A forensic pathologist told Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial today that the defense’s claim that a shotgun used to execute his son hit his head was impossible because it “would have split open his face.”
Dr. Ellen Riemer said that if the 12 caliber shotgun had been pressed against the back of Paul’s head, the blast would have been so catastrophic that his eyes would have been blown out of their sockets.
She said the entry wound was below the 22-year-old’s left ear and the shotgun pellets came from the back of his head, contradicting the defense pathologist’s claim that this exit wound was in fact an entry wound.
Riemer disdained Timothy Palmbach’s thesis, explaining to the jurors that Paul “would have lost his face” if the snout had been in direct contact with the head.
She told jurors, “I know what you saw was absolutely horrific, but the damage would have been much worse. The sides of his head would be gone, his whole face would be split open, because there’s no way all that gas expansion could have happened and not fracture these delicate facial bones, his forehead was even still there.’
Dr. Ellen Riemer said that if the 12-gauge shotgun were pressed against Paul’s head, the blast would have ‘splitting open his face’ and his ‘eyes hanging down’
Paul, Maggie and Buster Murdaugh on a family vacation. Buster was staying with his girlfriend outside of Charlotte at the time of the murders
The jury at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro has shown images of both Maggie, 52, and Paul, 22, showing the wounds they sustained at the family’s hunting lodge in Moselle, SC, on the night of June 7, 2021 .
The state says Murdaugh first shot his son twice with a shotgun before pointing a .300 Blackout assault rifle at his wife of 27 and firing five rounds into her torso, wrist, torso and head.
But defense pathologist Palmbach told jurors yesterday that this was impossible because there must have been two shooters.
He said Paul’s killer would have been rendered incapacitated after shooting at close range in the back of Paul’s head, as he would have been blinded by blood and possibly even injured by skull and bullet fragments.
Palmbach explained that “the explosive release of the gas trapped in (Paul’s) skull” would have forced blood, tissue, brain material, skull fragments and bullets back out through the entry wound and cover the shooter.
“I think the shooter is a bit off, at least for a little while. It’s not like they can go through that right away, run to where the gun is, pick it up and launch an effective attack in a reasonable amount of time, shoot straight and take hits,” the pathologist said.
“I think the person who fired first, probably with blood in his eyes and maybe even wounded, would have taken some time to recover.”
But Riemer said Palmbach’s theory, which relied on photographs while she performed the actual autopsy, was wrong because if the barrel of the gun had hit Paul’s head, his face would have been destroyed.
Maggie’s body was found a few feet to the right of a dog house, while Paul’s was found near the doorway at the end of the kennels.
Maggie’s blood-soaked body lies under a sheet at the crime scene on the night of June 7, 2021. She was shot five times with an assault rifle, while Paul was shot twice with a shotgun a few feet away at the kennels on the estate
Paul’s body was found in the doorway of the feeding room at the end of the row of dog houses near the kennels
MURDER SCENE: Paul’s body lies outside the storage area, while Maggie lies just outside the kennels near the doghouse
She also said the defense expert used skin tags to prove the direction of the shots, which were unreliable.
Riemer told the jurors that despite the horrific injuries they had seen in the photographs of Paul’s head—his brain had been completely severed from his skull—these would have been much worse if the gun had been pressed to the back of his head.
“I understand that this was probably the most serious thing you’ve ever seen and you probably can’t imagine the damage to the head could be any worse,” the pathologist said.
“But a contact gun wound to the head with the accompanying gas expansion to the skull wouldn’t let you know — his face was essentially intact — we would have heard about skin tears and his eyes moved from the orbital bones.” The orbital bones were intact.”
Timothy Palmbach, a crime scene expert hired by the defense, told jurors the 22-year-old suffered a “contact wound” to the back of the head, meaning the muzzle of the 12-gauge shotgun hit him
Riemer was called to the stand as a rebuttal witness on Tuesday after the defense dropped its case on Monday.
Prosecutors today are calling up to five witnesses to refute specific aspects of the defense argument.
Following the answering witnesses, the jury will make a field trip to the family’s hunting estate on the Moselle after the defense asked the judge to give them a better understanding of the murder scene.
The jury is then sent out to reach a verdict. Murdaugh faces 30 years to life in prison for the murders.
