue as the jury heard gruesome testimony from the pathologist about the horrific injuries Maggie and Paul sustained.

The caretaker earlier told the court how he had once shot an injured dog as a 'mercy' because the legal scion could not bring himself to do it. 

Alex Murdaugh smiles at parts of the testimony of Roger Dale Davis, who took care of the dogs at Murdaugh's home, during his double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse on Tuesday

Murdaugh earlier Tuesday sobbed into a tissue as the jury heard gruesome testimony from the pathologist about the horrific injuries Maggie and Paul sustained

Davis sparked laughter in the court when he said how he went home that evening and lay in his recliner for the rest of the night, as he usually would. The prosecutor asked: 'And the day is done?' 'Done,' Davis replied emphatically

The State claims Murdaugh killed his wife and son to distract from his financial crimes. He embezzled millions from his law firm and was facing a lawsuit over his son Paul's drunken boat crash.

Murdaugh pleaded not guilty in June, and the defense argue their client was a 'loving' husband and father who could have never have committed such a gruesome crime. 

Much of Davis' testimony focused on his usual cleaning routine at the kennels. He was shown photographs of the crime scene and looked at the hose, which he said he would have never left that way.

Jurors have heard evidence that Paul and Maggie's bodies were saturated with water as well as blood when cops arrived - despite the fact it had not yet rained.

On the day of the killings, Davis said he cleaned the kennels in the afternoon before leaving at 4.30pm.

The prosecutor showed him photographs of the crime scene that night, including pools of water on the kennel floor and the hose.

Davis testified that he never left the hose as it appeared in the photos.

He also said that water would not have still been pooled at the kennels since he cleaned them, that somebody else must have hosed them down again.

However, the suggestion that Murdaugh had used the hose after the shootings was dashed by defense attorney Jim Griffin.

He played a video taken by Paul at the kennels at around 8.45pm in which the hose can be seen not put away in the neat way described by Davis. 

When asked about the footage by the prosecution Davis confirmed he could hear the voices of Alex, Paul and Maggie in the background.

Alex had previously claimed he was never at the kennels that night and only arrived there after Maggie and Paul were killed.

The prosecutor showed him photographs of the crime scene that night, including pools of water on the kennel floor and the hose. Davis testified that he never left the hose as it appeared in the photos. He also said that water would not have still been pooled at the kennels since he cleaned them, that somebody else must have hosed them down again

Pools of water at the crime scene which Davis said could not have come from when he hosed the kennels down at around 4pm that day. Police showed up at the estate after 10pm

Davis testified he grew to know the Murdaughs well in his time working at the estate.

He described Maggie as 'so laid back' and that they would often chat about the dogs.

Davis described Paul was 'a little wild and crazy' but that he would work on the land and 'do whatever his daddy needed him do'.

He said Alex wasn't around much, he was often at work, but he found that he could be 'very particular' about how he wanted things to be done.

Davis described the Murdaughs relationship as 'lovey-dovey'.

'I never saw that man even raise his voice at his wife and kids,' he said. 'Anything she wanted, or the boys wanted, he would try to get it for them.'

Murdaugh liked to spend time hunting and drinking beer with Paul, Davis said.

The caretaker said he did not see Buster as much but he always seemed friendly with his father.

Buster, Maggie, Paul and Alex Murdaugh. Buster was staying with his girlfriend near Charlotte at the time of the murders

Buster arrives at court Tuesday with his girlfriend Brooklynn White (pink shirt) and Alex's sister Lynn behind him

TIMELINE: NIGHT OF THE KILLINGS 

Alex Murdaugh, 54, is accused of shooting his wife, Maggie, 52, and younger son Paul, 22, at the family's hunting estate in Islandton, South Carolina, on the night of June 7, 2021. 

Here are the key events in the timeline laid out by prosecutors:

At 7.56pm, Paul sent a Snapchat video to friends showing the 22-year-old riding around the estate with his father.

At 8.15pm, Murdaugh's wife Maggie arrived home and the trio ate dinner together. Autopsies showed similar stomach contents in Maggie and Paul.

About 8.30pm, Paul's phone starts moving towards the kennels. 

Then at 8.44pm, a second video taken by Paul at the kennels - soon to become a murder scene - allegedly proves that Maggie, Paul and Alex were together.

At 8.49pm the prosecution say Paul's phone locked and went silent forever, never to send another text or make another call.

Between 9pm and 9.30pm, Paul and Maggie were killed - according to the coroner.

At 9.06pm, Murdaugh's car is fired up.

The alleged killer said he went to go visit his mother, who is in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease, in Almeda - around a 15-minute drive. 

At 10.07pm, Murdaugh called 911 claiming he had arrived home a to find his wife and son shot dead.

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